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Anaphylaxis and lack of staff awareness

Posted By Caff Mayo

"Anaphylaxis and lack of staff awareness"

About: Chesterfield Royal Hospital / Accident and emergency East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust / Emergency ambulance

(as a service user),

Ambulance took a long time to get to my house. The ambulance person kept questioning why I thought I was in anaphylactic shock. In that state I struggle to keep conscious. It makes me stress more. They apparently weren't used to seeing someone who doesn't have a rash or swollen lips mouth etc.

As I've got older my reactions have changed. I go straight to vomit & diarrhoea then on the floor. I struggle to think, speak, sit up or do anything. I know I have to stay flat on floor with legs raised. I should not be moved. I refused to walk downstairs, so they carried me in a chair. Sick 3 times in ambulance & on verge of passing out several times. Blood pressure went very low. They said it was 87/13 at one point.

Previously I have been admitted straight to resus rather than left on a bed in A&E. In that condition I cannot sit up, stand up or walk. I was still needing toilet & no one was there to help or give me a bed pan. Relatives of other patients were helping me & asking nurses to help me. I was left in a disabled toilet on my own & nearly passed out. I felt there were not enough staff or knowledge of my condition.

One doctor said it must have been dodgy food. It was not! I have had severe allergies to nuts & fish all my life. My last episode was before Xmas. I have had 3 severe anaphylactic shocks in last 9 months. I use 2 epipens every time. I used to be under a specialist as a child. Doesn't seem to be any around now. 10 month wait on NHS with Sheffield. Hoping I don't have another reaction before then. It really affects my mental health too now.

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Responses

Response from Rachel Walker, Patient Experience Advisor, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust last month
Rachel Walker
Patient Experience Advisor,
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 26/03/2024 at 09:23
Published on Care Opinion at 09:32

picture of Rachel Walker

Dear Caff Mayo,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

I am incredibly sorry for your experience; this is not something we expect for patients attending our Emergency Department and I will feed back your experience to the staff in the department. I would expect the nursing team to have assessed your requirement for Resus on your admission, as we only put a patient in Resus requiring immediate lifesaving treatment. I would not expect relatives of other patients to be helping you, nor would I expect you to be left in the toilet for a long period of time.

Often when patients have long term condition which may present differently to other patients, we develop a care plan specific for the individual patient, along with alerts on the computer system to highlight this to staff members. If this is something you think would be of benefit for yourself, please could you contact Patient Advise and Liaison Service (PALS) on 01246 512640 who can pass your information on to myself.

Many thanks

Stacie Russon

Senior Matron

Emergency Department

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Caff Mayo (a service user)

Thank you for your response. I would very much like to set up a specific care plan please as the reactions have become more severe & more frequent.

I will contact you separately.

Kind regards

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