Big Hospital Cock-up In Uk

[ThaiPauly]

I hope you will bear with my while I recount this story but I am very upset about the way my Father has been treated bt the NHS and want to knowif there is anything I can do about it.

My Dad had a Biopy taken on his prostrate in early January....as you can imagine this is a VERY VERY painful procedure.

No follow-up appointment was forthcoming (which should have been within 2 weeks) and when my Mother enquired about this they said that they could not find his noyes at the moment but would get back to her when they had them.

Eventually they receive an appointment to go on 12th March.

My father was then told that unfortunatley the results of his biopsy had been accidentaly destroyed...but the doctors had had a meeting to discuss his case and becuase of his age (76) they felt that had the tests shown up any kind of cancer it was their opinion that they would not operate but treat him with tablets.

My Father said that the doctor never once looked him in the eye the whold time he was with him.

He aid that my Dad could live another 15 years on tablets ..but the operation (if he indeed needed one) may not be sucessful.

Personaly I think this is scandalous ..not just because he is my Dad ..it would be terrible if this happened to anyone. So he does not know if he has cancer or not and the hospital are not going to tell him either.

Because of this situation I am intending to return to the UK in a couple of weeks to see if I can get some answers or compensation so I can send him to a Private Hospital...although we all know that its the same doctors, different building. But I cannot just do NOTHING...they will not do anything..my Parents just accept "Thats the way it is" I don't.

They have the money to pay for Private Healthcare but my folks are old school "I worked every day for 60 years to pay for this treatment ..why should I have to pay twice"? Thats my Dads philosophy...which is understandable ..but is not in his best interests.

BTW My dad worked every day of his life until he was 73...sorry he was sick for one day!

I would be very interested to hear if anyone has experienced similar problems or have any advice to offer on how I can help them to get better healthcare for him from this particular hospital.

Many Thanks

TP

[rio666uk]

TP sorry to hear your news.

I work in a Hospital, and would advise you to first speak with your fathers GP - or whoever refered him for the biopsy. Secondly I would wish to speak with the Doctor that had been dealing with your father at the hospital. All hospitals will have some form of complaints department, ours here is called Patient Affairs, and this is the first place to lodge a complaint. At this stage when the facts are clear to yourself and youve got both sides of the coin, as it were, i would pursue getting some legal advice on where to go next.

In the meantime, your fathers GP should have been able to make an urgent referal for you father to have further tests on the NHS... i wouldnt go private straight away unless you feel that the NHS really cant offer you the service they are supposed to provide. As you say - same doctors, different office - in some cases its same doctors same office but there you go.

Edited March 14, 2007 by rio666uk

[ThaiPauly]

Hi Rio,

thanks for that.

Hope you are well

TP

[Mobi]

Hi TP,

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

Difficult situation - my gut feeling is that they treated him like that, beacause they knew he wouldn't protest.

I agree that you should try to do something, but please bear in mind that at the end of the day the bstds might try to deny what your Dad told you, and say that he misunderstood. Suing hospitals does happen, but I rckon you need a load of good evidence to make it stick.

The important thing is to make sure your Dad is getting the correct treatment. It might lead nowhere, but I suggest that before you jump on a plane, you try to call his GP and explain the situation - they may be able to help you. You must stress that you don't want to discuss his condition, (because you can't), but simply sort out the screw up surrounding the tests etc. You could also try calling the 'complaints dept' or some high up manager at the hospital. It's worth a try, they might be sympathetic (or worried about law suits or bad publicity), and put your Dad on a fast track to get the right treatment.

Give it a go, make a few veiled threats and see what happens.

Good luck

Mobi

[Sheryl]

TP,

I can't advise you about recourse as I am not familiar with the UK medical system. But I can tell you that the suggestion that your father be treated medically for prostate cancer in the absence of biopsy confirmation is highly irresponsible and poor medical practice. If the biopsy specimen cannot be located then your father should get a repeat biopsy, and treatment if any should be guided by the results.

By the way, a prostate biopsy does not have to be so painful if appropriate sedation and local anesthesia is used.

Sorry to hear about such substandard and unethical care.

[ThaiPauly]

Thanks for the advice Mobi and Sheryl...I'm taking it all on board

TP

[leisurely]

As everyone else said, get your dad's treatment sorted out first. That is the prioity. Unfortuantely, I've seen it in NHS hospitals, it seems to be an age thing. I think that there is a sort of mathematical way of working out the cost v benefits of any treatment (medical or surgical). How much the treatment costs, how old the patient is, their general life expectancy and whether it will be life changing. An example would be whether it is financially sensible (wrong word I know) to perform heart surgery on an 18 year old or an 80 year old.

I imagine that there was a combination of things happening here (aside from losing his notes which is abysmal) his age - people of that generation just don't complain as a rule, and the idea that his life wouldn't be improved by the surgery if it was found to be necessary. There is also the possiblity that his health isn't good enough to withstand a genreral anasethtic in which case there ARE alternatives.

In the first instance I would write to the Consultant in charge of his care, setting out your concerns and giving a date that he/she should reply by. If this date passes or you are not satisfied by the answers, I would go to the director of clinical services, then the manager of the hospital, then the manager of the NHS district that he lives in. It may end up with you contacting your Dad's MP. Sometimes just the threat of a MP being contacted is all it takes.

good luck and post the outcome.

Leisurely

[mrtoad]

Sorry to hear of what can only be described as substandard care and practice. Having been a CNS in the NHS for anumber of yeasrs, I would certainly agree with Rio's advice. Your first point of call should be the patients liason office, or whatever it is called in your NHS trust. These are the people who investigate complaints, and they ae normally pretty helpful and efficient (Again depending on the NHS Trust). I would certainly also send a letter to the Medical Director, with a copy CC'd to your GP. The medical Director, is the main Doctor within the trust in relation to clinical areas. Subsequently this sort of poor practice has often been common in the NHS, as it has not been policed by any independent body up until recently, unlike the private sector which had to be regulatated by the NCSC or CSCI. As I have been out of the UK for 18 months, I am not sure, but my understanding is that you can also complain to the Health Care Commission. Anyway, I hope that it all works out for you and your father.

Poor clinical practice and substandard care is not and should not be acceptable, regardless of it being in the private or the public sector!

[markr]

Thaipaully,

My dad is currently going through the same sort of thing, and i just noticed your in oxford like me!

He has had several biopsy's and has never really got an answer as to what the problem is, Do you mind me asking what hospital he is being treated in?

Mark

[ThaiPauly]

Thaipaully,

My dad is currently going through the same sort of thing, and i just noticed your in oxford like me!

He has had several biopsy's and has never really got an answer as to what the problem is, Do you mind me asking what hospital he is being treated in?

Mark

Hi Mark...I am from Oxford (Witney) but now live here in Chiang Mai.

My Dad is being treated at the West Middlesex Hospital in London

Cheers

TP

[markr]

Ok mate just interested whether or not your dad was being treated locally in oxford, mine's at the JR I cant really help much but I wish you and your dad the best of luck!

Up the Ox!

Mark