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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To complain about A&E not changing my dressing?

270 replies

HarderToKidnap · 21/04/2013 15:15

I have an open wound on my abdomen that has a small pack in it. Last Friday my consultant told me I would need to see someone on the Saturday to have the pack removed and changed. I was due to drive 2 hours to stay with my MIL for the weekend, to catch up with the all the inlaws and attend several family events.

On Friday morning after seeing my consultant I called my MILs GP to try and arrange to have the pack changed the following day. GP flatly refused to help or see me the next day but did tell me I could go to a walk-in at the local hospital.

Friday pm I drive 2 hours to MILs. Sat am I get up and head to local hospital. I find the Walk In boarded up and looking deserted. There is no other option to see anyone other than A&E. Receptionist/Triage nurse said they couldn't take the pack out. Just that. They couldn't, and wouldn't do it. It wasn't their dressing to change. Oh, and the walk in had been closed for 3 years!

There followed quite a long Mexican stand off during which she repeatedly told me they wouldn't change the dressing, and where I asked for reassurance that I would not get an infection or the pack would not adhere to the inside of the wound if I didn't get it changed until the Monday. She told me she couldn't assure me of that but that they couldn't do it. She phoned an OOH who wouldn't do it either. In the end I told her I would go to the toilet, remove pack myself and if I experienced a lot of pain/bleeding I would come back and be seen as an Emergency. She then said they would do it "just this once" and let me go through to a deserted waiting room, I was called 2 minutes later and dressing changed by a lovely nurse, back in car 10 minutes later.

Now, I'm a frontline HCP and bolshy with it, so I got seen - but what if you were a vulnerable person who had the temerity to be far from home when you need your dressing changed? Who thought if the receptionist was telling you they wouldn't do it, that you would wait however many days until you were back home, potentially causing problems? There was no "we can't do it, but if you go here/do this they will see you" just a very very flat "no". I'd like to complain to PALS, not about my treatment but about the lack of healthcare options there and the fact I had to throw a hissy fit to get medical treatment I needed. Other people wouldn't have thrown the hissy fit and wouldn't have got seen. WIBU to do so?

OP posts:
olgaga · 21/04/2013 20:33

are you really suggesting someone in that position never leaves home?

This point has been made before. No-one is suggesting that.

The OP is hardly confined to home if she can drive 2 hours to her MILs.

The point is she expected a service that wasn't available. I still don't understand why she didn't even bother to even google the walk-in centre to check exactly where it is, opening hours, and whether she could be seen for it.

The GP was wrong to give her out of date information, but OP is hardly the GP's responsibility and she could easily have checked the information she was given.

saintmerryweather · 21/04/2013 20:34

Oh will you RTFT people for fucks sake

saintmerryweather · 21/04/2013 20:36

If a doctor told me about a service in their local area i dont then google to check theyre not lying to me! i trust them to know what theyre talking about and not to deliberately mislead me!

nenevomito · 21/04/2013 20:38

Really? olgaga - do you google everything your GP tells you just to make sure its right before you believe them?

AmberLeaf · 21/04/2013 20:40

Northern, you may have missed my previous posts, but I wrote that I have myself had personal experience of a packed wound that needed daily dressing for months on end.

I'm not underestimating anything.

I also know from my own experience that the patient will know as much about their own case history as would be read from notes.

When I had to see different HCPs over the weekend, they would often ask me which packing dressings to use and I on a few occasions had to correct them when they were about to use the wrong ones, or put the wrong covering dressing on top.

Continuity of care isn't always possible, which is one reason why it is beneficial for a patient to have an understanding of their treatment.

olgaga · 21/04/2013 20:47

olgaga - do you google everything your GP tells you just to make sure its right before you believe them?

In this case yes, I would certainly have rung the walk-in centre to make sure they would deal with me. In doing so, I'd have found out they were no longer there, and could then have got back to the MIL GP - or googled the nearest open walk-in centre.

Once my DD had an accident in a park right opposite our GP surgery. The GP wouldn't see them, I rang the walk-in centre to make sure we could be seen.

It's not exactly an unusual thing is it? Making a phone call to check? For something so important?

AmberLeaf · 21/04/2013 20:47

olgaga the OP did google the walk in centre, but the NHS website had a broken link as they often do, not a page saying 'this is now closed' just a broken link. as she had been told the same day by GP local to the area who would be expected to know these things, I am not surprised that she opted to take his word for it.

Original poster
HarderToKidnap · 21/04/2013 20:47

Olgaga, as I've said, I DID google the walk in centre, it told me it existed and the opening times, the link for the further info was a guide to the NHS structure in England which I assumed to be a broken link. It wouldn't generally occur to someone elderly, for example, to double check the info given to them by a GP so that's not a failsafe.

Incidentally I am asked multiple times a day by my patients to do something or tell them something outside my remit. I have never, ever in 8 years just shut the conversation down with a flat "no". I have never stonewalled a patient who needs help, even if I can't personally provide it. I will refer them, or find out the info, or get back to them with relevant details. It is so worrying that a HCP would do this, because some people are so vulnerable and accessing just once HCP is hard enough for them.

OP posts:
BrianButterfield · 21/04/2013 20:48

It's simply ludicrous to expect someone to Google information they have already been given by medical staff. Especially as the online info is so unreliable it would just leave you more confused. It is not reasonable to expect people to do that and I just do not accept that that's what normal people would do once a GP had instructed them.

Original poster
HarderToKidnap · 21/04/2013 20:48

just ONE, sorry,

OP posts:
saintmerryweather · 21/04/2013 20:56

I think its like i said...some people choose a yabu or yanbu then stick to it no matter what

mrslaughan · 21/04/2013 21:41

OP - you are not being unreasonable, as far as I can see, and I think you are not unreasonable to pose the question of what if you were a vulnerable less savy person, who could have ended up with a huge infected wound, because a whole lot of medical professionals put there hands in there pockets and said "it's not my job", then causing huge extra expense to the NHS.
The sanctimonious replies on this thread astound me.... Talk about the milk of human kindness..... Obviously people with long term medical conditions should never venture away from home, for fear of judgy mumsnetters

DoubleLifeIsALifeHalved · 21/04/2013 21:51

Lord the self righteous cruelty in some of these posts!

I Hate reading stuff like that, erodes my faith in humans. Yuck.

olgaga · 21/04/2013 22:40

The question was AIBU To complain about A&E not changing my dressing?

Without being remotely sanctimonious or cruel the answer has to be yes.

If the OP wants to complain about anyone, she should complain about the GP who gave her the incorrect information.

A&E did actually change the dressing, remember?

I still don't understand why you didn't ring the walk-in centre OP, to make sure the information the GP had given you was correct and that you weren't just being fobbed off. I would have done, but then maybe I've a healthy cynicism about health care services generally. Had you done that, you could have adjusted your plans accordingly without having to have a strop in A&E.

If anything you should be writing a letter to A&E commending them for providing a service over and above what they are required to do.

saintmerryweather · 22/04/2013 08:05

Oh for gods sake olgaga first you were adament the op should have googled the walk in centre....oh....she did....well then you should have rung them first. silly you op. surely the definition of a walk in centre is that you dont need to ring ahead, you turn up and wait your turn! Added to which the fact a local doctor told her it was open, and google did as well. how long do you spend every day checking and cross checking basic information people give you?

I read it as the op wants to complain about the fact that the nurse didnt offer any alternatives she just got a flat no. thats not unreasonable to mention to the hospital

olgaga · 22/04/2013 09:24

I still think it's the GP, not the A&E, who were clearly at fault.

The A&E triage nurse was doing exactly what she was supposed to do - screen out cases they are not supposed to deal with. A&E is not a walk-in centre.

And no, I don't spend every day "checking and cross-checking basic information". However, if I was seeking this kind of help far from home, especially on a Saturday, then yes, I would definitely have rung ahead to ensure that the care I needed was available, and to find out the best time to turn up.

DeskPlanner · 22/04/2013 09:33

YABVU. You shouldn't have travelled under these circumstances. I honestly don't see why you want to complain about A&E. They really shouldn't have changed your dressing, without knowing anything about you and seeing a care plan. If you got an infection or developed any problems with your wound, then the poor nurse who you put under so much pressure to change the dressing, could be in massive trouble. If you are a HCP then you should know better.

gordyslovesheep · 22/04/2013 09:44

The GP was at fault but I do not think YABU to be cross about it - I also think that, yes generally A+E is not for these minor issues BUT in this case they should have listened to the circumstances and made an exception.

Deskplanner the OP shouldn;t have to be housebound for 6+ months - that is unfair

mercibucket · 22/04/2013 09:47

this is what happens when walk in centres close

a and e has to step in

yanbu, and i agree with one of the other posters up thread. these kind of threads/comments make me a bit sick of mn at times.

DeskPlanner · 22/04/2013 09:47

Have caught up with the rest of the thread, and see you won't be complaining about A&E. You are still bring U about everything else though. Packing a wound is a specialist job, there are many types of dressings and should not be changed by anyone without a care plan. You should know this and have organized things better.

DeskPlanner · 22/04/2013 09:54

gordy, no she shouldn't. But as a "bolshy" "front line" HCP, she should know that changing the dressing of a packed wound is not the same as changing a plaster and she shouldn't have travelled without copies of her care plan and getting a number of the clinic and ringing ahead to check there would be someone trained and available to do it. I don't think many on this thread understand how complex changing a packed dressing is.

gordyslovesheep · 22/04/2013 09:56

oh I think checking with a local GP and the NHS website should be sufficient - if that information is wrong she can hardly be accused of not doing enough

lougle · 22/04/2013 09:59

For goodness sake!

  1. The OP has had an open wound for 6 months. People get less time in prison, and you're expecting her to stay at home because she has a medical condition?
  1. She took the advice of the MIL's GP, who advised her that it was fine to travel because the OOH/walk-in service would see her the next day.
  1. The GP advised her to use the walk-in, and googling confirmed the walk-in's existence.
  1. The walk-in was in fact closed and had been for 3 years.

There were 2 ways to avoid A&E here:

a) The MIL's GP should have placed a call to the district nursing team and asked that they add the OP as a temporary patient to have her wound dressed, asking the OP to bring sufficient supplies and a written care plan.

b) The OP could have telephoned the walk-in to check that they were happy to treat, but given the fact that the GP had told her they would do so, was not unreasonable to take his word.

I'm amazed that people think that the OP should be restricted to her home because she has a wound which needs dressing.

DeskPlanner · 22/04/2013 10:08

In the op it states the GP was not helpful, therefore as a HCP she should have known to check. As a HCP she should know, that nurses should never change a packed would, without seeing a care plan. Like I said upthread most people on this thread have no understanding of dressing packed wounds. Leaving the thread now.

Op glad you've decided not to complain about the nurse, who did change your dressing, even though she shouldn't without knowing more about your plan of care. Hope your wound improves soon.

5madthings · 22/04/2013 10:11

Yanbu and i am amazed at the amount of people that seemingly cant read!

If i were you i would let the gp know they gave out of date info and yes i would complain re a&e they should have helped you find somewhere to get it done if they didnt want to do it.

As you said you are bolshy and stood up for yourself, others wouldnt and you shouldnt have to fight to get the care you need and are entitled to.

As an aside if i or my children have needec to see a gp when visiting my.mum.then she calls the drs surgery and they have always been happy to squeeze us in. They used to be my gp and i think.it helps that my mum is a nurse so if she is saying we need to see a gp she is right and she knows them well.