Hi guys after waiting months for loop recorder getting fitted I had my first episodes last night. Wasn’t sure what to do as it was late at night and Boxing Day. Called 111 for advice. They didn’t know what it was so was told to go to a&e right away and said they’d send an ambulance I refused as I was just dizzy. Got to hospital and they didn’t know what it was either. Got 2 ecgs done an hour apart. Was left for another 2 hours without attention. I said I just want the recorder checked as it’s first time. Felt I was so wasting they’re time. Eventually at 6 am I said I was leaving and I’d call cardiology when it opened. They said ok bye. I mean do I expect too much. Why did the 111 operator tell me to go “immediately “ which I have to admit freaked me out a bit. Called cardiology at 10 o’clock to be told they would get a technician to cAll me back which I’m still awaiting on. As I activated monitor 3 times I can’t use it again until it gets reset. Why implant these costly devices if the follow up isn’t there. Its really getting to me which isn’t like me at all. I tend to take things in my stride but this is serious. It’s not a cold or such. Sorry for rant guys. I just feel like crying ❤️shiona
Grrrrr: Hi guys after waiting months... - British Heart Fou...
Grrrrr
I feel for you, I've had some worrying experiences with 111. Calling in the early hours when my partner was becoming delirious, temperature rising, advising the call handler that my partner was prone to sepsis, and the call handler's advice? Contact her doctor in the morning. I called him an idiot and insisted he at least got a doctor to ring me. A paramedic rang back and told me an ambulance was on the way. I was told that the call handlers aren't medically trained.
As for hospital horror stories...
I've learned not to panic but stay calm and handle the situation how it will best suit my partner. She's still here after 10 years, so I must be doing something right.
Oh, and even my partner's doctor who I'd called out to our home once, asked me if I thought she should go to hospital. What's happened to our NHS?
Thanks for reply huff. I just needed a rant. I agree the nhs is in a terrrible state. All I could hear in a&e last night was squeaky rattly trolleys going past. Have they never heard of wd40😂😂
I hate a&e. I've spent so many hours there. And when they send you on to the next place, it's amu ward, total bedlam with people coming and going night and day. Then into the appropriate ward for your condition.
Last time was 4 weeks ago, my partner with yet another chest infection and treated for pneumonia with lots of iv antibiotics. They always blame silent aspiration and try bullying her into 100% peg use, nil by mouth, but she refuses.
The cause was discovered after discharge to be e coli in her gut that they suspect got into her lungs, so peg feeding wouldn't of stopped it.
I've had practice at ranting , lots of practice👍😀
What was the episodes ?? Looks like your ECGs seem OK otherwise you would have been kept in .Quite time for Cardiology unless you are Urgent, sure your consultant will be in touch should your episodes prove to be significant.
Best Regards
I get dizzy and pass out. The recorder is to try to find the cause as it happens. By the time I get to hospital and get ecg it’s back to normal. I understand it being holidays but it’s so frustrating when Iv now got the means to find the problem that no one checks it. I’ll call rehab team tomorrow. Thanks for reply❤️shiona
there has been quite a topic on here about the lack of care after hospital.
it is correct that the frontline staff 111 are not medically trained and all they are doing is reeling off a computer script which is only setup for those having possible strokes or heart attacks then again i wouldn't even call them for this as they don't have the basic medical training in the first place.
if you are suffering from anything else then forget it they just reel off stuff which is totally unsuitable for what you are suffering from and in most cases they will tell you to wait for your doctors to open or will make you wait hours just to speak to a doctor or a nurse and then you have to explain things all over again.
it is just a laughing stock putting it politely.
they stopped the best system in place years ago where each area had a number to ring and you then spoke to a local doctor who would decide if to see you or want you to go to a+e
it really is a hard call what to do once our doctors close till the next day or the weekend.
You've got that spot on, there was a TV campaign here in the west of England to convince people to use 111 instead of 999. Even some of the paramedics that come here (and there's been a few) think 111 is a joke.
I phoned it once for my 93 year old neighbour who had diarrhea and vomiting all night. I was asked questions relating to a stroke, I reassured the call handler she wasn't having one and I knew the difference between diarrhea and a stroke, but she continued to ask the stroke questions anyway
Hi mike this was the first time I ever called them. Won’t be doing it again
The call handlers at 111 are completely untrained. They have a computer script of questions. If you mention any of the red flag words they send an ambulance immediately. If you go to "111 online" you will get the exact same list of questions. When I wanted advice on why my BP was far lower in one arm and that arm kept going icy cold as soon as it got to the "Cold arm" answer it cam,e up with "Call 999 immediately". When I went back a page and change the answer to "Don't know" it gave me the phone number for our local out of hours service where I could speak to a nurse and get proper advice. A computer system of questions is just a "one size fits all" that goes on worst case scenario so they miss fewer serious problems. It's simply not fit for purpose. It wastes ambulance time and sends people to A&E who just don't need to be there
Was told not to use 111 by paramedics in past so now I just call 999. It's frustrating when it's sporadic hubby having another tape fitted next month. Get email or phone no of specialist cardiac nurse if you can they can sometimes be of help
I agree with everything that's been said but you get what you pay for. We need to get to grips with all the big tax avoiders so we can fund the N.H.S. properly.
Now that's my rant over!!
Ha ha well done. Iv been saying this for years. I remember when I was younger(long time ago) tax went up a penny every year and although we moaned about it you still paid it and we had a lot less to live on back then but we were looked after properly
I agree the big tax avoiders need bringing into line! However, I think the NHS could be run much more efficiently. I and three other people I know have all been discharged prematurely and ended up back in hospital a short while later - in two cases it was less than 24 hours later. Also much of the admin is not fit for purpose both as a result of poor procedures and staff that are totally disinterested. Rant over!
Totally agree. N.H.S. is badly managed and inefficient.
I think you/we are expecting to much from 111 they prioritise calls into Life Threating, or Really you should go and see your GP. The NHS is a huge organisation OK we don't always get what we think we should, but hey there are other people just as seriously ill also in the queue !!
The NHS is changing so very quickly in 1982 when I had an M I no-one talked about stents it was really make you comfortable and send you home, Look at it now Stents CABG, ICDs, New Valve join the queue be right there. We can NEVER fund the NHS to every ones expectation Advances in Medicine means the NHS is keeping us all alive longer so Old People with Complex needs require more and more of a scarce resource, sorry that's the way it and it won't get better anytime soon.
From one of the Older ones using up the resources
I agree, but it's not just us older ones using resources, it's all the obese, inactive, smokers who take a disproportionate share of resources.
Sadly I think 111 has been deskilled over the years by ever more screen prompts replacing basic training and common sense. It has been changed by accountants rather than medical professionals. Two people I knew as a child went on to become accountants - both ended up having career breaks in HMP hotels!
When you press the gadget that comes with the recorder you are only letting the cardiac team know that you are aware of the attack, it doesn’t activate anything. I had a call from the cardiac team asking me if I was ok, as I’d had quite an episode and I hadn’t pressed the gadget to say I had felt it, I wasn’t aware of anything at all. As it turned out they brought me in and I ended up having a pacemaker fitted in April this year, as I had type 1 & 2 heart blocks. When you feel any palpitations/lightheaded ness/pass out you need to press the gadget so that they know that you know, that you are having an episode. Hope this clarifies things.
Thanks Kim Kay. I saw EP yesterday and was given a monitor to keep at bedside which is linked to hospital. Bradycardia was cause of recent spell. They’re going to keep an eye on it❤️
Yes I had the same monitor, I’m surprised they didn’t give you that at the same time that your recorder was fitted, magic piece of kit. Just an idea though, if you have to have a pacemaker fitted, just leave the recorder in, I opted to have mine taken out and it caused more problems than it was worth. Apparently once the battery has died it will just sit there and not give you any hassle, if I had the choice again I would leave well alone .
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