"St Johns district nurses stepping up!"

On Hogmanay 2021 I had to have major colorectal surgery due to Ulcerative Colitis and was discharged home in the beginning of January. Due to a wound on my bum, I was unable to sit comfortably and as you can imagine this was very inconvenient and painful.When I arrived home, I done as I was asked by the consultant colorectal surgeon and contacted my GP practice to ask the District nurse team to come and look at my wound and change the dressing etc. When I contacted the DNs I explained what had happened and that I needed to be seen by them.

Surprisingly they refused, and stated that as I had managed to get home from hospital, surely I could get to the practice to have the practice nurse look at the wound. Confused, but doing as I was asked I contacted the practice nurse who advised that was not their role and it should be the DNs, again, they refused. Eventually after two GPs advised the DNs look at my wound they still refused and when I spoke to the practice manager they advised that her hands were tied and there was nothing she could do as they were not their manager but, in fact, the manager of the practice.

I was extremely upset by this as I felt neglected by the lack of care and compassion shown by the DNs at my practice. No one was coming to look at this wound and as a patient who has two immuno-compromising conditions I was horrified at the lack of care regarding this situation. I was in my twenties at the time and I absolutely believe that if I had been elderly this issue wouldn’t have even arisen.

I have had a number of experiences being treated by teams in the NHS and this was the worst I had ever experienced. Now, only because I am an NHS employee was I aware that St Johns had a team of district nurses and that I could contact them via switchboard, which I did. Maggie and her team were fantastic.  So apologetic for the lack of care from the other team, and informed me that this was in fact a job that they would definitely attend.  A district nurse from St Johns arrived in my house within an hour of me phoning and continued to see my over the coming days. This was not a difficult job to complete and had the other DNs actually attended when I first phoned it would have saved wasting the time of 2 GPs, a practice nurse, a practice manager and St Johns DN team who I can imagine are already stretched as it is.

A huge thank you to Maggie and her team at St Johns for stepping up when no one else would. I am extremely thankful for you all xx