frustrating experience

For the last few weeks i have been struggling to control my asthma i have had bad nights a chesty cough and persistant breathlessness on doing anything. I went to my GP who admitted he was out of his depth and tried to contact my resp con then for the following week i,my GP and my community matron continued to try and get hold of him through various means and then to top it off he went on leave on Friday. I was basically told if it persists go to A + E which i finally did yesterday -what a waste of time!!!

I arrived there after getting a bus and the 2 minute walk from the bus stop started me wheezing so i got taken straight through to Minors where i was put on a neb then moved to majors. As soon as the neb ended i was given another 1 and tyhen again another without being seen by a dr!!!

Finally a very schoolboyish looking F1 came in to me i filled him in on what had been happening and basically looked at me and said well u seem fine now!!-not surprising it was aild attack and i had just had 15mg ventolin !! he tried to discharge me with pred and antibs -joke- i have been on 40mg pred for ages and idont take amoxycillin as i may as well be eating smarties!!

He left and came back with his senior an F2!!! so I wentthrough everything again and he basically said he would refer me to the medics and i would be transferred to MAU

they tried to take bloods and failed .

I arrived at A + E at 2.30pm at 10.15pm i still hadnt been seen by anyone , the nurses couldnt even give me my regular meds which i was very much in need of by then so i discharged myself - it wasnt against medical advice as no one had seen me!! I even had 1 nurse suggest i ask someone to bring nebs in to me so i could do my own - what a joke!!

Finally i had a breakthough i rang my normal ward and managed to speak to a reg who has now upped my inhaler (now over reccommended dose!) and im on a decent anti-b - what a mare yesterday was!!! Really has put me off going to A + E unless im really bad

[KateMoss]

That is bonkers! I hope the upped inhaler works for you.

Didn't the F1 ask what you were on already?

Regarding meds, that is daft! They would be negligent if they didn't provide your essential medication when needed if someone else was unable to bring it in for you.

I think alll hosps are cutting down in medication they provide for you as an inpatient. I always try to take mine in (when admitted from home at least) as it is much easier and I am left to do it myself, thogh I have to write down when I take my nebs.....

I fully understand you going home - at least you have your medication.

But please take care! Hope your cons or someone in the know, contacts you very soon!

Hugs

Kate

XXX

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what a horrible experience but im afraid that most times ive been to a + e i feel left on my own, often not being checked for hourse while im struggling to breath inbetween nebs. the only reason why i stay normally is that i dont want to worry my family so i stay where there is medical care, but i would be better off treated by the paramedics then rest at home where i am less stressed and not surrounded by drunks and druggies, nurses who havent got any time to do anything and doctors who are mostly invisible or dont have any experience to tell you anything. obv there are exceptions and when they help it is the best of the nhs but there are not many around. im glad that you managed to get some help though and i really hope you are feeling loads better x

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Blimey hopalongkp you sound like you having a right time of it. I hated my local hospital because I didnt feel the consultants were really doing their job properly, everyone round here is like mayday wow dont go there! All I can say is your comments here make my hospital look brilliant. Ane do look after you pretty well considering the pressure they are under. And they moan like anything if you try to discharge yourself. I so hope you are resting well and slowly getting better. Take care of yourself. Sally. xxx

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frustrating experience

Boy you had a really bad time of it and I know what you are talking about. Thats why I try to minimise these experiences by going to a chosen hospital that can manage my condition. Its my health and I am not paying for someone else's mistakes. Busy departments, not enough staff, in-experience whatever it is not my problem. My consultant agrees with me too. However, emergencies sometimes prevents us making a choice.

gill

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I really know how you feel; I think many of us have been there. Remember that you are entitled to make a complaint if you feel strongly enough - there isn't any excuse to receive substandard treatment and making a complaint can always serve to improve services for others in the future. It's not all about just having a moan.

Most importantly, I hope you are begining to feel better and you have the support you need around you.

Gareth

[angievere]

This sounds terrible Hopalong. Reminds me when George was rushed into hospital as a 4yr old - ambulance man rushed up to desk in A&E with George in his arms and nurses were just standing chatting. No sense of emergency whatsoever.We waited what seemed like minutes before ambulance man butted in... seemed surreal at the time. But once we got their attention, they were all very good. And when my late father in law was rushed in with a heart attack in April, the service couldnt have been better. It's strange isnt it??

Anyway, I hope you are feeling better now.