Post Hospital Admission Appointment?

[scooby6]

My partner was in hospital over Christmas with low blood pressure, AKI and stomach pains. During admission they discover liver cirrhosis & moderate ascites which was infected & treated with antibiotics. They discussed removing the ascites either by diuretics or drain early on in his stay however he was discharged on Christmas day with no mention of what would happen next. His discharge notes make no mention of a follow up outpatient appt. Is this normal? Will he be referred to a liver clinic (if such a thing exists?) to discuss managing symptoms, nutrition etc or is he now under the care of the doctor?

[McEwan1962]

Hi, I’m glad your husband is home and hopefully doing ok. I’m assuming that the discharge summary will have been sent to the GP and that the follow up care will be with them if there is no ongoing appointments mentioned.

Probably best to get in touch with the GP for further advice or if there is Responsible Clinician (Consultant) name on the summary their Medical Secretary to get clarification.

Hope that is useful 👍

[scooby6 in reply to McEwan1962]

He’s doing well thank you 😊 I did wonder about giving the Gastro department a call this week at the hospital just to see what the next step is. I was also thinking an appt letter might turn up in the next few weeks maybe?

[2022minks in reply to scooby6]

It doesn't hurt to give them a call and to find out if hubby will get an out patients appointment with a gastroenterologist consultant. My mum after her hospital release in June got her first appointment in Oct, so he may be in the pipeline. Once with a consultant they usually have a secretary that you can contact. If no joy contact PALS at that hospital and they should be able to find out for you. And book an appointment with your gp to discuss his discharge. Go in 2 pairs of ears are better than one. British Liver Trust are your info go to for liver disease so download pamphlets and use their helpline. Furry hugs your way xx

[scooby6 in reply to 2022minks]

This is very helpful - thank you 😊 I did call the Gastro dept at the hospital and were waiting for a call back.

[Roy1955]

Have you replied to the wrong post Richard?

[D6C2L30E-48]

That's the hospital I'm under richard

[BritishLiverTrust1 Partner British Liver Trust]

Welcome to the forum,

If you are in the UK and would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm on 0800 652 7330 (excluding bank holidays)

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[Kristian]

This is one where there should be some follow up, but if its not mentioned anywhere in his discharge notes then certainly make an appointment with his GP as soon as you can. Its unlikely it will be picked up otherwise as nothing will flag to anyone that wasn't directly involved to arrange anything. The GP can then liaise directly with the hospital on your behalf to set things up. However, if it ends up being, well we'll see you in 6 - 9 months then I'd suggest some follow up with PALS at the hospital to see if this can be expedited quicker. It wouldn't really be that sensible to leave it that long for a follow up given what you describe.

[Tonbolt275]

Good look with trying to get people on your page ,I was diagnosed 6mts ago still not spoke to my consultant asked for a chat with a dietician still waiting ,have had a meeting with a liver nurse but got some very contradictory diagnosis, which didn't help my mental health one bit , been back to my doctor 10 times asking for help ,on one occasion the doctor laughed when I told him how I felt ,then said my time was up and opened the door for me ????