Hospital gets it wrong

[Oma]

I have just been to Dr's to see about my fingers he is sending me to see another surgeon at a different hospital to maybe have a knuckle replacement ,
While I was there he printed off my last hospital letter from 2015 when I was seen by the orthopaedic surgeon about my hand ,
When I got home I read through it and two things stood out ,
One was the surgeons understudy said I was reluctant to have surgery !! Wrong I would have jumped at the chance to get rid of the pain ,
Second, She also had down that she had noticed I had ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT in other words I was born with a hole in my heart and took regular inhailer medication
I rang back to the surgery and spoke to the secretary she had a look at the letter on the computer and was shocked , she said she would print it off and see my Dr who would most likely want her to ring the hospital to put this right as it will be on all my hospital records now ,
I have to ring on Monday tea time to see what is happening
Lord knows who's records she was looking at at the time but it wasn't mine that's for sure ,unless I have been lied to all my life and I do have a hole in the heart
In future I will insist on all reports and read them from top to bottom

[Plantaholic]

We really has to look after our own health these days and question everything.

I had an arthroscopy privately, the doctor came to my room and said everything was fine except I had a very large gastric hernia. When I was next at the doctors I mentioned this and he said here is the report sent to us and it doesn't say anything about a hernia. I presume he had someone else notes when he came to my bed. Poor man he dropped dead the next week so I didn't see him again.

[Grauntie Mag]

I saw a new doctor at our surgery recently. She scanned through my notes and said She noticed that I had had cancer 10 years ago. I corrected her and said it was six years. She then said no, it was 10 years. As if I wouldn't know!. Again she dropped it into a sentence emphasising the fact that I had cancer 10 years ago. She obviously thought I was dim or daft. I left it because I didn't want to be seen as difficult. She probably had someone else's notes anyway and wouldn't know me from Adam. 🙄

[Gemini]

Appalling. We really do need to check details don't we, even though we shouldn't have to.

[Daisy]

It's not a new thing. I remember going to the GP about 3 or 4 months after DS1 was born. All the skin peeling off my hands. He asked me a lot of questions about using an ink duplicator in the office (which I did use) or any other chemicals I might be in contact with. I mentioned I thought it might be the Milton sterilising solution for baby's bottles etc. "But you haven't got a baby". "Oh yes, I have" "Oh no you haven't" He was looking at another patient's notes!! The next time I went was about an ear infection. When I took the prescription to the chemists they said, peering at the scrawled script "is this for your eyes or your ears". After that, I changed doctors!!!

[Gemini]

I think you would know if you had a baby or not Daisy

[Glammanana]

Oma, I am so glad you have posted this as I did not know that you could be redirected to another surgeon via your GP,is this the same as a second opinion or just redirecting your treatment ? I'm asking because I do think my surgeon who has been treating me for the past 2 yrs with the broken shoulder should have operated straight away rather than waiting to see if improvement was made without a replacement shoulder joint,I am not booked to see Surgeon until November this year to see if the bone growth has improved so they can consider which way to go now.If I had been operated on at the time recovery would have been done and dusted by now hopefully but after November I will then have to go on waiting list and then a possible 18mhs again in healing time and recovery .

[Mimi]

This reminds me of the time I was with dad when he had to see the dr. Its a good job I was with him as the dr had muddled his notes up with another patient of a similar name . Dad was in his 80's at the time, the patient was in his early 20s . If I hadn't of question the way the conversation was going between dad and the dr I dread to think what would have happened. At that stage in dads life he had become very hard of hearing so most of what the dr said went over dads head, he would say 'yes ' to anything just to get a quick exit out of there.

[Oma]

Glam its a redirected one , my Dr agreed when I said they hadn't done much at the other hospital and seemed dismissive once the xrays showed severe degenerate disease in all my finger joints on my right hand ,
It seemed a case of well nothing much we can do so just get on with it .
I told him some days when the pain is bad I want to chop my hand off its like throbbing toothache and can go on for days before it settles again , he said he could have tried another injection but the joint was so bad now he doubted he would get the needle in the right place and maybe if they had operated on it in the first place I would have been able to bend that finger without pain , no guarantee it works but better than what I have now .

[Shemadee]

Since having the option of receiving copies of letters it is amazing what incorrect info gets passed around the NHS. Mostly trivial but often irritating when they quote completely unknown issues as facts. Getting NHS notes changed can be extremely difficult. Computer notes are brought up by typing in the first three letters of surname and first three of Christian name. Then date of birth should be used as an extra check. Thought I should be fairly safe with my name but a patient joined with a similar name and that caused some confusion. Always stunned when the doctor is so clearly in the wrong and refuses point blank to accept it. This must lead to serious errors!

[Glammanana]

Thanks for that info I will chat to my GP when I see him next week he is very talkable to,I am still unable to get a full nights sleep with the ongoing pain from the shoulder right down to the wrist sometimes and I can't see it ever getting any better tbh.Before this accident happened I had bad wear and tear of the Rotary Cuff which supports the shoulder joint so it couldn't have happened in a worse place really,I have never been offered any cortizone injections to try and relieve the pain am not sure if that would have done good anyway

[Shemadee]

It might be worth trying an Actipatch. They offer a trial for about a fiver so you can tell if it is going to help. They are a modern take on a tens machine but much lighter without the buzzing. Must be extremely painful and difficult to live with. DD2's MIL had a shoulder replacement op some while ago and is back gardening on her allotment.

[Daisy]

Glam and Oma - I do hope you can both get these painful conditions treated properly. It makes you wonder sometimes if the doctors actually listen to what you say.

Since our records have been computerised, I've notice that the doctor greets you, sits you down and then starts reading the screen, usually while asking what the problem is. I have learned to wait until they've finished reading and actually look at you, because I don't think they take in half of what you are saying if they are also reading your notes at the same time. I know they're under pressure of time, but my health is important to me and I'd quite like the doctor's full attention.

[Oma]

Well just spoke to my Dr he said nothing to worry about I'm fine , I knew this as about 4 years ago I had a heart check on the tread mill heart trace etc and my heart was healthy , he thinks its been a secretary mistake and its not on any of my medical records , I could take it up with the hospital if I want but I wont bother as long as my medical records are clear of it that's ok by me

[Gemini]

That's reassuring news Oma