Collecting anecdotes of horrible medical care in the UK

[MeDieViL]

If your born in the Uk and its the only healthcare you have seen id be happy myself too, ive just seen the difference to how healthcare is the uk compared to belguim and i was shocked, also ive read tons of ppl sayin that where here on holiday that the healthcare was terrible, ppl that moved here and also and a variarity of fora i post alot of information about treatments for all sort of mental or neurological disorders, and things like hearthdesease, involving alot of offlabel interventions, which in fact are extremely effective, and everyone from the uk get my suggested treatments refused despite them presenting the scientific papers, or research studys i put togheter for people to take to their dockter.

As an example, memantine, pramipexole, candesartan and many more things can be extremely effective for depression, yet ppl here are usually being refused potentially helpfull meds just because they are offabel, heck i beleive memantine is a must for every drug user to prevent the development of tolerance so ppl can prevent dose escalation and start losing the effects of many drugs, also making therapeutic use impossible, and yet ive never seen anyone being able to get treated with a intervention i suggested despite the person bringing proof behind it.

The memantine amphetamine combination is even commonly being prescribed in america now after all the hard work i did, its bloody redicelous here.

 

[MeDieViL]

Last time i had a partional seizure outside and was hospitalised, docter didnt do a brainscan or anything, even when i asked for one as i wanted to try the addition of another anticonvulsant, just got drug overdose on my note, another time i was going trough benzo .withdrawal and i had brainzaps, partional seizure coming up and they send me back home

 

[Sprout]

During the seizureland that is BZD WD I was told over the phone I was entitled to a reserved bed for observation and detoxification as an in-patient, before my arrival at the hospital the senior staff had decided I didn't actually warrant medical attention because it was self-induced and any provision of Diazepam would mean "every junkie in a 5 mile radius would show up every time they couldn't score".
I almost died of multiple seizures at home after desperately begging my GP for help - 5mg Chlordiazepoxide a day... for a week.

You couldn't detox a mayfly on such a dose.

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

^

Well done for being brief Evey, I'll try and follow suit.

Preface - criticizing the NHS does not mean I want it to change to any other system.

1964 I was born very premature, the sort of premature that killed you. I nearly killed my mum. The NHS saved both our lives.

Criticisms. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. Amazingly, when diagnosed, I was offered options (3). I was told to go away and choose one.

Came back two weeks later ready to tell them I'd chosen 'active surveillance' (avoiding surgery for now to see how things developed - this is accepted in prostate cancer as PC is different to most cancers). HOWEVER, the doctor said I had no choice. "Radical prostatectomy, this is the treatment for this cancer". This caused great argument, just when I needed support, between me and the surgeon and me and my family. ("So you are arrogant enough to think you know better then the doctors eh?") No. I'd done my research and found Professor Emberton at UCH who probably knows more about prostate cancer than anyone in the country.

So then I chose a trial treatment (though the trial had been going on for 8 years) called HIFU. It was successful. But it meant changing hospitals to UCH London and when I went back to my original diagnosis hospital in south Wales for follow up I was met with indifference and a man throwing his hands in the air saying "You chose to leave us. How do you expect me to do your follow up?" Thats the abreviated version. It was worse, much worse than that. His attitude towards me was disgusting, went on for 20 mins before I walked out. I have never walked out on any doctor ever, before or since. I was told by other medical professionals to report him. Maybe I should have done. But I have no interest in compensation culture and just wanted out of there.

I went back to UCHL. Chalk and cheese. UCHL are a teaching hospital. If you ever want the best treatment go to a teaching hospital. They have higher standards.

Example number 2. In 2008 I chose a world trip. Needed jabs, got jabs. Had horrendous reaction to hepatitis jab. Went straight to GP, brilliant, immediately diagnosed vasculitis, side-effect of hepatitis. Said it was best left to flush itself out as I was off round the world in 2 weeks.

Came back 6 months later, symptoms prevailing. Over 2 years I had several tests at the same south Wales hospital I criticized above. I saw 13 different specialists (never the same one twice). 2 were brilliant. 11 were horrible and many accused me of making up my story. I honestly believe they were frightened of me suing. I was never going to sue. I just wanted a diagnosis. I got nowhere.

2 years later (2013) i begged my GP to do something. I was sent to a different hospital to repeat all those tests over again. On the very first test, the same very first test I'd had before, I was diagnosed within seconds (by a brilliant nurse who also got me to stop smoking immediately through the way she spoke to me) with peripheral vascular disease, almost certainly triggered by hypersensitivity vasculitis. She told me the doppler test that she diagnosed me with is often misinterpreted and done wrong. Best nurse ever.

Many of those 11 specialists who had treated me like shit had accused me of lieing. To this day I resent this. I understand compensation culture is a massive problem for the NHS. But I just wanted a diagnosis there is no cure, or at least there is but it involves a 10% chance of me losing my leg. I quite like my legs where they are.

I fully understand the benefits of the NHS. For my cancer and my PVD I have had 5 MRI scans. You know why they do biopsy (for cancer) rather than the more accurate MRI? Because biopsy costs tuppence. An MRI scan costs £1000 a time.

I will always fight for a free at the point of delivery NHS. But its not beyond criticism. And don't forget doctors were reluctant to join and then tried to leave in 1957.

 

[consumer]

Its a very different system here. Its not perfect and a bit underfunded but generally in my experience the public hospital system is excellent. If i got seriously ill like i did years ago when i presented with sepsis from a perianal abcess I was literally in an operating theatre 25 min after arriving at ED. Two weeks of IV antibiotics and a lot of opiates then led to extreme constipation which with a major infection near / in my ass was not ideal so another operation to clear my bowel after all the other options were tried and failed. Three weeks in hospital. All free.

But i had a mate break his leg, xrayed and the radiologist missed the break. He was sent home. 3 weeks of agony he went back. This time they picked the break but in the meantime he had done permanent damage. He now walks with a limp. Nothings perfect. People make mistakes. There are shit doctors and shit nurses but overwhelmingly the ones i know are awesome. Working in healthcare is hard. People expect you to have all the answers and often you dont. Many problems have similar symptoms to others and are misdiagnosed. Medication errors occur. Charts get mixed up. Shit goes wrong. But on the whole its a good system here. I was proud to be a part of it.