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"Wrong diagnosis and treatment"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Urgent Care Centre General practices in Forth Valley

(as the patient),

I called NHS 24 for advice for a lump I had found on my neck which was causing distress and was extremely uncomfortable. I was advised to attend urgent care and provided with an appointment which I felt really reassured about.

On arrival, I was taken straight away, however felt really dismissed about the symptoms I was presenting with. I explained that I had been experiencing extreme fatigue, hair loss and now noticing a lump on my neck that was clearly visible. I was not scoring on my physical observations however was told I had some inflammation which was apparently causing this lump. I asked if the inflammation was caused by an infection however was not provided with answers to this. I was provided with a 5 day course of penicillin and told to attend my GP for bloods in the morning. With questions of having a potential infection and no bloods or further investigations being done I left feeling extremely unsettled. 

I phoned my GP the next morning and was told that it was extremely unhelpful to not have bloods taken at that time as it is now a case of waiting for this. My GP explained that she wanted to see me in person as she felt that inflammation and a lump was something she would need to see in order to send for bloods. When I attended my GP she immediately dismissed any inflammation causing this lump and to stop taking the penicillin, she also had a second opinion on this and both practitioners were extremely confused with this diagnosis. As a result of my symptoms I was presenting with including the large lump visibly on my neck I was then referred for an urgent ultrasound under the suspected cancer pathway. I also got bloods taken immediately. 

Overall my experience with urgent care in Forth Valley Royal Hospital has really lowered my trust with hospital experiences due to being dismissed with a course of penicillin and no further investigations. The practitioner did not investigate, nor did they ask for a second opinion which I am extremely upset about, as I am now having investigations for potential thyroid cancer in my neck. I have been reassured by my GP that this investigation has been done promptly and I have now been provided with an ultrasound urgent appointment to get this investigated, but this is after being dismissed and sent home, with it being on my notes that I attended urgent care with a sore throat, which couldn't be further away from what I presented with. I would have respected and preferred if the practitioner would have said they were not entirely sure what it was rather than dismissing a lump in my neck to be a sore throat. 

I feel that now I would never attend urgent care and my trust in services like this has been decreased massively. Without the support and urgency of my GP I would not have this urgent referral in place.

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Responses

Response from Andrew McCall, Service manager, Out of Hours, NHS Forth Valley last week
Andrew McCall
Service manager, Out of Hours,
NHS Forth Valley
Submitted on 28/04/2025 at 11:35
Published on Care Opinion at 11:35


Good morning gr3499,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience of your recent attendance at Out Of Hours due to your concerns about the lump on your neck.

Firstly please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to you.

I am very sorry to hear that you were experiencing discomfort from the lump on your neck and that felt that you felt dismissed about the symptoms you presented with and that you received the wrong diagnoses and treatment. I am sorry that the service you received fell below the standard that would be expected and that your trust in our service has been decreased.

As a service continuous learning and improvement is very important and I would like the opportunity to investigate your experience further so we can identify the reasons why your concerns were not listened too and why further investigations such as blood tests were not considered. I am grateful for the detail you have already provided however to complete a thorough investigation I will need more information. As such I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you further and I have noted my contact details below:

andrew.mccall2@nhs.scot

07483 929409

I acknowledged that your GP has arranged for further investigations to be carried out so you can have a full understanding of the situation and an appropriate treatment plan agreed with you.

Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention and please contact me on the details noted above so we can discuss this this with you further

Regards

Andrew McCall

Service Manager

Out Of Hours

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