NHS Ombudsman talks of cover ups, truth finding and evidence burying

I'm terrible at advocating for myself.
I find I'm skulking out of the room saying "Yes, doctor, thank you very much doctor", while inwardly seething.

MissAdventure - doesn't surprise me. It's incredible how people in healthcare feel they have license to say such things to people who are unwell or with an unwell family member. They don't know them, they don't experience what they're experiencing and yet feel they can say damaging things or make unfounded 'suggestions' with little knowledge or understanding of the person and their family. It needs to stop.
My friend's daughter aged 17 died of a brain tumour which went undiagnosed for a year - she was given anti-sickness (again these anti-sickness pills....) and was told she probably had stress or IBS. It's quite shocking and adds to the grief when remembering how they were ignored, not listened to, not believed and no offer of a scan. She even had double-vision for goodness sake (!) - but there was so little vigilance and no joined-up thinking or discussions between clinicians. Frightening. My advice to anyone would be to get a second or third or fourth opinion while you can. It takes time and it's difficult when there are so many other pressures to work, pay mortgage/rent , look after other children or granchildren or older relatives. But there are no second changes. Don't stay with just one clinician or surgery or hospital - seek a 2nd opinion privately if you can, even if it means a struggle financially. Afterwards it's too late.

My older grandson was having intermittent stomach pains, and my daughter was told that it was because she was anxious about him going away with his dad.

In effect, that she was causing him stress because of her own feelings.

Dad's family were less than impressed, as they were off on an all singing, all dancing holiday for the whole family, and it was just a day away.

It turned out my grandson had appendicitis, and it had turned gangrenous, which was not common at four years old.

It ended up as an emergency situation.

Now today we are told that at least 250 people a week die in A&E waiting for treatment.
They know the figures are higher as those who die in an ambulance waiting havnt actually entered A&E.

Birthto110 So very sorry to hear about your son. Thank you for your kind words.

I watch a channel on youtube which is about cancer, from the patients' point of view, (all different kinds of cancer)

Some of the things that were said to them before diagnosis are shocking!

One young woman was told she needed to work on "liking herself", when she actually had lymphoma - as it turned out, for many years, by the time she was taken seriously.

MissAdventure - and much more likely to happen to younger people such as twenty somethings.
I feel anyway.
Young people don't get listened to in the healthcare sector, as the professionals in health are often older. They've seen a lot of older people struggle with health (makes sense as you get older) and feel younger people should be 'thankful'. But there's nothing to be thankful about if they've missed a young person's cancer diagnosis for example....
They've not even had a life yet...
Young people are patronised as if they're stupid or need to get more independent - there's no mentoring of young folk in this country.
And yet research shows clearly that the brain keeps developing until about 25 years old - but noone cuts young people any slack.
In my book it's age discrimination. Albeit unintentional at times.

Medical gaslighting.

Apparently much more likely to happen to females, and even moreso those from ethnic minorities.

metro.co.uk/2024/04/01/young-people-told-calm-down-cancer-fears-20555268/

‘Kids your age don’t get cancer.’ ‘There’s nothing to worry about’ ‘Calm down.’

''These are just some of the things young people aged 16-24 with cancer have been told. This is despite 12 children a day being diagnosed with cancer in the UK, ccording to the charity Young Lives Vs Cancer (YLVC), who work to support young cancer patients and their families.

Figures also reveal that children and young adults end up having to visit their GP far more than older cancer patients, before getting their diagnosis.''

Primrose53 - so sad to read this. Thinking of you in the loss of your precious twins.
Re your son, I have heard this same story re stomach pains several times from other parents - including a nurse friend who hopped on a train to be with her adult son and made sure he found appropriate treatment from someone who listened in a different hospital in London.
We ourselves have had letters of apology from our Trust over the fiasco in our son's case , sadly he never made it. They said his notes were not yet transferred from previous Trust, but turns out they'd been sitting there 'unread' , never looked at, no-one saw them or tried to read them. Tragic.
Was it unfamiliarity of staff with IT systems? Will we ever even know ? It's now too late for us.
Our daughter in law in her twenties had to have emergency gall bladder removal - her stomach pains were dismissed as stress or IBS and anti-sickness pills given - thankfully the infection was found in the end, after we insisted on scans.
Young people are often overlooked as they are mistakingly thought to be strong enough to surmount everything that comes their way. It's a form of age discrimination in many ways (I feel) as also they are often not listened to, or there's a kind of patronising/condescending treatment of teens/young adults, as if they should be more self sufficient and stronger. Instead of mentoring young people and having better understanding that they are still learning and gaining new experiences, including health experiences. They are not always prepared and can be unsure and are seeking advice from older people - but people are often too quick to judge the young.
When they claim to be feeling unwell, it's usually because it's true.
They have their whole lives in front of them and should receive better health support, robust assessments and prompt treatment where necessary.
The NHS needs to look at age discrimination.
They should put some screenings in place too - blood pressure, sugars, heart checks - the young are our future.

I lost twins due to a female GP not referring me to hospital for regular scans and telling me my pains were normal in a twin pregnancy. I will never, ever forgive her.

My adult son nearly died when a GP told him to go home and take paracetamol for severe stomach pain. It was obvious he was not malingering as he had not seen a doctor since he was 8 years old! He told my son he was not sure what was wrong. Son got in my car and I told him I thought he had appendicitis but he groaned “and you know more than a Dr. Do you?” As it turned out, yes I did.😉 Went to bed, took paracetamol but we had to ring an ambulance in the night as he was in agony.

The appendix ruptured, went everywhere and the surgeon said he was very lucky and he sincerely hoped he had removed it all but it was such a mess. He was really ill and a month later he was back in hospital because some bits were still in there and caused an infection so all that had to be removed.

Apparently in fit young men with stomach pains with no previous history, the appendix is the first thing they should consider. Pity the GP didn’t consider that.

It’s frightening.
Not only incompetence and misdiagnosis but the cover ups.
A poster highlighted the fact of how many limbs were amputated wrongly, recently so I looked it up.Huge numbers,
You just can’t imagine how so many could be taken off by mistake but they are.
The NHS is always touted by politicians as world beating.
Hollow laugh.

I belong to a bereaved parents group, and one of the mums has just successfully taken on the nhs.

It was proven that what she thought, quite reasonably, was a well managed health condition in her six year old, was anything but.

A list of failings was found, including passing the buck, and the report said that her child needn't have died, had many people along the way treated the condition appropriately.

I don't know how she will ever come to terms with that.

I read some weeks ago that when the proverbial hits the fan it’s going to be worse than the PO scandal.

Hi to all,

This is Terrible I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Other health Problems because of Negligence by the NHS when I had my 5th Baby they Need to be accountable for their Actions it's not Good Enough.

Amazing62

www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/17/nhs-ombudsman-rob-behrens-serious-issues-concern

Silver Voices has had some success in making sure that gp appointments can be made over the telephone rather than through triage online. New system takes effect from April.
It is easy for me just now after years of misdiagnosis and mistreatment to interpret snippets of information in a bad light. For example, gp diagnosing a boil rather than shingles! More seriously is diagnosis of gout when kidney failure was occurring. In my case, diagnosis of sciatica instead of huge ovarian cyst. Still alive to complain after years of ill health though.
So I don’t know what the solution is. Clearly gps are fallible and that’s understandable. Locals are going to A&E just to get accurate diagnosis and treatment after an initial gp diagnosis.
Systemic cover ups in the NHS will continue as long as the NHS marks its own homework. Best read the report now….