Update of disaster graft saga

[rosemary johnson]

Just got back from A&E.
Not the eye hospital.
The one I got taken to by ambulance.
After collapsing feeling faint, shakey and totally run out of energy this afternoon. Walking across the paying field on the way to the pub (!!!) after going on the historical walk on the marshes.
Believe it to be the auto-immune Cushings/confusion-related Addison's problem, stirred up by all the cortisol resulting from the huge swelling round my eye.
All hospital could say was that I needed to chase up my GP.
TOld them had been doing this ever since February, and how did they think I might get any action out of them??????
Dr looking increasingly surprised at saga of uselessness of GP, though couldn't actually say his opinion of the guy.
There is fax going to GPs. I have a copy of it.
Can only live in hope - but dearly wish I had tame lawyer to take up there with me!
(Any offers????????!!!)
Going to see practice manager tomorrow. The who, I keep being assured, will call me back and never does.
First thing tomorrow am: get on phone to Complaints person at PCT again. Second will be to write my own referral letters.
Third will be complaint letter, c.c. the INformation Commissioner's Office, re why they have ignored my DPA subject access request.
As if I didn't have enough to do without all this.
Like, just going on surviving with my health in this mess.
What on earth has to happen to get any health care out of our dearly beloved health service in this country????????!!!!!!!!!!
HELP!!!!!!!!!!
Was sitting sprawled on path in cold wind going past football field on edge of marshes wondering if I'd die before anyone noticed.
Haven't yet decided it would be preferable if I did, though sometimes it gets a bit of a close call.
I haven't the strength to deal with this.
Roseamry
PS: the eye is much less swollen today - still looks a bit odd, but not attracting odd looks from everyone on the bus. Raised cortisol levels fro the swelling probably to blame.
effects of antihistamines unknown - went to ASDA yesterday and they do indeed have that sort - n the supermarket shelves, don't even need to go to the pharmacy.
New Arrival still not arrived.

[Andrew MacLean]

Rosemary

I know that this is deeply perplexing, but I can't understand why your experience of the NHS is so different from my own. Still, you remain in our thoughts; keep on fighting!

Yours aye

Andrew

[rosemary johnson]

Nor can I, Andrew, nor can I!
Except to think that a gentleman of the cloth (dog collar and all) in Scotland is treated as an intelligent and responsible citizen, in the way that a grey-haired, 4-yet-again female, even with an Oxford MA, in East London isn't.
It is porbably true to say that, amongst clientele of current (and previous) GP, I'm in the minority in being a native English speaker, and almost certainly rare to be quite so highly qualified - but then, aren't doctors supposed to have to be very intelligent and highly qualified to get to be doctors, so they should be able to cope with that.
How many of the doctors in my part of the world have ENglish as a native language I don't know. THe one I saw on Friday, and the pratice manager, I'm sure do.
The hospital staff seem to vary - guy I saw in A&E Friday about eye seems very reasonable guy who treats me as intellgent fellow human being; ditto glaucoma consultant, CL dept on the whole, a ocuple of the others in A&E, and some of the corneal medics; the ne an donly Matthew (or so I thought at the time) and apparently the Chief Exec. The others vary widely, shall we say?
I fear there are probably too many medics in the system (and people in the world) who will treat men as fellow beings and women as second-class citizens. Particularly when we are inthe "patients" role..
Rosemary

[Andrew MacLean]

I think that the significant parts of your analysis are the words "Scotland" and "London". The total population of Scotland is probably a little over 5,000,000; smaller than the total population of Greater London. It may be that Doctors etc are more civil here because they are less stressed?

I had a very good friend at University who was from the Hebridean Isle of Berneray (a small island in the Sound of Harris). Calum got his paperwork for a course that he and I were both to take. Among all the other bits of paper there was a booklist of some thirty titles; of these, six were marked with an asterisk.

The legend at the foot of the list indicated that candidates should buy at least three of the books marked with an asterisk, so Calum turned up at the first seminar, struggling under the weight of eighteen volumes. He was carrying three of each of the books thus marked. When the tutor entered the room, he met an irate Islander who demanded to know why he had been compelled to buy three copies of each of these books.

A little abashed the hapless lecturer insisted that his intention had been that we should each procure one copy of at least three of the marked titles on the list. Calum raised his hand in an imperious gesture and smiled. "Ah," he said in his faultless Berneray English, "I do apologize; English is not my native language."

Having knocked the lecturer off balance, he had a great year, and so did we.

After that morning's class he returned to each of us the books that he had borrowed in order to create the illusion that he had misunderstood the sloppy English employed in the pre-start literature.

All the best.

Andrew

[Loopy-Lou]

That is funny!

[Hilary Johnson]

R

When you look back over the doctors who HAVE treated you as a rational human being, is there a common factor?

Was there something about them - they were least rushed? Meeting you for the first time? Their speciality matched the symptoms you arrived with?

Was there something about you - you were less hassled when you saw them? etc

H

p.s. to Andrew - great story!

[Andrew MacLean]

I live in a part of the UK where many people have English as a second UK language. Sometimes it can work to their advantage.

A

[rosemary johnson]

R

When you look back over the doctors who HAVE treated you as a rational human being, is there a common factor?

Was there something about them - they were least rushed? Meeting you for the first time? Their speciality matched the symptoms you arrived with?

Was there something about you - you were less hassled when you saw them? etc

H

p.s. to Andrew - great story!

Well.......!!! - and I risk serious trouble for saying this, but here goes.
The doctors (and similar) from whom I've had the best treatment have been:
1. youngish males of clearly high intelligence who enjoy relating to others on like-for-lik intelligent basis and are self-confident enough to be able to say "Whoa! Run that by me again" if I've said tsoemthing they haven't followed
2. native English speaing famles of approx my age at the time, and the self-confidence to relate in an "all women together, let's get on with it" fashion rather than feeling the need to stand on all-knowing doctor dignity
3. other ex-Oxbridge types who for one reason or another have discovered I'm one of "us"
4. contact lens specialists who have been around supporting the support group enough to get to know their patients as humans not patients and get used to the patients' perspective on life
and the types who I don't get on with and don't feel I trust to get decent treatment from are deduceable as the reverse of the above.
NOtably, those who like to think of themselves as the high and mighty all-knowing doctor and either don't believe in the idea it's my health or aren't able to grasp the concept that someone there in the role of patient might have a brain themselves!
AMongst those, the subsets of the ex-public school and Oxbridge who think they're a species of superior being form one distinct sub-set; and there's a tendency for the older males to want to treat themselves as naturally higher status and patients as lesser beings, particularly women ones. And an opposite noticeable tendency for the younger and less experienced to be standing on their dignity as Drs to cover their insecurity.
One would like to be able to think that all the medics at least, having been bright enough to get into medical school, have the intelligence to keep up with me, and the nous to stop me if they don't and ask for clarification (though I think some are too insecure to admit they need the latter). However, I think there are some who are not as with-it as they should be, and some of the other staff I've maybe assumed brighter than their rank.
And now I'll shut up before I get drummed out of town!!! - beyond mentioning there's another reason beyond simple recognition of other forum members I've taken to going to hospitals in a red and black striped scarf!
Rosemary

[rosemary johnson]

:D

I live in a part of the UK where many people have English as a second UK language. Sometimes it can work to their advantage.

A

You and me both, then, Andrew! - though with different native languages.
In our borough, 86% of the kids in primary schools are non-white and a significant proportion of those (I forget the latest figure) start school knowing no ENglish. SOme of those are refugees.
More akin to your experience, I suspect, is that Hilary and I grew up in between Liverpool and north Wales, and some of our class mates had Welsh rather than English as a mother tongue.
(Actually, most of them had Scouse rather than ENglish as mother tongue,but that's another matter!)
Loved the story.
Rosemary

[rosemary johnson]

Well!!
Went up to see practice manager this lunchtime.
She knew nothing of me having been in A&E or a fax about this. Put my foot down about previous attempt to do beurology referral being a cock-up my Drs.
She claimed she couldn't do anything about any referrals without talking to GP, who was in a staff meeting. Seemed to think if I'd been in A&E my case was likely to come up. Meeting going on till 2.30.
Right!" I said. "I'll comeback at 2.30 then, shall I?"
Expected to have to make point repeatedly and forcibly that after the number of times I'd been told someone would chase this up and get back to me and heard nothing, was not prepared to take this on trust. Had already pointed out how often this had happened.
But she said "Make it 3 o'clock."
Produced my two draft referral letters. She said she'd run them by GP and see if he was willing to use them.
Said she'd print out what they had on my computer records so far.
Said she'd sort out withthe pharmacy why I'd got everything onthe counterfoil not just the item I'd marked I wanted.
Came back at 3.
Endocrinology appointment is booked, and she's going to type up my letter "as is" (well, proof-read it, I hope...)
neurology referral we had more problems with - not at all clear which dept it should be. SO she's going to write directly to the bbloke who I was last suggested I ought to be seeing, using my letter as drafted, and add paragraph at the end that his name as suggested as te person who dealt with this sort of problem, but if he thought a colleague would be better, blah blah blah.
Hope and trust those letters do indeed go off and I get some results!!!!!
Meanwhile she printed off computer records - looks ocmplete gibberish, not totally surprising Dr I saw last Friday hadn't a clue what to make of it, though I think in the circumstances of the totally inadequate response I've had from the practice, her comments are totally out of line!!!! Rest is about par for gibberish produced by official GP! = will get back with comments on this when hav strangth.
Still only the answering machine at the PCT complaints number.
Seriously proposing to jump ship again asap once into referred systems properly.......
Appointmnet at Barts Tuesday next week at 9am - but unfortubately this only for routine tests; need another appt later for the real stuff.
wish me luck on Tuesday next week!
Rosemary