should I complain?

shandyclover

I may be missing something in how the NHS works - if so please point it out (nicely!)

My dad visited us. While he is a British citizen, he has married my Aussie step-mum, and just recently moved to Australia, so no longer has a UK permanent address. I am not sure if this has a bearing in how he was treated.

While here he went out for a curry with some of his old school friends. He picked up what we believed was food poisoning. Vomiting, diarrhea, chills etc. 5 days later he is still not good at all. He's over 60, takes blood pressure medication and we were getting worried. He was due to fly back in 3 days and we were wondering if we should re-schedule his flight.

Our GP surgery has a system you have to call for an appointment between 8-9 am. I am at work at that time and not allowed to make personal calls. Dad was not registered at my GP so he couldn't call. We did not want to go and clog up A&E with a a non emergency, so googled for our closest 'walk in centre' which said you didn't need an appointment nor did you need to be registered.

With difficulty my very ill dad got himself to the centre, filled in forms, waited an hour and 40 minutes, to be told by the receptionist the nurse would not see him as she could not do any tests, and therefore could not do anything for him. He was dismissed without any offer of help or given an alternative. Weak, disoriented and confused he went home.

I thought the point of a walk in centre was to help, or at least guide to an alternative?

On the way home I went to our pharmacy, described situation and the lack of help from the walk in centre to a pharmacist who was horrified and told me to go straight to GP surgery in person and explain the situation 'he definitely needs to see a dr.' and told me to go straight to surgery and insist - giving her name as back up. In the end a very understanding GP receptionist sorted a emergency appointment, but what about people who do not have someone to speak for them? I feel in this case the walk in centre nurse and receptionist should have done something for my dad rather than just brush him off.

I am thinking of complaining to the practice manager. Members of my family have been to another walk in centre before when there was no other recourse and were always seen, but in this case my dad did not get further than the front desk and had to wait almost 2 hours for nothing.

FBaby

Your dad is suffering from what looks like a sickness bug. Either it is just that, in which case, nothing much to do but make sure he remains properly hydrated) or he is suffering from a more serious infection, in which case, the only way to determined whether this is the case is to do a blood test.

Why the nurse couldn't do blood tests is the issue. Now if your dad has said that he was due back home in 3 days, it might be that they would not have been able to get the results by then anyway, hence not doing them. The only alternative would have been A&E if indeed there was some concerns that your dad was suffering from something more serious than just a sickness bug.

What was the outcome at the GP surgery? Did they do the blood tests? Did they say when he will get the results? Was it done at the sugery or did he have to go to the local hospital for them?

shandyclover

Dad did not communicate to the nurse anything about when he was due to fly since he did not have the chance to speak to her. The message that they could not do anything for him was relayed through the receptionist, after he had sat and waited an hour and a half.

I understand the limitations of what a walk in centre can do, but really all we wanted was some direction and reassurance without having to go to the extremes of A&E. 5 days is an awfully long time to go without being able to eat or drink properly, and having everything come out both ends (excuse the graphics!) Especially for a 65 yo who has already had 1 minor heart attack and takes blood pressure medication.

In the end dad spoke to our GP, who recommended we observe for another 12 hours before any tests, tentively warning the airline he may not be fit to travel. He also gave advice on how to hold down the medication he already takes, what to try to eat/drink, took his blood pressure etc.etc. It made the world of difference and was very reassuring. As the dr. advised many things take a turn on the 6-7th day and this certainly seemed to be the case for my dad as he began to get better from that evening onward. What concerned me was this all could have been done by a nurse at the walk in centre, or they at least should has directed him to an alternative.

Caz3121

did he speak to his travel insurance and what did they suggest? there must be some sort of process for visitors to the UK to get medical assistance...maybe it is just A&E

Mojisola

shandyclover wrote: »

My dad visited us. While he is a British citizen, he has married my Aussie step-mum, and just recently moved to Australia, so no longer has a UK permanent address. I am not sure if this has a bearing in how he was treated.

Our GP surgery has a system you have to call for an appointment between 8-9 am. I am at work at that time and not allowed to make personal calls. Dad was not registered at my GP so he couldn't call.

There's no reason why he couldn't have phoned up and got an appointment with your GP.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/how-do-i-register-as-a-temporary-resident-with-a-gp.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=158
"If you are not registered with a doctor but need to see one, you can receive emergency treatment from the local GP practice for 14 days."

Noctu

"With difficulty my very ill dad got himself to the centre"

I think next time (god forbid), you should go to A&E.

I'd also consider making a complaint about the walk in centre, through the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS).

DreamyP

You should complain because you're right what about those that have no one to speak for them? The Nurse and Recpetionist should have been more empathetic or given any sort of advice about where else you could go for help.

I hope your dad is feeling better now.

missbiggles1

I don't think that your father should have expected to have been treated as if he was still a UK resident and agree with the poster who mentioned using his travel insurance.

He did have this, didn't he?

FBaby

The issue is that walk-in centres are not supposed to be an alternative to seeing a GP but an alternative to going to A&E. It sounds from your second post that your father wasn't ill enough to require either the care of the centre or A&E, what he required was advice from a GP. You say yourself that this was your first port of call but he couldn't do that because he isn't registered.

The centre probably got annoyed because of that and expected your dad to have made an appointment as a private patient with your practice.

Flugelhorn

GPs see a lot of temp residents on the NHS for immediately necessary treatment, other option is that the travel insurance companies may have contracts with private GPs who will do home visits etc