I’d been ill with flu over Christmas and still had a cough I was unable to shake off. I went to the doctor to check whether it was chest infection. He could not hear any signs of an infection, very bluntly announced it could be lung cancer and arranged for an x-ray. There was no compassion.
On the day of the x-ray I was fine going to the hospital and thought I was OK when I got back home again. However, the stress of the pronouncement the doctor had made must have got to me and I had a panic attack. I felt so distressed I called 999 so that I could talk to someone. The person who answered the call was very kind, keen to find out as much as possible about how I was feeling – a paramedic would be with me within an hour.
The paramedic, Tom, was marvelous. He jollied me along until I came out of the panic attack and then called my medical centre. I think he must have given them a ticking off for the way in which a possible cause for my cough had been handled.
I have since taken up my complaint with the practice manager.
Tom, the paramedic could not have been kinder or more caring. He did all that he needed to check I was physically all right but also made sure that he kept me going psychologically. He did not rush, took his time to calm me down and make me better.
"The paramedic could not have been kinder or more caring"
About: South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust / Emergency ambulance South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Emergency ambulance Exeter EX2 7HY
Posted by Civil959 (as ),
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