To think my husband is gravely ill at the wrong time?

[MyOtherCarIsAPorsche]

Masses of confusion.

Husband spoke to GP yesterday morning and described his chest pain. He was advised to call an ambulance. My husband refused because he didn't think he needed one - thought he had chest infection or torn muscle.

He went to A&E - was sat in a corridor from 10.30am - he had ecg, x ray and blood test. He continued to sit on a chair in the corridor all day.

He was told he was waiting for blood test results. These came back at 6pm. Then he had to wait for a CT scan - then rushed to resus.

Dissected aorta from heart level to naval level.

I was called to be allowed to sit with him because I wasn't allowed to be in A&E. Was then told he was being blue lighted to another hospital an hour away for immediate surgery. I asked is this time critical? The answer was - yes life saving.

Paramedics arrived and told me to set off to this other hospital. There were three paramedics. One said 'I'm not taking him because I can't use that bit of kit, I'll lose my job if something goes wrong'. No advanced paramedics available and no doctor available to go in the transfer.

I was 15 min into the journey and then called back to the hospital.

No surgery.

Trying all day today to get him transferred. Nothing available.

He's critically ill.

I'm out of my mind with worry.

There's a saying about not being ill on the weekend. The standard of care is not the same. The 24hr cover appears to not exist.

I feel like we're being fobbed off with poor excuses big style.

What an awful situation but sadly my experience of the NHS is similar. I hope everything works out for you both.

Gosh that’s super shit and worrying, I would keep asking questions, reminding them you are waiting, thinking of you both.

That is dreadful. I’m so sorry for you both. Unfortunately I’ve had very similar experiences.

Thinking of you, this sounds so stressful and worrying. I hope he gets the surgery he needs very soon.

Have you asked to speak to the on call consultant? I’d take it as far up the chain as you can at the weekend, and then email the CE of the hospital (should be on their website) saying you would like an urgent phone call to discuss first thing on Monday. IME people at that level check their email all weekend and will alert their senior staff to an issue like this, especially if you are clear you won’t let it go quietly. Doing it that way, the next consultant you see is likely to be pre-primed to be helpful.

Keep asking questions, talking to medical staff, asking whats happening, when the 'right' medical people are available, how they are ensuring he is getting the right medical care right now etc etc - don't let them forget you are there!!!

I can absolutely believe this and I am so sorry, you must be out of your mind. Don't take it quietly, take it as high up as you can. Don't let them forget you are there as a PP said.

OP I’m so sorry there should be some sort of emergency cardiac service on the weekend for this sort of thing though. Sorry if I’m being dense- have you made it to the larger hospital now?

This is the state our NHS is in at the moment I’m so sorry this is happening to you and Dh. There aren’t enough staff / beds and not enough of anything basically. Just horrendous.
Weekdays are no better I’m afraid.

There should be a consultant on call. Ask, and ask, and ask again until they come in to assess your poor H.

Oh OP this is awful. I totally agree. Different scenario but I was induced over a Sunday night, no control over this as waters had gone, baby got into difficulty and I'm sure they held out for 6am Monday to do EMCS when the doctor was there.

That's extremely awful service. I hope he has surgery as soon as possible OP

@Bobbybobbins
Yes - I feel they are stalling.

If he was time critical last night then time is slipping away.

I can't find any contact information for the CE - probably because they can't be bothered to be available. There's just a general email address for the hospital.

@Hell0G00dbye

No - the first hospital are apparently waiting to hear back from the second hospital (which is actually a smaller hospital).

I rang the second hospital and no one knows anything.

I'm desperate - don't know what to do.

Tell them you want the on call Cardiac Consultant, the Clinical Director and the Chief Executive contacted and brought in to speak to you both. This is appalling.

Our local A&E has 12 hour waits today and ambulances taking 2 hours to unload very sick patients. Paramedics said it was the worst they've ever seen it. My local GPs has six doctors off last week with Covid. The one thing I can say though is that my mum was admitted last week and the staff pulled out all the stops amd weren't giving up. Thinking of you and your dh.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, unfortunately this is the state of the NHS (and has been for many years). IME you have to push, make it more difficult for them to ignore you than sort it out.

That is truely appalling, I’m so sorry for you .
It absolutely is time critical and I think the only thing you can do is kick up a massive fuss. It’s not something anyone wants to do but in these circumstances you have to be your husbands advocate.
I think I would be using the phrase “ I understand the level of emergency attention required and will absolutely be holding this hospital and the local NHS authority responsible should a delay affect the outcome here. “
Make a nuisance of yourself, as others say, demand the on call cardiac consultant is called .
Again, just sorry, it’s a shite situation.

There is always a general manager on call. Always. Speak to the nurse in charge of the unit. Tell her you want to speak to the cardiac consultant and the general manager. And that you will be escalating this to the CE. If the general manager is “unavailable” I would reply that in that case you will speak to the press and she can tell them why your husbands life is being put at risk.

OP if you share (or pm) the hospital name, I can almost certainly get you the CE’s likely email address, with a bit of Google sleuthing. Might well be able to do the same for the Medical Director, too.

Look up the trust rather than the hospital and the executive team for the trust. Choose the person with the most unusual name, in descending order, the email will be [email protected].
If the executive team of the trust is all John Smith/Will Adams/Becky Jones type names then this won't work. But if you do happen upon a Sergei Wilbersmith type name (made up randomly) then the other email should get through to them and they can forward it on to the CEO

Senior NHS manager

• consistent on call now. Not this afternoon, not later, now. Not a foundation doctor or a SHO or a registrar you tell everyone who comes near you you want the con on call NOW

• Twitter. Tweet the hospital, the CEO the chair of the board - tag them in the tweet

• Phone switchboard and ask for the site matron

• Make sure everything is documented. Ask them very clearly what time your husband is being transferred and write it down in front of them. With the doctors name and grade and specialty

It is very true that the squeaky wheel gets the oil when it comes to the NHS. Make some noise

My DH had an abdominal aortic aneurysm 6 years ago and was transferred very quickly to the regional vascular centre. He survived but it was touch and go. You really need to make a big fuss and find out what the plan is. As you've realised it's an extremely serious condition.
I hope all goes well for you both

Basically NHS email addresses are made as always [email protected] but if it is a common name, a number is added based on how many worked for the NHS prior to you.

Have you actually phoned the hospital switchboard and asked to speak to whoever is in charge of the hospital today , there will be a bleep holder . That said this type of surgery will often be dependent on whether an itu bed is available post op and nobody can magic one out of thin air unfortunately. Best wishes @MyOtherCarIsAPorsche I hope it all works out ok for your husband . 💐