"Not much ..... My dad was refered ..."

What I liked

Not much ..... My dad was refered by his Gp with severe pain in his legs & hip pain.

Initially he was refered to orthopaedics.

He underwent 3 MRI's, 2 xrays & blood tests & finally they decided he had gout & refered him to another department.

At this appointment it was found my father had no palpable pulse in either leg from the groin down (a doppler had to be used to find one) & his feet were like ice!! (ortho's had somehow missed this)

Again he was refered to yet another consultant. Due to amount of time he was expected to wait (in part due to the fact that at 2 weeks after his apointment the secretary had still not forwarded his referal) to see him he paid privately & AMAZING he got in within a week!!! Good job really, he was very concerned & arranged an urgent MRA (now back on the NHS) Within a few weeks my dad was admitted to another hospital (arranged by the consultant at the manor) for urgent angioplasty & stent. The surgeon remarked he was surprised he hadn't lost at least one of his feet, the artery concerned was functioning at only 15%!!!

What could be improved

Where do I start??!!

A referal of that urgency should have been given priority NOT sit on a secretarys desk for 2 weeks, are we not now in 2009 & have an amazing thing called email. The consultant he was refered to was in the same hospital for goodness sake.

Why did the orthopaedic not pick up on the severe circulatory problems. It seems to be a case of treat the scan / xray & not the man.

Luckily my dad is okay because

A) He paid private to bring an appointment forward

B) The consultant he was eventually refered to recognised the seriousness of his condition!!!

Anything else?

I don't think I really need to say more.