In hospital pissed off

[nhsteabags]

In hospital since early hours Monday morning. I have a large ovarian cyst double the size it should be. Im waiting for a ultrasound scan since yesterday morning. I've been in absolute agony. I've had all bloods done, swabs etc one of the bloods is the CA125. No one has come round to let me know the results. Still waiting for a ultrasound and just keep being told it's done to ultrasound department.

But everyone who has come in after me has had their scans and gone home. The one that has really pissed me off. A doctor who everyone knows has come in with the same symptoms as me and only had one-two day of pain & her cyst is exactly half the size of mine but as she said on the phone to her friend it's "people she knows and who she works with" she has been able to by pass the ultrasound and has been took straight down first thing this morning for her cyst removal. She came in at 9 last night and having surgery now. I'm honestly so annoyed. No one has checked on me this morning had barely any conversation with the nurses. From 5:30am yesterday morning I was asking for pain relief the doctor said I will get it on drugs round, by 3pm I still hadn't had any pain relief despite asking 3 times and despite seeing them doing the rounds they kept saying nothing was on screen. I haven't complained once, not been horrible or off with them.

I just want to go home!

Speak to the nurse looking after you. Say you are in agony but so fed up of waiting for your scan and pain relief that you are thinking of self discharging. This usually prompts the nurse to get in contact with your medics. Ask them to ring ultrasound to check your scan is actually booked - maybe the doctors have forgot to request it.

Don't go home but do complain. In writing. To PALS. Then start demanding to see a doctor now. And ask for answers: where is your pain relief? What is holding up the scan? Why are other patients being seen and you are not? Make a note if who you speak to and when and follow up with PALS if you are still not getting anywhere.

There is an element of waiting your turn in healthcare, but that's not the same as being ignored and left in pain.

You have to be clear about the pain and shout! What if it twists or ruptures? I don't understand why they bother admitting people if they aren't going to care for them. It's like they think people want to sleep in a filthy room stinking of urine and despair. I had an 18cm cyst rupture, thank God I wasn't in the UK, I know that pain, its horrendous. Why can't they just give you pain relief? Apart from anything else, shouldn't reporting severe pain be a little bit of an indicator the patient may need to be checked in case their condition has deteriorated?

I finally got some pain relief yesterday afternoon but only paracetemol after the doctor said he had prescribed me codeine, paracetamol and oramorph. It seems like here it's if your face fits. It's just small things like not putting my name on my bed notice board but have made sure everyone else's have all their details on. It's petty but I'm at my wits end. And it's definitely annoying that I'm not a doctor so don't get special treatment.

Definitely make a fuss. Second speaking to PALS. The squeaky wheel get the oil etc.

Don't compare your care to that of others. You have no idea why they've been prioritised. It could be additional health conditions they have or a hundred other reasons. Concentrate on getting the care you need and pain relief you need.

It sounds awful, I don't know why people are so defensive of any criticism of the NHS. It's a bloody sham. The nurses could have given you pain relief at any point and chose not to. Just nasty.

I think you need to get angry with them, OP. Say you want to complain and want to speak to the most senior person in charge.

When you say your face doesn’t fit, do you mean they’re racist?

Being able to queue-jump if their colleagues are on duty must be about the only privilege that doctors and nurses have. I really can’t begrudge that perk.

But people, even doctors, don’t just walk unannounced into a hospital ward at 9pm having experienced moderate pain for a day and get taken down for unplanned ovarian cyst removal surgery the following morning. Surgery schedules are planned weeks in advance. It sounds like you’ve misunderstood the priority order and operational model. You’re looking to place bland where none should be.

I’m glad you’ve now had some pain relief, though.

This is so true. They'll ignore you unless you kick up a fuss.

We had it with my father. He wasn't the kind of person to complain, always pleasant etc. He languished in hospital for weeks, basically being ignored most of the time. We kept telling him to complain, but he wouldn't. He got so bad, so weak, he was basically helpless, so we stepped in. First contacted PALS, then started insisting on talking to the senior ward nurse and then a doctor. It was amazing how quickly things started to move.

The NHS really does work on the "squeaky wheel" example!

I have 100% not got it confused. I've heard her many times tell the same story to her colleagues who have come to visit her. And she's told us. Her pain started Saturday night, Sunday she went to work ok then was doubled down over in pain. She was took for a scan by her colleague who said she had a cyst, was moved to ward and was in surgery by 9:30 this morning. No other pains except Saturday and yesterday and no pain again this morning. I heard the surgeon say your going away in 2 weeks the pain may come back or may not but you don't want to cancel your holiday.

I work in the NHS although not a doctor. I don't get special treatment and don't expect it. She 100% has had special treatment and tbh it's really pissed me off.

No I'm white. I think they just pick and choose who they prefer that day.

If they haven't put your name on the board, why don't you put it there? I think you need to ask to speak to whoever is in charge. Ask why you haven't had pain relief, why you haven't had your scan, what the plan is and why you have not been kept informed. I wouldn’t refer to theor colleague. But you must insist. They go on strike on Thursday so you need it sorted before then.

Probably trying to minimise how much time she has to have off work

Ask to speak to the sister on the ward.

Ask for pain assessment, pain is subjective. You should be having paracetamol 4 times a day, etc. You may have lunchtime meds due soon. You're nurse may be rushed off feet. Im not making excuses and sorry that you are upset.

The doctor may have been seen early, so she can get back to work. I was bitten by a patient and was rushed through, so that I could be back to work once the wound was dressed and antibotics had been completed. It was a friday night, I was back on the ward 1 hour later.

Request to speak to an anaesthetist. They deal with pain management not just knocking you out. Explain pain is not being managed, you have a right to request one.

The nicest ones are the HCA, caterers and the cleaners. One HCA is the nicest person, always has a smile on his face, first time someone's asked if I want a drink and he's insisted he make me one before I go home. This isn't to bash Nhs but some nurses shouldn't be nurses that's it.

They have me paracetemol when I first came in and then I asked for something stronger and they gave me codeine but they can't give me anything stronger to home with. I'm being sent home with a follow up to be seen in clinic in a few weeks. So fed up. I don't want to stay in but I don't want to go home and have the pain all over again.

I haven't got a white board marker on me

That was bizarre from that poster. Is there anyone who can call PALs for you, OP?

OP I also work in the NHS and I am a doctor. I'm sorry you're in pain and that you're not getting what you need from the team. Definitely talk to someone on the ward and ask what is going on. Sometimes you can feel a little forgotten when you're in the waiting stage and don't have an established treatment plan / team but there should definitely be staff around who can make sure that you've been given all the information, you're getting pain relief and that your scan has been requested.

Respectfully though, you really need to stop worrying about whether someone else has had preferential treatment. I worked in what sounds like a similar unit and our scan orders were all arranged by the radiology department who would have had no interest in who the patients were beyond their clinical needs. Whilst we could call up to expedite scans, this would typically be done for clinical urgency. It may well be, as above, that someone has managed to get the scan earlier as the doctor needs to get back to work (or maybe because she is well known in the department so they are trying to move her on for her own dignity). I promise you no one is getting special treatment just because they are a doctor - I was in hospital recently and waited a very long time for a scan . I can also promise you that no one would get away with pushing a patient up the surgical list without clinical need. You do not know this woman's history. The size of the cyst alone may not be the biggest determinant of surgical need - the location, proximity to other structures, her medical history etc are all relevant. The length of her pain compared to yours may also be irrelevant - if she has had new acute pain with no previous history, that may suggest pathologies with more urgency for surgical exploration. On the flip side, it may be that she is a simple case they can move through and they suspect they will need more results, imaging, advice for you. No one (including you) can possibly know except for the woman's medical team. I also really don't think your name not being written up is a slight but can completely understand how it is not making you feel any better. Please try and catch someone on the ward for a chat.

This would piss off too. Start making a fuss.

@for30daysonly has not the other patients (dr) been a little tone deaf though by discussing her "preferential" treatment on an open ward. It wasn't very professional.