Finally the time had come.... my cardiologist phone call. 😄😄 at last I can get more answers ask lots of questions !!! NO !!!
It wasn’t my consultant, this Dr wanted to know everything that’s been going on, didn’t know I’d been to A&E 3 times etc etc he said he’d pass my details on to my consultant and contact me in the next week or so with a plan if there’s anything can be done. Oh he mentioned having another ultrasound, to compare to my last one which showed my heart not squeezing properly and not letting the blood supply through. !!!!!
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Fluffybee
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Fluffybee, I'm so sorry to hear this, I know you were looking forward to talking to your cardiologist and getting some real answers. You must feel as though you're in limbo. Hopefully whoever this person was today will make good his promise to contact you in a week with a real plan.
I'm not a fan of these phone calls replacing face to face consultations. I understand why it's happening just now but I hope we return to face to face soon. I don't think the clinicians can get an accurate view of how you are without seeing you and of course all the basic monitoring measures are not taken.
I know I had hell of a job convincing my rheumatologist that my rheumatoid arthritis had got out of hand and I needed urgent treatment. In the end I had to photograph my hands and and wrists and post those photos, via royal mail, to him to get him to understand just how bad things had got. Simply describing over the phone did not work. Had he seen me he could of seen for himself how bad things were and I would of received treatment much sooner. I'm still on emergency steriod treatment, awaiting the real treatment to start, which is not ideal as steriods are not great for heart failure (raising blood pressure, fluid retention etc). Had I been physically seen I strongly believe things would not of got out of hand in the first place let alone lead to the debilitating delays in getting any emergency treatment and a longer term treatment plan.
I'm worried as there seem to be plans afoot to continue with phone consultations as opposed to face to face.
Agreed, Gracie. I had a phone consultation with the lipid clinic a few weeks ago. I'd already read my results, the doctor said pretty much what I expected her to say, it was all over in 5 mins and we'll do it again in 6 months' time. Very quick and efficient for both of us, but it was only a routine appointment and I thought afterwards I wouldn't have liked to have one of my earlier consultations, when we were still setting up my treatment plan, to have been conducted that way. I am sure that post-Covid, the NHS is going to push for more consultations to be conducted by phone, but I hope we will be given a choice between telephone and face-to-face.
It sounds as though you were speaking to one of the junior doctors working with your Consultant. They seemed ill prepared for the consultation if they had not read your notes before making the call.
Have you had a perfusion MRI or an angiogram to confirm your diagnosis?
Without a proper diagnosis you cannot receive the best treatment.
You have several options.
Contact your GP and say what happened.
Contact the hospital's Patient advice and Liaison service ( PALS) saying that you were disappointed and would like to discuss your recent admissions and diagnosis with the Consultant.
Say that the doctor speaking to you seemed not to have read your notes before the telephone consultation.
I’ve had an angiogram to rule out build up in my coronary artery’s and that was clear, he said another Dr had told him to mention something about a thing that’s like an angiogram and put something in a vein to do with micro vascular angina, but he mumbled about it and could elaborate a more 😢
Microvascular angina is a complex condition and does need the input of an experienced knowledgable Cardiologist.
As GracieOS commented telephone consultations have their limitations. They have been introduced in response to the covid crisis however they may not be suitable as a permanent solution for all patients.
For this reason it would be worth contacting PALS to tell them about your experience especially if you have any issues with memory or understanding the medical terms used.
I’ll do that, thank you, my memory issue due to other meds really don’t help but I he was happy for me to record the conversation, maybe that’s why he didn’t commit to anything as he didn’t know, who knows.
It’s now sinking in how complex this condition is.
He did say the coronary artery spasms won’t cause a heart attack at all, don’t know if that’s right or not ?
Feel very much like he wasn’t taking me seriously and even commented that I could’ve pulled a muscle, funny how meds and GTN ease things with that !!! 😡😡
I knew I’d read that on BHF website and quoted it but he just said ummm then carried on saying I’ve no more risk than anyone with no heart condition !!!!!
I’m on to that today, thank you so much for your support 😄
So sorry to hear your frustrations. Most medics seem to have the mindset of getting you off their job list as soon as they can. I agree that you should follow this up in some way. When I had a similar situation my husband made them promise they would check with the cardiologist and phone me back either way (which they did) so no harm in being pushy and making a call. Good luck, I hope you get some answers soon x
Persevere with the Hospital, but while there fumbling about you could see a specialist in MVA / VA for around the 200 pounds mark ( search online) and you will have an appointment in days. Works a treat for sorting out medication and also you can request to see them on an ongoing basis on their nhs list.
I did look to see if I could get an appointment privately and the only one who knows about it is the consultant who’s being informed about my conversation yesterday, or he said it was!!!!
So I do have hope, I saw him on my very first appointment he was brilliant, so calm and precise and knowledgeable, just haven’t seen him since, he only takes NHS or private so cannot get any answers to put my mind at rest sooner.
Oh right gotcha, I’ve had exactly the same merry dance fluffybee, including the mumbled we can do a ‘special test’ spiel, and it is frustrating. I now have Pals on speed dial. Hospitals are all about the patient experience now days, and Pals respond very well to try to align patient feedback to the trusts core values/ mission statement. So give them a ring and let them ‘feel’ yr frustration you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We can only raise healthcare standards by giving our honest accounts of our patient experience.
Reply i have to have another angiogram as i am getting Angina so im going private to see the cardiologist i hoped to see before and although i am very worried he put my mind at rest immidiately cant fault NHS they were brilliant when i went in as an emergancy but the consultants and doctors dont talk to one another i need to be dealing with one consultant , he thinks the other artery that was not done before as it was thought it wasn't the cause of my heart attack has narrowed over 11 wjs of angiorplasty or the one that they repaired using a balloon has narrowed again i also had a stent fitted , the private consultant assured me its very treatable but i am really worried ....
The NHS at A&E are very caring at my local but aren’t very familiar of my/our condition, the Drs ask me about it but I don’t know much. So font get far.
I understand where you’re coming from, I’ve had one consultant saying the significant Q wave I’ve developed is nothing to worry about when another one is concerned, one wants to do some tests then stop when my coronary artery’s are clear and told I have nothing wrong !!!!!!!
Hello all hope everyone is ok , its been 6 wks after my second Angiorgram found out that my heart skips a beat but after having a monitor for 24hrs they said its nothing for me to worry about they have given me a higher dose of bisosperol changed my blood pressure tablets so recovering well no angina pain and finally start rehab soon been a long journey for me just need to get stronger x
What gets me is that you have to enter all your details (symptoms/Meds) online to arrange an online consult and then when they ring you have to repeat all this information to the GP. It's like when you are trying to resolve a matter wit customer service you spend most of your time repeating the same information. And don't get me started about when you have to tell a GP that you can not take their suggested medication because of the meds you are currently on!
Apparently GPs have now been advised to continue with their phone calls in preference to face to face. Now I have just managed to see a doctor and a nurse in person but not my doctor that I spoke to on the phone. he arranged for someone else to examine me and report back to him. I now need to speak to a doctor, not a nurse about another problem which is much too complicated to explain fully by phone but I'll guarantee phone is all I will get and that will be timed and rushed or I'll be cut off before I'm done
This virus had been horrifying terrible for many people and I really don’t like to complain about it but it’s changed so much, I don’t think you can compare a face to face appointment for quite a few things, just hope like anything it goes back to how it was or at least face to face consultations, I feel you can talk and express yourself better somehow !
I agree about the virus but some things do need to be face to face. I did get face to face to check my breathing, listen to my chest and check sats but I Have multiple helah problems and have been fobbed off with phone calls. Just got one this morning. Yes he did let me explain and gave me time but it wasn'the doc I needed to speak to about my medication and he's never met me, hadn't read my notes ( Too much to go through) so I had to start and explain everything from the beginning - yet again and got told to ring him back in a week or two which is impossible because the receptionists won't book you with a specific doctor.
Perhaps it's time patients got together with a petition to have face to face appointments and continuity of care by a named doctor. I long for the days when your family GP knew you and your family from birth to death and knew of inherited problems etc.
Hi couldn't agree with you more about this whole telephone consultations. Getting past a receptionist at our surgery to see a specific doctor is nigh on impossible. You have to ring at 8am and then wait for someone to ring you back later. I have had to explain my whole heart attack and what happened in hospital and what happened or rather what didn't happen on discharge and my tablet needs to three different GP's. I have now got the same doctor ringing me. He said I must insist that I speak to him if it is anything connected to my heart condition. Not hopeful but if I need him will give it a try.
YOu'll be lucky unless h e's actually written on your notes that you must speak to him. I haven't even managed a phone call from my names GP in over a year and I really don't want anyone else messing with my tablets.
That's so disappointing as you were all ready to ask your questions and didn't get answers or reassurance. This has happened to me also and it's so frustrating when the doctor has not even read your notes asks lots of questions and it feels like a waste of time
I've just had a telephone appointment as follow up from when I was in A and E I didn't speak to My consultant but the doctor who called had read my notes and had all my information on the computer so was well prepared. I've been feeling better since upping my meds and will have another appointment in 3 months and there are other meds to try if I deteriorate again so was okay
Microvascular angina is not always recognised and difficult to diagnose I’ve had it after my stents and even now after two years I’m still struggling with it I’m on medication sometimes I have good times and others not I am under a cardiologist try and get as much information as possible
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