Examples of Wrongly Being Told There Was Nothing Wrong By The NHS

[Westover]

Interested in examples of this, as it appears to be a growing trend to be fobbed off, sometimes repeatedly by a GP, and told there is nothing seriously wrong when there is an issue requiring treatment. I'm also wondering if it is bad in other countries. In my case:

• Developed what turned out to be pneumonia. 2 initial visits to the GP, first visit told there was nothing wrong and it was just a virus and couldn't be treated, second visit a few days later and was diagnosed with a kidney infection and given antibiotics appropriate to that. Ended up collapsing at home that weekend, ambulance called, taken to hospital, chest x ray and diagnosed with pneumonia. Was given penicillin. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a penicillin-resistant strain and so felt increasingly terrible over the next week. Managed to persuade my GP to give me an emergency appointment (this was pre-Covid), during which he barely looked at me and took a lengthy phone call before dismissing me, telling me that the antibiotics took time to work. Phoned 111 the next day and was given an appointment at a local health clinic who sent me back to hospital, where I was admitted for 4 days and put on intravenous antibiotics.

• Fell while out running and slightly dislocated my kneecap (as diagnosed by my GP). A week later, felt a sharp pain and was unable to bear weight after that. After being phone triaged, eventually got an appointment with NHS physio some weeks later where I was x- rayed, told there was nothing wrong with it and told I was being lazy and there was no reason I couldn't exercise and I should be walking properly and not using crutches (I have never been lazy in my life!). Went back 2 months later as it was worse and was told the same again by a clearly even less interested physio. Refused an MRI scan. Paid for a private MRI scan, which showed a stress fracture. My knee is now severely damaged as a result of not resting it for 5 months after it occurred.

• Fell off my bike and got a bad cut which caused scarring to develop on my face. At A&E where it was initially treated, I was told by the consultant that I should refer for possibly laser treatment or to have the scar revised once a year had passed. GP happily did this and in the consultation, I was told that "the best option" was to have psychiatric counselling to help me "get used to the change in my appearance". I wrote a stinker of a letter back saying that I would not be taking up that option as I wasn't that bothered by it but I had been advised to get further revision surgery by a consultant. I then moved house, got another consultation elsewhere and was given laser treatment to revise it which was successful.

Being sent away after my voice changed dramatically, before being referred on the sixth GP appt.
Then being sent away again when the consultant had diagnosed silent reflux.
Reader, I did not have silent reflux.

Dh had a first grand mal seizure, then had a scan, showed a shadow that looked like some old scar tissue on the brain.

Rescanned a few months later

Called gp to follow up on epilepsy meds and they said, good news No sign of tumour.

Consultant neuro surgeon, radiologist and oncologist looked at the same scan and have somewhat disagreed!

You probably didn’t have pneumonia when you were seen by the gp, and stress fractures are very common, probably unrelated to the fall- by definition stress fractures don’t result from falls! Sorry, haven’t ploughed through your last example

you just have to accept that the human body did not evolve to be easily scanned and x rayed. No system of investigating our insides is going to work perfectly. If you think you can design some sort of scan that will work perfectly every time, please, do go ahead

I spent 14 years telling all the drs and consultants that there was something wrong with my dd who stopped growing in the womb.
14 years of fighting them, being told there was nothing wrong and I was just an over anxious young mum.

I was right and I’m still really angry that I was ignored for all those years. It has put her prognosis back as she is now too old to start treatments which would have improved her life.

The stress fracture was of a type that cannot usually be diagnosed by x ray. The point is that I had a stress fracture for 5 months while being refused an MRI scan, told there was nothing wrong and encouraged to exercise on it, while I was unable to weight bear without pain.

5 years of being fobbed off with depression anxiety and panic attacks, therapist ended up telling GP I was fine. Only after falling down stairs and a full MRI and hospital involvement that heart failure was diagnosed. If GP had listen to me I could have made lifestyle changes that would have help, now nearly bed boun awaiting heart op

My late father, a man who wouldn’t go near a doctor unless he was at deaths door, was told repeatedly for a year that the blood in his stools, his dramatic weight loss, his extreme tiredness and the bulge in his stomach was nothing more than piles.

You would almost think that MRI scans hadn't been invented!

Luckily, an MRI scan showed the fracture. Perfectly clear on the MRI.

You have heard of MRI scans, haven't you? ...

Told by a midwife i had braxton hicks despite my saying my abdominal pain was continuous. I had a placental abruption and my DS has brain damage.

My dear mum was fobbed off by a very rude hospital doctor who said her swallowing problem was a sign of dementia - when she was as sharp as a tack. She had a large tumor in her jaw and throat under her false teeth which we found when we looked in her mouth with a torch. Sadly, she died from it a few months later.

Parents were told that every single issue I had as a child was down to my eyesight. This included vomitting at night without having a fever, the constant falls and complaining of headaches.

The reason for constantly being ill was epilepsy. We discovered this at a neurology appointment in 2012. Where he also said that I have a cyst on my brain, which apparently causes no problems at all. Eye clinic now think because of where it is, it's why my vision is the way it is.

January 2014, spoke to GP as everytime I went for a run I'd have a coughing fit. GP told me it was asthma, gave me an inhaler and told me to come back in a few weeks time. Finally, after 4 months, they found something that worked. Fast forward to December 2020, I was having problems with my chest and spoke to my GP. (by this time I'd changed surgeries) I was given some steriods. Because they didn't work, I was sent for an x ray which came back clear. I was told it was anxiety but no one could explain (I'm not in the habit of doing this) why if you spray something like deodorant, I have a coughing fit.

I complained as I felt I was getting nowhere after 6 months. Saw GP who listened to my chest and decided there was an issue but he couldn't decide what the problem was. He referred me to the chest clinic. Since then, I've had a spiroemtry which was inconclusive and a heart scan which came back clear. Now waiting for a CT scan.

Ive lost count of the amount of appointments I had with my GP between December 2020 and May last year because of my chest. Almost every time, they told me there was nothing wrong.

“Allergens can’t be passed through breast milk” said by 4 different GPS.

This has damaged my respect for GPs due to the pain this caused my DC and me. It’s total bullshit.

Fracturing my spine in a car crash. Taken to hospital on a back board only to be told by doctor they don't like to x-ray young women in that area. On discharge noticed blood in my urine and had a mri only to discover a burst fracture of the vertebrae. If I had been discharged I would likely have been paralysed. As it was I was put in a backbrace for 3 months until the fracture fused.

My Dad went to his GP twice with a really bad cough and was told he had hay fever both times. A few months later he died from lung cancer.

Misdiagnosis: Told I was a fat lazy addict with drug seeking behaviour who needed a job to focus my hyperchondriac tendencies.

Actual problem: I have a tethered spinal cord and can't stand up, I wet myself multiple times a day.

I hear you op.

Countless.

Had an electrical problem with my heart since age 12. Countless visits to the GP. Fobbed off with anxiety. Only got a diagnosis at 30 years of age.

Had a child that was I'll with a 'virus' that just wouldn't go. Took her to the GP multiple times, out of hour Dr's and hospital all told me it was 'just a virus' and sent us home (despite her having a fever that didn't respond to medication for over a week and limbs that were turning blue. Finally took her to a 2nd hospital and insisted on a blood test. Turns out she was seriously ill with a condition that causes swelling of the brain and other internal organs..had a very close call on that one.

Partner attended hospital recently after being sent home too early after surgery (against his wishes). Hospital kept him waiting hours to be seen, couldn't find a reason for his pain, doses him with morphine and sent him home. He was back in a few hours later with a burst gallbladder and sepsis.

Sister had a scan on her spine as a teen. Results were lost. When she was pregnant in her late 20's, a midwife managed to locate the scan result and it transpires that she has a hidden/mild form of spina bifida.

My aunt had an x-ray of HR foot after a fall years ago and was told everything was fine.after suffering ongoing problems for years, her GP looked at the old X ray and discovered multiple fractures. She should have had surgery immediately but it is no longer possible to fix.

My mother struggles with stomach pain and diarrhea for years and was told it was either anxiety or IBS. After about a decade she was hospitalised and an 11cm tumour was found growing from her ovary into her bowel.

My late husband was told by our GP that he had IBS.

No treatment, just given a leaflet about possible triggers & foods to avoid.

Dead from bowel cancer a few months later.

A few years ago my dd was unwell. All the symptoms of type 1 diabetes.
OOH - tested a urine sample and it showed +++glucose. They refused to check her finger sent us to a and e
A+E visit 1 - told us she had a UTI. I begged them to check her blood glucose they REFUSED said ‘she does NOT have diabetes’ only test they did was urine test

Over the next 7 days she got even worse and I was at the gp daily. I kept being told it was a type of uti that made +++glucose show up in urine.

I begged. They refused to test her.

7 days after the first a and e visit my gp agreed to test her ‘for your benefit mum as you are over anxious but if she had had diabetes this online she wouldn’t be conscious…’

Her level was so high we had to go immediately to a and e where she was diagnosed. When we got there she was drowsy and v unwell

i put a complaint in. The hospital tried to say that :

1. they didn’t know who the dr was on duty that day and
2. they HAD checked her level and it was ‘normal’

I responded with the name of the dr (I’d seen his ID) and I said the level would have been recorded as a number not just ‘normal’ but that I had not left her side and at no time was a blood glucose level done. I did a SAR for her notes because of this .

this is the disgusting part. In her notes was a copied page a blood glucose level printout with her name and address label Over the top part (where the drs and time of test is) I said ‘no. You did not perform this test. I want the ORIGINAL notes so I can peel off that name label and show that you did not check her level that day’
They refused and told me there was nothing more I could do.
To cover up the fact they failed her that first a and e admission and didn’t check her level when urine samples showed +++ glucose they clearly tested someone else and added that to her notes covering up the date of the fraudulent test.

I got a SAR from the gp. There was correspondence between gp and hospital saying I was exhibiting symptoms of FII (fabricated or induced illness) possibly for attention.

So she was misdiagnosed, then it was covered up with fraud

My niece. In and out of hospital for the past 18 months. Massive gynae infections. Put on huge doses of iv antibiotics and painkillers as an inpatient for 3/5 days then sent home. Her family complete at age 34, she’s asked many times to “just remove the lot; can’t stand the pain”. They refused as “you might change your mind about more children”. She’s in there now (4th admission) and has been told she has ovarian tumour.

my mum admitted just pre-Covid. Aged 79 but driving, shopping and cleaning for herself. Sudden onset of breathlessness whilst shopping in John Lewis. Admitted. Test showed nothing. A week later, we were told she could come home; it was probably just a UTI. In the Saturday evening I took some “coming home” clothes in for her. 8am Sunday morning got a phone call to say “She’s taken a downturn, please come in”. Got there, she was on a CRAP breathing machine. She died later that day.

Son, now 21. Diagnosed Aspergers and ocd aged 4 and 10. Last year, back and forth to GP. I accompanied him for support (his request). We visited 5 times. He and I felt he was depressed. GP said we were all “low in mood” following the isolation of lockdown etc. Saw GP on the Friday and she advised him to “get out more/do some exercise to get your endorphins going”. Sunday afternoon, drank 400mls of Vanish Oxy Liquid (which contains bleach). He survived but was so, so poorly.

Not good experiences. I was a nurse for 27yrs in the NHS.

You could also ask on US forums if anyone’s been misdiagnosed by a private doctor. It’s pretty common. Misdiagnosis and over-medication (or wrongly prescribed medication) is a leading cause of death in the US.

Humans sometimes make mistakes, even doctors. It’s not an NHS vs private thing. It’s a human error thing.

I can't believe so many people are saying you're BU OP, none of the things you describe should have been brushed aside. It does seem that a lot of health care workers are either in the wrong job, or need to actually put more effort into the one they have, in my opinion.

Me: told for years I had mental health problems, fed every anti depressant under the sun but none worked, then put down to just being lazy. 20 years of it. Emigrated and got diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, nothing wrong with my mental health beyond being absolutely fucking knackered.

DD: behaviour issues dismissed as poor parenting, low self esteeem. Diagnosed autistic at 15 after emigrating with me.

I was told I'd sprained my wrist for 2 years, before finally being referred for an MRI to shut me up as there was nothing wrong (the referral letter worded it as "if this comes back normal, which I anticipate, the long term management is self-management").

Well, it wasn't sprained. One of my bones had completely disintegrated, and others had moved position. I needed several surgeries to remove the fragments of bone and I'll probably need more in future. I'm left with permanently movement and pretty much constant pain.

In my case I could have forgiven human error but the deliberate cover up after was absolutely disgusting