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Swollen leg that needs draining

Posted By Unsupported Kevin Knee

"Swollen leg that needs draining"

About: Queen Elizabeth Hospital / Accident and emergency Queen Elizabeth Hospital / Rheumatology

(as the patient),

Two sided hospital. Two yrs ago went into A&E with a swollen knee. After a fair wait was seen by a doctor and had my knee drain. It was not pleasant but needed to be done. Roll on two yrs and again the knee is playing up and the A&E dept is packed. I have to wait near four and half hours to be seen. Again I could not fault the staff but was told that the drain could not take place. Given info. of the Rheumatologist dept. and told that to contact the nurse who would drain and give advice. Still in pain with a few stronger tablets I felt that I was moving forward.

The problem started with the number which is an answering machine that promises to contact. No idea when, no info given on what sufferers can do.

You try associated numbers and get told that nurses are in clinic and will contact but no one does. You ring you GP and he is not happy and states they need to drain the fluid and a referral would take weeks that's why you went to hospital in the 1st place. So I wait in pain by the phone in hope someone will return the numerous messages that I have left. Nine hours after the first call no call back. I expect the staff have all gone home and may have forgot that they have an answering machine.

So, nothing happens, will need to go back to A&E. Start the whole process again, may be I was luck 2 yrs ago or unlucky now, tomorrow may give me the answer.

Ps

What I would like answered is how many times do people have to go back to hospital because it was not dealt with one of the follow up dept.

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Responses

Response from Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust 7 years ago
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Submitted on 03/10/2017 at 11:25
Published on Care Opinion at 12:08

Thank you for your feedback on your recent visit to the Emergency Department (ED).

I am very sorry to learn that your wait in the ED exceeded 4 hours and would like to assure you that capacity issues are being worked on in order to improve the service for our patients.

We can all learn from your experience with the aim of improving the future level of care we provide to our patients, so thank you for taking the time to let us know and for acknowledging the good work of staff in this busy department.

I wish you the best of health going forward.

If you would like your concerns investigated further and receive a formal response please contact the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 020 8836 4592.

Emergency Department
Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust

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

Update posted by Unsupported Kevin Knee (the patient)

My original call to the rheumatology nurse helpline was made on at 9.05, I continued to call thorough out the day. I decides after my last call around 17.30 that I would be better off going back to A&E. The next day just before noon began what I original started two days ago. Explained my details to the desk and took my turn once again. The doctor again stated my knee needed draining and would be done today. A doctor from the Rheumatogy dept arrived and the procedure was carried out. I got home around 16.00 and about 17.30 got a call from the Rheumatogy nurse responding to my original call. I explained my return to A&E and the nurse stated if anything was wrong in the future to call. I said to her surprise that I had no intention ring her up again as I felt that the help line was a complete waste of time, no one responded in a reasonable time and it was totally wrong that someone in pain shouldd be allowed to wait a day and a half to support. I stated that the helpline seems to be an oversight as no one seems to be responsible to hearing clients problems. The phone should be checked a least twice a day if not more and if this was done in my case would have resulted in a call within half a day of being left.

The QE staff when you can get through are well equipped and trained. The problem seems the breakdown or slacking of procedures. So when entering QE it feels like you have a coin in your hand and if your lucky you get sorted without issues if not you flick it again. Two sided hospital.

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