As if heart failure was not enough my non existent GP sent me a very brief letter informing me that I now have acute kidney failure which may be “age related” ! Oh yea, nothing to do with the furosemide and Spirolactone I am on then. No request to see me to discuss as they have a Fort Knox policy and refuse to see, let alone touch patients, just in case they catch something. Why did they go in for medicine in the first place, perhaps it was the large salaries that attracted them. They certainly do not seem anxious to help people who are ill. I am now totally cynical about the NHS which seems to be falling apart.
My husband received 3 letters and a phone call asking him to make an appointment for a blood test when he had done so after the first letter. What a waste of money and they complain about people missing appointments. I received a letter in May asking me to make a blood test appointment at the end of June for a date at the end of July…..
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Callista
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The present situation with the NHS is worrying. In your position I think I would ring surgery and ask to speak to practice manager to establish if this is usual protocol!! Because it shouldn't be!! Insist on telephone triage call with your absent GP and ask when your urgent renal referral will be arranged. You are worthy of attention and it is a sad reflection on the present practices that we have to fight every step of the way for attention.At the very least you need advice on dietary and fluid intake changes that may help. Fingers crossed. xx
I was talking to a retired dentist the other day about the rank stupidity and red tape strewn NHS. He had decided to take early retirement as he didn't feel it was his job or duty to fill in forms for the NHS telling them on a by per patient basis what pieces of equipment they had used and by that I mean individual reusable items such as the stainless steel equipment and tools they use!
I know our own, quite good medical practice has a ratio of doctors to admin staff of 2 x semi full time doctors and 1 semi retired doctor to 12 admin, all of whom are completing time wasting NHS red tape!
In stark comparison, I used to live in France for quite a long time and our local (brilliant) doctors surgery had 4 full time doctors to 1 full time receptionist/secretary. If you contacted the surgery then normally within only an hour you would be seeing the doctor of your choice.
When living over there I had various bone and joint related problems and normally with each case, I would see my doctor, we would discuss the problem and what I would like to do next, if that was either an X-ray or a MRI scan the appointment would be made for me there and then and in most cases that would be either the same day or at worst 2 days time. Then if it needed surgery, yet again I would discuss the matter with my doctor and together we would choose the clinic or hospital that was best and an appointment would be made there and then to see a consultant surgeon and normally you would be seeing them within only a day or so!!
In the clinic or hospital there weren't dozens of time wasting nurses queuing up at computer screens to tap in your latest information as happens in UK hospitals, in France you had the old fashioned clip board hanging on the bottom of your bed that a few seconds of writing was all that was required to keep all other attending medical specialists fully aware of your continuing condition.
WHY IS IT THAT THE NHS IS SO STIFLED BY RED TAPE AND CRASS INEFFICIENCY?
The French NHS is a Ntional Halth Service where, those who can afford it, have to pay a relatively small top up medical insurance, in our case our insurance which covered my wife and I cost us just €1,100 per annum and that was the second from the top level of cover. Those who are proven to be unable to afford the cover have almost exactly the same level of service excepting for the fact that they might not have wine with every course of their beautifully prepared meals when in hospital!!
The only way I knew I had stage 3 kidney failure was it was listed on my Patient Acess App. This was several years ago. Has anything further happened with gp, no, I give up.
Thanks for message, wonder what if anything we should do about. Do I just add it to my long list of things that will surely get me in the end?
Dear Callista
Shocking how your surgery is dealing with the new diagnosis of kidney failure { I had no idea that this could be age related, but then again what isn’t these days?}
I don’t care at what level your GP Surgery is running at, to send something so insensitive through the post is very unprofessional as they had no idea how you would except the news {luckily you sound like you have a bit of fight in you}.
As others have said you need to contact the manager {if you can get through the reception guards} or at the very lest a call from triage/trained nurse to explain just what is going on with your kidneys as “Kidney Failure “ is like “heart Failure “ the words cover a lot.
Not being medically trained I cannot comment on your meds being the cause of the diagnosis, but and a big but, I am on the same drugs and still have regular blood tests to check both kidney and liver functions.
I am still under my Heart nurse who deals with all this, but I must admit that I am not looking forward to being released back to my surgery.
Time to shout out from your corner and get noticed for those answers that we all need.
Age related? This is becoming a new mantra, I really thought all this stopped years ago, obviously not.
Oh dear, I'm very sorry to hear the way you are being treated. This issue certainly needs to be addressed, preferably by a face to face meeting rather than a telephone consultation. There is no excuse delivering that level of diagnosis in the manner that you received it.
I recently had to query a note attached to my latest blood test which referred to something being outside normal parameters, but expected. What a sideways comment with no point of reference! It was actually in relation to my creatinine level being high and why it was "expected" was due to some damage to my right kidney when I had a fall onto a hard surface back in 2010. Thankfully the results still read kidney failure stage 0.
Hello Callista. Perhaps you should ask your doctor to refer you to a Kidney specialist to keep an eye on your condition and you could always get advice from a Facebook group. Chronic kidney disease. They are a lovely group and so helpful. Take care Brian
When I checked my records online I was profoundly shocked to find that last year, kidney failure or similar words had been added last year without a word t o me. I Phoned immediately to ask lot s of questions. I was told there are several levels given to kidney function and that it can fluctuate. If it goes even fractionally below a certain number, "The system" logs it as stage 3 or whatever. KIdney function also decreases with age. I was told not to worry as the next blood test was fine. However it was a tremendous shock and I feel strongly that if they are logging something like that,the patient should be told. I do remember now being called back for a repeat blood test but it was never explained why.
Hi.I have been told I have 'chronic kidney disease' - chronic meaning long term I was told. My kidneys read from 39-41 (a healthy kidney count is 90!). Only thing I was told was to drink plenty of water and I have blood tests yearly!
Thank you and everyone for their very helpful replies. It came as a complete shock and I agree it would have made a huge difference if I had been informed of the level of kidney failure, e.g. mild/ severe as it has dietary implications. I am hot footing it to the surgery to ask for more details and advice this morning.
It ruined the Jubilee weekend for me as I could not stop worrying about it. Had I been given an appointment to discuss something arising from my recent blood tests it would have been a better way for the surgery to handle this but consideration for patients is low on the priority list nowadays!
Update on this: I managed to see a doctor but it was someone on a 4 month placement before taking up an appointment at the Freeman. He could not have been more unhelpful. He denied the letter re chronic kidney failure had originated from any of the doctors and told me to complain to the reception staff if I wasn’t happy. One wonders if soon doctors will be obsolete and the receptionists will run the practice.I asked about dietary advice and whether Entresto and Spirolactone could have been involved in my kidney failure as both drugs carry warnings.
Unfortunately he was very dismissive. He did a cursory check of my medicines and that was that. I did point out that on checking I found that Chronic Kidney Disease stage 3a had been noted on my blood tests since 2019 but I had not been informed. He just wasn’t interested.
I feel he will fit in well at the Freeman if my experiences there are anything to go by.
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