Can't say how angry i really am !!!

Hi, I can sympathise totally with what your going through. We have been very lucky with the quality and professionalism of the medical staff who are treating my wife, however at the beginning of the diagnosis we came up against all kinds of similar stuff. My thoughts are with you both

This is non Footy. My Wife as most of you know suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and for the last few days she has been unwell with mainly terrible burning and pain in her legs. With M.S patients you have to leave it 48 hours before seeking medical attention unless it is really serious. So when she needed to get into contact with her M.S team she was met with a recorded message that they was all on holiday until March 7th and if its an emergency contact your Doctor WTF She contacted her Doctor only to be told that they couldn't she her until the next day. Even though she told them She had M.S and she suspected she was having a relapse they still told her they couldn't see her WTF . so i thought f**k it i am taking her to Casualty only for the Consultant to admit straight away he knew nothing about M.S and as he was unable to get in contact with her M.S team either (coz they were all on f*cking holiday) He had to look at her letters that she bought with her. He has given her a coarse of massive steroids with the only thing to go on was her paperwork.

Today i had to wait ages a the Chemist after they queried the amount of Steroids do to there strength, but now she is crying her eyes out with the pain and cant walk. No one knows what pain killing relief to give her, I even found the phone number for her Consultant in Newport to get threw to his Secretary only to find out this Guy is on Holiday as well WTF The secretary to her credit is trying to get advice but it has left my wife in agony. And at the moment i cant even give her an ibuprofen as i dont know how it would react to the Steroids.

At the moment i have reached a dead end on what i can do. The M.S Nurses for the whole South east wales consists of 2 Nurses one which is off due to Maternity leave, It is a Joke, I really want to complain about this, does anyone know how best to go about this ? perhaps our local MP perhaps the Echo or is there a complaints procedure within the National Health service. The Cuts within the NHS is massive and her care compared to the rest of the world when it comes to M.S is appalling. Even third world countries offer better care. At the moment i am so angry, But as i'm writing this the Wife has just got out of bed and the pain has subsided a bit.

Yes there is an internal NHS complaints procedure and one of our fellow posters has provided a link above.

I would advise you to complain ASP but be careful about what you complain about as they are notorious for closing ranks and making you even angrier. From what I have read from your account they will fob you off if you concentrate too much on complaining about consultants taking holiday's or lack of resources as they have obvious 'get out excuses' by saying that is not their fault as consultant’s are entitled to holiday’s and the Government is cutting resources.

That said I believe you have absolute grounds to make a very serious complaint about your wife’s treatment at the casualty department.

As you had exhausted all the options before going to A & E she was entitled to be classed as a MEDICAL EMERGENCY.

At that point she should have been admitted into hospital where it was their responsibility to arrange for a MS specialist to examine and treat her. Giving her dangerous medication such as steroids on an ‘Ad hoc’ basis is simply irresponsible and frankly dangerous. TBH I am completely shocked and disgusted at that Doctor’s actions which could have put your wife’s life at risk.

That is where you need to concentrate your fire and take it right through the appeals process if they try closing ranks.

I know from personal experience how frustrating these people can be, but get the complaint Email off as early as possible and even contact them directly by phone to state that you believe your wife’s condition is potentially dangerous because of this Doctor’s inexplicable actions and she needs urgent medical attention.

You shouldn’t have to use the complaints procedure to get correct medical attention, but if you are left with no other option then I see no problem using that proceedure for the best interests of your wife.

Tony

Tony there wasn't an M.S Specialist at the hospital in fact they are very few of them around. Once a relapse is suspected and it has been at least 48 hours then Steroids is always subscribed as serious damage could occur if they are not given promptly. So no he didnt have the knowledge but the only thing he had to go on was what was prescribed in the last two attacks. So i and my wife was glad he had prescribed those Steroids . They may not of been the preferred ones her consultant would of given her but as the consultant could not be reached he had to make a decision. As doing nothing would of been a lot worse for her so for that i do back the Doctor at the A&E. At that point she was not serious enough to be admitted and she didn't want to not like her first attack which put her in Hospital for 2 weeks and that was serious.
What i am angry about is the cutbacks to the M.S Nurses for which i believe there was 7 or 8 for the Gwent district , now there are 2 and 1 of those is on Maternity leave. This is where my beef is because they are the important link between the Patient and the Consultant. This what has to change and this is what i want to highlight not the Personnel, I dont want scape goats i want MS patients to be fairly treated and with respect and it comes straight from the top these cuts. Yes this one Nurse can't do it all by herself that is madness. She needs her time off i except that, I want the person/s who agreed to these cuts to answer to me

Contact Edwina Hart mate, Minister of Health and Social Services in wales

edwina.hart@wales.gov.uk

sorry to hear that Steve, I hope Kath gets some proper help.
b*stard Tories
Jules

sorry to hear that Steve, I hope Kath gets some proper help.
b*stard Tories
Jules

Jules the cuts to M.S. nurses was in full swing under Labour. There has only been 2 nurses ever since cath got diagnosed and that was under Labour. What fucks me off is with these hard times and the cuts, overseas aid isnt cut, money for scroungers isnt cut, money put aside for immagrants or illegal immagrants isn't cut. But cuts in the NHS is being slashed massively. Look after our own do they f**k

Sorry to hear that Steve, send my best to Cath. What a shite state of affairs, would the last person to leave please turn off the lights This country is fucked!!

Hi im Cath nuclearblues wife i would like to say thank u 2 u all 4 all your kind messages im on steroids at the moment so my head is all over the place but your kind messages have helped loads so thank u and i want u all 2 no that i have the most amazing husband in the world

Go to the BBC mate. It's amazing how quickly you get help once a bit of bad press is kicking around!

Good luck mate and I hope your wife gets better very soon.

Great News i have had a Email from Jonathon Morgan shadow health chancelor and he is on the MS board. He is looking into this matter personally and has taken my deatails. The ball is rolling Nukes is on a mission

Great News i have had a Email from Jonathon Morgan shadow health chancelor and he is on the MS board. He is looking into this matter personally and has taken my deatails. The ball is rolling Nukes is on a mission

good news