NHS consultant

knightstyle

Not sure where to put this so thought a vent would be in order!
Basically I wrenched my shoulder in May, was prescribed physio which made the pain worse and then referred to a consultant. I didn't know what to expect but he just seems to delay things. First he said I needed an Xray, then an ultrasound, then an MRI with long waits. For example I saw him on 2nd Nov, went for an MRI on 24th Nov, 40 miles away to speed it up, should see the consultant on 18th Jan but this has now been changed to 1st Feb!
The consultant does not speak clearly, never looks me in the eye and gives me no confidence. So I tried to find out about him. Well I cannot find anything about him except he is from Uganda, looked on several lists, and the local health authority won't tell me anything.
So how do I proceed? All I want to know is is he competent to operate on me and what do I do now, is there a NHS website or office where I can raise my concerns.

johnsons_baby

You could address your concerns to the hospital's patient liaison service, you should be able to access them via the hospital treating you.

Your GP may be able to re-refer you to another consultant in another hospital or in the same hospital, you are entitled to seek a second opinion if you wish to.

Another option is when you attend for your appointment in Feb, ask if you can be seen by the registrar, my mum did this when she 'got the creeps' about a consultant see saw once and no one batted an eyelid, they just said it was fine. He consulted with the consultant but she didn't have to see the consultant, the only negative against that is, if you need surgery, you do need to implicitly trust someone, but that's my only view.

As someone who has had 3 shoulder operations myself, I had 2 with a world renowned surgeon but I didn't like him, I felt like a piece a meat not a patient, they both failed. I opted to see someone in another health authority and he was a lovely surgeon, very honest and up front, very understanding of my apprehension, the op didn't work but I am glad I gave it a go and I'm happy with the decision I made.

As a word of advice from someone who has been through major shoulder surgery, please, please, please keep up your physio exercises even if you have been discharged from physio, you will need all the strength in and around your shoulder to be in good condition and tone. Surgery is only a partial answer, physio will give you some strength to make the best and fullest recovery.

Wishing you the best with your operation

miduck

What do you need to "find out" about him?

Tests do take a long time when done in the NHS, and they are not all ordered at once because of the costs involved - MRIs are not cheap! If you wanted things to happen more quickly, you should have gone private.

knightstyle

Thanks everyone for looking and answering. I think I have torn several ligaments, my main point is that we are meant to have an 'open' NHS and the information about consultants and their specialities should be available for patients to see. But my consultant is not listed. I found this on NHS choices website but what good is it?

Following commitments set out in the White Paper to enable patients “to have a choice
of named consultant-led team for elective care by April 2011” and from feedback from
NHS Choices’ users, new consultant profiles have been launched on https://www.nhs.uk.
These new profiles provide consultants with an opportunity to publish details about
themselves and their areas of specialties.
For the first time, people will be able to search online for information about consultants,
their approach to care and specialist areas of practice.
In addition, patients can now leave feedback and read other patients experience at a
departmental level."

pmduk

You can check him and his registration to practice in the UK here. There's nothing stopping you going back to your GP and asking to be referred to a different consultant.

knightstyle

Thanks, I have already done that, it simply says he qualified in Makerere University and that he is not on either the specialist or GP register.

aminchom

Sorry, but to be a substantive (not locum) consultant in England and Wales (sorry, don't know the rules in Scotland) a doctor has to be on the specialist register. However, where I work we have an excellent locum consultant orthopaedic surgeon who wouldn't be on the register but I'd let him operate on me.

knightstyle

Thanks, aminchom . Well he isn't on either list and has been practicing in the UK since 1978 I think.
Here is the entry.

Primary Medical Qualification
MB ChB 1971 Makerere University
Full Registration Date
13 Apr 1978
Specialist Register entry date
This doctor is not on the Specialist Register
GP Register entry date
This doctor is not on the GP Register
Information for Employers
View information for Employers

So where do I go from here?

ljonski

I think if you have no confidence in him you have to ask to see another. Possibly you could make an appointment with your GP and ask him what he knows about him.

gregg1

knightstyle wrote: »

Not sure where to put this so thought a vent would be in order!
Basically I wrenched my shoulder in May, was prescribed physio which made the pain worse and then referred to a consultant. I didn't know what to expect but he just seems to delay things. First he said I needed an Xray, then an ultrasound, then an MRI with long waits. For example I saw him on 2nd Nov, went for an MRI on 24th Nov, 40 miles away to speed it up, should see the consultant on 18th Jan but this has now been changed to 1st Feb!
The consultant does not speak clearly, never looks me in the eye and gives me no confidence. So I tried to find out about him. Well I cannot find anything about him except he is from Uganda, looked on several lists, and the local health authority won't tell me anything.
So how do I proceed? All I want to know is is he competent to operate on me and what do I do now, is there a NHS website or office where I can raise my concerns.

Why would you think he is deliberately delaying things? Sounds to me like he has been pretty thorough so far. He X-rayed you first as this is what they usually do with injuries like yours. If that shows nothing then they send you for an MRI. To be honest, You have not had to wait long at all for an MRI. How do you know you even need an operation if you have not seen him again yet for the results?

knightstyle

gregg1, I think you missed my point, why is he not on the lists and how do I find out about him as defined in the white paper? Plus I had an ultrasound between the Xray and MRI, is this normal?