"Scary Time"

My husband recently suffered a stroke, possibly brought on by an infection from a diabetic ulcer.

He was discharged with a shared care arrangements between the district nurse service and community podiatry service for the continuing care of the ulcer on his foot.

There was a slight bit of confusion (on my part) as to who had ultimate responsibility for the care of his wound and communication was not as good as it should have been.

A district nurse came to see my husband on the Wednesday and changed his dressings. The podiatrist service came in on the Friday. On seeing the foot newly dressed they didn't remove the dressings again.  A further district nurse came in on the Saturday and changed the dressing again.

On the Monday I noticed that his little pinky toe was slightly discoloured.  I didn't do anything as we expected the district nurse back in.  This didn't happen.  I phoned the community podiatry service on the Tuesday, seeking clarification of the care arrangements.  They advised that the podiatrist would be out the next day to conduct a full assessment of the situation.

In the meantime my son phoned to say the district nurse had arrived to change the dressing and had asked my husband if any decision had been taken to remove his pinky toe.  This was the first time anything like that had been mentioned.

On the Wednesday morning the podiatrist (Ross) arrived.  He took the time to fully explain in plain terms the details of the shared care arrangement and what we should expect from this.  His professionalism was impressive and for the first time we felt heard.

When he removed the dressing, he confirmed that my husband's toes were non-viable and immediately returned to his office to arrange a referral to Monklands via the Flow Navigation Centre.

Unfortunately, my husband lost his foot and part of his leg below the knee.

I would like to particularly thank Ross for his help in this. I'm not sure what would have happened if he hadn't been so attentive.

I do feel the communication between both services could have been much better.  While I am in no way saying a lack of communication contributed to the outcome, I do feel there could have been better communications overall.

Ross is a credit to NHS Lanarkshire.