Are you concerned about your own or a loved one’s health condition? Call for Concern
We know that friends and family can often see a patient’s deterioration before anyone else does. They will know what signs to look out for and can often spot when something is out of the ordinary.
If you have serious concerns that your health condition or a relative’s/friend’s health condition is worsening and is not being adequately addressed by their healthcare team, ring our Call for Concern (C4C) team.
Staff at East Surrey Hospital already have 24/7 access to the Critical Care Outreach Team to escalate concerns about a patient’s condition. Call for Concern as part of Martha’s Rule will now give this access to patients and families for the first time – enabling them to escalate care concerns if necessary.
Follow these steps to make a Call for Concern:
- Step 1 – Discuss the concerns with the ward nurse or doctor.
- Step 2 – If you feel the concerns are not being appropriately responded to, discuss them with the nurse in charge of the shift.
- Step 3 – Telephone Call for Concern with your serious concerns about a health condition that is getting worse and is still not being adequately addressed.
Ring 01737 768511 and ask the operator to put out a ‘Call for Concern’. You can also ring or text the dedicated Call for Concern mobile number, 07866 991311.
The Trust’s critical care outreach practitioners will review the patient, liaise with the clinical team, and take any appropriate immediate action.
When can I make a Call for Concern?
You can call if you notice a serious change or deterioration in your/their health condition and feel healthcare staff are not addressing the concerns.
Who can make a Call for Concern?
Patients, relatives, carers and advocates in adult in-patient areas.
The Call for Concern programme is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has previously been successfully implemented by several other NHS organisations.
When you contact Call for Concern, they will need to know:
- the patient’s name and ideally their date of birth
- the ward they are on
- a brief description of the problem, and what has already been done about it
- your contact details and relationship to the patient.
When should I not contact Call for Concern?
Call for Concern is a patient safety initiative. Please do not call us to report problems with hospital beds, rooms, food, parking, or any other general issues. If you have these problems, please speak to the ward nurse or manager, or contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
What happens next?
The Call for Concern team will take your call and assess how best to help you or your loved one. They will decide on the best course of action to try to resolve your concerns. This may involve:
- asking your or your loved one’s healthcare team to visit you on the ward to perform an assessment.
- sending members of the critical care outreach team (experienced clinical practitioners specialising in reviewing and assessing unwell adult patients) to assess your or your loved one’s current state of health.
Someone from the team will follow up with you and check that you are happy with the course of action taken and that your concerns have been adequately addressed.
At the moment, our Call for Concern service is only available in adult inpatient areas, but we will be rolling it out to all patients at the Trust next year.
Read our patient information leaflet here.
Please do not feel concerned that using this system will negatively affect your / the patient’s care in any way. We recognise that sometimes the patient or a close loved one can see that something is wrong. No one knows your health care needs better than you and your family.
You can find out more about Martha’s Rule here.
Call 4 Concern and C4C are copyright Royal Berkshire NHS FT 2010