"Disorganisation"

I’m a GP but I shouldn’t have to be the GP for my uncle! He was seen in A&E with breathlessness on 19th March but discharged home unwell still. I checked his results and identified concerns about which his GP agreed and arranged a repeat asap. When the results came back he was immediately referrred to St Peters. However his GP said the medics rarely answered their bleep or took too long to answer so to take him to A&E. This means AS WELL as his GP assessing him an AE DR has to see him TOO Wasting drs time and AE space before he was seen by the medics. SO his GP agreed I could speak to the medical registrar on call as she was as running late . He was discharged on 29th. Having had a daily blood test on the ward nothing was planned till the 9th April. So again I had to intervene and prompt the GP to arrange a blood test. Again the results indicated he needed acute admission. This time the medical registrar was TOO BUSY to hear the GP assessment so he was sent to A&E to be assessed by a second Dr prior to being seen by a third- the medic . In Hertfordshire a consultant accepts medical referrals during the day and if the medic is too busy a bed manager accepts referrals ....

I also felt obliged to influence his discharge plan initially to avoid premature discharge when he had significant kidney damage but also avoid 4 unnecessary day’s on the coronary care unit at considerable expense.

IITS NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY ( that can be used as an excuse for poor care) - . . It’s ORGANISATION TOO.