Pick a hospital?

trafalgar_2

Not sure what can or can't go on health board so thought i'd put it here instead,mod please move if not suited.

I like peoples advice /experience please.

If you had a child (or anyone for that matter) that needed tests/operations and the hospital nearest you had a bad bad reputation....................could you get your child treated at another hospital?

If this is possible,how would you go about it ..........any advice /experience appreciated.


thank you

Savvy_Sue

I think you could ask your GP to refer you elsewhere. Certainly by December you're supposed to be offered a choice of up to 5 hospitals.

I'd think carefully before doing this, though, unless it's not going to be too hard to get to any other likely hospital. One thing for an adult to choose to trek miles for treatment / tests, quite another to inflict that on a child.

I'd want to look into why and when hospital had got bad reputation, and try to work out whether that was still a problem which would affect my child.

You see, I know with schools that bad reputations hang around for years afterwards, almost impossible to shift regardless of whether or not they are still deserved today. And conversely, it seems to take a lot for a school to lose a good reputation, even if it's not really deserved.

And I suspect the same is true of hospitals. I would always prefer to use one with a poor reputation on the way up, rather than one with a good reputation on the slide. The knack is knowing which it is!

I don't know if that helps, but I'm sure I'd start with GP.

Zziggi

I have asked my GP to refer me to a particular hospital rather than another one last month. He asked me why, i told him why and he said he was happy to do that for me. So i think it is certainally possible to get referred to a different hospital within reason.

As other posters have said, you have to think about distance to travel to the hospital of your choice, a bad reputation can hang around for ever even after changes have taken place.

Also is it not often that it is specific departments that have bad reputations and then other depatrments within the same hospital will have an excellent reputation?

trafalgar_2

thank you both ,I think the main problem is ,the mum doesn't know the hospital and the scare stories are doing just that ,scaring her silly.

not sure how best to find out if the rumours are true or not

Savvy_Sue

trafalgar wrote:

thank you both ,I think the main problem is ,the mum doesn't know the hospital and the scare stories are doing just that ,scaring her silly.

not sure how best to find out if the rumours are true or not

Might be worth contacting PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) to ask where you'd get up to date stats from, and the hospital's star rating etc. And talking to the GP, explaining worries and fears, might be good as well.

trafalgar_2

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Might be worth contacting PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) to ask where you'd get up to date stats from, and the hospital's star rating etc. And talking to the GP, explaining worries and fears, might be good as well.

great ideas ,thank you Savvy_Sue

Bendybops19

Hi, i work for the NHS and you do have the freedom of choice about where you want to be seen. It is only just about coming into effect though, but you are able to decide where you want you or your children to be treated

zoz

As has been said, some hospitals are obviously better than others. However, the choose and book scheme that would enable you to send the kid to a non-local hospital has more to do with furthering the internal market in NHS Trusts and shipping halthcare to the private (or independent) sector, rather than seeking the best treatments.

Look into it, and do speak to PALS, but remember that independent advice (including/especially fom your GP) is hard to come by. I remain convinced though that pretty much all healthcare workers will do all that they can to help your relation. It's your decision, and I don't know the circumstances, but I'd be more than happy to send my family to our local hospital, regardless of its reputation - a lot of the star ratings, etc. is political rather than health oriented unfortunately.

trafalgar_2

Thanks you ,have contacted Pals today and she is speaking to her health visitor /doctor about her concerns.

trafalgar_2

Quick update,contacting Pals was the best advice ever,they have been and continue to be very very helpful they have already arranged a visit for my daughter to speak to staff etc on the childrens ward and are arranging meetings with the consultant too,they really understand her concerns................very pleased with their response,thanks everyone

Savvy_Sue

trafalgar wrote:

Quick update,contacting Pals was the best advice ever,they have been and continue to be very very helpful they have already arranged a visit for my daughter to speak to staff etc on the childrens ward and are arranging meetings with the consultant too,they really understand her concerns................very pleased with their response,thanks everyone

Ah well, thank Ribenagirl or whoever it was who first recommended them to me! Not that I've actually got round to contacting them, things started happening for me like they should have been in the first place!