untreated unstable angina

[Welshsinger3]

My mum went to a&e on feb 21st with chest pain, they said they thought she had unstable angina. they did ecg, chest x ray and bloods. Blood levels came back raised and repeated in 3 hours. were still raised. Original doctor said they were likely to either keep her or give her medication with an urgent referal as she had a stroke 14 months earlier. Staff change over and they sent her home with nothing, said to come back if she had chest pain again. No signs to look for etc except chest pain. It took 7 weeks for a referral letter, my mum passed away with a heart attack the day after the letter arrived. Is it normal to have unstable angina and not get any treatment or follow up for such a long time?

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

I am so sorry to read that you have lost your mother in such circumstances. Please accept my condolences.

There is sadly plenty of evidence to suggest that women often do not receive the same level of care when they have unstable angina or heart attacks as men.

I suggest you contact the Patient Advisory Liaison Service, PALS of the hospital concerned. Ask for a copy of your mother's medical records and raise your concerns about your mother's care with them.

bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-...

leeds.ac.uk/news/article/42...

[Welshsinger3 in reply to Milkfairy]

thank you for taking the time to respond, i'll look into it today.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star in reply to Welshsinger3]

So sorry to read your post and hear about your mother. A good idea to ask for assistance from PALs. They are there to help and advise when care has not, or is not, going smoothly.

They have always been helpful to me.

[beardy_chris in reply to Milkfairy]

May I also suggest it might be worth having a chat with Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA)? They have a website (see avma.org.uk/) and a helpline staffed by medical and legal professionals - and when I had an issue, I found them very patient and helpful. They'll let you know more about how to determine whther your Mother's care was appropriate.

[Welshsinger3 in reply to beardy_chris]

thank you very much, i hadn't heard about these. really appreciate you taking the time to help.

[LSCE]

Hello,

I would follow the advice already offered on here. I just wanted to offer my sincere condolences, so sorry to hear this happened.

[Golfingnrwby]

so sorry for your loss.

[Cee-Cee1]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Welshsinger and would like to offer my sincere condolences. Carol

[EU95PTM]

I am so sorry to read about your Mother’s care and her passing. Please accept my sincere condolences.

As another poster has mentioned, women can sometimes not receive the duty of care that they should expect. I think there can be a level of unconscious bias that some women don’t look like a patient who has/is about to suffer a heart attack, or whether she has different presenting symptoms. It happened to me. I would urge you to contact PALS but you can also do a ‘subject matter request to obtain the hospital records of your mother’s admission. There will be a formal process to follow but you should be provided with them within 30 days. Hopefully you will be able to understand what happened and get the answers you need.

[Barbrian]

I am so upset to read your sad story

[Welshsinger3]

thank you everyone i really appreciate your help and kind words x

[Mountwood]

Someone has already mentioned Action for Medical Accidents and I'd like to second that. They were wonderful to me when my husband died and will recommend a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence if necessary though I hope it won't come to that. Sorry for the loss of your mother. Best wishes.

[Welshsinger3 in reply to Mountwood]

thank you so much and i'm so very sorry for your loss xx