Young women dies - dismissed as a 'time waster' by hospital staff

[Highmoon]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c302e83vrv5o

These news stories seem more and more frequent. This time the young woman had her parents with her and she was still dismissed as a time waster. This makes me so mad. This could so easily be any of our daughters.

I noticed Mumsnet is featuring a petition on medical misogyny. I spotted this on the same day, proving how much a change is needed.

When my adult nephew complained of fatigue and couldn't swallow because he was in so much pain the 111 operator told his dw he was a big baby.
His dw took him to A&E where they discovered not only a massive quinsy but blood tests revealed he had a acute myeloid leukaemia.

Medical errors are not rare, you just don't hear about them, look at the amount of drug prescription errors there are for a start.

My mil lives alone and 200 miles from us

(thank god she lives in an over 60's complex)

She had a double hernia and one day,last October,the pain was getting worse and worse to the point she couldn't stand up

She never bothers anyone,no matter how bad she feels but did ring for an ambulance and was told they where not sending one out as 'its not that bad'

She left her house to crawl over to the doctors over the road and collapsed in the street

Thank god the manager of the complex was just leaving another house and saw her

The manager rang for an ambulance and was bloody forceful about it-they sent one out and they operated later that day

She was told off for not ringing an ambulance when the pain got worse (!!!) and was very lucky to be alive (she has a history of blood clots and other issues)

We shot down there and stayed with her for as long as we could while she recovered but we where so bloody angry-we could have lost her

We did complain but got nowhere-they just didnt care

@Lottapianos what do you think is needed? Especially in terms of morale.

It’s amazing how at least one person on every one of these threads describes NHS workers as being “on their knees”. Is that phrase taught at induction or something?

If an NHS worker has gotten to the stage where they openly and unapologetically detest their patients then they need to find a new job. If I showed my clients an ounce of the attitude most of us receive from the NHS I’d be fired.

I have been in A&E with DD having horrific stomach issues a dozen times. Sometimes it’s been resolved quickly. Sometimes not. I must say some of the staff aren’t that sympathetic and also dismissive of me telling them the best way to resolve it.
Its taken 2 admissions for them to start taking us more seriously. Although the head of gastro came to see us and told me as bad as it is he knows it’s not serious which at least makes me feel better.

I would say though having spent 3 days in a paediatrics ward there were loads of staff, very very few patients and no one looked particularly busy. I only felt sorry for the junior doctor who frankly looked knackered. I know it’s not winter so I’m sure that has an impact on numbers. Only the junior doctor looked busy/harrassed.

Winter is definitely worse. My son was in hospital for 10 months so I got to see all of the seasons and spring/summer wasn't that bad but winter was manic and made worse by the ward next door having a RSV outbreak which meant that ward closing and children from that ward without RSV moving to the ward we were on.

Don’t get me started on the pulled muscle diagnosis when my sister had a pulmonary embolism

Yes, I was told I had pulled a muscle but because I have Lupus they said they could offer a blood test but they considered it to be a waste of time. They actually let me decide whether to do it or not! Turned out I was riddled with multiple clots in both lungs. First time I was grateful for being ill with something else as they would have sent me home.

It's so bloody frightening to find out that you will live or die depending on a whim rather than medical training.

Edit for spag.

Signed. Was fobbed off in childbirth with eyerolling by midwife. 'Bleeding is normal in labour'. Was in fact a placental abruption.

It is the physical and metaphorical eye rolling that is the most frightening.
It tells you that you have already been judged and categorised as a silly, time wasting woman. Once that happens it is passed on to their colleagues and you have lost the chance of being taken seriously.

It does seem that for some medics, their default is that they’ve seen it ALL before over and over again.
Therefore they think people are overreacting and/or flat out lying.

I agree with a previous poster about the criminal charges against negligent staff.

I found out a couple of days ago that a family friend, same age as me, has died from a heart attack in front of his wife and daughter. His wife had called 999 when he developed chest pain but the handler refused to send an ambulance. There is something seriously wrong with the 999 service. His wife phoned her son who got there about 10 minutes later. As he arrived his dad collapsed. He called again and they did send an ambulance, which arrived 15 minutes later (son was doing cpr) but it was too late. Essentially the call handler didn't believe the wife. We can't win.

Those poor parents - what a waste of a young life full of potential.

Time to privatise the NHS.

This is it.

My job used to be horrific (In fact the stress has made me so ill I am now disabled) and if I had treated my clients the way I was treated when I first became ill I would have been fired.

In the NHS it seems to be actually encouraged as it gets rid of people.

Signed, I have been a victim of this too and going to a different gp (as is often recommended) did nothing as they’d look at my notes which were all (misdiagnosed) anxiety and essentially boiling down to hysterical woman and concur with that. I ended up going private for a fresh second opinion, so they couldn’t look at the notes and jump to conclusions and asked can you just judge me on the symptoms I’m presenting, as I think I have cancer, which I did.

I have literally just submitted yet another complaint to my GP surgery. The male GP that triaged my request form and called me was so rude, kept interrupting me, refused to listen, accused me of lying about my repeat prescription(!), and after all that accused me of having an attitude. They despise us, and despise having to do their actual jobs.

That’s awful! Did you go back to your GP and show them the diagnosis? Did you complain?

I didn’t complain as I was nervous about how I would be treated with a complaint on top of everything as I had already been treated very rudely and poorly. The Dr who diagnosed me did write a fairly blunt letter to the surgery.

I went to a&e with chest pains & difficulty breathing on my birthday. The young doctor thought I was a lonely middle aged woman looking for attention on my birthday. He was so rude and dismissive. He was genuinely surprised when he asked if I had anyone to go home to and I explained my partner and kids were having my birthday party in my house without me. I had severe complications of Covid (that they didn’t test for) and haven’t fully recovered 3 years on.

And that’s the thing isn’t it: our GPs see us at our most vulnerable, and treat us with such disdain. It’s such a disgusting power play. I live in a small town and a few years ago I had a raging fever and what felt like a chest infection, and called the GP. I was told I could have an appointment but it would be in the next town over. I don’t drive. And when I pointed this out to the receptionist she said there was nothing they could do: I either find a way to get myself there or I don’t.

So my options were no healthcare or spend upwards of 2 hours travelling on public transport and walking to get to the other surgery in the state I was in. I was crying on the phone and she just told me to make a decision. I genuinely think they get off on it.

Oh I had a nurse scoff at me when I asked for more mental health support - and led me to believe there was no secondary care on the NHS.

They handed the complaint to her and she closed it. That was it.

I am genuinely so incensed with it I won’t be letting this one go, I’ll see how they handle my complaint but am planning to go to my MP with it as well. I am tired of being expected to be grateful for the crumbs of healthcare very begrudgingly provided by the NHS - why should we be grateful? It’s our health service that we pay for!

Horrendous. What a frightening experience for all of you.

Privatising it won't help.

Not the same seriousness at all but 3 times we have been to the local A and E with broken bones and they have missed every single one! My son had fractured his tibia and they did an X-Ray then told me the Dr refused to even see him. I had to drag the poor kid in and out of A and E and up and down 20 steps with a broken leg. When they phoned to get me to bring him back I took great delight in telling the consultant his broken leg was completely f£@#&£g obvious and his junior would have known that if he hadn’t refused to see the patient. Quite sure nothing happened as a result though.