Has anyone ever had a sensible reply from PALS?

[WhyisPALSsouseless]

Have they ever resolved your problem ?

I have a health problem, it’s minor in the grand scheme of things. Not going to kill me or make me seriously ill but it’s been horrendously painful at times.
I am seen at a hospital twice a year, involves a 40 mile round trip and the usual up to 30 minute hunt for a parking spot. At the last appointment I was told the problem could be resolved with a simple procedure and I’ve since found out that would probably have cost me c£500. Never been mentioned before. I drove home in tears at the wasted appointments, the pain I’d put up with ( for well over 10 years) and the sheer stupidity that no one had ever told me. It wasn’t something I could easily Google as the doctor gave it a long medical name I’d never heard of and the impression I’d been given over the last 10 years was it was permanent.
Weeks after complaining to PALS I’ve received a reply which just lists every appointment I’ve ever had. No answer to why no one ever told me.

Do PALS actually do anything? Or do I just ignore them, look at private treatment and give up on the NHS?

I pointed out that all the signs to NICU were wrong after the hospital moved to a one way system during COVID (so there were locked doors where we theoretically should be going) and that it was pretty fucking distressing not being able to find the way to my baby who had just been transferred there. "Oh, most people drive rather than getting public transport, and the signs to the car park are correct."

Great, thanks. It's completely fine that the entrance to the hospital located at the bus stop has incorrect signage, because no one uses the bus.

So no, I can't say I would be expecting much from PALS.

I think PALS are overwhelmed with complaints about operation delays etc. I did have success via them cc'ing Chief Executive on getting my cancer operation from a 2 month wait to next day tests and op on Friday.

If you can afford private and would improve your life would go private at this stage. I am having to go private for cancer reoccurrence tests.

Pals have really helped me several times but it depends what you actually want from them they can't speed up referrals if that's what your after. If it's about a complaint about communication I would advise getting your medical records first so you can see what has actually happened over the years. If you can afford private health care I would definitely choose that option

I made a complaint to PALS as I was told by one department in the hospital to call the PA of the consultant to let him know the required tests had been done. PA was really really rude, wouldn't let me explain and cut the call off before I'd managed to tell her anything. I complained to PALS and they said they would pass the info on and obtain a copy of results I'd been trying to get hold of (always handy to know what's actually wrong ) whether they did tell the PA to stop being so bloody rude I don't know, but we did get the report

I was in hospital and NBM waiting for an emergency operation which I waited for 2 days. I had had a missed MC, and needed a D&C, but as my maternity care had been at a different hospital a couple of mile away (part of the same trust), they said they couldnt do anything until they had my notes. So I had to wait.

My cannula blew, and so my hand swelled up with the fluid. I asked for it to be removed because it was painful. I was told I needed to have it in as I was going to surgery. When I countered that it would be useless I was told that it was procedure to have a cannula in.

After a few hours my hand was so sore and I was getting nowhere. I was in agony and highly fed up. I contacted PALS on the friday morning, having been admitted on the tuesday. Within an hour the cannula was out and I was down to surgery that evening.

I hate complaining but I was getting nowhere.

surely their response will depend on quite a lot of additional information (for example, whether the treatment was available for your condition (or even if it was available at all) in the last 10 years/ has there been new evidence relating to it/ has funding changed or only recently been approved for it/ does the person who's mentioned it have huge experience with it or are they just enthusiastically embracing the latest trend. Lots of 'simple procedures' come with a risk of side-effects and the ability to make things worse - did they feel that up to that point the balance of risk and benefit may not have made it an option for you?). If you're not happy with their response then get back to them - if some of the above is relevant they may be able to explain it better and if not then hopefully at least they can help expedite getting the procedure done.

I put in a complaint via PALS about our experience at A&E. The response I got from A&E through PALS was really poor and when they chased for more information, none was given. The woman at PALS was not impressed so escalated it to a formal complaint without me even asking her to.

So she was helpful on that occasion.

Not the best source but according to Wikipedia, they're often not independent. Seems to be most of them, actually. So whilst the independent ones may assist people, the ones that are not independent (while pretending to be) will just find reasons to defend the hospital. So in short, hit and miss.