AIBU?
To put in a complaint against NHS
Vanillaisboring666 · 03/07/2017 17:31
My beautiful 14 year old dd attended hospital Tuesday last week to have her ACE stoma reversed . It was a simple 20 min procedure that was class's as day case surgery. We arrived at 8am and she went down to theatre at 12pm , arrived back onward at 1pm . At 230 pm she was discharged . She was un comfortable but managed to walk to car . Upon getting in car began to cry saying she was in a bit of pain . I got her home and into bed and gave paracetomol as per hospital instruction. At 4pm she was in agony and sweating. Took her to A&E as day case unit advised on phone they would be closing at 8pm . Anyways 2 hrs in a&e she was sweating , breathing fast and writhing in agony. After 2 hrs a paed doc came and gave oromorph and placed her on paediatric ward. She stayed overnight and was given regular oromorph but she was still In agony . The sister the next morning said it was post op pain and told me to take her home amd have a duvet day and give paracetomol. By this point she could not walk and looked gravely I'll with sweat running down her face. I took her home and once again tucked her up in bed. At 4pm wednesday (day after her stoma reversal ) she was in absolute agony so I called gp and he prescribed oromorp and we gave it her overnight. Thursday mornine she was unable to lift her head and gp advised over the phone i ring an ambulance . Ambulance arrived (after 1.5hrs) and she was once again took to a&e . A gastronsurgeon came immediately and she was then rushed to theatre . I was signing consent forms running along corridor. It was terrifying. Anyways she ended up having a full blown laparotomy after the attempt at doing surgery laparoscopically failed. She has 4 laparoscopically incisions and a huge vertical cut down her tummy from laparotomy and also a cut on right side of tummy from her ace reversal surgery and initial ace surgery. She has been through hell. She was on itu for two days and is now on ward but is still critically ill as having temps and heart rate fast. The surgeon who did the ace reversal was never informed dd was readmitted by the ward and has profusely apologised as he said this should never have happened. He is going to be looking into why he was not told dd was back in hospital with pain 4 hrs after his surgery and why the bloody hell she was discharged in such a terrible state the next day when she was very obviously seriously ill. She is so so so poorly now and is still critically ill amd at risk of sepsis . She will be getting ct scan tomorrow as nothing is bringing down her temps . I am furious she was made to suffer such pain for 48 hrs and has ended up needing full blown laparotomy. If her surgeon had of been informed on the Tuesday he said he could have managed to do surgery laparoscopically. Instead he said her abdomen was so full of puss and poo he had to open her tummy from top to bottom. I am heart broken and not coping well with seeing how much pain she is in. I am strong in front of dd but have to go to toilet amd cry every now and then. We have a huge long road ahead to get her better but I am now starting to realise just how appallingly she has been treat by the ward who initially discharged her. No doctor even examined her before discharge and the sister said it was post op pain amd to have a duvet day and paracetomol ? I can tell the hospital is shitting themselves as they rolling over me and dh now . Even my dds consultant has admitted this should not have happened amd has apologised . He came to see dd twice a day Saturday Sunday despite it being his day off. I pray to god she recovers as docs say she is still critical and may need more surgery amd to go back to picu if her temps don't drop. Sorry it's so long and I hope it makes sense. I'm in bits and can't believe our wonderful nhs could have gotten something so wrong. A routine simple procedure has ended up with 8 hrs of surgery ,paed intensive care for two days,severely in pain child that is bed bound ,catheterised and has no clue just how serious this situation is. Her whole abdomen was filled with puss and poo and her bowel had ruptured . According to ward sister though it was post op pain and all she needed was paracetomol and a duvet day. My dd is so lovely and never complains so I knew something bad was wrong but the sister said she knew best and discharged her ??? AIBU in going to pals ????
IrritatedUser1960 · 03/07/2017 17:37
It sounds awful your poor little girl has had a rough time.
But yes I think YABU in that your first thought is rushing to PALS.
My first thought would be to see my daughter through the crisis first, get her better and have a full and frank discussion with the medical staff to see what went wrong, was it avoidable or not.
Going straight to PALS seems to be a jerk reaction, it is far too soon. They will still be there when this crisis is over if it comes to that.
Carolinesbeanies · 03/07/2017 17:38
Absolutely put in a formal complaint. This musnt happen again, yet same day discharge is becoming a far higher priority than the condition of the patient! Nothing will change if you do nothing and putcomes for other patients may be even worse. So sorry youre going through this.
Vanillaisboring666 · 03/07/2017 17:40
She is like a frail old lady amd.is sweating and sleeping ALL the time. I'm so frightened of her getting sepsis ( surgeon said high possibility as her abdomen was so full of puss and poo , he even said it was worst he has seen in a long time).. All this could have been much less serious if ward sister and sho/ registrar had of got in touch with her gastro surgeon or member of his team. I just can't believe what's happening right now ? It's all starting to hit me and I feel so helpless. All I can do is wipe her brow and apply baseline to her lips . She can't see properly as she on so much medication so when she occasionly wakes she gets frightened and I have to reassure her that it's just the medication. She is also hallucinating but doc says that's the morphine xx
WhooooAmI24601 · 03/07/2017 17:40
I came on here to say YABU because I don't like the NHS being attacked but in this instance, please go straight to PALS and kick up as much of a stink as you're able to. What an absolute mess of a situation; there are so many glaring errors and so many issues with the treatment your daughter has received. The staff who treated her need to know how catastrophic their mistakes were.
to you, I hope she recovers as quickly as she can, and that you manage to have some rest and food while you're waiting for her to recover; you'll be running on adrenaline for a while so make sure you're taking care of yourself, too.
leghoul · 03/07/2017 17:41
Sorry this has happened. However the surgical consultant has apologised explained and taken action. They'll most likely fill in a datix report possibly discuss this in meetings about this sort of thing and this will be looked into. I am not sure if complaining via PALS will achieve anything at all when it sounds as though the action taken is reasonable and swift.
reetgood · 03/07/2017 17:42
I'm sorry for yours and daughters horrible experience. I have friends and family working as doctors and in PALS within the NHS. As someone's said here, surgeon would probably be reporting this and PALS really want to know about things like this too. It might not always seem like it, but they're keen on not having things like this happen and if there's anything that can prevent something like this happening again that would be good. In a way I'm also glad the hospital have apologised to you and recognised the problem too. YADNBU - I hope your daughter's recovery progresses.
Vanillaisboring666 · 03/07/2017 17:43
I am certainly not rushing to PALS and my dd is my absolute FIRST AND ONLY priority. I only ask because my friends are pressurising me to do it now . I have never complaimed about anything ever before and hate the thought of doing so. I am sitting here whilst dd is asleep so thought I'd ask on here to try and pass the time and not just sit and stare at all the monitors and machines. Cant believe anyone woukd suggest or say that I'm not putting dd first. Iv not left her side since Tuesday and nor am I going too. She is my world and it's only just hitting me now what that fucking ward sister has put my dd through...... I'm allowed to be angry
notanurse2017 · 03/07/2017 17:44
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Jellycatspyjamas · 03/07/2017 17:45
I can understand you wanting to do something while feeling so helpless with your daughter - what a terrible time you're both having. Take care of her just now, give yourself time to deal with the emotion of it all and then complain in the strongest possible terms.
harderandharder2breathe · 03/07/2017 17:45
Please do complain! This should never have been allowed to happen and your complaint might just prevent it happening to someone else. Your poor, poor daughter!
If you have any doubts, remember that DD's surgeon agrees she should never have been discharged and that they (surgeon) should've been told when she was admitted in pain.
ItMustBeBedtimeSurely · 03/07/2017 17:46
You should absolutely complain.
Datix's are filled in every day on the wards and whilst they are dealt with, this needs to be escalated further, imo. It sounds liked staff retraining is called for, although goodness knows they should already be aware that severe pain after surgery is a warning sign.
Vanillaisboring666 · 03/07/2017 17:47
I am also however very very grateful for the nhs and think it's a wonderful service and we are very lucky to have it. Despite the ward making the mistake the treatment since has been 110% and I must praise the nurses and doctors who are now looking after my dd. I love the nhs and am grateful for all they are doing now. I just feel so angry at the ward sister and her "duvet day ,paracetomol ,get home now" attitude.
Sanscollier · 03/07/2017 17:47
to you and to your dd op
How absolutely awful
I know everyone is stretched to the limit in the NHS but I would definitely make a complaint about this. It sounds as though you have a good consultant on your side; I would definitely ask him if he has reported the incident too (or the relevant surgeon if they are different people).
I hope your dd gets through her ordeal as soon as possible.
ChicRock · 03/07/2017 17:50
I work for the NHS and yes you should complain, this is fucking disgraceful.
It sounds like your DD is finally in good hands so while you can't really do too much for her at the moment, use some time to write down everything, the sequence of events, dates, times, who she was seen by - absolutely every detail you can think of.
Obviously your first priority is your daughter but once she's through the worst then if you've got it all documented while it's fresh in your mind that'll help massively. And then yes, complain. Don't be fobbed off.
Daffodils07 · 03/07/2017 17:51
Yadnbu please tell pals as soon as you are able to, this needs to be addressed as it sounds like the correct procedures wasnt adhered to and more then likely has made your dd much more poorly then she needed to be.
I know it wont help your dd now but might stop another child going through the same.
Hope your daughter gets better really soon
Somerville · 03/07/2017 17:52
Your poor daughter, and poor you, too OP.
There is loads of time for PALS in the future. Pursuing that right now will take up time and emotional capital that you don't have right now. Concentrate on getting over the shock, and then looking after your daughter and yourselves. If friends mention complaints then tell them thatnyou will at a later sat but right now the priority is getting through each day - they think they're being helpful but, actually, they're not. (And I say that having experienced medical errors in hospital with one my own DC.)
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