To tell you about my experiences with NHS emergency today.

[LEMmingaround]

I went round to my mum's today to take her dog out as she wasn't feeling well yesterday. Got there to her laying in her own faeces and faeces all over the floor. She was not "with it" and barely responsive. She is prone to a life threatening condition called Addisons syndrome.

I called 999 and the lady asked me whole list of questions, not all of them relevant, but they have to rule everything out. All the while im on the phone im trying to make sure shes ok and clear up the worst of the mess with one hand. The lady said she was going to send an ambulance but would stay on the phone until they arrived. Which it did, five minutes laster.

Three paramedics turned up, one was a student. They attended to my mum and listened while i explained my mum's condition (its qutie rare) and started treatment based on what i had told her. They made no mention of the mess she was in, just got on with it. They took her out to the ambulance to start treatment and said i could run home (next road) to let my DP know and grab my phone. Her temperature was 40.5! Got back, still in ambulance so i knocked on the door, they said they were still busy administering treatment and would come and get me - so i was able to get stuff cleaned up and look for my mum's nightclothes.

Bluelights all the way to the hospital, my mum not really with it, me in the pukey seat apparently as i felt sick as a dog, apparently lots of the paramedics get travel sick because of the movement of the ambulance and you can;t see where you are going. We chatted and i explained more about history etc.

Got the hospital and was ushered into the relatives room (bit odd as usually just go to the bit where you wait to see the doctor). My mum straight into emergency room - i could hear what was going on. She was seen by the doctor straight away and after about five minutes he came out to get more details from me. He then went off to look after her, popped back every now and then to update me and ask more questions. Turned out she probably not having addisons crisis but they were concerned re scepsis as her temp was so high and there were other indicators. So doctor stayed with us the whole time (about 2 hours in total) until she moved to CDU (inbetween ward). By this time she had had paracetemol to bring down temp (she can't have ibruprofen) a hydrocortisone drip, hartmans drip and potassium drip, IV antibiotics so was feeling better.

Diagnosed with chest infection, kept in on ABs and was due to go to main ward when i left. Dr kept popping back, came back with consultant who confirmed diagnosis. Oh, she had a chest Xray in this time too.

So that was that, no waiting for hours, my mother looked after the minute she got there, i was offered tea and somewhere comfortable to wait. Absolutely brilliant - i felt humbled really. Thats all, i just wanted to share a positive story about all the lovely people who helped me today.

Thanks everyone - yes, i will email the hospital or maybe just ask the lovely young doctor who looked after her yesterday to marry me .

Am just going over to the hospital with her teeth or my life wont be worth living (neither with the nurses - she is bound to be giving them a hard time already!)

Lem your post has made my week

It is wonderful to hear that you and your mum were so well cared for.

Wishing your mum a quick recovery

Oooo a RL proposal thread

Ah, don't get your hopes up Pacific - im old enough to be his mum

I know what you mean - junior drs in hospital are about 12, aren't they?

Positive story, thanks OP. Hope your mum feels better soon.

Thank you for this message, I'm a nurse and DH is a doctor. So often it's a "bad news day" as that is what sells.

Hope your mum makes a very speedy recovery.

Positive story, thanks OP. Hope your mum feels better soon.

I hope your mum gets better soon.

My DB and I have both been in hospital many times, and the care we have received has, by and large, been brilliant. my DB wouldn't still be here without the NHS.

Thinking of you LEM.

Meanwhile I'm waiting for my mum to call and tell me if she's being discharged today....her Drs have done all the paperwork but apparently trying to get a duty Dr to sign it is like drawing blood from a stone...sigh...

It was lovely to read a positive story, I hope your mum is on the mend soon.

Your experience echoes mine in an emergency, when my daughter was very ill. The professionalism, care and compassion was exemplary, from my first phone call to NHS Direct through high dependency and out the other side with a well child and no insurance claims/money to worry about afterwards.

The NHS saved my daughter's life, I am so grateful to all who work in it - you are unsung heroes.

Thank you for sharing this.

Hope things go OK for you & your Mum.

Hi Ed, i hope your mum gets home soon - my mum is now gagging at the bit to get home, which i suppose is a good sign, however she was still on a drip today so i am not sure she will be discharged tomorrow She is likely to kick off about that, if she does this i am going to bite the bullet and ask for a mental health assesment as she really only got in this state because she refuses medical attention from her doctor or anyone in that practice. It makes caring for her so difficult.

Oh Ed, do pop over to the village if you want, we miss you x

what a lovey post OP. Thank you for sharing. Probably a very high % of interactions between the NHS and the public are just as efficient and positive as this, its just that the cock ups get the publicity. I'm not playing that down - when serious errors are made (friends DM died after wrong kidney was operated on) then there needs to be serious questions asked and improvements made.

But by and large, we are so very very luck and long live the good old NHS.

Oh and to each MNer who works therein, thank you, thank you, thank you.

LEM I've seen bits of your threads over the years. This sounds like a heaven-sent opportunity to get your mother the mental health assessment so very much needed by her - and by you as the person always expected to pick up the pieces.

I wouldn't wait for her to kick off before asking for this, although if she does kick off in front of people that might make it easier.

But please just go ahead and speak to staff anyway. You've been carrying this burden unaided far too long.

Having experienced the emergency ambulance service and A&E Resus dept many times (DD has life limiting condition) I can indeed agree wholeheartedly that the NHS is at its finest when there is an emergency situation. Drs seem to come out of the woodwork from all over the place and I have experienced some fantastically compassionate treatment - likewise in ITU.
Unfortunately, my experience of the rest of the NHS is that it is very underfunded and the staff are in short supply, meaning that those working there are under tremendous pressure and cannot do the job they trained to do because of lack of time/money.
I hope your DM makes a speedy recovery OP.

Dh has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and the attention he has received so far has been first class. He had his first appointment at the hospital a week and a day after going to the GP, a biopsy 4 weeks later and the results last week.

The attention he had when being told the results was fantastic and he already has a bone scan fixed for next week. He would not have had better treatment if he had been able to go privately.

That's a great story OP. I knew of someone who had an Addison's crisis and died as a result. He had only just been diagnosed when he had his wisdom teeth removed. He felt incredibly ill the next day, phoned his GP who told him to ring his dentist who told him to take pain killers and he was dead the following day.

So great to hear a positive story like yours.

My lovely dad died a couple of years ago and was in and out of hospital for a couple of years. Most of his care was adequate, some was good and some was completely crap. He spent the last week of his life in hospital and I spent most of each day and his final night with him. One nurse was so kind and caring I will never forget her. The young doctor who looked after my dad was quite simply wonderful. He treated my 87 year old dad with complete respect and took time to talk to him through the night to find out how he felt about his terminal diagnosis and how he felt about increasing pain relief which might shorten his life. When I tried to explain to him through my tears that my dad didn't want to hang around, he said he knew, he'd talked to him and he understood.

Someone needs to show this thread to Jeremy Hunt to persuade him to put his hatchet away

LEM and others who have told positive stories on here, thank you.

My niece had a very serious illness and sadly died when she was 8. By the end she was under the care of 14 different consultants, her parents had a palliative team they could call 24 hours a day, and she had stayed in three different specialist facilities, all NHS, all world class.

There were plenty of frustrations but they arose from funding. The staff, and the quality of the medical treatment, were just superb. The effect of funding cuts, and new commissioning arrangements, was directly clear to see and led to a period of immense distress for DN and her whole family, and the sheer fury of the medical staff was made very plain to us.

My DD is a nurse and I can only say 'Thank you' for telling people that most of the NHS staff are wonderful

I hope that your Mum feels better very soon.

Always good to hear positive stories, hope your mum is home soon :)

We are lucky that every experience DS (4) has had with the NHS at our local hospital has been great. He has been twice in the last 24 hours and as always fantastic treatment, where they actually listen to me and him and treated him so well - probably the bonus of it being a peads A and E. shame the GP isnt as good

We are very lucky to have our NHS. Warts and all!

Hope your mum recovers well.