Should this be the District Nurse or Practice Nurse??

homeworkgirl

My elderly Mum is caught in the middle of a disagreement between the local district nurse and her gp practice nurse. To cut a long story short, Mum recently lost the use of her legs due to CES (cauda equina syndrome) so is unable to walk at all and can't really stand for longer than a few seconds. She has a badly ulcerated leg and I phoned her GP who arranged for a prescription for antibiotics to be picked up and he contacted the out of hours district nurses to call that evening as it was quite late. Two lovely nurses came and said we had done the right thing in calling them and dressed the wound and said they would pass the details on to the day team so they could call back the next day and assess the situation. Well to cut a long story short, nobody turned up for 2 days so my Dad phoned and was told they knew nothing about it but eventually sent a nurse round a couple of days later. She made it quite plain that she was not happy that my Mum's case had been "added to her workload" and told my Dad that he should be taking Mum to the doctors surgery to have it re-dressed. Dad explained that Mum could not walk or barely stand but the nurse said that because Dad has a car and Mum has a wheelchair she has to go to the surgery as the district nursing team was far too busy to deal with "cases like that". On taking her to the GP surgery yesterday, the practice nurse complained that she was also "too busy" to see to Mum and that it is the job of the district nurse!

Dad and I are not at all happy about the way Mum was made to feel a nuisance to both of them. We feel that because of Mum's condition she should be seen at home. Yes Dad does have a car but it is extremely difficult to get Mum into it, especially on his own as he is 78yrs old now himself. There is also the danger that she could fall whilst getting in or out. It means that I really would need to be there as well whenever he takes her to the surgery which at times could be difficult.

I would appreciate your comments, particularly from anyone who has experience of nursing in the community etc. as to whether Mum should rightly be seen at home or whether it is our responsibility to get her to the surgery.

Many thanks for listening.

dmg24

Something like that should be the responsbility of the District Nursing Team. I would speak directly to the GP about your concerns.

jackieb

I work with a lady who can now no longer bear weight. It's the district nurses who come to see her. I agree about talking to your GP. She gets bloods taken at home but when she had to have her swine flu jab we had to take her to the surgery (no mean feat!) as we were told that district nurses dont give the swine flu injections. We phoned up ahead to the surgery and reminded them that she has incontinence problems and could she be seen first. She was taken right in when we went to the surgery. But it was a big palaver to get her to the surgery.

Indie_Kid

After I had my operation, it was the district nurse who came to see me to dress my wounds. It was decided after a few weeks (when I could walk with no problems) that I would go to the surgery and get their nurses to change it.

freezspirit

We had the same thing happen to my dad when he came out of hospital after major heart surgery. Our G.P arranged for the district nurse to come out our home to see dad and clean the wound etc as she thought it best he didn't come down to the surgery as it was around the time when alot of flu and stomache bugs were about. I remember 2 different district nurses coming to see dad on different occassions and the attitude and treatment dad got was completely different. One was happy to come and see dad, carefully removing the dressing, cleaning the wound and redress etc. But the other one, to be homest I stayed in my bedroom if she came. She wasn't at all happy to come out to see dad eventhough she stayed for less than 5 mins. She would grab the dressing off the wound I could hear dad scream. Now dad was telling the nurse he was sorry that she had to come to see him so against the g.p advise my dad in the end went down to the surgery to see the practise nurse there. Guess what within a days of going down to the surgery dad came down with a stomache bug with vomiting and out of hours doctor was called out.

homeworkgirl

freezspirit wrote: »

We had the same thing happen to my dad when he came out of hospital after major heart surgery. Our G.P arranged for the district nurse to come out our home to see dad and clean the wound etc as she thought it best he didn't come down to the surgery as it was around the time when alot of flu and stomache bugs were about. I remember 2 different district nurses coming to see dad on different occassions and the attitude and treatment dad got was completely different. One was happy to come and see dad, carefully removing the dressing, cleaning the wound and redress etc. But the other one, to be homest I stayed in my bedroom if she came. She wasn't at all happy to come out to see dad eventhough she stayed for less than 5 mins. She would grab the dressing off the wound I could hear dad scream. Now dad was telling the nurse he was sorry that she had to come to see him so against the g.p advise my dad in the end went down to the surgery to see the practise nurse there. Guess what within a days of going down to the surgery dad came down with a stomache bug with vomiting and out of hours doctor was called out.

When you come across nurses like the one that treated your Dad and my Mum it makes you wonder why the hell they trained to be nurses in the first place doesn't it. My Mum is now getting herself in a real state at the thought of being passed back to her again by her GP. She is 83, has recently become disabled and needs 24hr care.....and coming across someone like that is the last thing she needs! If it wasn't for the worry of possible repercussions I would report her.

WhiteHorse

It is not for the nurse to make that decision. The case is allocated to her care and that's that. You should see the GP at once. You should also make a formal complaint to the PCT.

Tip: When making medical complaints, never complain to the Practice. Always complain to the PCT. Legally, a complaint to a Practice cannot later be referred upwards to the PCT if not dealt with satisfactorily.

homeworkgirl

WhiteHorse wrote: »

It is not for the nurse to make that decision. The case is allocated to her care and that's that. You should see the GP at once. You should also make a formal complaint to the PCT.

Tip: When making medical complaints, never complain to the Practice. Always complain to the PCT. Legally, a complaint to a Practice cannot later be referred upwards to the PCT if not dealt with satisfactorily.

Thank you, that's what I would have thought as it was the GP who referred it to the out of hours District Nurses in the first instance. However, that could have been because the surgery had just closed when I phoned so wasn't sure. The twilight shift nurses were apparently really lovely and wrote out a report to pass onto the day shift.....the day nurse said she never got it but I am beginning to wonder now. I would like to speak to the GP directly about this but you can't seem to get past the receptionist and I don't really want to tell her about it in case it gets repeated. Anyway, Mum has got to go back to the surgery tomorrow to have her leg re-dressed and I have told Dad he should try and talk to the GP as he hasn't even seen her leg yet despite the fact he diagnosed an infection over the phone....maybe he can sort out whose job it is for us!

lolababy

Thats disgusting. Nobody should be treated the way peoples relatives have been on here. Id go to the pct and complain.

homeworkgirl

lolababy wrote: »

Thats disgusting. Nobody should be treated the way peoples relatives have been on here. Id go to the pct and complain.

If I weren't worried about possible repercussions I would

MrsManda

WhiteHorse wrote: »

Tip: When making medical complaints, never complain to the Practice. Always complain to the PCT. Legally, a complaint to a Practice cannot later be referred upwards to the PCT if not dealt with satisfactorily.

Are you sure this is true? Can you point me in the direction of information on this?