Experience of district nurses please.

i had to have the district nurses come in every day for 6 weeks, the first 3 weeks everything was great until one left and the lady i got was very nippy and not very gentle, the dressings were because of lymph nodes being removed from my groin, i did say to her to call me as i had an entry buzzer and i needed to get down the stairs, i did say that i was happy to wait till the end of her patients as i knew that people needed medication and injections first thing, i ended up with an infection because she kept forgetting to bring stuff to clean the wound, so it was back to hospital then another two months of district nurses, i had to ask them not to send her back to me.. most of them were brilliant and all i ever asked was a call to give me time to get downstairs to let them in.

Whethertomorrow

Thank you everyone for your comments.

After 3 phone calls I got through to the right people. I apologised for missing their visit. The nice man said don’t worry it happens all the time! They should have let me know the day but somehow I got missed!

I wonder if missed visits are a way of lessening their workload. I don’t blame them for that.

I’m expecting them Monday or Tuesday and they will hopefully phone before arrival.

Thank you all again for taking the time to comment.

Ah! good that you got it sorted!

But remember, if they are taking bloods from you, they will probably come early rather than later, as they have to get the samples off to the path lab fairly soon after they are taken.

Good luck with the next visit.

Whethertomorrow

Thank you everyone for your comments.

After 3 phone calls I got through to the right people. I apologised for missing their visit. The nice man said don’t worry it happens all the time! They should have let me know the day but somehow I got missed!

I wonder if missed visits are a way of lessening their workload. I don’t blame them for that.

I’m expecting them Monday or Tuesday and they will hopefully phone before arrival.

Thank you all again for taking the time to comment.

How on earth can you class then calling on you and you not being up as a 'missed visit and are a way of lessening their workload'? They have increased their workload by having to call again. You seem intent to show the nurse in a poor light.

I’m not in any way trying to show them in a bad light. I said I didn’t blame them.
My thinking was that if the senior managers give them a huge workload with too many cases to see in a day, that if they have missed cases then that would give them some much needed breathing space without getting into trouble from the senior managers.

My much loved daughter is a sister in the NHS and her workload is horrendous so I have immense sympathy for all in the service.

Perhaps my lack of interaction with people has made me clumsy in communication via texts so I apologise for my poor communication skills.

I had some elderly neighbours and the husband had to have his leg amputated. They had such a lot of trouble with district nurses who were supposed to call and change his dressings regularly. Sometimes they turned up but forgot to bring clean dressings, other times they didn’t turn up and the wife would waste an hour or so on the phone to the surgery to get someone out again. They were supposed to take the dirty dressings away and his wife always bagged them up and left them at the back door but they usually forgot. It was a boiling hot summer and they used to smell. I used to feel sorry for his wife as she was elderly herself and not good on her legs.

Whethertomorrow if you phone your health centre they will be able to give you a direct number for the district nursing dept. If it’s like ours, your call will go to an answer machine as they’re all out during the day. You can leave a message and they’ll pick it up later when they’re back to base. Alternatively if you phone before 8.30am you might catch them before they set off for the day. Sorry you’re having a miserable time 💐