This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?

"Disappointing treatment on CKD"

About: Guy's Hospital / Nephrology

I took my father in June 2018, as I heard it is a prestigious hospital, but the treatment on CKD made us feeling desperate over time. 1) my father already had anemia, the doctor ordered a lot of bloods (e.g. 20 cubes over 2 times) despite my father’s request to order the minimum. She said new blood can be easily replaced, yes, for a young and healthy person, but not entirely for an old, weak patient with CKD 5. To some extent, the more blood you lose, the less haemoglobin you have and less oxygen is supplied to the heart and kidney. My father’s anemia deteriorated rapidly and lost strength walking. 2) Despite all those blood tests, the doctor failed to offer better medication, simply dismissing the condition as due to diabetic nephrology. 3) She sent my father’s herbal medicine (a well established type for kidney disease which he takes occasionally) to laboratory, but had never told us the results. In a letter she sent to GP, she implied the herbal medicine may have worsened my father’s CKD without any evidence. Since then, the herbal medicine was quoted by other doctors in other hospital as one of the key info, thanks to her contribution. 4) I showed her my father’s record which showed using Ramipril previously had improved his GFR, therefore can he be given it again? She found other reasons not to give it. If she was unable to provide better medication, why couldn’t she give my father a chance? She also sent a letter to GP stating her objection, putting off GP who had previously prescribed Ramipril. What’s the point to see a consultant if a GP can do a better job? After 6 months she passed my father to Advanced Clinic which deal with pre-dialysis patients. 5) Doctors in Advanced Clinic did nothing better. After I pointed it out they are not proactively treating the patient, they quadrupled my father’s sodium bi-carbonate prescribed by another hospital. The irony is, my father’s potassium was lower than before, how could the doctors justify the increased dosage? Secondly, why didn’t the first doctor prescribe it when my father’s potassium was much higher? The doctors then sent an ambiguous letter to GP, which prompted (at least partly) the GP to remove my father’s losartan. My father’s blood pressure surged which worsened his CKD. My father was then transferred to another hospital and is now on the waiting list for dialysis. Had those nephrology specialists done their jobs better, it may have delayed the progression of my father’s CKD for a year. Not only the dialysis cost NHS £30,000 a year as I found on internet, but also it is a pain and drain to the patient and family.

nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k