Blood oxygen levels of 90 - is the NHS being crap here?

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I just spent 7 hours in A&E. I can't get a GP appointment which is the only reason I went to the hospital. I'm sleeping pretty much all day every day, feel really unwell and have been admitted previously due to dangerously low blood oxygen levels.

This time I tested at 90. According to the NHS site that means I need to call 999. Yet I was discharged. What do I do from here?? I can't work at the moment as I'm sleeping practically all day and night. I want to get better but how do I do that? The last time they took me in they gave me an oxygen mask and a drip which really helped.

I'm missing my sister's hen do at the weekend because of this. I'm just so frustrated.

OP, have you had your iron levels explored? Go to your GP and ask for an iron panel. also ask for a print out with actual numbers, not just accepting a verbal result like “fine”, when actually it’s one point above being in the gutter.

Do not start taking iron supplements without medical testing though, as it’s possible to have hemochromatosis/excess iron, which can put you into danger territory.

Do eat a nutrient rich diet like red meat, liver, beans, molasses, green leafy veg etc. Eat vitamin C foods with meals to enhance absorbtion (citrus fruit, kiwi, glass of fruit juice etc). Avoid eating dairy with meat, as the calcium blocks iron. Also avoid tea/coffee/herbal tea/cocoa etc two hours either side of meal times as the caffeine/tannins block iron uptake.

Google hepatopulmonary syndrome.

Well OP it's hard to advise without knowing why they weren't concerned about the low sats level as usually that does need admission until in normal range. If you don't have a chronic lung condition or a diagnosis, and they didn't come up and it was accurate then no I don't really understand it and would be concerned.
I suggest reseeking medical advice over the weekend and on Monday an emergency appt with your GP to see what AE said and also recheck your sats. Sats should be 94-98% ideally >96%
If a jnr dr just sent you home without explanation and you didn't get cxr or see resp or a senior dr to send you home I'd go back to AE

@DogandMog Op has cirrhosis and it's likely haemochromatosis was tested at that time.

Op, it must be scary to have a serious long term condition as cirrhosis. You mention appointments twice a year, at previous appointment did you talk through progression of the disease?

It seems you need more support as there will be additional symptoms for cirrhosis and A&E would not be the best place for this...I also think your GP will be not specialist enough. The liver is an amazing organ and referred to as the energy store so if it's not able to function then you will be tired.

I recommend the Liver Trust, you can phone to talk through worries or new symptoms and they know the liver specialist centres.

If you have abstained from alcohol are you on the liver transplant waiting list?

You've posted about your situation before haven't you?

You are surrounded by alcoholics. Your husband also has cirrhosis.

And you were drinking very, very recently. Until and unless you start being honest about your situation, noone can help you.

If I were to take this thread as accurate... you had concerning medical symptoms, sought medical advice. They assessed you and discharged you. What more are you wanting?

Its pretty simple.

@thinkingcapon god no, I'm a disabled benefits claimant who left school at 16.
I was going by what happened to my DH when he had a collapsed lung the other month. The rest of my post is just asking stuff and me mentioning the lung rehab thing?!

This isn’t correct unless she has a diagnosis that explains having a lower than usual O2 sat and OP would know and understand that. She hasn’t explicitly said she has been given a diagnosis and clinical explanation for this.
If someone has been discharged with persistently 90% O2 and they’re not clear why and they remain unwell, they do need a second opinion.

But if she's being cleared by a&e and its being found not to be an emergency she needs her gp to do a referral to respiratory.

@x2boys Sorry, it certainly isn't general 'advice' only my own experience. My DH had a collapsed lung, it was down to 79 I think when he tried to stand up. The EMTs had to give him the biggest oxygen cannister ever, turns out there was 2.5 litres of blood in the lung! He was in hospital for a week with a drain in there.
Ideally it should be above early 90s, I know that. Maybe if it's a child it's different. Sorry, I'm not a medic as someone else asked me before.

She knows that, the hospital knows that, but the problem is the impossibility of getting to see the GP.

Ideally it should be above early 90s, I know that. Maybe if it's a child it's different.

You are not wrong, @BobbyBiscuits .

For a child or an adult, the threshold is at or above 95 where I live.

I suspect the decision to send someone home with a level of 90 is down to available medical resources and not actually medically sound.

95 is good. 96 or higher is better.
90 is a problem, not that much higher than 88, which is dangerous.

It may be harder right now to get a gp appointment but not impossible a letter will have been sent to the gp regarding the a&e visit which means they will potentially be following up anyway if they don't there are other ways to get appointments such as speaking to the practice manager or pals. People are very quick to say I can't get an appointment without putting in a lot of effort in doing so. Lots of my friends/family/ colleagues who go to the same gp as me will often say they can never get an appointment, yet iv always managed no problem. When iv questioned this further they often say things like I was 10th in que so gave up or I waited 20 minutes and gave up. I rang once on a Monday morning and they had no appointments left ect ect. You have to be persistent and patient and you will get an appointment

People are very quick to say I can't get an appointment without putting in a lot of effort in doing so...You have to be persistent and patient and you will get an appointment.

Do you realise how terrible this situation is?

People who are really ill have to be persistent and patient?

Seriously??

You should be able to pick up the phone, be connected to a receptionist, and make an appointment for a visit within a few days, or get a call back for a phone triage the same day - you know, the way it's done in parts of the world where healthcare systems are fit for purpose...

If you have a job that means you cannot hang on the phone for hours, what do you do? I’m fortunate that my job is flexible but some people (teachers and nurses, for example) may not be allowed their phones.

My GP surgery has gone online mainly and within half an hour, the portal may be full and not accepting new requests. Even if I log on dead on 8 am, everyone else is doing the same and it crashes and by the time you get it working, the portal cannot even accept your request!

PALS are for hospitals not GP surgeries. I was on a patient participation group for my surgery, you can complain to the practice manager all you like but they cannot magic up appointments. It’s not their fault. There aren’t enough GPs or nurses for the number of patients. People are living with increasingly complex health needs in the community. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed much higher up - more funding, better conditions and pay for GPs, better out of hours facilities etc. The system - not the people - is appalling. As a patient, I’m sick of being blamed and I’m sick of the medics being blamed. The system isn’t working for a lot of people and it’s not ok.

I am not on the liver transplant list. I asked about this, and the Dr basically laughed in my face and said I seem to be functioning well so why would I be on the list.

Sorry to keep whinging. I just don't know where to go. It seems like I need to be a lot worse to get any treatment.

I spent an hour on the phone this morning to my GP. I was number 45 in the queue. I called them at 8. Then got cut off at 9am sharp.

So what do I do now??

Do you have a friend or family member who can advocate for you?

It sounds like what you need is someone to speak for you in situations you are not able to cope with.

I have autism and also I have heart failure, stage 3 kidney disease, COPD and liver disease to name a few and my sats are consistently around 91-94. Drs aren't worried until it goes into the mid 80s. I'm also batcrap crazy which doesn't help. There are certain conditions you can have, particularly as a woman, that seems to get a dismissive attitude towards you in general from many medical professionals. It can be hard to deal with.

My husband speaks for me when I'm frozen. I think a lot of people don't understand how hard it can be and that you need help that it doesn't look like you need. If that makes sense.

Do you have anyone who can go with you and ask questions and advocate for you?

Re getting a gp appt try calling 111 and see if you can get a GP appt via that route.

You could also try phoning the surgery after 10am and asking about a non urgent appointment, telephone appointment or appointment with a nurse rather than a GP. A nurse can be a way to get to the GP.

You should write down what you are concerned about, what you need help with and what questions you have. This will help you not feel as overwhelmed.

Thank you 😊

I don't need anyone to help advocate as such, I just need some medical help!! My husband was there at the appointment and they didn't listen to him either.

Solidarity from one batshit crazy, unwell person to another.

The reason I ended up in A&E was calling 111.

The doctor surgery literally do not answer the phone after 9am. It's very frustrating.

To you also. 💐

You could try talking to PALS.

Have you tried writing down your concerns and questions so you can be prepared at an appt?

I ask because I find when they are being asked specific questions it can make them take a moment to actually think about ways to help you.

Is there an email address? I'd write to explain the problem and ask them to sort out an appointment ASAP.

I just noticed this post and I heartily agree. The system is not working.

Last Thursday, after failing to get a GP appointment I phoned 111 for reassurance. My oxygen levels keep dipping with the slightest effort, then take a few minutes to come up. Eg down to the 70s this morning, slowly climbed up to 93, ten minutes later 100! This follows a long lasting viral cough but complicated by CFS/ME exhaustion. The clinician took all the details and arranged for a telephone appointment between 6 and 7 with my GP. Nobody called....I sat like a lemon waiting all evening.

I rang the surgery 8am Friday to ask why nobody had rung me, only to be told it was "because nobody was there"(! ) I did get an appointment in person though so went down that morning. The GP is lovely and she was very thorough. She wants me to have a chest x-ray so sent a referral to the Open Access clinic. As of yesterday afternoon that referral has not arrived! The staff at the surgery are trying to find out why. I have had one fruitless journey to the hospital already, but was not on the system so got sent away. I've got both direct dial numbers for the x-ray department, but they don't get answered very often.

Trying to survive until I get seen!!

Hope things go OK for OP.

Can you email the surgery?