Hi, I was recommended to post here. It will be long so apologies, but the first paragraph might give you a rough idea of how we're being treated. We would really appreciate any advice or recommendations.
[ My younger brother (8) has been having severe skin-related problems since late 2019. Before that he had eczema now and then which was usually triggered if he ate something he was allergic to. He is progressively getting worse. How do you deal with medical negligence in the UK? Where do we start off with complaints? We're just being passed around like pingpong balls at this point, it's frustrating, hospital points at the GP, the GP points at hospital, nothing is making sense anymore and terrible and consistent errors in the system are made way too frequently to feel like a coincidence. I know C0VID had a big impact on the NHS but this isn't a paper cut. ]
Late 2019 he had a skin fungus on just one of his fingers, that's where it started going downhill because it started spreading to his entire body and scalp with sores, at some point the school refused him, I had to take him to an emergency centre.. They did nothing other than sending us home with antibiotics, just like the GP (he was given antibiotics 3 times with no success). Then when c0vid hit, his dermatology appointments in hospital were cancelled throughout 2020.
Phone/video appointments weren't helping, the prescription (medicated) creams weren't helping anymore. Still no doctor that has actually seen his skin up close and physically.
3 months ago it has been getting a lot more worse, it almost feels like it's no longer related to just his skin. Most creams he used on prescription started burning his skin now. Ointment is the only thing that doesn't burn. However it is not helping.
His skin is constantly red (a deep red, especially on legs), he has eczema all-over, his skin is peeling every single day and night (I wish I could show you his bed every morning, you wouldn't think a small human could shed that much visible skin in a single night, it's even noticeable between the wall and carpet, when he takes off his clothes it looks as if sand is coming out of the clothes), swollen lymph nodes on several places, he complains about sudden sharp pains in his legs and private area, his scent changed, more fatigue, nausea, chills no matter how high the heater is on.. none of this has been diet related as far as we know.
My mother has been trying to get in contact with the hospital for a physical appointment but not with much success because they (despite telling them multiple times, including TODAY) have not updated the personal details meaning appointment letters weren't going to the right address. Neither do they call back and when we call them we're told to ring another day. Even the health centre ignored our emails.
We are aware it doesn't work this way but we took him to hospital today with no appointment in hopes of having him seen by someone at least. We started with paediatrics but the ward was empty and the receptionist advised us to go to dermatology.
The receptionist at dermatology stated that there were no doctors in today, then she took it back and said there were no paediatric dermatologists in. My mom asked about appointments, she replied she can't do anything because she wasn't in charge of appointments. But when I asked her if we could see the person in charge of appointments, she suddenly was able to book appointments. Really strange to witness this gaslighting behaviour. However, she said she updated the personal details in the system and lied about a dermatologist being available at A&E and referred us there.
Nothing happened at A&E other than being informed the receptionist at dermatology didn't update anything and that the dermatologist wasn't even working today. They sent us to UCC.
The doctor at UCC basically went like this "welp, we tried all creams, can't do much now ¯(ツ)/¯" and sent us home with a cetraben lotion prescription.. As if all these symptoms/signs couldn't mean something else and might require diagnostic tests? When my mom brought up the idea of a blood test or any other test she was told to call our GP. And guess what the GP said when she called? She was told to call the hospital. It doesn't make sense anymore.. All trust has been vanished.. it seems like they're just too reluctant or don't want to help. Imagine how this child must feel..