Complaint Regarding Hospital ( UK )

[Pretty Hate Machine]

Hi

Any help or advice would be very much apreciated

A friend of mine suffered an epiletic fit at a dance event after going onto a virtual reality machine about 3-4 weeks ago

He had taken 2 E's

He had no previous signs of epilepsy and had also been taken E's before for a little while with no medical problems

As soon as the fit happened I told the medics excactly what he had taken and he was taken to hospital for treatment

He was advised by the Doctors he saw that he suffered a an Epileptic Fit because of the flashing Lights on this VR machine

He was discharged after about 6 hours and he is now fine , he was advised by the Dr he saw he would get an appointment through the post for a scan to make sure everything is ok

He did not hear anything so he made a visit to his local GP to chase things up

On visiting his GP he discovered that his condition was purely a OD and there was no mention of the Fit anywhere on his notes

There is also no mention on the notes from the hospital about a scan as they are purely treating it as a E OD !

He his now lodging a complaint regarding this but I have a few queries and want to make sure he is not incriminating himself ..

In his complaint he states that the 2 pills he took were tested and also that friends had taken the same pills with no ill effects ( which is what happened )

He also states that he has previously used E with no ill effects and also the fact that we are careful and test our pills before consumption

When we were at the Hospital we were questioned by the police as they wanted to know where we had purchased the pills

We told the police that we had all purchased them separately at the event so none of us could be done for carrying in or giving pills to friends but he wants to put the point accross to the complaints board that he doesn't use pills willy nilly or treat them like sweets and that he is as sensible as you can be with drugs

Would this cause him to incriminate himself or spark any police enquiries ?

Many thanks

PHM x

 

[Jase]

What are you trying to achieve by lodging this complaint?

 

[PGTips]

I know PHM and the guy in question (he asked me a load of related questions on MSN this morning). I was there during the seizure (as well you know Jase).

I think they are trying to see if its possible to have the "Overdose" diagnosis which is now written into this guy's medical notes altered to something like "Photo-epileptic seizure, possibly drug attributed" since it was clearly the VR machine that triggered the attack and not the drugs, which he knew were just MDMA (I tested them) and he's aware that the 2 pills he consumed were well within his usual amount.

He feels "Overdose" gives the incorrect impression of him (since most people just think "Heroin Junkie" when you read that) when infact it was just pure coincidence he was on drugs at the time. Although the drugs must be mentioned from the doctors point of view, he feels that since he's proved he was as responsible about his use as he could be, "overdose" (especially since its written on his work sick note!) is a brush he'd rather not be tarred with.

Is it possible to get such diagnosies altered? I'd ask my mum whose a GP but it would raise too many questions about myself and the people I hang around with in my parents eyes.

 

[Dr. J]

Well, why does it matter if his medical record is noted with overdose or not? Who is going to read this besides the doctor? Not sure why his sick note would have "overdose" written on it, that should be doctor/patient information only. And, if you somehow do get the record altered, wouldn't it still reflect that he is a drug-user? I'm not familiar with UK law, so perhaps I'm missing a bigger picture here...

EDIT:

he feels that since he's proved he was as responsible about his use as he could be, "overdose" (especially since its written on his work sick note!) is a brush he'd rather not be tarred with.

I don't know if getting into a virtual reality machine while rolling could be considered responsible. What if someone measured out the exact amount of heroin and all his friends did the same amount from the same batch, etc. and he had a seizure? The point is, I find it hard to believe a drug user can accurately define his or her behavior to categorize it as "safe" and not worthy of "overdose."

 

[Pretty Hate Machine]

Thanks for the replies

I suppose the point I and he are trying to sort out and get across is that his seizure was not purely down to the pills and that he feels it wasn't an OD as such and he is concerned that the seizure was in no way mentioned on the notes sent by the Hospital therefore delaying the scan as he has to be referred by his GP

Popping onto a VR machine having ingested the pills is obviously not a good idea as we have learned - The rest of our group who were also on this and pills ( Including myself ) felt no ill effects and it was actually quite nice

We feel that the seizure would probably have occurred if he went on it sober but there's no way of knowing for sure but that is by the by what happened has happened - there is nothing that can be done to change it so it is pointless speculating

I'm sure he has no problem with having the fact that he took 2 pills is on his medical records as this is confidential but more concerned that the seizure is not mentioned at all on the notes to his GP

Also the fact that OD is written on his sick note which he has to hand into work is awkward to say the least ..

What I was wondering about if someone could help with is that if he stated about the pill testing etc as I said in the first post would he be incriminating himself and spark any police action ?

Many thanks for taking the time to read and reply

PHM

x

 

[nursey]

My advice would be not to bother, sadly the NHS complaints procedure is long winded and even if you get an apology, they can't change the medical notes as they are a legal document and record of his stay in hospital.He could get something added to his notes to mention that he had a seizure.

On the sick note front, i feel the best way to approach this is to ask the GP to give him a separate sick note, not saying OD. If work ask about why he hasn't got a hospital sick note, then he could just say that he mislaid it. They would have to accept the one from the GP.

If you have any further problems, or do wish to continue the complaint, the feel free to ask me anything as i'm an NHS worker and handle complaints on a regular basis. I'm sadly very well versed in the NHS complaints procedure.

 

[Pretty Hate Machine]

Many thanks Nursey

Will point my friend to this thread

Thanks again

PHM x

 

[Mariposa]

I and he are trying to sort out and get across is that

We feel that the seizure would probably have occurred if he went on it
What I was wondering about if someone could help with is that if he stated about the pill testing etc as I said in the first post would he be incriminating himself and spark any police action?

I'd avoid any discussion about the pill testing. It's not something you could easily prove to the authorities and if you were to submit evidence (i.e. a pill from the same batch) that would be EXTREMELY incriminating.

I'm glad your friend is OK. I have witnessed a friend go into seizures whilst rolling at a large outdoor rave and it is incredibly scary.

Nursey's suggestion about the sick note is a good one.

I concur with Dr. J that while the word "overdose" certainly has a loaded connotation, it's difficult to draw the line between safe and unsafe even as an objective observer. Any notes made by the medical staff should accurately reflect the medical professionals' impressions of the event. I'm shocked to hear the seizure wasn't mentioned at all on the notes to the GP- your friend should absolutely bring this up at his appointment.

Stay safe, everyone.