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AndreaT

NHS complaints - would you?

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Hope you don't mind me canvassing for opinions but I'd really like your thoughts on this.

 

I visited my GP last year with a bad back and she sent me straight to the hospital for a scan (I had other 'warning sign' symptoms). She contacted the hospital directly to say I was on my way and to make sure they knew what the problem was. After spending a few painful hours at the hospital, some of which was outside the xray room, the radiographer informed me that she'd discussed my case with the consultant and they'd decided I wasn't to have the xray. The consultant then gave me some painkillers and sent me home. He wasn't sure what the problem was but in may be sciatica.

 

5 days later I was taken back to hospital in an ambulance and sent for the scan and emergency surgery!

 

I was back at the doctors today for a check up and he was asking me about the situation and how bad he thought it was because as a doctor you are taught that someone with the symptoms I had should be scanned immediately. He wasn't happy with the way I had been treated and suggested that I think about making a formal complaint.

 

I am in two minds about it as I think the NHS do a great job but if my doctor is suggesting it, it was obviously bad and maybe I should. The problem is we don't know for sure whether me having the operation earlier would have had a different outcome in respect of my remaining problems, so would it be worth it?

 

What would you do? Anyone else had any experience of this sort of thing?

 

Sorry for the long post and thanks reading. :)

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Tricky one really :think: If you are happy with the way things went and don't feel that you have suffered unnecessarily I would leave it. Did he send you for a scan and emergency surgery or just a scan for diagnostic purposes? I guess it depends whether someone was going to look at your scans straight away and operate immediately or scan you and phone you with the results after a few days. If they were to phone you with the results you probably would still have been rushed in for surgery. If your doctor feels strongly about the situation maybe he should make a complaint. When all is said and done, everyone tried to do what was best for you. Hope you are on the mend now :)

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I would be inclined to write a letter expressing your disappointment that your, and your GP's, concerns were not adequately addressed, leading to emergency admission and surgery.

 

Although the outcome may not have been any different, there are a couple of points to consider:

1. Ambulance use - if you had been scanned initially, you may have been scheduled for elective surgery. This would have avoided the necessity for the emergency services. This would have had an impact on costs, as ambulance call outs are costly.

 

2. If you had been scheduled for elective surgery, this would have been carried out in 'office hours' i.e. when there are maximum staff and consultants on site, in the event of complications arising. It may be that your emergency surgery was in office hours anyway, but if not, this could have been avoided.

 

3. Elective surgery is generally less traumatic than emergency surgery, particularly emotionally, not only for you but for family/friends who were probably extremely worried when you were whisked off firstly by an ambulance, and secondly into theatre! If you had been scanned when referred by your GP, this unnecessary anxiety would have been avoided.

 

4. If you needed a general anaesthetic (put to sleep), elective surgery would have ensured you were nil by mouth for a suitable period prior to surgery. Emergency surgery may not be able to be postponed until a sufficient time of fasting has elapsed, therefore you may have been exposed to risks associated with GA and full stomach. This would have been avoided if scanned initially.

 

Finally I have to say - I am glad you are recovering and do not feel that these events have impacted on your health.

My primary reason for recommending that you write a letter regarding the decisions made in your care, is to highlight to the hospital that the decision not to scan you was inappropriate, and could have put you at unnecessary risk - and to hopefully get them to review your case with a view to ensuring that the same mistake isn't made in somebody else's care.

 

Hope that makes sense?

:)

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I would write a letter of complaint.

It is alright turning up for an xray deemed necessary for your GP to diagnose problem and to get you the treatment you need or referral to the correct specialist.

You went for the xray , for the radiographer to say she had discussed your case with your consultant......consultant did Not see you or examine you to make a decision on whether the xray was necessary or not or for a diagnosis for the treatment given , ie pain killers.....which you may have been allergic to or may have interacted to any other medication you may be on unknown to him as said consultant had not spoken to you, so the care given was totally inadequate ....

No xray, no diagnosis , and no treatment. Resulting in emergency surgery.

Complain.

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Thank you all for your replies, you have all confirmed what I was thinking.

 

NannyOgg some of the points you raised are so spot on it's uncanny! I was taken into theatre at 1130pm on the Sunday night of the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday weekend, so definitely out of hours!

 

If they had scanned me originally they would have operated on the same day or the next which would have saved me 5 days of extreme agony and, as you said, would have been less stressful for myself, family and friends.

 

I do have some nerve damage but whether that would have not happened if I'd have had the surgery sooner, who knows? I shall contact the hospital next week and hopefully some lessons will be learned.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts and kind words. I knew I could count on you :)

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I work in the NHS and I don't like pulling it apart but I think you should complain.

 

Nanny Oggs points are spot on!! As staff we are always saying how we would hate to have anything go wrong out of hours as the head honchos are all on the golf course with do not disturb messages on their mobiles :lol:

 

You may not be sure if your outcome was any different, but if it happened once, it will happen again, and the next person may not be so lucky.

 

The good thing about complaints in the NHS, is that there should not be witch hunt, but that they find the cause of the error and then change standards and proceedures so that it can't happen again!

 

No need to feel guilty, you are being positive and helping to improve the NHS service

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I work in the NHS and I don't like pulling it apart but I think you should complain.

 

Nanny Oggs points are spot on!! As staff we are always saying how we would hate to have anything go wrong out of hours as the head honchos are all on the golf course with do not disturb messages on their mobiles :lol:

 

That's cos Nanny Ogg's an NHS employee too :wink:

 

Glad you feel your query has been answered Andrea, and that your feelings have been confirmed!...this forum is great isn't it :D

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Go for it complain away. If you dont things will never improve. We need to remove the rot from the NHS and if I was treated badly I would complain very loudly. #

However I complain a lot anyway - next on my list is eldest sons RS teacher - GSCE year and the revision booklet has half the pages missing - cue 2 letters one to head of year and one to her. ES (a boy after my own heart) doesnt want me to complain as he wants to do it. Cant have that - its my job.

 

Oh by the way I work in NHS however at times I feel like I should be in customer services as I regularly listen to th Great British public sounding off.

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I agree that you need to complain. From what you have said, you obviously had 'red flag' signs which are signs that a back problem is more than than just muscular, or 'mechanical'. Your GP correctly picked up on these and sent you for the scan, which was the course of action recommended by NICE for the management of back pain. The consultant ignored those red flag symptoms leading to a delay in treatment and, as the others have said, unnecessary use of emergency facilities. The hospital need to be made aware of this. :D

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Sorry to hear you have experienced problems with your treatment/care in hospital after being sent by your GP last year. I also feel that you should complain to the hospital about this lack of care which may/may not have caused you long term health issues, but did give you an extended period of agonising pain which was both inconsiderate and inexcusable, followed by the emergency admission/surgery you ended up with!

 

The least you should get is a written apology from the hospital concerned, with the assurance that this episode of 'care' will be looked into and reviewed, so that it hopefully won't happen again to any other person. Sadly too few of us are prepared to formally complain and instead put up with the results of someone's irresponsible behaviour. Good luck whatever you decide, Jx.

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If the consultant over-rode your GP without seeing you and examining you, then that is poor practice. Your GP had seen you, listened to you and examined you and decided there were grounds for an urgent scan and done everything she could to make that happen. The radiographer and consultant over-rode your GP without discussing it with you, or examining you, or finding out why the urgent scan had been arranged.

 

In the past, I have been in the position of seeing people who I thought might have been inappropriately referred to hospital but I always phoned the GP to discuss why the GP sent the patient at the very least. The GP knows things you don't know as a hospital doctor. Often, things weren't serious, but the GP always had a legitimate reason for asking for a test, or a specialist opinion. It sounds as if your GP was just ignored.

 

I would complain. I doubt their actions influenced the outcome, but their practice was unprofessional.

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