My poor wife is in hospital, in the South West of France. Her spleen ruptured unexpectedly on Tuesday. The Pompiers were here within ten minutes of phoning. She has problems now with her heart and one kidney has shut down, besides this she has multiple clots in her brain, and her right hand is paralysed. As the doctors have not fully diagnosed what has gone wrong, and she is having an MRI scan and ECG today. I thought I could maybe get some of her history, namely the results of an ECG that she had in Feb this year at home in Wales. This will help the doctor here, as they can compare them. Of course the surgery in Chirk is closed today, giving a number to call for out of hours doctors. Call this number, which gives out a message saying that this number is closed and to contact your own surgery.
It is an outrage that in an emergency you cannot contact your own doctor at 8.10 in the morning. Or any doctor who may have access to your records.
In France each person holds their own record of healthcare. So they can go anywhere with it. My wife is in intensive care here in France. If she had to wait the three hours for an ambulance I had to wait last time one was called to our house in Wales, she would be in the morgue.
When is the NHS going to be removed from direct government control? I am disgusted at the way my wife was treated when she went to the doctor earlier this year. I have nothing but praise for the French team looking after her.
Rant over
Written by
jointpain
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope she gets better soon. At the moment there is no method of getting your medical history quickly. But please for the sake of rest of us, please put in a complain once you are back so that they can try to fix this problem in the future.
And you are right about direct government control. it's time this system was taken off line, it's beyond repair and a new system needs to replace it.
Hi jointpain,
Gosh what a dreadful thing, but it sounds as if your wife is having the very best of care in France. How lucky for her that you were there and not here! I hope she pulls through OK.
However, I should point out that it's just not that easy anyway to call and get someone else's medical records. Next of kin can't be given any confidential medical information. A doctor may do it, if it's necessary, but my (granted, limited) experience of this happening is that one doctor isn't necessarily going to want to waste time doing that. Because methodology and (yes), pride in one's own methods, does come into play. it also takes time and some difficulty as happened with me when my Caribbean doctor requested history from a UK one.
I'm not sure about the French system of walking around with your medical records, but I don't think it's strictly necessary. If you keep a written record of your own current medications and the salient major points of your history, you are well equipped to pass those on in person, when needed.
But your comment on surgery opening hours isn't really as relevant as you may think. As I said, you can't just ring up and be provided with what you want to know. You could be anyone. And the whole point about surgery hours is that, outside of those, we have an emergency system for treatment, including 999 when necessary. And our digital notes are available to all who need to see them, unless you have opted out of the system yourself.
Does the NHS need shaking up? Oh dear me yes! And it's now a political issue and those of us who want to keep it need to keep pressure on this Tory government to stop trying to destroy it.
Well I got through to the receptionist at 9 this morning, I think she is related to Hitler, as she did not put any urgency on my call and said to phone back at 11.30 when surgery was finished. I did phone and Hitler's sister answered, suggested I phone later. I did after 15 minutes. Must have got Hitler's other sister, as now told the doctor would not be available for at least a half hour, and no, they couldn't phone me on my UK mobile as it would cost them money! I phoned again an hour later once I got to the hospital. To be told by yet another Hitler the doctor was busy and will phone me sometime. That was 45 minutes ago.
If they spent the money on actual doctors, rather than receptionists the health service could be a better place. On the positive side my lovely wife is feeling better and some improvement to her fingers is noticeable. To me anyway. Her temp has gone back to normal. And it is a bank holiday here so nobody is doing much today (Tuesday).
What is it about hospital and General Practitioners' receptionists? They have NO medical qualification yet take up the mantle of 'gatekeeper' to our medical resources....
The ability to reply to this post has been turned off.
most headstrong of us when confronted with a doctor's surgery!
I particularly the questions he...
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
