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Original poster

Asked to provide own painkillers!

163 replies

Insertdeadcatsnamehere · 03/11/2020 15:45

I've got an elective ceasarean booked in a couple of weeks. Have just had the consent form and info through and I've been asked to provide my own painkillers (for on the recovery ward afterwards, I'm still, possibly naively, assuming they'll provide the actual anaesthetic). Absolutely speechless! Just wondering whether anyone has had any comparable (but not female- specific) surgery and has been asked this? Apparently if I forget to bring my paracetamol and ibruprofen I can toddle down to the onsite pharmacy a couple of hours after my major abdominal surgery and purchase some. So that's helpful. No word on whether they'd sell me anything stronger...

OP posts:
KiriAndLou · 03/11/2020 15:56

Well, I am shocked. I just had a vaginal birth less than a month ago and got my paracetamol and ibuprofen provided free.

Original poster
Insertdeadcatsnamehere · 03/11/2020 15:56

Well for a start I've never heard of anyone going for any other type of surgery and not being offered something much stronger than paracetamol in recovery. I have wìtnessed the vast difference in treatment first hand between maternity care and anything else but have never been asked this before hence wondering if it was widespread or a childbirth- specific policy. It's not an issue insofar as I can obviously provide something that only costs a few pence, but then why can't the NHS? It's not likely to make a discernable difference to their budget is it, but if it is maternity care specific the fobbing off and mildly contemptuous tone of the letter is very definitely a feminist issue.

OP posts:
HumphreyCobblers · 03/11/2020 15:55

I specifically asked the consultant doing my last section if I would be provided proper pain relief afterwards and he said they were not in the business of letting women suffer. But that was exactly what happened after and I had to kick up a real fuss to get better pain relief.

IAmADNAMA · 03/11/2020 15:55

In my opinion I think this should happen more to save costs over a 30p packet of tablets.

AldiIsla · 03/11/2020 15:55

My ward took my painkillers and gaviscon off me when I came in. They got put in a plastic bag and returned when I left.

My usual advice for new mums is hide your gaviscon on the wards as they take it away and give you shite wee doses when you've been swigging from the bottle for the last 3 months.

Your scenario sounds like a safety nightmare to be honest. They usually put the painkiller up your arse when they're done then you're on a schedule with pain relief.

BlueCatRedCat · 03/11/2020 15:54

@feelingverylazytoday

Think this happens quite a lot now, presumably as a cost cutting issue. I don't really see what the problem is, or why it's a feminist issue?
Quite a lot in c-section operations, or quite a lot in all surgical situations?
334bu · 03/11/2020 15:53

" The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on 5 July 1948, it had at its heart three core principles:

That it meet the needs of everyone
That it be free at the point of delivery
That it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay
These three principles have guided the development of the NHS over more than half a century and remain. However, in July 2000, a full-scale modernisation programme was launched and new principles added."

So the privatisation of the NHS by the back door is not a feminist issue? Really?

HumphreyCobblers · 03/11/2020 15:53

It pisses me off that only this is available to women post surgery. If it turns out that it happen to men too when they have abdominal surgery that will be also deeply annoying but less so than when it is just women who have to suck up the pain.

I had three sections, only one of them was paracetamol and ibruprofen enough.

CornedBeef451 · 03/11/2020 15:53

That's awful! I had a lovely cocktail of all sorts of painkillers, no way would a couple of ibuprofen have been enough!

Can you at least get some co codamol or something on prescription in advance?

IHateCoronavirus · 03/11/2020 15:51

Shock I thought they would at least provide you with pain relief when you are still in hospital!

AdoraBell · 03/11/2020 15:50

Or following major surgery?

AdoraBell · 03/11/2020 15:49

What pain relief can you buy over the counter for major surgery?

feelingverylazytoday · 03/11/2020 15:47

Think this happens quite a lot now, presumably as a cost cutting issue. I don't really see what the problem is, or why it's a feminist issue?

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