Husband leg infection being almost ignored (disgusting pics included)

[NOTSUREWHATIMDOINHERE]

Hello

So been at nurse 3 weeks in row. Had leg infection for 2 weeks antibiotics not working and it's now worse. Smells. Pain so severe he cant walk so will be off work now! Nurse just dressing it and sending him away after asking gp to prescribe 2nd set of different antibiotics after 1st set that was supposed to be the right ones for that infection did absolutely nothing to help him.

What would you do ? We are worried, he can't get about its horrible. He had a venous ulcer but this was due to that part of the leg getting bumped and all of sudden this infection gets worse , he was hiding it from me !

He can't walk , is in agony. The hospital used a sticky dressing so that coming off has caused more damage.

The gp and wound care nurses won't see him. Just kept saying they have a shortage of nurses can't see him bla bla. So I was like... any other advice, I have a husband off work , writhing around in pain and young kids at home ( autistic so don't understand and seem to be more dysregulated )
Nobody interested in helping , so now I'm dressing it and a carer ontop of the already huge work load I have lol.

Oh... the joys.

Hi @NOTSUREWHATIMDOINHERE
Have you tried the Lindsay Leg Club website to see if there is one near you?
They are excellent at leg ulcer care

Go to your GP. They have staff who can do wound care. They won’t be happy but not with you, the hospital. This is dreadful. You need to email, your MP with what you have out in here and the pics

Are they going to see him at all?

A 'shortage of nurses' shouldn't effect the GP providing a prescription for pain-killers.

Ask again @NOTSUREWHATIMDOINHERE for this at least he'll be more comfortable whilst you sort out the wound-care

Gp was not interested, here you call up n pass you along. Gp told me to phone wound nurse. They said short staffed can't see him. Poor dh. I'll keep trying for him.

Do you have a walk in centre near you? We have a good one but there is often quite a long wait. If there is one, maybe you could hire or borrow a wheelchair.

Op, what area are you if you don’t mind sharing? @NOTSUREWHATIMDOINHERE

I know a lot of areas have wound clinics or specific leg ulcer clinics

Just outside Glasgow.

They just said minor injuries, think that is just A & E though. Dh was there yesterday and it was up on the screen the waiting times , minor injuries 2-3 hours , gp referral 12 hours , not sure what the other one was around 4 hours wait lol.

Just jumping on to say if your minior injuries/ walk in clinic is one that closes over night ... getting there when it first opens may cut down waiting time (unless everyone else has the same idea)

I once took my daughter to get a hand wound re dressed at ours and turned up at opening...we were luckily and there was hardly any wait

I don’t understand why wound nurse won’t see him.
This isn’t an acute injury, it’s something that needs a plan and consistency in treatment. How can his Gp and the wound nurse just refuse?
Can you send a photo in to the practice to show them how bad it is?

Failing that send pics to your MSP and ask for help?

This isn't a minor injuries/a&e type condition. It needs long term specialist nurse training and involvement. Ask for a practice nurse appt, once you're in the system they should book all your regular follow ups for you. But the above won't help its a v niche specialism that can easily be badly managed by those trying to help as can see the patient struggling infront of them

Gp can sort pain relief and get it added to repeat prescriptions as this isn't going to be a quick fix

Hi yes I was more thinking on helping the OP with changing dressing etc. in the short term.

She is currently getting no help and doing it herself

Yes the nurse at A & E made it worse by putting sticky dressings all over it ( 3 of them) and when changing they ripped more top layer off, he was I'm agony , it's am ongoing agony though but you can imagine.

Absolute idiots.

You think they would know better.

Sticky dressings over it! - heavens above!
It needs regular dressing by someone who knows what they are doing, painkillers and the antibiotic course finished and then the wound reviewed.

Ring the local GP practice and tell them you will settle for nothing less.

Is he under wound care / leg ulcer clinic already?

That’s terrible to hear . Sticky dressings are a no no. The best thing to do is to leave dressings in place unless they are soaked through.
Hopefully the district nurse/ practice nurse will see him tomorrow. Phone your GP , ask them to prescribe strong pain killers. Also ask them to examine him to see if there are foot pulses. If there are then he can go into compression without ABPIs. Also ask for some urine bottles so that he can have a few days of bed rest with his leg in the air without having to walk to the bathroom.
This is all about getting the right nursing care , leg elevation and good pain relief. I do hope the situation improves for you both.

Can you get to Livingston? St Johns has the burns unit and their nurses are amazing at sorting out wounds management

Maybe. But he is in extreme pain tonight, I almost cried watching him writhe around in such massive pain. Awful situation! Can only lie down and that is even sore.

I had skin grafts done there after a horrific accident and their nurses were honestly amazing. If you could get him to the a&e there, I'm sure they would be able to sort something out

That is disgraceful and wholly inadequate care. I would try and go in to the practice tomorrow and ask to speak to the practice manager and not leave until you've spoken to them or someone more senior. This needs proper monitoring and specialist dressings done so it doesn't get worse and to help it heal. For them to say there are no nurses who can see him is not acceptable, maybe not on the same day but they need to get him booked in and sorted.

What pain relief is he taking at the moment?

If there are truly no nurses to deal with this your GP surgery need to be sending an incident report - inability to provide required care due to lack of resource is reportable. It will also give you an official paper trail of care, or lack of care.