"I felt dismissed"

I was made to feel very uncomfortable following a call to the 111 service seeking advice.

Due to ongoing treatment at Guy's Hospital if I have any questions about my health or how I'm feeling between treatments I call the clinic to tell them so that they can advise me on what to do. On this occasion I called the clinic but was unable to speak to a nurse so left a message asking them to call me back. In the meantime because I was feeling poorly I called 111 for advice.

The person I spoke to said they would ask a doctor to call me back. The doctor did call and I tried to explain about my medical history and how I was feeling. I asked if I should start taking the antibiotics I have at home.

The Dr asked me why I keep antibiotics at home and suggested I must have got these off the internet. I tried to explain I had them through Guy's Hospital in case I developed an infection but was unable to be seen by my clinical team or my GP, eg at bank holidays or weekends. The clinic preferred that I was equipped with antibiotics rather than wait for an infection to worsen due to my vulnerability to infections.

I felt very uncomfortable with the Dr's attitude, I felt they were suggesting I was abusing antibiotics. They advised me to go to my local hospital and get a blood test, but this would be difficult for me as I am very prone to infection. When I tried to explain this, I felt the doctor accused me of not listening and was informed I could get septicaemia and die.

Fortunately Guys Hospital called me back whilst I was talking to the 111 doctor and, knowing my history, were able to advise me.