NHS let me down again

rodo

rodo

rodo

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I felt like a rant and rave and also to see if anyone else has been through this sort of situation and knows any shortcuts (yeah as if). Apologies for grammar etc in advance.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A MEDICAL ADVICE THREAD, ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION IS JUST SO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. IT IS INTENDED AS A RANT ABOUT THE NHS - DO NOT GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE

In the beginning of December I was playing in a game of friendly 6-a-side football with some old friends. Unfortunatly I went for clearance and got 2 footed tackled by my own team mate (doesn't play football often and can't really). It left me rolling around on the floor screaming which is unusual as I have a quite high pain threshold.

My ankle was very swollen and going blue. After 5 minutes the pain stopped completly and I was able to walk happy. So I thought "maybe this is just a sprain" (I've never had a sprained ankle before).

That night I had an x-ray and the hospital in Reading and in under 2 minutes post x-ray I was told to go home - no break, no fracture, no achilles damage.

That night I woke up in so much pain that I literally crawled on my front to the fridge to get some frozen chicken fillets as I had no ice and I curled up in a ball till the morning with these around my ankle - this was actually quite comical but I didn't see this as I was wimpering in a ball.

The next day I went to see my doctor and was told - it's sprained badly it'll be fine.

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FAST FORWARD 2 WEEKS (previous 2 weeks off work - paid)

I went to see my doctor again, ankle was more swollen and I still couldn't walk on it "It's badly sprained but it will be back to normal in 3 weeks".

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FAST FORWARD 2 WEEKS (working from home in pain)

Went to see GP again, "Doctor it's really bad and it's getting worse - it can't take pressure and I'm getting a lot of cramp and clicking in it". Doctor said that it was the worst sprain that he'd seen and that he'd talk to another doctor about it.

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FAST FORWARD 3 MORE WEEKS (at work, hobbling and walking in pain)

Okay, I'm on painkillers, bandages and it's still swollen and hurting. Doctor calls other doctor into room "we need to refer him, this should have swelled down in under 3 weeks since the accident

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I had an appointment booked for the 16th February which left me waiting with my ankle for 3 weeks. I accepted that I had to join the waiting list and continued to rest my ankle.

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Today I received a letter telling me that my appointment had been cancelled. I phoned and they told me that they had booked me in for the wrong consultant and although they told me he was an ankle doctor, it turned out he wasn't. So instead they offered me a date at the beginning of March. I told them that something really is up and I don't want to leave myself in this state any longer, it's just not fair - sorry no appointments, you can call for cancellations, we may get one, you never know.


How is this fair? How can I be turfed aside when I have a possible missed fracture and other damage which is now apprently a possibility? I don't understand the NHS.

I just feel so let down :(
 
why do you fell let down?
you are receiving free medical attention for a non-life threatening condition - and you're having to wait...
you had an x-ray, it's not broken, they *had* to send you away (what else could they have done) and when your GP was certain it wasn't a sprain - you've been referred...
 
Go to A and E and say you simply cannot walk. Explain how painful it is. When I needed an operation asap (don't want to esplain what but was ruining my life and my GCSE year at school), the NHS just ****Ed about, let the condition get worse and so took MUCH longer to heal.

My mum was always on the phone ringing up whoever she could to get me in to hospital asap.
 
Tefal said:
except he's paid for it, and will continue to pay for it.
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sorry, free at the point of use...
he hasn't had to get his wallet out in order to be seen has he?

as mentioned above - a+e is always an option

edit: bleurgh - reconsidered - you have the right to be annoyed that you are still in pain, but you can always ask for a second / third opinion on an injury or go to a+e.
 
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goldilocks said:
why do you fell let down?
you are receiving free medical attention for a non-life threatening condition - and you're having to wait...
you had an x-ray, it's not broken, they *had* to send you away (what else could they have done) and when your GP was certain it wasn't a sprain - you've been referred...
Click to expand...

My main complaint is pushing back my appointment back without calling me when they have my number and then admitting to me it was their fault? How do you book someone with an ankle problem to see a hip specialist? And my taxes pay for it so that does annoy me as I come to expect better.

mglover070588 said:
Go to A and E and say you simply cannot walk. Explain how painful it is. When I needed an operation asap (don't want to esplain what but was ruining my life and my GCSE year at school), the NHS just ****Ed about, let the condition get worse and so took MUCH longer to heal.

My mum was always on the phone ringing up whoever she could to get me in to hospital asap.
Click to expand...

I may have to at some point if it continues as it is, it's making improvements but my doctor's already said somethings wrong now. I mean they told me to call everyday for appointments being cancelled which is actually handy to know and I will do but to cancel and tell me that I have to endure more because of their mistake (which she admitted over the phone) just seems wrong to me.

Perhaps my expectations are just too high
 
That’s the NHS for you. I had a kidney stone that they had to break up some years ago, and whilst at the time the care they gave me was first class, the out-patient care was less then acceptable…. I’ve suffered with stones forming in my left kidney since the age of 21…. The last one was way too large to go through on its on, so the consultant ordered it to be broken up whilst I was in hospital when it tried to move by itself and caused considerable and unbearable pain (much worse then previous stones) and couldn’t be passed naturally.

I’ve since been in and out of day care having x-ray, IVP and CT scans and they always loose the file..!!??? Anyhow, nearly three years, they finally realise that the stone hasn’t actually been fully removed, and its now getting bigger…. Explains why they would always find blood in my urine samples….

Oddly, they then order a kidney biopsy, thankfully the appointment wasn’t cancelled, and turns out the stone has caused an infection that’s allowed bacteria to enter and now I’m faced with having to take medication…

If they’d removed the stone fully in the first place, I might have healed myself sooner, as in erm three years ago, and the infection might not have spread and the pain that is reoccurring in my left side, in my back and side might have abated years ago.

And now, I’ve also got to go back in and have the stone removal process /treatment done again….. and since the biopsy my side is now in more pain then ever before… But I’m hopeful that the medication and the next rounds of stone removals will start to see my kidney heal – so chin up mate…… I’m sure it’ll all come good in the end.

I’m just glad I’m not ‘really’ ill as kidney stones and an infected kidney isn’t too bad, but left unchecked could, well I think could lead to total kidney failure – then I’m in trouble..!! eck..!!

Oh and as said, the next option is to perhaps go private.?? And we do pay for this service, just that its mostly overworked..!!
 
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i wouldnt trust them when they say its not broken. Ive been told several times that i havent broken/fractured something (arm, ankle, collar bone, ribs, fingers, cheek) only to find out later that i actually have. The worst being i fractured my radius in 3 places and it took 4 weeks of going to hospital before the realised.... Just go back to A &E
 
Every single time I was supposed to see the doctor after my operation I would get a letter delaying the date. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I can understand once or twice but writing me a letter each time delaying the date for 5-6 visits means the system is serious crappy.

As I said before, the NHS would be brilliant if there were enough money pumped into it, but there are far to many families who contribute £0 tax per year, yet whine about the treatment they get!

EDIT: When I graduate I will make sure the job I get has private health care:)
 
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goldilocks said:
why do you fell let down?
you are receiving free medical attention for a non-life threatening condition - and you're having to wait...
you had an x-ray, it's not broken, they *had* to send you away (what else could they have done) and when your GP was certain it wasn't a sprain - you've been referred...
Click to expand...

Because the NHS "USED" to treat everyone quickly, now its all about limits and waiting lists and priorities, so life threatening is the only thing they treat quickly and EVERYONE else is at the mercy of being screwed. The wrong appointment with the wrong person, this is a PAPERWORK error. It has nothing to do with not having appointments available, ok there aren't now but 3 weeks previously there WERE appointments, the simpletons that would 50 years ago be working down the mine or sweeping the streets are busy misfiling paperwork and getting names confused. There is no godly reason that shouldn't have the right name on it and the OP should have been seen miles before.

As has been shown, the 2nd opinion doc said, no somethings wrong it should always go down in 3 weeks, so clearly the 1st doc should have made the referal at most 3 weeks after the incident but he "hoped" it was just a bad sprain and ignored it.

I, as so many people I know, have also been let down by the NHS. Its not free, what a ridiculous thing to say or to "allow" as a reason for suffering pain needlessly because of a multitude of errors and mistakes.


My advice to the OP though is, go to the ER, scream in pain, tell them you can't bare the pain anymore and can't work and it has to be looked at.

Take a day off work and go at what is the least busy time, or ask your doc, ask the secretary of the doc you now have an appointment with to give you a list of people at other nearby hospitals you could go and see and ring round till you find one or someone who can recommend a ER to go to who can call them down for a consult. But don't put up with it anymore, if you can barely walk its urgent enough for being seen quickly.


My first issues were, amongst others, clinical depression from a young age misdiagnosed for circa 10 years almost ruining my life. I had knee issues around the 14-16 age which, the first doctors I went to ignored me over a space of about a year of worsening pain, went to a private guy who asked if I could jump did so, screamed in agony and he concluded from the fact I had full movement(more or less) that there wasn't a problem. 3 days later in agony after the "jump" a friend of a friend of a friend saw me in his clinic and diagnosed the problem in about 30 seconds, sent a letter demanding an apology for me from this quack who he had known aswell. He was pretty brilliant, got me in for free but privately to get one knee surgery over asap, and the other done a few weeks later on the NHS(otherwise it would have been that appointment and 3 months later for the other knee). Though I still have bad knee's because of how long the diagnosis took and how bad the problem got.

Incompetance throughout the NHS at every level, needlessly. THe problem is the best doctors can't do their work to their best ability when surrounded by idiots making the wrong appointments at the wrong time for the wrong people.
 
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Well that scary thing is I know 2 people in a similar position who have been told it's fine then half a month later found they have breaks.

I'm glad at least I'm not in the position of my brother who has CFS and they admit he has it but don't have a clinic nearby to treat him so do nothing and say they may look into it at a health trust meeting... still that's only taken SIX years

Still being able to walk short distances, all be it in pain is something I should appreciate
 
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If it is really that bad, go to A&E and tell them it's an emergency and that you aren't able to get around at home and have no one to stay with you to look after you. Worth a try. If you want to be treated even quicker, call an ambulance as they get priority in A&E depts! Either then tell them the truth, or make something up about slipping getting out of the bath and banging it again.
 
kefkef said:
If it is really that bad, go to A&E and tell them it's an emergency and that you aren't able to get around at home and have no one to stay with you to look after you. Worth a try. If you want to be treated even quicker, call an ambulance as they get priority in A&E depts! Either then tell them the truth, or make something up about slipping getting out of the bath and banging it again.
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I couldn't do that. I used to have to call ambulances a lot for a flatmate with a serious condition and I know how much they struggle with workload, that and I'm not in need to *emergency* care.

I think I will try A&E tomorrow or day after if I ask my boss to give me time off work - in theory I would expect it to be quiet in the day. When I originally did it I had to wait over 5 hours (sunday night).
 
If you go private does the amount of tax you have to pay go down?

I know it's probably a dumb question but I'm not clued up on taxes and the like. I just know that should I ever need treatment I will never ever go with the NHS ever again.
 
Tobes said:
If you go private does the amount of tax you have to pay go down?

I know it's probably a dumb question but I'm not clued up on taxes and the like. I just know that should I ever need treatment I will never ever go with the NHS ever again.
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I don't believe so no, as the amount going to the NHS is not levied on a particular type of tax so can't be reduced/deducted.

I believe
 
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