NHS horror story.

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renault12ts

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2 months ago, 19th February I saw my GP for a problem with my left arm...he diagnosed slipped discs at the top of my spine. Indeed, this was the case...I wasn't having heart attacks. He said he'd refer me for physio...which he did.

Last week, I got a response from the local orthopaedics unit asking me to make an appointment, which I duly did...and they are seeing me on the 13th May...this year.

There I was expecting to be seen in about 3 years time and they see me within 3 months...what the hell is going on?
 
3 months is still a long time for a referral appointment
 
You did well. It must depend on the consultant and type of treatment required to get such an early appointment. I've heard of far longer waiting times.

We often knock our NHS over waiting times, but its still the envy of many countries where healthcare is prohibitively expensive.
 
Last year when I ruptured a tendon in my forearm I got a GP appointment the same day of telephoning. I had X-ray/scans the next day and was seen by the physiotherapist consultant the following week..
 
My experience with something similar was also similar to Renault12's. I have a long standing lower back disc problem, normally just an ache I've lived with for years as I did not fancy someone taking a sharp knife to my spine. First time ever it gave me bad bad pain, saw the GP a day later, she arranged a scan which I was able to have a few days later and also arranged consultation with a physio - which was a couple of months later (by which time the pain had long gone!), I even had the scan results to show him. What a waste of time the physio was! Wish I could find an osteopath that uses deep tissue massage, flexion extension table then "clunk click" osteopathy American methods. The guy I found years ago who made a major difference in just 3 months got banned for a stupid "sexual harassment" charge, and anyone I've tried since either does no good or makes the problem worse!
 
It really does seem to be luck of the draw.

I have had 3 brushes with the nhs, daughter broken femur, son open heart surgery and me finger and circular saw.

I couldn’t praise them enough in each instance, superb treatment from Exeter hospital and Bristol Children’s, waiting for an ambulance though, I think I’d take my chances and make my own way
 
NHS has been my lifeline over the past 7 years and with one or two exceptions, I can't fault them. I have had to wait for anywhere from 2-9 months for a referral date (different things) but that's the way it is. It can be just as long if you are a 'repeat' patient wanting an appointment in clinic, 3 months minimum is normal.

I have however on several occasions had unbelievable service, mainly down to my consultant. A recent one was surgery Friday which did not go right due to a stand-in consultant messing up, Monday I called the hospital and was in the clinic Wednesday and had a temporary solution done. I have also in the past rang in on Monday, Clinic Wednesday, surgery Thursday. You can't buy that kind of service even if paying privately.
 
Mrs Elan362 is a Consultant orthopaedic surgeon, my father was a Consultant orthopaedic consultant and my sister is a GP.

There is a big difference between the NHS in Scotland vs England (for the better in Scotland IMO) but I cannot fault the service and commitment of the staff
 
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I’m currently sitting in the Neonatal intensive care unit which has pretty much been my life for the past month . My daughter was born at 28+4 but was very small for that gestation at 1.75 pounds .
The staff and hospital have been incredible, the technology and knowledge they have to keep these babies alive and developing is amazing. Very humbled and grateful for everything they have done .
 
My son had a severe groin pain a few years ago on a Saturday night. We contacted doctors on call at 8.30pm who diagnosed a twisted testicle :crazy: and he was on the operating table in the local NHS hospital at 10.00pm the same night.
 
I’m currently sitting in the Neonatal intensive care unit which has pretty much been my life for the past month . My daughter was born at 28+4 but was very small for that gestation at 1.75 pounds .
The staff and hospital have been incredible, the technology and knowledge they have to keep these babies alive and developing is amazing. Very humbled and grateful for everything they have done .

Our son had open heart surgery at 3 weeks, was in PICU in Bristol for 2 weeks, and I totally agree with you, an amazing place filled with clever, dedicated and inspiring individuals, makes one feel a bit useless actually, good luck!
 
Our son had open heart surgery at 3 weeks, was in PICU in Bristol for 2 weeks, and I totally agree with you, an amazing place filled with clever, dedicated and inspiring individuals, makes one feel a bit useless actually, good luck!
Thank you ccaallvviinn, it’s tough but she is proving to be quite the little fighter! She has a duct in her heart which is hampering her breathing and few problems with her stomach/bowel, all hoping to be rectified naturally as she grows , fingers crossed.
The care the staff give her is second to none and the support from the unit to the parents I can’t fault either.
I’m really glad things worked out for you and your family:):)
 
I had increasing back pain - triggered by lifting a bucket of water out of the sink.
Have to say the doctor was useless - the pain got worse and worse and all I got were stronger and stronger pain killers. It was getting unbearable.
So I went for a private MRI scan at a mobile unit in Solihull.
As I was waiting for the results, one of the operators handed me his mobile, and it was the doctor on the other end telling me to get straight down to A&E, and tell them who had sent me.
Mrs Ted drove me there, they performed a laminectomy that evening (Friday) and I was out by the Monday.
After a couple of days I was right as rain. Regarding the op, I can honestly say I’ve had more pain from a paper cut.
The doctor was bloody useless but the rest of the system was brilliant.
 
I've been ill for the last year or so and the NHS does vary, it seems. When something is life-threatening it all swings in to action but otherwise it's the luck of the draw. I've had a bad back for the last 3-4 weeks, stuck it out for a week or so then went to the GPs. Earliest non-emergency appointment? 4 weeks. But, they could offer me an appointment at the local "hub" in 2 and a bit. OK, I'll have then then, I'm sure I can stick it out that long.

So today was the day and off I set to go and see Dr. Whoever. I get to the "hub", introduce myself and guess what? No appointment. My GPs have messed up booking it. Guess who's getting a kranky phone call in the morning?

Cheers,

Gaz (still with a bad back)
 
You're very lucky to have the NHS and it's easy to take it for granted. A close friend of mine was in terrible shape a few years back with symptoms that looked a lot like indigestion (to me). He knew that there was something wrong but as he was self employed, he had no insurance (something that would have cost him $20k+ / year). He died shortly afterwards from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. The quality of service is no better here and you have to wait just as long to see a specialist. You just pay a lot more for the privilege.
 
You're very lucky to have the NHS and it's easy to take it for granted. A close friend of mine was in terrible shape a few years back with symptoms that looked a lot like indigestion (to me). He knew that there was something wrong but as he was self employed, he had no insurance (something that would have cost him $20k+ / year). He died shortly afterwards from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. The quality of service is no better here and you have to wait just as long to see a specialist. You just pay a lot more for the privilege.
To be honest, I don't think the majority in the UK take the NHS for granted per say.... Just blessed to have such an altruistic ideal embedded in the heart of the nation is something that we have become used to and don't appreciate the cover it gives to all.

For what it is worth, 10 yrs ago, we were on the receiving end of the NHS, when Mrs Elan362 was complaining of a sore stomach on a Friday evening. She had been feeling crook in the morning, but rode her bike to work in the morning, did a shift, felt awful and rode home in the evening.

Now She is a hardy girl. Ex Scotland international lacrosse player... Mountain biker, climber and explorer in her spare time... Not one to complain.....if you get the idea, but I got home and she said she needed to get to A&E ASAP.... I'm in going to delay.... So we went to A&E with suspected appendicites and it turned out to be a ruptured ovary as a result of germ cell ovarian cancer.

Cue 3 years of emergency surgery, stays in high dependency, extensive chemo, stem cell transplants,, emergency pre chemo IVF treatment, enormously expensive antibiotics (>£50k per dose) almost a year in hospital, etc.

She is 7 yrs clear and back working as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. albeit not at quite the same level as she was before her illness. She is deaf as a result of the chemo, and her fitness and endurance has taken a big hit as a result of the chemo. But she is alive

we reckon her treatment cost >£500k in total.

The point is the treatment she got was the standard care package... We, working and contributing to society as a surgeon.

We didn't have or need insurance. She didn't get special treatment because she was a consults (except that she was treated by consultants rather than junior doctors as a matter of respect) Her treatment was not because she was a doctor or we could pay for it... It was free at the point of need, based on clinical, not financial basis.

If we had to pay for it, we would have been bankrupt....

She proudly and purposefully only works on only NHS contracts and does no 'private' work as a matter of conscience... In her mind, There should have no segregation on the basis ability to pay... It is all about clinical need.

She operates on junkies and professors, people with HIV and grannies solely on the basis of clinical need.
 
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No surprise about your physio treatment.

I broke my leg and dislocated my ankle a year ago, and the A&E / Consultant support was superb. As the paramedic noted, I ran a risk of losing the foot and completely had it not been fixed properly within the hour. Operations were immediately organised and I spent a week in hospital. Call it about £10k worth of services.

But: once the crisis was over, the physio support was a administrative disaster. The clerks couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. After much chasing, I finally saw a 25 year old who had nothing much to say for himself. I organised my own physio treatment using the wonderful t'Internet.

NHS clerical procedures are gobsmackingly poor and full of endless repetition. Soviet bureaucracy at its worst.
 

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