"The dangers of a casual, but ill thought out comment"

Unfortunately, I was admitted one recent afternoon to the A&E ward in Treliske Hospital suffering from a suspected heart problem due to severe breathing difficulties. The NHS diagnosis was that this had been stress induced and in discussing this the subject of my husband’s drinking came up.

Without exception, and over many years, he drinks 4-5 pints of strong beer every day. Even when he’s ill and can’t eat he will still drink alcohol. Both myself and members of my family have noticed a significant decline in his physical and mental capabilities – he has become obese, struggles with the mildest of physical tasks and suffers anxiety and indecision over trivial issues. Perhaps as a consequence of this he generally has a negative outlook on life and often appears profoundly unhappy.

The NHS website states a safe drinking limit of 14 units per week, an amount that my husband is consuming on a daily basis without respite. I believe this is the major source of stress in my life and is difficult to deal with since my husband refuses to acknowledge that he has any kind of problem with alcohol dependency. When I discussed his level of drinking with the nurse in front of my husband, the nurse said there was “no problem” with this.

I was happy with the overall level of care that I received whilst in the hospital and believe that the overwhelming majority of staff do a great job often under tremendous pressure. However, this false and careless comment - totally at odds with stated NHS policy - horrified me and undermines my long standing attempts to address my husband’s illness and protect my own health.

Sadly, this is the second time that the NHS has failed to pick up on my husband’s health issues (the first occurrence happened at our doctor’s surgery) which is why I felt compelled to write to you now.

I absolutely do not want to log a formal complaint and nor to trigger some internal disciplinary process against the nurse on duty at the time.  I just strongly feel that all health care professionals  should be fully aware of the dangers of alcoholism and should not be making false and damaging comments in relation to it.

Staff skills