Rheumy Visit Part 2. MATTCASS

[mattcass]

Right my time to take over I said to him he got the letter part all wrong the meds discussed with the Rheumy nurse was in fact Hydroxy not Salfsalizine in fact his letter state no meds will be given for my RA until I saw the transplant team in Edinburgh on the 10th June and they gave the go ahead only for Hydroxy and no others as they could do me more harm than good this sort of thing sticks in your mind, he said there is always some sort of give and take when someone has both illnesses, All the time I was speaking he just looked at his Pc I told him there was no way I would take the Salfasalazine without discussing it with my chest consultant first, I sat there telling him he was wrong he was so wrong and still he would not acknowledge me, What if any lesser person just took his word for it and took it could have had tragic consequences, Then he prints of a slip of paper and says I will see you in 4 months and make an appointment on the way out, The minute we got out of the room Fran says what was that all about if he has personal problems he should leave them at the door on the way into work, Then as we are leaving the hospital grounds the Rheumy Nurse shouts us back telling us the consultant wants to take blood I looked at the nurse and said tell him I have had 4 blood tests done in the last 4 weeks and if he keeps staring into his monitor he will eventually see this, you could see she wanted to say something poor girl I thanked her then said no thanks, Fran said I should E-mail him and ask him to explain himself for his behaviour or meet you so you can tell him what course of action you want to take, we have all been there bad days good days I wont take it any further unless he ignores my E-mail or my letter which I have already done I always believe someone should be given a second chance, As I said at the beginning the first 2 visits were excellent I even posted and praised him for being so professional and caring. Mattcass

[mattcass]

Hi Stich thank you, He was like that when we went into the consultation.Mattcass

[dall05]

Hi MC, sounds like you've been having some fun with your Rheumy consultant. I used to have joint meetings with my chest and rheumy consultant in the same room. That worked really well, we could discuss things together and reach a sensible conclusion. I've since been left seeing only my chest consultant as the RA seems to be under control at the moment.

I'm trying to sort out what's happening after my consultants meeting last week because when I left I was told to make my next appointment in 3 months. Its just arrived in the post and its 8 months away.

A few phone calls will have to be made I think. It seems as though the NHS is getting overwhelmed at the moment, I guess we should expect nothing else with Cameron and Clegg in charge.

At least my transplant team are seeing me every 3 months and they seem pretty good so far.

Maybe a Glasgow kiss is the right way to go to get things done eh MC, or worse than that set Fran on to um', There's no place for these inconsistences is there MC. I thought your Rheumy showed a lack of care with his very poor attitude and lack of eye contact. Maybe he thought that he was talking to a computer instead of a human being.

Your right to give him a chance but then if he carries on that way then report him.

Tony.

[mattcass in reply to dall05]

Hi Tony How are you getting on breaking anymore records.Mattcass

[dall05 in reply to mattcass]

No more records broken recently MC, but watch this space. First thing is to get over a blinkin stiff neck from sleeping with the window open. Must have been in a draught or something.

Give that consultant a Glasgow kiss from me. (SEE YOU JIMMY)

Tony

[Toci]

Appalling behaviour and no possible excuse. I would report him and ask for another consultant.

[sassy59]

It does sound as if the Consultant was having a very bad day but he should not take it out on you. So rude not to even make eye contact. I hope you do get a reply to your letter and email and take it from there. Good luck to you mattcass. xxxxx

[Hidden]

I'm still angry at the way he treated you. Do you really want to give him a second chance? He might be ok for a while but then could revert to being so rude to you again. I thing you would be helped more by seeing a different consultant after having made a very strong complaint about the idiot.

Bev x

[Hidden]

It is frightening when there are mistakes made that could have terrible consequences. I have said before that you have to have your wits about you because if you haven't or have no-one to double check things, then heaven help you.

We saw the consultant a while ago (my husband has COPD/Bronchiectasis) and we always get a copy of the letter which is sent to our GP's, I always check it to make sure that what he told us in clinic is actually written down in the letter. My husband was reading it first and it stated that due to the very warm weather my husband has now got HEART FAILURE, well you should have seen my husbands face, he had trouble breathing and I thought he was going to have a heart attack, I said what on earth is wrong with you and he showed me the letter. Well, I cracked out laughing, I know I shouldn't have, but it was very obvious there had been a typing error and really, my husband should have known this instead of getting all hot and bothered because he was in the clinic when he was told he had HAY FEVER.

I rang the consultants secretary who I am on first name terms with due to the numerous times I have to ring her about late appointments and not getting appointments etc. etc. and she was devastated, she apologised and sent me and the GP an amended letter apologising for the error.

My husband is lucky, he has someone to look out for him even though if he used his head a bit more instead of relying on me to do everything, he would have known it was a typing error., but there are people out there who get confused and something like this could really cause problems.

It is the same with prescription drugs that are delivered to the house, we got some the other day and they had my husbands name on them, it gave instructions how to take them and how many to take. There again I deal with all my husbands drugs and sort them out for him and I knew they were not his. I rang the chemist and was told theGP staff had given them the prescription when they went to collect his normal medication for delivery to us and they didn't think anything about it, so I rang the doctors and yes, they had made a mistake. What if I hadn't spotted they were not his, would he have taken them, he said he wouldn't have but I have my doubts.

If I was you I would report the consultant, he is being paid to do a job just like anyone else and he needs sorting out.

[scrobbitty]

Yikes, I'm still waiting for my first appointment with a Rheumy and if I get one like that, I will be telling him/her exactly what I think of them. The arrogance of some of them is unbelievable - if it wasn't for us patients they wouldn't have a job - they get very well paid to do a job which is supposed to be compassion included, at the very least civility. I hope you hear back soon Matt. Until then, take care. xx