What is a emergency????

Last Thursday eve my father in law (75) was taken Ill. He was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack (chest pain sweating etc) after tests and a night in hospital they said his heart was alright and it might be his liver so they then sent him home in the morning, still in pain an obvious yellowish taint to his skin and very unsteady on his feet....at about 5 pm he collapses again so i rush over and phoned 999 at 5 25..It was explained what happened the night before and the call centre said it didnt appear to be life threatening ....true he was conscious and responding but he was confused in shock and kept twitching plus he was lying on the floor, so they dispatched a paramedic...35 mins later his temperature went up he started sweating and the pains returned so we insisted on a ambulance .....To cut a long story short he is now in hospital ..he has gall stones a blocked bile duct. this set up a infection which is now got in in his blood and his kidneys have now failed so he is on dialysis today ....My wife and her mother (who is disabled and blind) are furious. saying if they hadn't sent him home perhaps this may not have happened or not been as serious.....
PS it was 40 mins before he got any treatment 20 mins short of the golden hour

Re: What is a emergency????

This sort of thing seems to happen far too often these days. Is it all down to money or is there less competence today. I hope he recovers from his ordeal.

Re: What is a emergency????

My sister went to hospital with a very bad head after collapsing on the floor. She told the doctor she has never experienced anything like it. She also told them that her sister and cousin had brain tumors. They sent her home with co codamon tablets.
Next day her husband sent for an ambulance, They said she did not need to go to the hospital, her husband insisted they take her. Got a different doctor, told him the same story she told the first one. He sent her for a scan straight away. She had a bleed on the brain. He said he did not know how she was still alive.
Since then she has had two brain operations and mild stroke. It's a miracle she is still with us, She is doing well.

Re: What is a emergency????

I'm sorry, but I've only just caught up with this topic and I can't believe what I've read.

These are my experiences. On 5 April 2011 at approximately 9.45 p.m. I started falling over to my right. I phoned my brother who told me to phone for an ambulance and that he'd meet me at the infirmary. By 10 p.m. a paramedic crew was at my house to assess me and they thought I might be suffering from a TIA (Transient Ischaemic Attack) known as a mild stroke. I was taken to A&E but it is true to say I had wait for over an hour because of severe emergencies but, once seen, things kicked into motion and I was admitted, spending three nights there until I was allowed home. I couldn't fault the system.

Then, about three weeks ago I saw my doctor because I had a swollen leg. He told me to immediately go to A&E and gave me a letter to hand in. I was seen within 10 minutes of arrival and was seen by several people taking bloods and various other things because of a suspected DVT. I was given Fragmin to inject into my stomach, which district nurses did for me and I was expected to have that done for six weeks but less than a fortnight later I was given a hospital appointment for a scan on my leg, which proved that I didn't have a blood clot.

It really must depend on where you live, but the NHS in my area are second to none. They're absolutely brilliant and it's awful that people should have to demand assistance when it's needed and worse still to be fobbed off.

Re: What is a emergency????

Steve matey, time to get REALLY angry!!! - formulate a strong letter of complaint and address it personally to the Chief executive of the Hospital where your Father-in-law was first admitted and treated. Ask for an explanation of why he was discharged in such circumstances displaying clear signs of Jaundice (you told us was yellow in colour). His treatment fell far short of what should have happened to him and you want the Chief Executive's assurance that such failures will NEVER happen again.