An NHS Fife boss has warned that a TripAdvisor-style website for hospitals could be “destructive”.
Medical director Dr Gordon Birnie told the health board’s operational divisional committee that while patient feedback was welcome, anonymous posts on a website were not.
He said: “I think all patient feedback is valuable. Some anonymous feedback worries me, in that I think it is important we try to have dialogue with patients to get their opinions and encourage staff to have dialogue with patients, rather than one-way traffic because that can be quite destructive, as seen with TripAdvisor, for example.
“There have been a number of posts on Twitter that have been, frankly, libellous and we have asked people to take them down because they were not appropriate.”
There are just a handful of comments about Fife hospitals on Patient Opinion, a website allowing patients to leave online reviews of their experience in hospital.
The comments, the oldest of which dates back three years, range from a complaint from someone claiming to have been “treated with contempt” while at Queen Margaret Hospital to praise from a patient who said the staff all deserved gold medals.
Patient Opinion has the tagline “every voice matters” and is described as the “leading independent feedback website enabling patients to share their experiences of healthcare services”. The website allows health professionals to respond to comments.
There have been numerous complaints about Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy in recent months. NHS Fife this week revealed bed occupancy rates had peaked at 124% last month, putting staff under tremendous pressure.
Hospital admissions increase in winter, as flu and respiratory infections spread through communities. Fife’s ageing population has also contributed to the rise in admissions.
Dr Birnie added: “Although there have been a number of high-profile complaints, we haven’t seen the peak of complaints this winter that we saw last winter.”
Meanwhile, operational divisional committee chairman David Stewart condemned an attack on Victoria Hospital staff where they were described as “little Hitlers” more interested in managing beds than the medical needs of patients.
The criticism came from a retired Fife man who contacted The Courier to highlight what he described as the “chaotic state” of the Vic. He said bed managers were saying things such as “can that patient not go home yet?” in an attempt to keep patients moving through the system.
Mr Stewart said: “Bed managers do an extremely difficult job in often trying conditions. If it wasn’t for them, a lot of patients would not get into hospital.”
He acknowledged there were times when patients had grounds to complain. However, he added: “That’s still no excuse for people abusing our staff.
“I hope the person who instigated this article is ashamed of himself. He’s at an age where he should know better.”
NHS Fife has launched a patient experience survey, which is voluntary and anonymous.