A SCOTTISH TV doctor has blasted “rude” hospital medics over the care they provided to his grandmother who has suffered a stroke.
James Logan, presenter of Channel 4’s show Embarrassing Bodies, took to Twitter to slam the service his family received at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh while his grandmother was being treated.
James, from North Berwick, tweeted his 3,167 followers five times on 28 December complaining of the service his family received while his grandmother was recovering.
He claimed staff at the Stroke Unit should be “ashamed” of the level of service they are providing to their patients.
The 32-year-old tweeted: “Genuinely disgusted by attitude & the way family are spoken to & treated by nurses & Dr’s in stroke unit at Royal Infirmary.
“Extremely rude staff. Certainly not comforting to family. Make u feel like u r massive interruption to their day. Stroke unit.
“Staff: Donna & Sister have been great. The rest, inc nurses, junior dr & consultant, should b ashamed of level of service.”
He continued to tweet saying: “I get that they’re busy & understaffed but I’m genuinely shocked at lack of communication between staff. Royal Inf stroke unit.”
He said later: “Ugh, In hospital with the family. Gran took a turn for the worse last night and has pneumonia.”
He also wrote: “At the hospital. As much as I think the NHS is an amazing service to have access to, some of the staff need retrained in bedside manner.
James continued to tweet claiming staff were using the festive period as an excuse for bad service.
He wrote: “And if I hear once more that “it’s Christmas” as an excuse for poor service…”
However, NHS Lothian were quick to respond to the angry tweets
writing: “Genuinely sorry to hear that. Every patient is important to us. Please email details to complaints.team@nhslothian.co.uk.”
James replied saying: “Thank you for the contact info. Will definitely write to explain the extent of the situation.”
NHS Lothian added: “Please do. Feedback is vital to ensuring patients’ needs are the top priority. Sorry if that has not been the case here.”
James first tweeted the news that his grandmother had suffered a stroke on 22 December.
He wrote: “Off to see my gran in hospital today she had a serious stroke a couple of days ago. Hoping she will be home by Christmas.”
On Hogmany the TV doc again tweeted saying that his grandfather was also now in hospital with a suspected fracture.
The couple’s dog also had to be put down after suffering a stroke while his grandmother was in hospital.
He wrote: “Grandad now in same hospital as my gran with suspected fracture. Their poor dog had to be put to sleep. Jeez.”
Stuart Wilson, director of communications and public affairs for NHS Lothian said: “NHS Lothian takes all complaints very seriously and the information gathered is used contructively to improve our services.
“We cannot comment on this particular case, but it goes without saying that we are disappointed when people are unhappy with the services they have received and we welcome all feedback, both good and bad, to help shape our services.”
Irenee O’Neill, general manager at the Independent Federation of Nursing in Scotland, said that given the recent national controversy concerning the Duchess of Cambridge and death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, the greatest deal of sensitivity is required when discussing a patient’s condition.
She said: “A lot depends on who is the next of kind for the patient.
Needless to say, because of the upset with the Duchess of Cambridge, nursing staff are exceptionally wary at the moment. But their communication when a patient is seriously or dangerously ill, they don’t just care for the patient, they care for the relatives.
“At this point in time, the majority of staff who are working over this period away from their families are working to high standards. At the end of the day, staff are working at total capacity, especially if someone if critically ill.”
She added: “These nurses are doing the very best they can, and i can empathise that he [Dr Logan] is anxious and he loves his grandmother, but that type of approach is not helpful, not only for the service but it’s also not helpful for the old lady who is seriously ill.”
James also appears regularly on BBCs The One Show and Bang Goes the Theory.
He has a first class honour degree, an award-winning PhD and is a lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
