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"My father's treatment by his local GP practice"

About: General practices in Greater Glasgow & Clyde Royal Alexandra Hospital / Coronary Care Unit (CCU)

(as a relative),

My normal, active father is in his 80s, he has just been discharged from hospital after being admitted to the Coronary Care Unit in the Royal Alexandra Hospital. They have basically saved my father's life, giving me my Dad back.

He did not have a heart attack or anything like that. He was basically being made ill and frail by the medications he had been prescribed by the GP for hypertension and arrhythmia.  However it turned out he had been on too many medications for too long and had not had a medication review for over 5 years.  The heart medication had slowed his heart so much, he was failing. The 3 different BP medication side effects were debilitating him and despite frequent visits to the Practice Nurses for blood pressure tests, annual checks and leg dressings for peripheral oedema caused by poor circulation and BP medication side effects.

Having now looked into the side effects caused by the cocktail of drugs he was on, I now realise that he was being poisoned by those drugs and should have been having 6 monthly reviews for the SVT medication.

The GP kicked all this off by doubling his diuretic medication as his leg wounds were weeping so badly (due to the lack of circulation and low heart rate caused by the SVT drugs stopping his heart from working properly.)

This then led to low sodium levels which was picked up my a blood test requested by the GP.  He was called into hospital urgently by an out of hours GP reviewing the blood test results at the hospital lab.

All the staff at the GP surgery seemed to have missed the numerous red flags that were showing in my father...all side effects of prolonged BP and SVT medication use, despite his repeated visits.  He had not be seen by a GP for over 3 years and always by the practitioner nurses.

I feel angry with the practice and the lack of follow-through care. They seemed to not look at the bigger picture, just adding more drugs to the list for him to take.

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Responses

Response from Paul Hayes, Patient Experience & Public Involvement Manager, Patient Experience Team, NHSGGC 9 months ago
Paul Hayes
Patient Experience & Public Involvement Manager, Patient Experience Team,
NHSGGC
Submitted on 04/10/2024 at 13:49
Published on Care Opinion at 13:52


picture of Paul Hayes

Hi RangerB73

I'm sorry to hear about your father's experience of care with their GP, and the impact this has had on their health and wellbeing. GP practices in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde operate their own feedback and complaints systems and are not registered to respond to feedback received via Care Opinion.

To make sure this feedback reaches the GP surgery and that you can receive answers I would suggest sharing what you have written directly with the Practice Manager to hopefully receive answers about your fathers care. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this or want assistance navigating complaints and feedback processes, the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) may be able to support you. This is an independent and confidential organisation. PASS can help you give feedback, raise concerns, or make a complaint about any health service, including GP practices.

You can contact PASS on 0800 917 2127 or visit their website at Patient Advice & Support Service | Citizens Advice Scotland (www.cas.org.uk).

Apologies I am not able to reply more fully. I hope the above information is helpful in contacting the GP surgery directly. I will also make sure the positive impact the Coronary Care Team had on your father is shared with them.

Kind Regards

Paul

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

Update posted by RangerB73 (a relative)

Thank you Paul. Having written the story, I later found out that GPs have their own complaints system. Thank you for the information about PASS though.

My father has asked me not to make a formal complaint to the practice. They seem to be dealing with his situation themselves now and he is being seen by the senior practice GP soon.

Thank you again and appreciate you taking the time to look at my story.

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