Patient & Family Support

Patient and Family Support Team

The Patient and Family Support Team at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital offers a compassionate and confidential service and are here to assist you prior to, during and after your visit to the hospital.  We are available to listen to any of your views about LHCH. 

We will provide you with practical and emotional support and advice and we also:

• Lead on resolving concerns & complaints 
• Act as a bridge between patient and medical teams to ensure all needs are met 
• Manage the recruitment of our hospital volunteers 
• Manage the production of information for patients and families  
• Provide post bereavement support if required 
• Provide Chaplaincy support 
• Provide additional support for vulnerable patients 
• Produce and share patient and family stories 
• Collate positive comments and compliments about the care and services we provide

Speaking up - Raising a Concern or Complaint

We will do everything possible to make sure you receive a high standard of care and service whilst you or your loved-one is a patient at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

If you are unhappy or have had a negative experience, we would like to know about it.  If we know, we can then identify the problems and reach a resolution.  We may need to learn from your experience and make improvements to the care or services we provide.  Please be assured that we will listen because we care and we want to make a difference. 

How to raise a concern or complaint

• Wherever possible speak to a member of staff or the manager of the ward or department concerned and they should listen and help resolve your concern.
• If you remain dissatisfied contact the Patient & Family Support Team on 0151 600 1517 or 0151 600 1257 who will listen to your concerns and advise the best way forward.
• Please view our easy read 'Guide to Raising Concerns'  

Alternatively, if you wish to put your concerns in writing you can:

• Email our Patient & Family Support Manager: PFSTeam@lhch.nhs.uk                                        

• Email our Chief Executive: Liz.Bishop@lhch.nhs.uk  

• Write to her at the address below:

Liz Bishop,

Chief Executive,

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,

Thomas Drive,

Liverpool,

L14 3PE

Please be reassured that the Chief Executive reviews all complaints received and we promise that your care and treatment will not be affected in any way as a result of you raising a concern or making a complaint.  We can only make things better if you let us know.

Tips for putting your concerns in writing.

• Please include your date of birth and address. 

• Please list any concerns you may have and include the dates and times that these occurred and the names of people or staff involved. 
• Please list any questions to which you require answers.

For help in putting your concerns in writing please contact Healthwatch on 0300 77 77 007 who offer a free advocacy service independent of the NHS.

What will we do after receiving a complaint or concern?

• Review your concerns and take any necessary immediate action to help resolve your concerns as soon as we can.

• We will carry out a detailed investigation if we feel this is necessary and our Patient & Family Support Manager will act as lead investigator and the team will support you through the process.
• We will undertake a thorough, appropriate investigation and evaluate our findings.
• We will inform you of the outcome of the investigation and ask you how you would like to receive your response.  This can be in writing, at a meeting with staff involved or verbally if you prefer.
• We will inform you if we need to make any changes or improvements.

For further information please view the 'How to raise your concerns or make a complaint' leaflet.  

Patient Stories

The views of patients, relatives and carers are important to us as they enable us to develop and provide the highest standards of care that our patients deserve.   If you would like to share your story with us, either negative or positive we would like to hear about your experiences on all aspects of the care at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.  Patient and family stories are read at the beginning of all our committee meetings to ensure we hear things from your point of view.

All stories are anonymised.  To share your story please contact the team or email: laura.allwood@lhch.nhs.uk

Compliments

It is important that you also let us know when we are getting it right and doing things well.  All compliments and positive comment are shared with staff involved.  To pass on your comments or compliments of your experience you can either write to the Chief Executive at the address above or email: laura.allwood@lhch.nhs.uk

Information for Patients - Privacy and Dignity

Ensuring the privacy and dignity of our patients is an important part of the overall patient experience that we aim to provide for our patients at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

We believe that patients should not have to sleep in the same area as, or share a bathroom with, members of the opposite sex.  This is why our Trust has recently provided additional bathing areas for our patients and reviewed the way in which our in-patients are allocated to beds.

We are compliant with the Government’s requirement to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, except when it is in the patient’s overall best interest, or reflects their personal choice.  We have the necessary facilities, resources and culture to ensure that patients who are admitted to our hospital will only share the room where they sleep with members of the same sex and same-sex toilets and bathrooms will be close to their bed area.  Sharing with members of the opposite sex will only happen when clinically necessary (for example where patients need specialist equipment such as in the Post-Operative Critical Care Unit (POCCU).