111 causing more trouble than it's worth

I rang Healthwatch this afternoon, and she suggested I should send an email instead, when I pointed out that the reply to my email had told me to phone she told me to go and contact another department.

More runaround.

We do not know Jen, he recovered and attended the Doctor the next time he came over. No trace of Malaria in his body.???
I was just talking to my real(our choice of title before i get a lot of PC twaddle thrown at me as I did last time) Mother, she managed to squirt Superglue in her eye last week, 5.5 hours to be seen in A&E, 81, heart problems, Diabetes etc.
Given cream and told to see GP, first appointment,,,, middle of MARCH, come on what is going on over there ?????

crun sounds like the problems I had when I dislocated my shoulder in January last year. They denied I was vomiting non stop and hadn't mobilised me before discharge! There was no record of my vomiting and they said I was mobilised on the ward. They had tried to send me home. I live in my own in a large house with stairs, unable to walk unaided and couldn't use my crutches due to the shoulder.
I gave up in the end

Was it malaria, felice? What happened?

A dear friend phoned 111 last year, gave his symtoms and was diagnosed with Malaria, not that common in Brussels where he had just spent the weekend. They told him it would just 'go away' and to see a doctor after 3 months if the symtoms persisted,,,, Duh.

I know what you mean, crun. We went through the CQC complaints procedure about a home my mum was in. It took a few years, with meetings and minutes of meetings, etc., both my sister and I attending.
Eventually they told us that they had closed the complaint against the home and we had just been complaining about the way they had handled the complaint! They did not tell us, though, did they?

So we wrote to the MP of the area with the home and the area where my sister lived and my mother then lived. One was John Prescott, the other Alan Johnson. Never got a reply from either of them.

Patient Opinion lets others know how you have been treated, not just the hospital.

I'm not short of places to complain to, but I've already been on the receiving end of vindictive behaviour as a result of previous complaints. I complained to my MP two years ago about the GP being obtuse and uncooperative, I think that's what's behind the cardiologist denying that I had been to A&E a few weeks later. (I just got a letter from the DoH suggesting that I talk to my GP, which struck me as a good example of the obtuse behaviour I was complaining about.)

Last August I complained about being left with a patient who was threatening people, he was supposed to be under one to one supervision 24/7, but he wasn't. My punishment for that was to have the alarm on my heart monitor ignored for the rest of the week.

There's a CQC patient survey for that visit on the coffee table, but I'm not going to fill it in, because of the reprisals when I filled in the last one. The CQC keep insisting that the surveys are confidential, but previous experience has already taught me that they aren't. Quite apart from that, the nature of the complaint will identify exactly who I am.

I'm just not sure whether to write a great long rambling letter that will get ignored, or summarise and then get told that I can't elaborate with more detail later. I'd like to reserve the proof I have until after they've dug themselves a hole by lying even more, but I'm not sure whether that's giving them an excuse to reject it.

Here's another site for you to write on.
They will pass your complaint on.

https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/

Go on NHS choices website and write a comment about your particular hospital, etc.
They will then get in touch with you, either over the internet or by phone.
Try to always put complaints in writing. Phone calls can be disputed.

Can't your GP help, crun? Surely he/she must know whether you've had the operation or not...

I'm finding that the organisations that I thought were there as advocates for the patients seem as evasive and uncooperative as the NHS. I recently emailed the Patient's Association and Healthwatch asking for advice on how best to present a complaint, Healthwatch just said ring the helpline, and the PA didn't reply at all.

Generally, it's best to summarise and keep complaints short and to the point, but in this case even a summary would run to several pages, and I'm not sure whether they allow you to add further information after they respond. I have a list of 120 questions, and that's without explaining the background to them first.

I spoke to the PA on the phone some time ago, but it was evident that she didn't believe a word of it, and the AvMA told me that I'm paranoid even though I made it plain that I have proof of what I say. After I spoke to a heart charity I found out that my consultant is their patron, so everything I said 'in confidence' has gone straight back to him.

Being called a frequent flyer isn't the half of it, I even had them flatly deny that I was ever taken to A&E at first. Now I'm supposedly on the waiting list for an operation, but my records say that I've already had it, so it's anyone's guess whether the appointment letter will ever arrive. I'm in no hurry, I've reached a point where I would never trust the NHS again, don't believe anything they say, and see no further point in trying to communicate with them.

The NHS constitution says:

"The NHS commits to ensure that you are treated with courtesy and you receive appropriate support throughout the handling of a complaint; and that the fact that you have complained will not adversely affect your future treatment."

but nobody can tell me what policies they have in place to ensure this.

I stand corrected, Pogs. However, I still think the symptoms would have warranted 999 and an ambulance. Or have I been watching too many episodes of Casualty?

Crun yes that is very

crun that's terrible.
It's hard to stick up for yourself when you're feeling ill, especially in the face of disbelief.
Do you have an advocacy service in your area? Here is a link to one in Sunderland, for your info:
www.ageuk.org.uk/sunderland/our-services/advocacy-service/

crun, that's very (unless it's by choice, of course)

anno

You have made the same mistake as I did.

It was not 111 it was NHS Direct.

"what kind of support system do you have"

Outside of the NHS, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of conversations I have had with another person in the last year.

crun, surely with those symptoms, the better course would have been to ring 999 for an ambulance. I've heard that 111 is a waste of time because the people who answer the phone are not professionals.

You are not repeat not " crying wolf"! Tell them Soutra says so.
Now this should not make a difference and I apologise in advance if I am speaking out of turn, but How you relate your symptoms can make a difference. I am not suggesting exaggeration or fabrication, but do not give them any leeway to fob you off.
Example, DH had a cough shortly after being in hospital for emergency blood transfusions. He tried to get an appointment for a doctor just to listen to his chest without success. I rang, and was offered 10 days time (!) to which I reiterated (politely) that he needed to be seen today as he was on immunosuppressants, had recently come out of hospital and couldn't risk a possible chest infection as he couldn't fight it.
Phone call back, could we come in at 11.10. Job done.

Crun what kind of support system do you have - family, friends, etc? I'm thinking you shouldn't have to do this all by yourself when you're feeling so ill.

This treatment is just not acceptable. When DH was ill last winter and trying to get an appointment, he was given the run around too. I took over on the phone and made it clear that he needed an appointment or GP visit PDQ. Thank goodness I did as he was admitted to hospital that same day.

"Did you call an ambulance and go to hospital?"

I rang the surgery, and asked for a house call. We then had the usual inquisition "why can't you come in?" etc., followed by a weary "OK the doctor will be round in a few hours". Fortunately she must have had the sense to speak to a doctor, because 90 seconds later I got a call from the GP telling me that he was calling an ambulance.

"do not worry about being or appearing to be a time waster"

You're having a laugh aren't you? I still get treated like a timewaster even now that I have been diagnosed with AF, and even after I have been referred for an ablation (heart operation). The more I'm seen as crying wolf, the more I'm ignored even when there's really something wrong, and more I'm ignored the more I'm seen as crying wolf.

river walk

I missed that, yes it was NHS Direct!

I totally obsessed with 111 getting negative comments. Sorry crun!

Crun phoned NHS Direct, not 111 which is a much better service.

Anyone with such a pulse rate shouldn't wait 14 hours to phone whatever service!

crun

I am perplexed, I am in no way trying to defend poor service, you certainly recieved a terrible service. I did note this happened in 2012 and believe me or not I couldn't for a moment remember 111 had been introduced prior to that time. Time fly's.

You say you had felt unwell for 14 hours and knew you required an ambulance. You rang 111 and after 30 minutes of 'getting the run around' you put the phone down.
Did you call an ambulance and go to hospital?

I hope you have not experienced such a nasty episode since but like others you can never feel you are being a time waster given those circumstances,, just call for an ambulance, they know what a time waster is and that certainly ain't the likes of you.

Crun that must have been terrifying. Honestly you should have called the paramedics (and the rapid response unit at that) . They would have come equipped with ECG machine and (worst case scenario) I believe a defibrillator. Hope you are OK now, but next time do not worry about being or appearing to be a time waster , your health (your life) is too important