18 Week Consultant led treatment??

[FredFerret]

Hi All

 

I am looking for a little advice.

 

To cut a very long story short,,, My fiancee has been suffering with daily migraines for the past 3 or 4 years, (along with the severe depression and anxiety possibly brought on by this),,,Has just received yet another admission at a hospital!!

 

YAY you may say!!!

 

BUT,,

 

This original appointment with this particular specialist was carried out, back in NOV 2012!

 

Below is a basic sequence of events...

 

12/11/12 saw Consultant 'B' when he advised of DHE treatment due to intensity (rebound headaches)

 

10/01/13 saw Consultant 'A' who knew nothing about what was happening and said he would find out whats going on

 

During this time we asked Doctor 'C' to chase it up as I was constantly leaving messages.

 

28/03/13 nothing

 

03/13 saw Dr 'C' who received a letter from the hospital detailing what had been said at appointment on 12/11/12. This letter advised that the visit to the clinic was 31/01/13???

 

15/04/13 still nothing

 

04-05/13 Got call from secretary after I called to ask about complaint procedure, and was told by her that I would receive a call back during the following week,, (Never did)

 

02/05/13 Was told by secretary that consultant 'B' had told her to put Fiancee on waiting list as Urgent

02/05/13 Dr 'C' wrote to hospital, after receving letter from Consultant 'B' to say Fiancee was going on the waiting list to be seen as soon as possible (We thought that we already were?). The letter also stated that if she doesn't get seen soon, Consultant 'B' will meet with her in the interim. It was agreed between Dr 'C' and Fiancee that there was no point going to appointment at the end of May as this SHOULD have been a follow up, and as no treatment had been given, there was nothing to follow up!

 

03/05/13 Got letter stating that the appointment for the end of May had been cancelled and rescheduled for October.

 

17/5/13 Told Dr 'C' about cancelled appointment who was not happy and drafted a letter to Consultant 'B' there and then.

 

05/13 got letter giving admission date 22/05

 

End of May, I got through to secretary who told me that Fiancee had admission date set for 22/05 and the letter was sent out 24/04/12? This does not quite fit in with actual events.

This also said that you had to confirm attendance within three days of the receipt of the letter, or the appointment will be given to someone else. Which if this was the case, the appoinment would have already been given away?

Also when I spoke to the secretary at the around this time she would have told me that we had an admission, but, instead, she said Fiancee was going on waiting list.

 

22/23 No beds, 24th,,, due to bank holiday weekend, Admissions advised that a Consultant said, because it was bank holiday weekend there was no point going in. this was then cancelled and rebooked for 02/06

 

02/06 Could not go due to dry socket,, was told to call when pain stopped but didnt know who to call, said (Maybe outpatients?)

 

1st week July got call from admissions to book the date for the 10th July!

 

10/07/13 No beds

11/07/13 No beds

 

Now is this me expecting too much of our health system or is this time to complain?

 

Could anyone tell me the best course of action?

 

Many Thanks

 

Fred

[bhall]

Hello

 

Before making a complaint, it may be worth while for your partner to request (via a subject access request) copies of her medical records from both the Hospital and GP. Your partner will only need them from say October 2012 onwards.

 

The reason I suggest this is because, the notes should detail when the appointments actually took place and what else happened. Be prepared though, appointment notes can be sparse and lack detail.

 

This will take time but when you make a complaint, it will potentially give you evidence to support your complaint, as otherwise the Hospital will accept everything the Consultant says as the truth without question.

 

When/if you make a complaint, I would avoid PALS who appear to be a buffer between the public and the complaints department. Make the complaint in writing and make sure you use FORMAL COMPLAINT as a heading. The NHS has a weird distinction between formal and informal complaints.

 

If you decide to make a complaint, email it directly to the Chief Executive of the applicable NHS Trust. You can find their name on the hospital website and the format for the email address can usually be find on the contact us page. Usually it is firstname.secondname@xxxxx

 

However, I would make one last comment. NHS bodies hate complaints with a passion. It has been known the making of a complaint results in the hospital getting defensive and it might 'pull up the draw bridge of its castle' and this may delay treatment even further.

 

You may want to wait until treatment has been provided before making a complaint. It is a tough call in the circumstances.

 

In the meantime, you could research the particular Trust's complaints policy - You should be able to find this via google and also read the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/309/contents/made

 

You could also check the NICE website to see if there is any guidance in the provision of 'DHE treatment' - such as times scales etc.

[Feebee_71]

If you want details of changed or cancelled appointments you'll have to ask for computerised records as well as medical notes as it rare for comments about changes to appointments to make it into medical notes because it all happens electronically.

 

Feebee_71