NHS experience today

[Maverick99]

My son had to have an operation today because he injured his finger yesterday (very traumatic injury, tip of finger degloved). Amazing that we were seen so quickly but my god it was not a fun experience. I can deal with all the waiting just fine, but once he had had the op, there was very little care.

He had essentially a plaster and bit of gauze stuck on his finger that was inadequate (falling off by the time we got hole). Had to have it re dressed and splinted by someone else once we got home who was shocked they hadn't dressed it properly. I hadn't realised his finger was actually broken until I read the discharge paperwork, and was about to leave, at which point I asked for more info. I haven't been given any info about wound care, how the surgery went, whether his nail is likely to grow back, whether the stitches are dissolvable or not, how long recovery might take etc.

He literally left the operating theatre, was put back on the ward for a few hours, obs were done and we were discharged. Literally no information about the surgery or aftercare given.

Is this a normal experience? It's just awful and I guess whilst I have been reading about the state of the NHS, I hadn't experienced it in a long time.

No, not normal. Contact your local PALS and raise it.

I was asking the nurses questions like:

• Is his fingernail likely to grow back?
• How long will recovery likely take?
• Could he have any long term issues?
• Will he have full sensation/functionality?
• Any symptoms I need to look out for?

They couldn't answer any of them and said surgical team don't give updates or info.

I'm wondering whether these were just unreasonable questions. Felt like I should just have been grateful for the surgery being done within 48 hours. But feel very in the dark. It was a very traumatic injury and he nearly lost part of his finger.

Yep, that's about the size of it. My sister's recent interactions with NHS hospitals were horrendous nightmares (I am in no way exaggerating here) and my Mum would have died 3 months sooner, unable to speak or move and in severe pain if we hadn't got her out of the hospital and into a hospice. The nhs is being deliberately underfunding and undermined by our current government. There are a huge amount of medical professionals (I am personally acquainted with several myself) trying to tell us this every day. If we don't stop this government, we'll be remortgaging our homes if a loved one has an emergency hospital visit and the medical professionals who treat them are not on our insurers approved list (this is not exaggeration, it happens daily to middle class families in the US).

Agree with PP about raising it with PALS or it's equivalent (it's called Patient Experience in my trust)

My department (A&E) takes PALS complaints pretty seriously and actions them quickly.

Did you get a discharge summary?

Sadly v normal.
He's alive so that's a win
I work in the NHS and I am so scared for the future for patients

In my extensive experience post op info is very lacking in the NHS. I have been sent home from gynae surgery with no idea what to expect in terms of pain, recovery, what I can do and what I can’t. I‘m about to have surgery on one of my limbs and have been given no information about how to manage things after the op so I am struggling to work out how I need to prepare. I’ve had a lot of surgery and it and has been the same nearly every time. My advice is to ring the surgeons office tomorrow and get the info you need.

If I didn't have medical professionals in my circle of friends his dressing would've likely fallen off overnight and he'd have had an uncovered wound/finger with no fingernail. Not anything like what it seems you experienced but I didn't feel like good enough care.

It isn’t good enough care. I would definitely complain. You can email the surgeon and they will take it seriously.

I did. That's where I saw he had a tuft fracture and asked what it was. Nurse didn't know so I googled it which led me to ask for more info.

Yes, recently had a similar experience.

My DS broke his arm very badly and they said they would try to move it back unto place without surgery but I had to sign for surgery just incase.

So he goes to theatre and then I go to recovery when he was finished and they couldn’t tell me what was done. Back on the ward I asked a nurse what was done and she didn’t know.

When DS woke up we had a look and he was covered in iodine so then we knew they had operated.

How could two nurses not know though? We didn’t see the surgeon again and we’re discharged a few hours later. No aftercare note just an appointment for a week later.

I'm so sorry you and your DS to go through that - it really wasn't good enough. I for one will be voting tactically to get these unpleasant individuals out in the hopes of a brighter future for what should be something we can all rely on. I hope your son's finger mends quickly too.

My husband had prostate surgery. It was late day surgery so was kept in overnight.
He phoned to say he'd been discharged and to collect him (hospital was 20 miles away). He'd been discharged with no advice other than after you've had your first pee you won't stop! Well that was correct..they gave him no sanitary wear and because he had no bladder control he peed himself whilst waiting in the Reception area. His jeans were soaked through and he had to do the walk of shame across the Reception area and out to the car.
I'd brought towels so he sat on them in the car on the journey home. At no time was he advised this would occur and he wasn't given instructions to provide his own pads etc.

A complete disgrace shit show.

I don't think it's underfunded - more that the money it does have isn't spent in the right places. I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that the NHS was never designed to treat the millions passing through its doors now. That is obviously going to impact services.

The three times myself and my husband have needed hospital care, we've had to go private. I'm beginning to resent having to pay for both health insurance AND for an NHS that isn't there for me when I need it.

@Maverick99 this is terrible. Can I ask where you were seen, we had similar issues on discharge with my Dad

Sorry you had similar issues, it's rubbish. I'd rather not disclose location.

The NHS has been systematically underfunded and sabotaged for over a decade by a government who, for example, would rather give the money to their mates for unusable PPE and contact tracing. I'm shocked that you admit you went private and are still refusing to believe consultants, doctors, nurses etc when they clearly state that they, working in the NHS , have seen the effects of underfunding. If you want to get a feel for living in a country where all healthcare is privatised, take a look at the US. People who pay for health insurance are still regularly hit with thousands of dollars of invoices for treatment (the price of which is hiked up through collusion between insurers and medical facilities) - if your private treatment went wrong, you'd have nowhere to turn if it wasn't for the NHS but you wouldn't have to pay for the NHS if the government taxed the billionaires and multi billion dollar corporations using this country for their own gain.

You were ‘lucky’ your son was operated on asap
When my son cut his finger badly and needed an op - he couldn’t be added to the next list because it was ‘full’. Wasn’t going to take a long time - but GA was needed so the wound could be properly investigated
The young Spanish Dr in A&E was hopping mad that she couldn’t get him on that list. She was very very critical of the service

Punchline is that he was operated on - I think two days later. They flew a surgeon from London to North Scotland to do the operation/ emergency list.

What an unbelievable waste of money and terrible care.

He has had longstanding nerve damage in the finger - which the hospital denied. I don’t know if an earlier op would have made a difference - but they categorically said no nerve involvement, when it’s clear there was.

I worked in the NHS till early 2000s. It’s not the service it was. Even Drs and nurses that work in it now will tell you that.

Yes, the lack of care and thought is entirely normal, these days.

Sad bloody times.

Not refusing to believe anything, just talking from personal experience of the conditions and care I received (or, rather, didn't). Myself and DH have had to call on private healthcare three times, precisely because when we 'turned to the NHS' it wasn't there. So, respectfully, you haven't got a clue what you're talking about.

Yes, unfortunately it seems it is the norm these days. Having recently broken an ankle the care was piss poor. The only advice I had was "you might have ligament damage as well but we can't tell from an X ray so 🤷 " actually shrugged and looked away. That was it. One nurse tried to make me walk on a visibly deformed ankle as the wheelchair wouldn't easily fit into the room until another nurse told her shocked "you can't make her walk on that!!!". Still in pain with swelling weeks and weeks on but I feel so shit about going back and trying to get help I haven't bothered and have just carried on.

The chances are the surgeon would have had back to back operations leaving little time to write up notes. In recovery, the staff are there to make sure the patient recovers from the anaesthetic well, then get them back onto the ward. There will be very little chance of a thorough hand over. Surely his wound should have been dressed properly in theatre?
My dad had a major op (AAA) where he was in theatre for 8+ hours. He was taken straight to ICU. When we eventually got to see him, the only thing we knew was that the op had been successful which we could see as he was still alive! We managed to speak to the surgeon the next day as he had gone home after the op - he had been called in for my dad as he was a highly experienced vascular surgeon. I was just incredibly grateful he survived.

Sorry to jump on but was this Raigmore? I have heard lots of worrying stories recently that make me nervous about our local hospital.
I had surgery earlier this year, day case so in in the morning and out in the evening. The staff were lovely and I felt in really safe hands. I had done my own research before the op and knew what to expect thankfully as wasn’t really given much info by the hospital before or after. Was given a bag if pain killers and told to phone my GP is any concerns. I was advised no exercise but not given a time limit and told not to drive for 24 hours. I ended up phoning the GP surgery twice in the weeks after my op for advice as I was experiencing things I did not expect or understand. I remember being told briefly what the outcome of the op was while I was in recovery and thinking to myself ‘you must remember this’ as I was heavily drugged. Thankfully I did as I have had no notes, letter, follow up since. I can’t fault the individual staff but the system is broken.

Not my experience. DH has had numerous surgeries and excellent aftercare. What rating does your hospital have?

What is so depressing is that people actually accept how shit the NHS is !! People need to complain and stop being so fucking British! NHS workers really need the public to speak up ..the more complaints the better!!