Girlfriends mums nightmare

Rich44_2

My GFs mum has had a bit of a nightmare with the NHS which i'll explain below.

She has a history of mental health issues and was given a lot of electro-shock treatments back in the day part of the treatment was to be put on Ametryptaline now from everything i've read you are not supposed to be left on this for long as it can cause all manner of problems. Basically she now has to wear a catheter all the time as the Ametryptaline has damaged all the nerve endings concerned after she was left on it by several GPs for over 10 years.

She also has a huge hernia that they are refusing point blank to do a thing about as she has a heart condition even though its making her life a misery.

She was then taken into hospital to have the catheter fitted through her groin to make it easier for her, on the way home she felt wet and looked down to see she was pouring blood and had to be rushed back in by amulance where they found that the consulatant had made the hole too big so another overnight stop in hospital and they sent her home.

We went to visit, my partner was 27 weeks pregnant at the time and she seemed quite well, a week later we found out she had been given MRSA in her wound and to make matters worse the GP had known for over a week and hadnt told her as "they didnt want to worry her" the only reason she found out was she specifically asked is the infection in the wound MRSA when they did actually admit it.

In the meantime my partner is panicking like hell as she has had 2 miscarriages in the last year (6 weeks and 11 weeks) and has cried herself to sleep on several ocassions.

Now to cap it all of she tested negative for MRSA on a test then 4 weeks later she tested positive for it meaning that she cannot pass 4 tests before the due date of the baby and as the umbilical cord is treated as an open wound means she cannot visit her only grandchild for god knows how long.

Basically i'm just asking is it worth taking legal advice on this, I dont mean to moan about the NHS as they do a great job generally under pressure but its really upset the both of them and the only reason it happened in the first place is down to neglect by the GPs concerned leaving her on the Ametryptaline.

Also during the course of recent visits by community nurses and her GP to change dressings for the catheter as she cant do so herself due to the hernia the GP turned up with 2 medical students in tow and proceeded to examine her WITHOUT washing her hands before OR after touching the wound and changing the dressings despite being offered the medical strength alochol gel they had in the house.

Any advice is much appreciated on this

saver6

Gosh, not sure where to start with this one, but thank god your MIL has you and your GF's support on this one, as it can't be nice to have these things happen and feel like the NHS isn't doing enough to help.

I think the first step is to write a letter to the complaints department of the NHS Trust. Alternatively as a first step your MIL can request to see her medical notes thru the Trust, especially if she believes it may hold vital info regarding when and where she received each element of the treatments, which she thinks may contradict what she has been told. If something is fishy about what she finds within it then by all means get some legal advice then.

If you need reassurance on the ECT (electro shock), I wouldn't worry about that aspect - it's been proven to work, depending on what your MIL has been diagnosed with, although curiously no one actually knows WHY it works....

Rich44_2

Actually there was nothing wrong with her she had a bullying nasty husband (at the time) who pressured the doctors into doing what they did and signed all the papers off authorising it do be done.

A read through her notes would probably be astonishing to say the least

Bossyboots

Sorry to hear all this.

I am surprised what they say about the hernia. My dad had a major heart and lung problem and my MIL has lung problems.

They both had surgery by epidural. My dad had prostate surgery and my MIL a hernia. Although epidural has its own potential problems, it is used routinely in my area on patients requiring surgery where a general anasthetic is contra indicated.

Rich44_2

Thanks for letting us know about that I will mention it to my partner later on and see if we can suggest it to her mum

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Sounds like you and yours are having a very tough time right now. You'll find lots of information on ECT at www.patient.co.uk - search for ECT.
You might find it helpful in the first instance to talk to the PAls services at the hospital and the local Primary Care Trust and the Practice Manager at your MIL's practice. It would certainly do no harm to request a copy of notes, however parts of your MIL's notes can be witheld if that is considered to be in her best interests.
I'm sure you understand that it's sensible for your MIL to be MRSA negative before meeting the new baby, but of course no-one can prevent them meeting if that's what you all want.
CAB may be able to advise on any costs you would have to meet if you sought legal advise.
HTH

homersimpson_3

this story is absolutely horrendous- the treatment received by mental health patients depends largely on the approach taken by individual psychiatrists and many people are misdiagnosed. often people just need constructive practical help. ect can do and has done considerable damage to many individuals-

medical negligence cases are extremely difficult to prove, are usually time consuming and costly. she has to prove doctor did not provide required standard of care and that this caused the damage.

Basically she now has to wear a catheter all the time as the Ametryptaline has damaged all the nerve endings concerned after she was left on it by several GPs for over 10 years.

Do you know this for sure? You've read it- ok but are you putting two and two together- i've read it causes x damage and thus it must have caused it in this case?
What 'proof' do you have? Could it have been caused by another factor? Do you have any medical evidence to this effect? From whom? How credible is the writer of evidence? What reports have been done? Was complaint made against GP- if not why not? etc

She also has a huge hernia that they are refusing point blank to do a thing about as she has a heart condition even though its making her life a misery.

Why are they refusing to do anything about hernia? If they carried out operation what are chances of heart attack? Is operation likely to result in more damage/death? Have risks been discussed with patient aswell as benefit? Has second opinion been asked for?

on the way home she felt wet and looked down to see she was pouring blood and had to be rushed back in by amulance where they found that the consulatant had made the hole too big so another overnight stop in hospital and they sent her home.

did she make complaint- has consultant admiited he made error? has hospital admitted liability?

we found out she had been given MRSA in her wound and to make matters worse the GP had known for over a week and hadnt told her as "they didnt want to worry her" the only reason she found out was she specifically asked is the infection in the wound MRSA when they did actually admit it.

patient has right to be kept informed- patronising or GP trying to cover up. have you asked whether this is policy what should be done if MRSA found in wound- call in for tests etc?

the GP turned up with 2 medical students in tow and proceeded to examine her WITHOUT washing her hands before OR after touching the wound and changing the dressings despite being offered the medical strength alochol gel they had in the house.

if she wants to claim negligence here she would need to show she suffered some harm. what harm has been suffered?
suggests she speaks to cab, local law centre - some insurance companies provide legal helplines- 30 mins free with solicitor-various organisations can help with complaints against hospitals

livinginhope

The chances are your girlfriend is carrying MRSA anyway,most people do in their noses and throat,MRSA isn't really as bad as all the hype you read in the newspapers,if it is confined to the wound a cream such as flamazine can be applied to clear it in no time,if in the bloodstream that's another matter,that's when things become very worrying,and very strong antibiotics such as Vancomycin are needed,not pleasant.
I think going down the legal route would be sooo stressfull,especially with a baby on the way,but a very strong complaint is needed.
Regarding the community team,gloves MUST be worn,don't be afraid to refuse treatment or speak up when proper simple hygiene regs.are not followed,not only to protect your MIL,but also the next patient to be visited by the team,the more complaints,the more chance of them following procedure in future and as matter of course.

Rich44_2

Do you know this for sure? You've read it- ok but are you putting two and two together- i've read it causes x damage and thus it must have caused it in this case?
What 'proof' do you have? Could it have been caused by another factor? Do you have any medical evidence to this effect? From whom? How credible is the writer of evidence? What reports have been done? Was complaint made against GP- if not why not? etc

Its in the notes that accompany the drug, its also listed as a "black" drug according to our midwife (whom we asked about it too, esp as my partner was on it after suffering cluster migraines after her miscarriage so we found out a lot about it as she was taking it during the very early weeks of her pregnancy), I also have access to the medical drugs dictionary (I used to work supporting IT in PCT's) she was on the highest does of Ametryptaline at the time and left on it for over a decade

We also have a very good friend who actually works for a company that writes the info that goes on the drugs packaging and he's given us access to the full medical trial data on it.

According to the original consultant he says this is the probable cause for the kind of nerve damage she has, she has no other medical complications that could have left her in this state.

She also has a huge hernia that they are refusing point blank to do a thing about as she has a heart condition even though its making her life a misery.

They are refusing to operate on the grounds of her heart condition as they claim its a risk (I thought every op was a risk but there you go) we have since been told by someone else that a hernia can be operated on by Epidural for people with heart/lung problems but trust still dont want to know probably to help keep their waiting lists down.

on the way home she felt wet and looked down to see she was pouring blood and had to be rushed back in by amulance where they found that the consulatant had made the hole too big so another overnight stop in hospital and they sent her home.

She's late 60's and the consultant came back into the room long enough to mutter about the hole being too large then !!!!!!ed off again and you know how some elderly ladies can be at causing a fuss

f she wants to claim negligence here she would need to show she suffered some harm. what harm has been suffered?
suggests she speaks to cab, local law centre - some insurance companies provide legal helplines- 30 mins free with solicitor-various organisations can help with complaints against hospitals

Well seeing as any medical professional can get into serious trouble for doing this on a patient that doesnt have MRSA let alone one who does, also not to mention they have been told that ANYONE who visits the house must wash their hands with the medical gel when leaving regardless of whether they touch her mum or not so if so how is this ok for a medical professional to ignore? This is totally unacceptable how would you feel if you were the next patient to be treated by this GP and not to mention setting an incredibly bad example for the students

We've given her a printout from a local firm of solicitors specialising in medical negligence who will visit them too for the initial consultation for free (shes disabled too).

I agree about the ECT there was nothing really wrong with her that some therapy wouldnt have sorted out but between her bullying ex husband and the doctors they stitched her up and got her sectioned (many years ago) I think the ex got some kind of perverse pleasure from putting her through that its left her a bit of a mess TBH up until recently she didnt really leave the house much and when she did she hated every minute of it, we're more worried about her hernia and the catheter situation. Also the first one that was put in through her urinary tract was also botched and left her incontinent for over a week till they could get her back in and sort it out (they used a tube that was too small so nothing would pass through it).

TBH I wasnt thinking the legal route for us, the emotional stress on my partner is something we can get over and deal with to be fair I dont think suing for that is worth considering life is just crappy sometimes unfortunately.

Again shes a late 60's woman with some mental health problems (meaning she cant be assertive really) so standing up for herself is really hard to do especially when you have a consultant in front of you (we all know how intimidating they can be when they want to) and as theyre about 60 miles away we cant really do much about it most of the time

As for the baby well shes been told she cannot be a visitor at a hospital until she has 4 clear consecutive tests (shes had 1 so far) and as the umbilical cord is treated as an open wound then she cannot be near the baby - full stop that has come from a team of midwives, the paedatric consultant and her doctor and consultant so thats a definate no to seeing the baby till its clear.

As for MRSA not being as bad as they make out and being a carrier anyway, well the same is true about meningitis isnt it but as soon as the balance is out of whack then it becomes dangerous, same prinicipal here its dangerous to the young and old so her mum being old (relatively lol) and the baby being young (obviously) they are both very vulnerable.

They tested her urine recently to check whether the MRSA was in there before she went to hospital and that came back negative so they have said she got it from the hospital.

We're off over the tomorrow as its my partners birthday and as its nice we can spend the day in the garden (fingers crossed) so might be able to talk a little about it with her.

Thanks for everyones comments and sorry to ramble on