WWYD? Hospital "negligence"

Snap-ant

Yes I agree you should of been scanned at the beginning.
I could feel something weird inside my leg.
My Dr did a 'D-dimer' blood test before he sent me for a scan.

I did have a DVT & yes, the Heparin injections in your tummy are a good precaution.
A personal opinion is that I did bruise very very badly from the injections. Maybe not for others.
My Dr allowed me (after teaching me) to inject myself as it would of meant horrendous long public transport journeys to the hospital over a long weekend.
Then I went onto the Warfarin
I won't go in to the long saga of the PE's in my lungs & turned away from hospital 3 times...... My Father's wise words are you are still alive that's all that matters
Warmest wishes for an all clear scan ♥

peachyprice

Snap-ant wrote: »

I did have a DVT & yes, the Heparin injections in your tummy are a good precaution.
A personal opinion is that I did bruise very very badly from the injections. Maybe not for others.
My Dr allowed me (after teaching me) to inject myself as it would of meant horrendous long public transport journeys to the hospital over a long weekend.
Then I went onto the Warfarin
I won't go in to the long saga of the PE's in my lungs & turned away from hospital 3 times...... My Father's wise words are you are still alive that's all that matters
Warmest wishes for an all clear scan ♥

Ha, sorry for hijacking OP, but they tried to give me those damned injections in my stomach when I was pregnant, they couldn't understand why I nearly knocked the nurse out when he tried :eek:

orangesmartie

With regard to the original question, you saw three GPs, all of whom will have taken, or been aware of your previous medical history and asked you questions about your current symptoms. Based on their knowledge and experience coupled with your statements at the time, nothing led them to believe that you potentially have a DVT or that it would require a scan. Some GPs err on the side of caution and send everyone for scans. Specialists in a field (such as DVT nurses) believe everyone should be scanned regardless of PMH/symptoms. If I have understood your post correctly (apologies if I haven't) you were also referred to the hospital (A&E) at the time you attended OOH for further tests and investigations.

The GPs you saw made a clinical decision regarding your course of treatment. This is a decision which they can be called upon to defend in a court of law and in front of their GMC peers. It is based up previous medical history, clinical risk factors, presenting symptoms and the results of any investigations undertaken. The course of treatment decided upon is not one they took lightly or without due thought.


If you are concerned about the course of treatment given and would like a further explanation then please do write the people concerned. You are entitled to have copies of those notes. Those notes are legal documents and therefore are fully auditable.

I would therefore recommend that you write (email is fine) a letter to your GP Practice's practice manager (their details will be on their website, or ask at reception). Explain the sequence of events - rang OOH service, saw GP, was referred to A&E etc). Ask them for copies of the notes for each contact with each professional (a fee is payable for this - max £50) and ask if they can give a clinical reason for not being referred for a scan. The practice manager can then contact OOH and the A&E department for notes and clinician statements in order to investigate the situation.

If you are not happy writing to the PM, you can write to the Hospital complaints department (for the hospital component); the Out of Hours Service or the PCT. The PCT is responsible for comissioning both the OOHs and the GPs you saw in practice. There is a defined complaints procedure to be followed and the PCT can look into the complaint for you. Also, as mentioned above, you can go down the PALS route. If you write directly to the chief executive, your letter will be passed to the complaints department for investigation and will go through the same process as if you'd written directly to complaints. You cannot escalate your complaint to the ombudsman until you have gone through the NHS complaints procedure.


In answering the last line of your post - what will they implement to ensure it doesn't happen again - assuming you do have a DVT, the only thing they can implement to ensure that no DVT is ever missed to scan every person who presents with a wide set of symptoms. This is not cost effective nor time efficient. It may however identify a training need for the GPs on duty.

LondonDiva

It's likely that the OOH service was commissioned by the PCT rather than the GP. There are a number of different people involved and I'd suggest that you email the PCT https://www.nhs.uk and and ask them to coordinate the complaint between the GP/OOH/hospital\- thei swill save you runnign around.

If you want your records, easiest way is to go to the hospital website and look for access to health records section. Contact the medical records team and put a request in directly to them - avoid mentioning the records in any complaint as they are two seperate depts. For the GP and OOH, you will need to contact them seperately. Remember, you will need to pay for each request, so to minimise the cost you should just apply for the records covering this episode of care.

Hope you get better soon.

Mojisola

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Scans are expensive, the NHS will try treatments for more common aliments first before scanning for the majority of symptoms.

I don't think the DVT scan is. It's just a simple ultrasound scan.

Hootie19

Thank you all for your replies, and your kind wishes.

I think I'm still in "shock" (I use the word loosely) at being told today that it could be a DVT, despite having been told four weeks ago that his had been ruled out. I was really expecting to be told it was an inflamed vein, or even a varicose vein, so I was a bit blindsided today.

I certainly don't want heads to roll, or to get anyone into trouble. That's not going to make my situation any better.

At the moment, I just can't get past the fact that "there but for the grace of god go I", and that this could potentially have had a fatal outcome.

I do understand that medicine isn't an exact science, and have nothing but admiration for the staff of our local hospital - this has been the first time I have experienced less than perfect dealings with them.

I will wait for the outcome of the scan on Monday, and find out exactly what it is that I'm dealing with, but I will follow some of the advice given above (for which I am grateful) and will make contact in some way or another, with all the parties I have dealt with - the OOH, the Acute Care Centre at the Hospital, the GPs etc and just ask "what went wrong".

I do understand that there may be nothing they can do to prevent it happening again, but I'd at least like them to be aware that this could have been a different outcome and just highlight it (but that sounds very patronising, so I don't think I've expressed myself very well!).

Mojisola

It is worth pursuing it. The problems at Stafford Hospital only went on for so long because no-one was complaining about the situation.

meritaten

Hootie19 wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies, and your kind wishes.

I think I'm still in "shock" (I use the word loosely) at being told today that it could be a DVT, despite having been told four weeks ago that his had been ruled out. I was really expecting to be told it was an inflamed vein, or even a varicose vein, so I was a bit blindsided today.

I certainly don't want heads to roll, or to get anyone into trouble. That's not going to make my situation any better.

At the moment, I just can't get past the fact that "there but for the grace of god go I", and that this could potentially have had a fatal outcome.

I do understand that medicine isn't an exact science, and have nothing but admiration for the staff of our local hospital - this has been the first time I have experienced less than perfect dealings with them.

I will wait for the outcome of the scan on Monday, and find out exactly what it is that I'm dealing with, but I will follow some of the advice given above (for which I am grateful) and will make contact in some way or another, with all the parties I have dealt with - the OOH, the Acute Care Centre at the Hospital, the GPs etc and just ask "what went wrong".

I do understand that there may be nothing they can do to prevent it happening again, but I'd at least like them to be aware that this could have been a different outcome and just highlight it (but that sounds very patronising, so I don't think I've expressed myself very well!).

Thats NOT what our doctors say is it? they expect us to hang on to their every word as gospel.

and as for routinely scanning - here in wales doctors have been asked NOT to request scans! its expensive and apparently most scans have shown nothing abnormal. dont know about you - but to me a negative scan can be just as useful as a positive one! it can rule OUT some illnesses and is useful in setting the patients mind at rest!

minimoneysaver

When you look at the costs involved in cases like this you have to wonder why they don't just scan at the initial check as they do in America.
This person has had a visit to urgent care, 3 GP visits and then a visit to a DVT clinic, plus all of the antibiotics... surely no scan would cost as much as all of the above?!
When I was in America I turned up at the GP with a tummy ache and feeling sick for several days plus an upset stomach, they brought out the ultra sound - which was there on site and found gall stones. Less than a week later I was on the operating table. Fair enough there was money exchanged through my medical insurance, but it was much swifter and no unneccessary drugs were prescribed, no waste of time visits to lots of different people. Just simple medical treatment after a diagnosed problem.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Hootie19 wrote: »

I certainly don't want heads to roll, or to get anyone into trouble. That's not going to make my situation any better.

But could save someone else from dying.