Chesterfield Online Forum
General Category => Rants => Topic started by: Alsatian on November 13, 2012, 12:49:21 PM
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Just had the following experience of the NHS - including the 'new' 111 service:
Mother-in-law, aged 92, was hospitalised in April after suffering a mild stroke, she was also diagnosed with the early onset of Dementia (She also has very low kidney function). She was discharged after a few weeks and was given a care plan that ensured someone came in each morning to get her up, washed and dressed, given her breakfast and to make sure she took her tablets. This ceased after a while and she became more or less self-sufficient with help from family members (Son and Daughter (my wife)).
When we returned from our last holiday (October) we were told that she had been admitted to hospital after suffering a mild heart attack. She then started with a cold whilst in hospital and she was released after 10 days being told that she would be better at home. She was collected by her son with a pack of tablets but without any care plan (despite being told that she would receive care in the short term).
We, as a family, continued to look after her during the day, but, after a week her cold was getting steadily worse. A doctor came out to see her and she was diagnosed with a chest infection and prescribed anti-biotics. The doctor told us to call '111' if she didn't improve in 48 hours, she was worse after 48 hours and we called 111 and requested a visit by the on-call doctor. He arrived after 7 hours and prescribed a different anti-biotic, which I took to the chemist.
After a further 48 hours she was by this time far worse and she was now receiving 24/7 care from family as she was becoming weak from a total lack of sleep and the inability to eat (and what she did eat soon came back up!). Her coughing bouts were coming at intervals of 15-20 seconds and she looked bloody awful!
We rang the Careline alarm who passed the call to the 111 service, who called us back after ¾ hour - after a lot of questioning she told us that perhaps we should call a doctor out to prescribe different anti-biotics, we said we wanted her to go into hospital (by this time she was too weak to even stand). They told us it would be between a 1 and 4 hour wait for an ambulance.
At this point I called 999 and a paramedic came within 5 minutes and, after examining her called for an ambulance as a 'hot one'. The ambulance came within a few minutes and she was soon in A&E where she was immediately given a nebuliser, had blood tests taken and given a chest X-ray. Even at this stage they said it all depended on the blood test results whether she would be admitted or not.
After all this they found that she had fluid in one lung and an infection in the other!!! She is now in the EMU ward waiting for a doctor to see her.
My gripe in all this is: I thought the NHS, including its' subsidiary services (eg the 111 sysytem) were care driven - it seems to me that it is either finance or target driven, or this is the way it seems to be to us, as surely this is no way to treat an elderly person.
As an aside, before she was admitted my wife was trying to arrange some care to help us and the chap at Social Services was appalled that she had been discharge after the heart attack with no help from them. He has now told us to tell a nurse that she needs a full review from the social work team before she is discharged.
OK rant over!
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Sounds like a nightmare Keith - good job you and your missus were on the case, could have gone horribly wrong.
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Sounds like a nightmare Keith - good job you and your missus were on the case, could have gone horribly wrong.
Yes, a case of balancing health vs our inheritance and health won!
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Downright f*****g disgusting mate. Animals get treat better in this country !!
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My wife works for the 111 service. I'd rather not get involved in this thread for obvious reasons
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So it's not true that the NHS DIRECT 0845 464748? staff are now facing job losses.
Me being stupid didn't realise that Nhs Direct was already a sell off to a private company.
I thought it was an NHS helpline, no wonder the few times I'd had to phone them, they were feckin useless !
111 is another sell off, they can provide a service cheaper than Nhs Direct and got the contract !!!
Fat lot of use to me and the country. Say I have an accident in the next twenty minutes. 10:05pm 13/11/2012
111 rung on the ladder and it snaps, the cut on your leg wants 111 looking at.
They will tell you to go to A&E cos there isn't an alternative. The doctors is shut LOL :-)
Good public spending isn't it
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Just an update - spoke to a doctor at the hospital today who told us that she is very poorly and, amongst other things has bronchitis and low sodium levels. He said it will be an uphill struggle up to the weekend to fight the infection and then hopefully things will improve.
He also told us we did the right thing in using the 999 service to get her in hospital.
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What can I say mate, money before people :'(
I hope it all turns out Ok
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Thanks Barry, appreciate that.
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POST DELETED AT USER'S REQUEST
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I do hope she is back on the mend now Alsatian x
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Thanks for that OC.
Been to see today and she looks quite a bit brighter, doctor told her she'd got pneumonia and - wait for it - people her age die from it, but you won't!
Was he the proverbial 'Jobes comforter'?
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Hope you take this in the right sense Alsatian.
I'd have slapped a £20 on the table then said come on then doc, time span smart ass. Odds ?
Aunty doesn't want the 5 year warranty on the new chair lift. We all don't actually.
She hopes she's not here in 5 years. That is so sad :(
Her words tonight tonight, not mine.
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@ Alsatian - what a thing to say - these Dr's need to brush up on their bedside manners.
@ Fly I think there comes a time when some people have just 'had enough' and the thoughts of complete peace is very much wanted.
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Hope you take this in the right sense Alsatian.
I'd have slapped a £20 on the table then said come on then doc, time span smart ass. Odds ?
Love it Fly! Just one (ahem) fly in the ointment ( ::) ) - I'm not allowed to have any money!! ;)
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Went to see the Mother-in-law today and saw the Occupational Therapist, who are quite pleased with her progress.
So much so that they are hoping to discharge her either tomorrow or Friday (she's desperate to get out by Friday as it's her 93rd birthday on that day!) - they are providing a 3 visit per day care package and a twice weekly 'Intermediate Team' visit to help her to do things (eg wash pots etc etc).
Fingers crossed! ;)
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Better news mate :)
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Hope she's out Alsatian :)
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Yes, she's now back at home - with 3 care calls a day :)
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Happy birthday Alsatian's mum in law :-)
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93 today Alsatian's MIL
Have a lovely Birthday :)
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Thanks for her good wishes, she seems to be ok at the moment - just very tired.
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Re: just very tired.
>well your not a pup anymore. It IS about time that you took responsability for your actions
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DietCoke, Sorry PepsiPerfect, Do you actually READ any of the posts you reply to before posting your insults?
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Re: just very tired.
>well your not a pup anymore. It IS about time that you took responsability for your actions
We are speaking of Alsatians MIL Pepsiprefect not Alsatian.
As Alsatian says please try and read all of the postings on the topic before you answer as you are getting things wrong. Just take your time with it and you will be fine. :)
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Re: just very tired.
>well your not a pup anymore. It IS about time that you took responsability for your actions
Sorry, was going to put something derogotary down but I just can't be ar$ed to descend to your level - why don't you try contributing to the forum in a sensible way before you pi$$ us all off with your inane and inappropriate comments?
Oh, and by the way, I do take responsibility for - not only my actions - but my disabled sister, elderly and disabled mother, and elderly mother-in-law....and that's in addition to other close members of my family.
And, yes I do know you have problems - but so do others!
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SWMBO gone up to MIL today and apparently the carer announced that today would be the last day that she receives care! How the feck can they do this without giving us any notice?
Whilst she may be much improved, there is still quite a way to go - she still forgets to take her medication and cannot bend down far enough to shower properly and get dressed.
If we had been given prior notification we could have made alternative arrangements - eg arranged private care - that would have made a seamless transition.
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@ Alsatian - that's bad practise, have you thought about applying for direct Payments to help pay for MIL's care. Unbelievable that it is just dropped on you all
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One to read.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21441893 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21441893)
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That's scary reading.
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It is alsatian - never know where we will end up :-?
It's time they got to grips with this care malarkey, some of the home care agencies leave a lot to be desired. I know I have high standards but it seems to be one for the children and one for adults - I wish the CQC would get more to grips with it all TBH. :(
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I hate knocking the NHS and its' allied service providers - but - sometimes 'they' deserve it!!!
Mother-in-law is eligible for incontinence pants provided by the NHS, we were told that they would be left in the garage (why the garage?). Anyroads, we weren't leaving the garage unlocked as there is a mobility scooter etc etc in there, so we asked the Mother in Law to give the garage key to the delivery driver so he could put them in there.
Fine - you would think? NO!!
Got there this morning to find a huge cardboard box and plastic bag left ON THE DOORSTEP! This is the only means of exit in the bungalow so what happens if
a) there was a fire in the bungalow - how would Mother in Law get out?
b) Mother in Law tried to move them and fell?
c) Mother in Law didn't see them (she has bad cataracts) and fell over them?
What on earth was the delivery driver thinking of leaving them there? We couldn't call the NHS/Company as there were no contact details on the delivery note (not even a company/department name).
We had a visit from a nurse this afternoon on an unrelated matter and reported the incident to her, she has promised to follow it up.
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I got my mum some inco pants from nurse she was allowed one trial box and then to order as needed. problem was they were so cumbersome she couldn't manage them. Seems they no longer provide pants because of the price. She ended up buying her own tenna
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Update - Mother-in-law took poorly again Tuesday night and called paramedics, they couldn't find anything that warranted a trip to hospital so booked a GP visit on Wednesday. She has chronic heart failure, severe loss of kidney function, anaemia amongst other things, anyway the doctor came and the prognosis is simply palliative care and the outlook is six months maximum.
He decided, due to the constant level of care she needs, to admit her to a nursing home, an ambulance was duly booked and arrived around 4 hours later. The reason it took them so long? It came from Manchester!!!!!!
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There was something on the news yesterday about A & E being on the point of collapse - so much for the Tories "NHS is safe in our hands" at the last election.
All you that voted Conservative, shame on you.
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Where's the nursing home. Rough area location, not expecting you to name it online ;)
4 hours is taking the mickey.
Hope she gets the care she deserves :(
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Where's the nursing home. Rough area location, not expecting you to name it online ;)
4 hours is taking the mickey.
Hope she gets the care she deserves :(
She lives S42 and care home is S42!!!
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If there are no ambulances available in an area, and they have to ring around to find one, and the nearest is in Manchester then obviously we need more ambulances. Don't blame the system, blame the politicians that don't give enough funding to it.
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If there are no ambulances available in an area, and they have to ring around to find one, and the nearest is in Manchester then obviously we need more ambulances. Don't blame the system, blame the politicians that don't give enough funding to it.
I think your sentence should read "Don't blame the system, blame the politicians that don't give a sh1t"
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Sorry to hear this Alsatian it's going to be a hard few months for you all x
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Looks like this is set to be another c*ck-up by Hunt and his pals - http://ind.pn/14CLvTN (http://ind.pn/14CLvTN)
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Now I don't want this to sound like I'm defending the government but here's the dilema.
GP's say they wont prop up the new 111 system because it's failing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22629703 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22629703)
okay thats fine but correcct me if I am wrong, GP's themselves use to run this service. They did surgeries in the evenings, house calls evenings and weekends and came out in the middle of the night to ill patients if it was necessary.
Now somewhere along the line they decided that they wanted medicine to become 9 to 5 Monday to Friday and that emergency Doctors and an out of hours call centre was the answer. From this has naturally progressed 1-1-1.
So if there is a failing system that GP's wont support......... who created it?
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Just when you think you've heard if all about failures of the NHS. Guy I used to live near went to Scotland recently on a coach holiday. He was taking a photograph stepped back a bit too far and fell approx 20 feet on to rocks. He was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed as suffering with bad bruising. He started to make the return journey on the coach but was in too much pain. He was collected by family members in a car and brought back to chesterfield and taken straight to the royal. He's currently in there with several broken ribs and fluid on his lungs. Bruising?????
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Tell me about it JR -
If you remember I had a bad fall last August and was flat boarded to hospital.
Muscularskeletal (is that how it's spelt I can hardly say it lol) I was told given a cocktail of drugs to help me stand and sent home in a wheelchair.
Several months down the line in physio I was told I had broken some ribs as well as the spinal and muscle injuries - I was never xrayed after the fall