In Max's words, here's a tale of how the NHS is operating;
Yesterday was already going well. One of my sons has norovirus in the house ,grandchildren all had it first then parents. Daughter in law suddenly had chest pains after repeated vomiting ( sorry if your eating your toast folks!) Almost collapsed, as she has equina caudal syndrome,awaiting surgery too. Ambulance job, so can we look after the baby as no one else can.( very early morning)
We finally move on 19th Feb after many problems, and had buyers booked to bring in electrician for a quote.
So fairly busy .
In the middle of all this, a call from.UHCW. A research fellow,
'Ah good morning, just wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your RF Ablation booked on 4th April'
' No that's not right,I had an appointment to discuss whether I should remain on the list,or if I still needed it. To come off flecanide a month before to see what happens '
' no you have that wrong. Definitely ablation 4th April'
I ferreting about in the Important Things Box, read out the letter I had 2 weeks ago saying my APPOINTMENT for 4th April had unfortunately been put back to August 2nd. Also had filled in a text survey which asked if I still wanted to remain on the list,but did I think was urgent.
' Well I'll tell Appointments that you don't want it then?'
Twitching ever so slightly I managed not to swear whilst keeping an eye on little tinker and house buyers.
' No!!! I MAY NEED IT, EP NOT DECIDED YET ! I'll take it up with him on Monday,please don't do anything!
Now,also,and I am not being horrible but it took me all my time to understand her ,strong accent and rapid speech, not the volume. I kept having to ask to repeat, saying I was a but deaf! It's not good.
Fast forward 3 hours.
Another call from an exasperated Admissions Manager profusely apologising. He is pulling his hair out, as this person is conducting a study about waiting times etc . He said he'd told her dozens and dozens of times that just because a patient is on the list for ablation and has an upcoming appointment does not mean its for that! He only finds out who she has contacted when she emails him saying patients querying or refused.
So ,as you were madam!
What a total waste of NHS time and money!
Good test of whether ablation is holding, though for me!
Gawd have a good weekend folks.
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wilsond
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G'day Ben,good luck and why not? Incompetence costs NHS money it can ill afford !This particular one of mine is not accountable to overworked,short staffed issues. So maddening!
PALS are really great to start things off for your complaint, give them a ring on Monday morning 9am, you can talk to someone straight away about your concerns, I would get the number for you, but I don't know what area you live in.Take care.
Thank you for your comments. Am having a pain filled night yet again and have just amused myself and got onto the PALS website. Sadly, their remit does not empower them to take up my case which involves my GP Surgery only at this moment in time. They do recommend starting my complaint process by making contact with my surgery and taking it from there. I am down at the pointy end of Cornwall by the way. Y'know, Penzance, next stop Isles of Scilly, then dodging the odd iceberg or two and finally, New York. 😂😂
Seems a bit like asking the police to investigate themselves !
Hi there. Thanks for getting back to me, I will find out somehow the information you need to get your complaint in fall swing with your GP SURGERY. I got the information from our local PALS here in the North East of England [ County Durham] they were really helpful when I told them whats been going on for the last year. What started things of for me that everytime I went to my Gp practice now and then u would get comments from the team there. One Advance Nurse said to me while I was waiting said" I should get my own coat hook here" another one said" this place is not a working mens club" the last person said who worked at the desk said" you are here more then me and I work here" so this is why I had to start my complaint off, because of the remarks I was getting. This is why my Anxiety and panic attacks are not under control, I have a heart problem, dilation of the Arotic root and ascending also have been suffering from palpitations and fast heart rate since the end of January 2023, My first appointment is the cardiology consultant is not until the end of March 2024. I also have polyps up my nose and waiting surgery since June 2023, I have difficulty in breathing and eating food. I will do my best to help you. Take care.
Amazing. I get uptight when completely inaccurate details are entered on my Discharge Summary from hospital eg ' Patient left without treatment' when I had actually been treated, albeit unsuccessfully with Amiodarone and had dccv !
Yes I understand that. I had a follow up letter recently included in it saying I had gout, diabetes etc. no I have atrial fibrillation/tachycardia but just had a pacemaker. Also there were written down pills I don’t take.
By the way Jalia 🤔We know when our medical records or meds aren't right! 👌
What about the people etc who may be unaware if wrong meds are prescribed or medical records are wrong due to illnesses affecting memory and being severely frail?????🤔
I question everything, blood tests, meds, if I know they aren't helping or why I should take it especially to get cholesterol back down which is high! Instead of a statin I asked for an alternative 👌
Glad I did research on the NHS site for that! It agrees with me and I haven't had any side affects hurting calf muscles due to vascular disease problems!
I am lucky really as my younger brother is a doctor and I can always ask him when in doubt 👍
Had a very busy 3 days and 2 valuations today as my Landlord wants to sell her house! 💤😴
Sadly so typical not to mention frustrating, scary, inefficient, downright crazy, add any other words to fit, plenty of them. Not to mention the stress they cause.
Good clear communication skills and some knowledge of the subject matter wouldn't go amiss would it. It could easily have flipped you into arrhythmia getting upset.
I had the same totally inefficient experience three weeks ago when in a and e. Got lost in their system four times in a ten hour wait. Oh we didn't know you were here no one told us you were here was the recurrent theme. I wont mention the lack of availability to get snacks or drinks, all the vending machines were broken and dont get me started on the disgustingly filthy toilets and general lack of cleanliness.
Its truly getting worse sadly. Having said that I got ‘ lost ‘ exactly eight years ago at the same hospital when I had my gall bladder taken out and they promptly forgot about me all weekend.
I was stuck on an unrelated ward and doctors rounds said you arent my patient so I cant send you home, treat you or whatever. Late on the Sunday evening a registrar was tracked down who eventually showed his face and said oh we thought you had gone home Friday evening. I hadnt had the surgery , they forgot I was on their list apparently, until four pm Friday so how I was meant to have managed to come round from anaesthesia be checked over and discharged was beyond me.
Perhaps I could put my apparent ‘invisibility’ to some use somehow. Glad you got things sorted Wilsond. X
I phoned 111 last Monday because my heart rate dropped to 47 and I felt really rough. Kardia was showing unclassified, then bradycardia, then NSR, then AF, so quite erratic. 111 said A&E within 1 hour.
My daughter took me and I was there for 6 hours. When I eventually saw a doctor, he looked about 12 and clearly knew nothing about AF.
The following day I got a text regarding the experience in A&E, asking for a number 1 to 5 with 1 being very poor and 5 being very good.
I replied with number 1. I was then asked why I gave that answer. Here is my reply:
The department is disjointed. Staff are so demoralised. Nothing flows. There is not enough seating. Toilets are disgusting. Both men and woman using the same 3 cubicle facility. They were filthy too. The entire area needs rearranging to enable a better flow through the department. Staff are having to check in 3 different areas when calling a patient. Could be run much more efficiently. Not an experience I would want to repeat.
I would like to have said a lot more, but text is not the best tool for a lengthy answer.
When I had my first heart symptoms I attended A&E and sat there for 8 hours - I was waiting for my ECG etc after the initial details were taken. It was like being in a rat run. I am an Osteopath and at that time had a busy practice. I watched each and every person working there scurry around doing their thing and NOT ONCE did I see ANYBODY record ANYTHING. Fast forward to a few months later when I asked my GP for my records as I wanted to go and see a cardiologist privately. They included somebody else’s bladder scan results a few years back and when I questioned the GP he reminded me of the bladder pain I’d had. I’ve never had bladder issues. I spoke to my step daughter who’s and A&E junior doctor and she told me that she’s so busy she doesn’t have time to keep records and spends a couple of (unpaid) hours at the end of the day ‘catching up’.
So, my point is, apart from the fact that the staff are overworked and underpaid, that in practice if I don’t take 5 mins at the end of each patient to record the test results and what I did, it all melts into the ether of ‘did I do that or that’. I really can see how and why so many mistakes are made. The longterm underfunding of the NHS has resulted in it being a stressful wasteful institution and heavy on the managerial side with not enough staff on the practical side. Check your records regularly! In my career years (35) I’ve seen many examples of these mistakes.
and another story…. The very elderly mum of a friend of mine was admitted following a nasty fall in which she broke her shoulder (and lay on the floor for over 4 hours waiting for an ambulance). She went in on a Friday morning. By Sunday evening she still hadn’t seen a doctor. When my friend, exasperated by now, asked yet again when her mum would see someone the nurse replied ‘we’re agency nurses. Our job is just to keep them alive over the weekend until a doctor comes round on Monday’. …. My friend then tracked a doctor down on the Monday afternoon in a corridor. Doctor said ‘ah yes you want to see me.’ So my friend said ‘yes I do but I’m not discussing my mother’s medical history in a corridor’. To which the doctor replied ‘well there aren’t any rooms’. Friend…’well you’d better find one!’ And he did. Having said all this, our local hospital is usually pretty good - sadly it seems to just be care I the elderly that isn’t.
Wow it takes long enough to get an ablation in the 1st place.My extremely recent experience with NHS.
I was ill on a flight on Thursday..Chest pain,cold & clammy & nearly passed out.Is it a heart attack? But I have developed diarrhoea as well ? Virus or heart.
Given oxygen & sat at back of plain.Staff brill.
Held in air over LBA for 45 mins even though the optimistic 45 mins fuel time had expired.Diverted to EMA & coached back to Leeds.
Home & straight to bed.
Now to the NHs part.
Phoned GP & actually got an appointment for 11.10.
When I looked at receptionist notes it said worried about racing heart.
It took a lot of getting through to GP who is very no nonsense type of guy.
Off to a & E with letter for ECG & blood tests , referral reasons "Palpitations".They double checked this with me and I was clear headed enough to keep things on track.
I was there 9 hours.I had gone prepared,book,water, sandwich.
Can't complain about treatment I received but why so long.
1 window to register, another to access if urgent & where to send me.
1 room to have BP, temperature & SpO2 taken.Then moved on ,30mins wait for ECG,1 HR wait for bloods taken.Another wait to see someone (physicians associate),Another long wait to see doctor.A repeat blood test & chest x-ray .At least I came away with all clear even no return to AFib.
Sad thing is that although I had no diarrhoea whilst there I have suffered badly since & may have inadvertently infected people with norovirus?
She has a referral to London Hospital of Neurology,world renowned apparently and definitely best in UK.Got to have an uo to date mri,so waiting on that now.
What a dreadful mess we are in and disgusting use of vital NHS funding, its not getting any better is it. Good luck with your procedure if and when you have it x
awful. But don’t assume this is not due to lack of staff. I once had a bad experience with a nurse nursing my daughter. When another nurse noticed she said “we daren’t report her, we are so short staffed that we can’t lose her even though she is terrible” . Talk to a policeman or a solicitor appearing. for a court case. The same. Pared to the bone in many areas so terrible inefficiencies.
It's not much better in Australia. I have a heart condition plus other things and I wouldn't go to a hospital unless I was at deaths door so to speak. And then say your prayers. People have died waiting to be seen.I guess being understaffed has a lot to do with it..I've noticed some Nurses don't seem to think that picking up something off the floor is in their "job description".What's the world coming to.
If a nurse picks something up from the floor nowadays, he/she would have to wash her hands straight away! Looks like not enough cleaning staff in your hospital! 👌
Yikes - our appointments are like gold dust aren't they! And it sounds like someone in admin is pressured to demonstrate waiting times are good - funding etc. - and this person commissioned to perhaps give the list a helping hand. Well done for standing your ground. And staying with the speech issues. I do the same as you - 'my hearing isn't so good, could you say it again but slowly?' Whenever my husband and I teach abroad, we alter the music of our speech to try and match that of the language of the listeners. We change the pace too. I do wish that any of people doing important telephone calls could be taught this. It makes such a difference and I'm sure there's less frustration for the caller too. Hope the grandchildren aren't driving you mad.
Sadly the NHS and it’s disgraceful state has been a topic of conversation in our family (and yes I’m in Australia).
My cousin died a couple of days ago in Blackpool. He’d struggled to get a doctor’s appointment and when he did, he pleaded to have some tests or see a specialist. He was told an appointment would be sent. He kept phoning, in agony and unable to work. Just over a week ago his wife rang for an ambulance and was told it would be about 8 hours. She ordered a taxi instead but they waited 15 hours in A & E.
The doctors eventually discovered a ruptured bowel. They said they’d operate and then decided they would wait and see if it would heal itself and were about to discharge him and send an appointment for a follow up.
Another doctor looked at the scans and he was then told that he had stomach cancer and couldn’t go home (not that he was well enough to anyway). That was on Saturday 3rd February. By Thursday he was moved to critical care on oxygen and on Friday he died. He was 55 years old.
His kids lost their mother only last year because of NHS negligence (which the hospital has admitted to).
We may have a few issues with the Australian health system but it pales into insignificance when compared to the NHS.
I am so sorry Kaz, my sincere condolences to you all! That is awful to die like this and also negligence from the doctors there! Your cousin could have survived! So very sad this! Do lives mean anything?
Doctors are there to preserve human lives and give their very best to do that Kaz!
I totally understand you! Devastating for his children too! 🙏🕯️💜🥀
Yes, his poor mum (my aunt) lives in Scotland now. Thankfully, her grandson who lives nearby drove her down there in time to say goodbye. But no parent should ever have to bury a child.
Well my dad had to January 2023, my sister died December 2022! My dad is 92 years old! I still miss my darling sister! She was paralyzed and bedridden in the end due to botched up operation 2007! My sister did really well after her accident and was able to use her wheelchair to get around! The second law suit is still in process now! Despite her death, medical negligence has been committed and needs to be punished! After her operation 2007 her ability and health deteriorated!
When I had pneumonia and was sent straight to a ward at our main local hospital, my GP printed off a list of some of my medical details. I forgot to give them to the staff and many weeks later sat at home reading the notes with interest. What!!!!! There listed in front of me were two separate episode dates of where I'd been entered into a mental health unit as an emergency! Having never been anywhere near one or ever had mental health concerns I was hopping mad! Fortunately my GP has known me for years and was able to verify that those notes entered weren't mine. They were removed and a copy of my notes proving that they had been was sent to me.
Honestly, how often does this type of mistaken record entry happen and we are totally unaware of it.
Wow,Absolutely shocking. Especially with it being mental health .It can so affect how professionals look at you.
After frustrating telephone call when I was chasing referrals to have my AF treated.I was in tears as unable to even get to speak to a doctor my words were "I just might as well go to bed and never get up again" It was noted as I was going to commit suicide.I did get to speak to someone though.
It's like when I was in the letter that I had gout (so hopping mad I could have been sent to a mental home!) I thought at the time gout was an old age thing with too much alcohol and I'm only 80 this year!
I could write a book too! But the oddest one was when I was having tests for urinary stress etc, and had to do a 24 hr fluid volume test-ie, measure everything I put in and COLLECT everything that was eliminated! I ended up with a large 5 litre bottle! I duly delivered it to the nurses station and waited for the results-which didn't come-they'd 'lost' the bottle!!
Really 😯 what was the point of that then! Surely your name and d.o.b. was on that bottle, that's ridiculous! So did you have to do the 24 hr fluid-volume test again needlewoman?
Sounds about right. I was waiting for a referral to physio for Osteoarthritis. When I looked at Patient Access I had somebody else’s symptoms on my form.! 😱
It's really sad hearing these stories, but we shouldn't blame the NHS. When it was conceived in the late 1940s, nobody could have imagined (i) that life expectancy would increase so much (we older people cost a fortune!); (ii) that spectacular medical advances would be so costly; nor (iii) that people's lifestyle choices would create such a burden for the NHS. It really isn't surprising that the NHS is under such huge pressure. We need to be paying more tax for the system we need!
No, we should instead blame the collective governments for decreasing investment in health and well-being and we need a grown up conversation about paying for healthcare, not cutting taxes.
My grandson & his girlfriend (engineer & trainee surgeon) plan to leave the country as they see no future in UK. Having lived through one brain drain, it seems we are about to live through another, unless NHS pay is increased - massively!
However, many of these stories are simply about lack of competence which is somewhat worrying. Is there a link between pay and competence? Or is it simply staff do not have the time to do their jobs well?
There are also examples of outstanding care - if only we could all find where that is.
I feel for those who do their job well but have to put up with all the nonsense.
Music to my ears -- I completely agree that we need to recognise that in the long term tax cuts just mean a declining service which pushes people towards private healthcare -- at least, those who can afford it. So, yes, I'm completely with you.
When public confidence in your given occupation, goes down, the resulting depression tends to result in a collective apathy and on top of the lack of financial gain, I believe this is what we are seeing in the NHS. Although I greatly respect NHS staff, I no longer feel that there is a collective desire to care for me.
I am a retired teacher and as a profession, we also went through this. Inspection teams demoralised us and the often inaccurate and insensitive reporting of outcomes initially put the public against us. Our pay wasn’t great but that wasn’t the demoralising factor, it was the feeling that whatever we did we couldn’t seem to get it right.
The NHS is stuck in a seemingly never ending downward spiral. Unless patient confidence is restored in some way I can’t see how it can recover.
Some radical thinking is definitely required but who will be brave enough for this I wonder. X
Hi wilsond, what an awful experience, it’s so shocking that our NHS is falling apart so badly. I have had two experiences whilst being in hospital but at the other end of things, ie: trying to be discharged! Last time I was admitted I had an overnight stay. So had breakfast and waited for doctor to do his rounds and thankfully he discharged me! Great, so at 10.00am I rang my husband and said I’d text him what time to collect me, ugh!! At 4.30pm I was still waiting, eventually got released at 5.15pm just over 7 hours, WHY does it take so long! I would have thought they’d try to get people out to free up the beds!! I do hope you and are better now 😊
Seems to me it is the administrators who are to blame a lot of the time. I believe that some of the staff have been recruited to make up the numbers for ‘equality’ rather than quality. In my opinion people should be recruited on their ability to do the job efficiently and not where they are on the various agenda that seem to be so prevalent nowadays. Apart from anything else a top requirement for someone whose job is to communicate, esp on the telephone, is that their command of the English language should be good and their accent understandable to the majority.
GrannyE - your comment on communication over the phone is one of my main bug bears. I just cannot understand some of the people who phone me and when you ask if they would speak more slowly they just shout at you assuming that you are deaf. Gone are the days when people who were employed to speak to customers ect had to have a good clear speaking voice. There are several doctors at my surgery who I cannot understand over the phone, one of them a few weeks ago rang with the reults of an Echo. I got fed up of saying sorry could you repeat that so in the end I just asked is there was any change from the last one I had 18 months ago, she said no so I just said fine that will do for me. The problem is with foreign accents you cannot say I am sorry but I cannot understand what you are saying because of your accent, your would be accused of being r. .....! How do others cope with this espcially with medical matters as it is important that you understand all that is being said to you.
I know someone who worked at a hospital where elderly people went to be assessed for their mental health ability. She couldn't understand what the assessor was asking, let alone the poor confused people being assessed.
Standards have drastically slipped all over the NHS. It is a postcode lottery as to whether you are likely to get an acceptable level of expertise. Eg I used to live in Surrey and care/knowledge was excellent. Now retired in an Eastern County I’m more often experiencing similar situations as you. Of course you will find centres of excellence in the major towns up here and in some surgeries (which have long waiting lists) but having had good care in the past I can recognise indifferent/poor or even dangerous care - poor or desperate recruitment has lead to a lowering of expertise in the NHs generally (exacerbated by an ability for doctors to ‘retire’ relatively earlier than most professions although they are not actually retired as they often take their pension and re-contract to the NHS at a higher rate). All this means we rely more on health workers not educated under the BMA. It used to be frowned upon if you researched your illness or medications but now it’s necessary from my experience. I feel more educated in the management of my heart/thyroid conditions than my caregivers - and the reason for that is Health Unlocked which has given me the knowledge to and confidence to challenge uninformed interpretation of blood results for example. I’m currently ill with a lung infection after a 999 transfer but that didn’t stop the local hospital prescribing medication that shouldn’t be taken for lung infections. I’ve learned to stand my ground with a caregiver who is not knowledgeable in the management of my conditions and make it clear that I would officially appeal it if they persist. I hope everything is going well for your move and you manage to get your ablation as arranged.
That is a crazy mess about wilsond! Reading the rest of your story I am just shaking my head 🫣🫨 I hope that Norovirus in your son's house is soon under contro and that your daughter in law recovers! You do have your handful with moving and all this with your appointment or not! Apparently this lady doing the research wasn't authorised by this doctor! I am hard of hearing! Think I would have put the phone down on her 🤔☎️
Wow - that's amazing - the examination and diagnostic phase is exactly when you need a skilled physician. Like the article says you don't need a different perspective, or more equity & diversity, you need the correct diagnosis.
Like they say, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'.
I too have a few stories. At my recent colonoscopy they found a couple of polyps but were unable to remove them because no-one had instructed me to stop taking epixaban for 3 days before, even though I rang the hospital and queried it beforehand. The nurse I spoke to didn't listen and kept interrupting me. They had on their records that I was on apixaban, and it took a lot of repetition to get through to her that I'm on edoxaban.
My repeat colonoscopy appointment arrived so I can have the polyps removed. This time they sent the wrong laxative. The paperwork said Moviprep but the packet enclosed said Plenvu. (A quick Google told me I really don't want to use this one). I rang and queried it. A very nice man who did listen, agreed that it was wrong, though was dubious at first as he said all the packaging is checked thoroughly by nursing staff. Well not thoroughly enough! I received the replacement, correct laxative yesterday.
So yes, you have to check everything!
I need to query my records with my GP as I noticed I am recorded as having "degenerative joint disease" - well that's new to me.
And a visit to A&E last year lasted 24 hours as no doctors were available. And they lost all my test results.
Agreed, the NHS is broken. Except for King Charles maybe.
I do find this type of lack of understanding and knowledge in all aspects of all businesses. We had a horrible go around with our insurance company for our cars and house. took months to straighten out.
Came across the statistic that the NHS spent 400 million on the salaries of people with "Inclusivity","Gender" and " Diversity"in their job titles last year. This is on top of the 40 million they spent on "Inclusivity Networking. Maybe they'd be able to do their jobs better if they got on with it instead of social engineering.
I quite agree! This proliferation of highly paid management jobs are totally swamping public services budgets. It should be quite sufficient to communicate the Council’s guidance and rules on how employees should behave and treat their colleagues with respect in a Staff Handbook. If they must, then have a section on respecting ‘identities’ and ‘pronouns’ . Every Council has a large management team as it is which includes Human Resources Dept, and a Training Dept who should be collaborating to run diversity and inclusivity training programmes and instead perhaps spend min £40k p.a. on local services. Councils seem to jump onto every new trend that appears and is adopted in the business world, eager not to be seen as simply council employees serving their rate-payers best interests and spending our Council taxes where they do the most good. Meanwhile their clients, US, who they are supposed to serve, watch as public services shrink.
Absolutely, although I see that the government has told local authorities that if they want more money for services, they must make cuts in these areas first. I think the same should apply to the NHS too.
This, along with a bloated management structure and overt wastage, is why the ‘The Tories just need to give it more money” mantra is rather simplistic.
It seems to me that we've been throwing money at the NHS for a long time but the level of service has declined. Given that the NHS budget is currently £187 billion and 52% of total government income, we deserve better.
I was told to attend A&E within 4 hours and given a text with ref on my phone. When we arrived I got phone out to show receptionist who said " oh we don't link up with their information"
I have had this problem. With kids straight off the boat speaking rapid and distorted English. I have had to bawl at one in the past to “SLOW DOWN AND SPEAK ENGLISH ! OR FIND ME SOMEONE WHO CAN , “
Well, we only have ourselves to blame...we voted for this, and seem to keep doing so. Over and over again I meet people who have yet to make the conection between their actions at the polling station and what happens next. I think it comes down to the national cirriculum...absence of political education.
Oh dear! I had a story like that too. Back at the end of lockdown a lot of hospital departments were either checking that we were either still alive or still waiting for appointments :). I just couldn't understand the woman who rang me and had to hand the phone over to my wife. I am about 70+% deaf and wear two hearing aids but again accent and language was a problem even for my wife who had brilliant hearing. They asked did I still need my ENT appointment ENT???? Why was I waiting for an ENT appointment. Thankfully, my wife never gives up on anything - she's like a dog worrying a bone. She kept asking what part of ENT and after about quarter of an hour the caller eventually said Audiology - shame she hadn't said that in the first place because the answer was yes. I was awaiting my hearing test - shoudl have had it just after we went into first lockdown and I had also forgotten that the hearing aid technician had spotted something unusual about my ear when fitting my hearing aids and had also referred me to a consultant. So glad we didn't say no not waiting as I did have a hearing test within a few months and saw the audiologist and everything was fine - hearing aids re-tuned and as good as ever - which is not really that good so the neighbours think we are permanently arguing as wife has to repeat things about 3 or 4 times at every increasing decibels!
I agree with everything that has been said here! I live in Bucks, and when I had breast cancer the treatment couldn't be faulted-fast, efficient and thorough. I had a first AF episode in2017, was doled out beta blocker and blood thinner and sent on my way! However, fast forward to last Nov we were in Norfolk sorting out my daughter's house to go on the market-she had already moved- when I experienced a second attack whilst lying on the bed reading before going to dinner. Went to the Norfolk hospital A&E. VERY organised! There were three doctors on the desk, and when I told one what happened I was immediately sat on a chair and was then seen within 5 minutes, for a ecg and blood pressure check in a side room and then sent down the corridor to 'ambulatory Majors' where my history symptoms and blood were taken, and then told to wait in a small area with other people, who were there for different things. Not too long after I was taken to a ward and given a bed and constantly monitored. I was given a bisoprolol fumerate same as I usually take at bedtime, and was discharged after I reverted on my own, and given a couple of spare tablets. Amazing treatment, couldn't fault it and the triage system really worked! I realise that Norfolk is less populated than Bucks, but even so!! Lucky Norfolk residents!!
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Its not who you are but who you know. 
My af story so far (scared the life out of me)
Alcohol after Cardioversion. They suspect there's a risk but don't tell you.
Please can you reassure me?
