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Not being a priority when i was in excruciating pain

Posted By lorenzo1

"Not being a priority when i was in excruciating pain"

About: Ayrshire Central Hospital / General Medicine NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) Scottish Ambulance Service / Ambulance Control Centre

(as the patient),

In January 2019 I started to get flu symptoms really burning up nose running sore throat, I had a slight mark on my index finger since boxing day it looked like a little burn but I hadn't done anything too it, by the next day my finger had really swollen up and was red and yellow looking, called ADOC managed to get an appointment that night, but was waiting 5 hours with this pain in my finger so I managed to drain some of the puss and fluid out, doctor gave me antibiotics and a little look at finger.

That night my leg started to get really sore out of no where I couldn't sleep with the pain by 6am I tried to stand up and the pain was excruciating, my mum came round and called an ambulance but I wasn't a priority to call NHS 24 which we done and again wasn't a  priority  and was to call my GP, my mum and partner managed to get me into car and take me to A& E waited about 30mins got took to be told I wasn't a priority as my  swollen knee  wasn't caused  by an accident so I had to go home and call GP.

Went home got an appointment with GP went to see doctor for them to tell me to go straight back up and she would write me a letter as I was still in so much pain and knee was swollen more I couldn't walk at all and doctor was worried it was sepsis arthritis. Back up to A& E waited about over a hour got took in had to get bloods, x-rays and my  knee drained to check the fluid had no infection which luckily it didn't and it's been put down to a really bad viral infection. I waiting in A& E for all this to be done for 4 hours I got home about 8pm but if this got treated when I first when up at 9am this could have solved the issue and me being in so much pain having to get carried to cars and out was really upsetting and stressful to hear I wasn't a priority so many times.

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Responses

Response from Pat O'Meara, General Manager, Events, Scottish Ambulance Service 5 years ago
Pat O'Meara
General Manager, Events,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Head of Events

Submitted on 15/01/2019 at 08:15
Published on Care Opinion at 11:54

Dear Lorenzo1,

I was sorry to read that you are unhappy with how your 999 call was managed. It must have been very distressing to be told that you were not a priority.

When someone calls 999 we do have a range of options to deal with the patient and this includes a referral to NHS 24 for a more in depth clinical assessment. This is so that we can ensure that those patients with the most serious conditions get the quickest response.

I'd like to talk to you about how we prioritise calls and how we decide what the right response is. You can contact me on 0141 810 6101 if that would be helpful to you.

I hope that you are recovering well.

Pat

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Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 5 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 15/01/2019 at 10:42
Published on Care Opinion at 11:54

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear lorenzo1,

I am really sorry you found it problematic to get this sorted. It must have been very worrying and distressing. I have discussed this post with the leads for Care Opinion in NHS24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and we are all in agreement that we would like to look into the circumstances surrounding your care on this occasion. If you would like us to do so, could you please contact me. As I am in and out the office over the next few days, please email me at eunice.goodwin@aapct.scot.nhs.uk. With your permission, I can share the details with the with Shona (NHS24) and Alan (SAS).

I hope your condition has resolved and you are well now.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention,

best wishes,

Eunice

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Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 5 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 22/01/2019 at 10:37
Published on Care Opinion at 10:47

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Lorenzo1

Thanks for sharing your story on Care Opinion which I read with concern. I am pleased to see that my colleagues Pat and Eunice have responded to you. It would be good if you could get in touch so that we can look at your care in more detail.

NHS Boards are keen to work together to ensure that any feedback received, which covers more than one service, is shared to enable us to review our care to see if we could have done something differently or better.

Pat and Eunice will share any further detail with me, should you get in touch.

I hope you are doing much better.

Take care

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager

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