Sam’s story

Hi. Morning. Nice to see you. Nice to see you

So would you like to tell me a little bit about, um, how you get on going to your doctor's surgery? It actually, you do get on really good with being at the doctors and that, and most people are not very keen on going to the doctors in. In the past experiences, I have seen most staff know people that goes to the doctors, been abusive to it, and that's it really a bad thing to do. OK, so when you go to the doctors, what do they do to make you feel welcome saying, good morning

And that asking what your appointment is and what time it is and what doctor and how do you think your doctor supports people with a learning disability? It's supported really good. But most options, I think. Do you have the training, freight or most of them? Don't the defender need more training for what makes you say you think they don't have the training? Because most doctors of don't understand what learning disability or something

And what would you want them to know properly? Doing the Oliver McGowan training or summit OK. All right, So So you'd like them to understand? Yes. And how could they make the experience better for someone with a learning disability going to the doctors? Probably

Most of them can't really talk. Well, yeah, they should really take their time with the person with learning disability because most of them have mumbled while they talk, and they can't understand. Well, so most of them talk quiet

They feel a bit, show most of them. So in a progressive manner, which most of them can really help. This is a part of their condition

And what about for you, Ryan? So if if a doctor was talking to you What? How would you want them to talk to you? Nice and calm. And they feel confident enough. And most questions, if they ask if they're gonna struggle with, then they can ask me about it or I can ask them

Yeah, Brilliant. OK, so that doctors um what about the last time you went to the hospital? How was that experience? Well, the last time I went, she was when mum was in hospital and it was really busy in the wards. And I know a couple of years before, during lockdown, we I had to go into the hospital because I had gasco gastroenteritis because and I was stuck in there nearly all day because we had to wait a couple of minutes or so in the ambulance to find a bed in a and A and that should be wh on the beach to that sort of wards and I had to put a drape

What? How did you put to me? Um, for the antibiotics and they took a couple of DNA tests as well. And then during when I was there, I also had a X ray as well. And that was when during lockdown, just before we had these vaccinations done

And an elderly lady, as in if it's the revival summit, she was tested positive for covid, and she had to be sent back here. Another thing she must have been in love residential care. So how did um how did you get on with the staff there? Yeah, yeah, even

And it still felt a bit edged, but I felt right as rain afterwards, but I had to wait until when I was discharged. So it came out around just after six or seven or eight o'clock at night. You you told me before about, um, they were wearing all the masks because of covid

How How? How was that for you? Kids understand that we have to do it saying that other people, they abide by the rules. And if they didn't, they'll get fined for sure. Yeah

Yeah. Um but you said that you'd struggle to hear because you sound a bit muffled. And in case the patient had covid, everything was blood talking in case they were spit him

Then what happened? If they was passing it on, Said it was like a plague, and all of the others were being infected. So do you have any ideas about how people can communicate with people with learning disabilities? Clearly, most of them. Most people can't talk with a learning disability

They can't that. I think most of them to do, like, sign language. If most of them can't talk so different ways of communicating

OK, Ok, um, any other experience while you were in hospital when you got off the ambulance, how did it feel then when you were in a and a good feel with a I was going to do the pain. Morphine flushed into the Cy. So if I was a bit tired because I was the morphine kicking in and had some blood tests as well, OK, so you felt that you were looked after it was but then the thing when you had the Dr Pain and when he was trying to put your arm, it felt like against it

And then when they took it out and they had to put like, F done now on something that you need something like a cotton wool, it's in pain to stop you from bleeding. OK, OK, so is there anything that could have made your experience in the hospital any better? Anything you can think of? Well, in the past, I have seen of other people waiting. Imagine about half an hour or so in order to get said

Anything really covid really affected the NHS and start a lot of stuff, and a lot of the staff was often living. There would have been a lot more organised because there was about one or two or three staff on OK, so it's very busy at times. How how do you manage if things are busy mostly for them

I feel good about it. But sometimes if you feel like said that she was going like in a busy place, like maybe amongst people get claustrophobic and sometimes they have panic attacks because it's overcrowded and mostly for deal down. So if you felt like that in in the waiting room, how could how could it be better? What could they do? Like said, if food was trying to get more, get it more into your summit so somewhere a bit quieter

OK, um, what about going to the dentist? How do you feel about going to the dentist? Some people are going to be anxious about going to the dentist. I feel confident, comfortable going to the dentist because the staff understand what they're doing and they're doing give good advice, Suzanne. So how do the staff make you feel comfortable? Then what is it they do to help you feel comfortable going like understand how you feel or because most of the time I have the teeth done, and sometimes when you feel the tours going in going to team, sometimes you feel to be jumping, and sometimes you have to try to relax

But most people don't feel having going to the dentist because most of them feel a bit scared also. But you feel OK. You do

So do you see the same dentist? Yes, you do. And does that help because you know who it is and you because it also builds up confidence. And most people don't like change because, like, someone in the team said that they was going to move to somewhere else and they didn't like it and most of them trying to build it up

And then they feel all right, if any, to most. And that's the same. It's moving to another dentist or pharmacy or doctors

So it's planning the change and helping to change. Yeah, give me more time. Anything else you want to share about your experiences of health services or any of your views, most of them when he was trying to get in touch, stay on the phone over to the doctors and you've been waiting there for half an hour in the queue and you send you so and so in the queue and then at the end, when they do eventually go get through on the phone the time you have to book it online and mostly put downs have to understand how to book and that

OK, so using online booking systems sometimes is a bit hard, and most of them don't have access to Internet. It's probably the same for the elderly, because most of them don't understand how to use the booking. So how could the doctor help doctors surgery help with that? Then I think, really, that they should have more stuff on the mobile phones

And you said the writing sound sound the key. This wait. And so when the person is done on the phone and then answer, the phone call is the same as she was waiting for the ambulance as well

If you needed to book an appointment, how would you prefer to book it? I think I would prefer to book it over the phone, then on line because he was trying to find your national insurance number and trying to remember what it was and the password and that. Yeah, So it gets complicated. Yes, it does

OK, anything else you wanted to say? Thank you. Ok, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it

Thank you..