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 !

Many of you are saying the nurse caring for this wound is negligent and needs retraining.

Yet at the same time you acknowledge that you've never seen a wound like this and have no medical/wound care knowledge.

Wound care is a nursing specialism. The information given was that the wound had been swabbed and sent to determine what if any bacteria was present and which antibiotics would eliminate it. These antibiotics had been provided to the patient.

Everyone declaring it's infected and needs IV antibiotics STAT!!!! - Why? Yes, the OP said there was an odour and that can be an indication of infection, but it is not the only one and this person is on antibiotics already.

Wound care is complex and leg ulcers are sometimes managed more than fully healed, depending on the person's overall condition/age/nutrition/diagnoses.

It's fine not to be familiar with these wounds and find them hard to look at. I don't think it's fine to start shouting that nurses who do understand the nature of complex leg ulcer wounds are negligent and need retraining when you have no idea about the assessments they have carried out.

Hope he is at A&E. Honestly in the last few years I have had to take a number people to A&E where they are admitted having been brushed off by the GP service

I almost posted a photo of my ddads leg ulcer for comparison but decided against it. As pp have said, leg ulcers can look horrific without being a medical emergency. My poor ddad looked like an extra from The Walking Dead (his words). They are extremely difficult to heal if the person has underlying health conditions.

I'm not saying that the op shouldn't take dh to A and E as I'm not a medical professional. Just wanted to say that leg ulcers can look a lot worse than that without being infected.

In our practice being seen by the nurse means that you finish up seeing a doctor anyway as the treatment does not fit the bill - been there, done that several times.

Nurses have an important role - as I clearly stated - but this is not it.

That needs seeing asap.
Infected leg ulcer by the look of it.
May need IV antibiotics.

You're shocked that people who don't work in healthcare don't know much about wounds like this? Bit worrying, I thought clinicians were clever!

OP can he phone the nursing team tomorrow? If he's worried perhaps they can explain what's going on and what to look out for and if it happens the most appropriate course of action. Evidently if he's concerned it's getting worse and it's painful then even if the treatment he's getting is sufficient, communication has broken down somewhere.

I can’t believe he rang 111 and didn’t just go to A and E! 111 won’t be able to actually see the wound and know how severe it actually is. In cases like this it really is a job of going straight to A and E and waiting to be seen.

I know, he's exhausted. I have been on at him and he agreed to try A & E today. He tends to minimise things.

Unfortunately it's so so common now (be it poorly controlled diabetes/vascular disease/hypertension/obesity etc increasing, and once theyve occured its pretty hard to ever cure). Maybe medical people just notice it more in the general world but I see many nearly as bad in my local gym/town centre all the time

There are other ways of accessing health care advice out of hours and A&E isn't the place for this. It needs a doppler, swab and probably compression dressing, all which can be done in the community. Certain some stronger painkillers maybe needed but this could be initiated by 111. A vascular consultant isn't going to be called to look at a venous leg ulcer, there are 100s of people walking around our communities with legs that look like that, they arent all hooked up to IV antibiotics waiting for skin grafts..

He needs to go now in a taxi, it doesn’t matter if there is a wait as there is always a wait there.

is he still in pain has he a fever even on the meds as that could be the start of sepsis and he being a silly bugger not going in.

tell him being stubborn doesn’t help anyone

Just read your update op, sorry you and dh are going through this.

My ddads ulcer started in the same way, a small bump and that set it off. My purely anecdotal advice would be try and build up your husbands immune system and overall health as much as possible. Good food, vitamins, gentle exercise (when possible), massage around the leg and one of those circulation booster massage plates for the feet. We tried everything on my ddads leg, expensive dressings made from manuka honey or active silver. Nothing worked topically as his body needed to heal it from inside. Good luck and hope he gets some relief soon 💐

Have any of you lot tried to access a community nurse at the weekend do tell me where as it’s A&E first then sent to the right department, then the community nurse if they have one as it’s very much a postcode lottery out there.

This looks terrible. It needs swabbing for resistant bacteria. The GP trying different antibiotics is not good antimicrobial stewardship.

Jesus christ you need to go hospital NOW.

In the meantime put salt in boiled water and bathe the leg when the waters cooled.

I'd say sepsis could be potential if not resolved.

@NOTSUREWHATIMDOINHERE how did this start? did he injure it on something??

You describe a disgraceful system. My dog would get better treatment. How do you suggest getting appropriate healthcare out of hours with the tests you describe? A&E is the place. You write “ some stronger painkillers may be needed” - he’s in pain and you say maybe! Luckily you aren’t in charge of his healthcare. I hope that he sees someone medically competent.

Castor oil. Smother his leg in castor oil. Its great for wound healing.

Bloody hell. I'm honestly really astounded at this. Thank you for explaining what diseases/health problems can cause these ulcers/skin lesions

Horrible 🥺

????? wtf

no don’t cover it anything before being seen you have no idea if that will make it worse

Fucking hell. The state of health care in this country is frightening.

OP, A&E as pp have said and sounds like maybe you'll need to go with him and advocate for him. Or is there another family member who could do that? Good luck.

UPDATE

dh went the 9am out of hours gp. They sending him hospital, talking about possible iv antibiotics!

Thanks to everyone that posted because this isn't such a shock news now. Poor dh.

Dr not happy with look and smell either.

As I said all these things can be done in the community via the GP practice tomorrow. If the person in question feels A&E is needed then that's what's needed but the appropriate people to supply things like dopplers and compression dressings aren't always based within a hospital.
Stronger painkillers can be accessed via 111 but they arent always needed when you chat to patients many aren't optimising what they already have or what they can actually take together, as I said this isn't always the case but 111 are well placed to offer advice and can save am unnecessary trip.
You also pay for your dogs treatment.. the NHS is crippled, it would lovely for these types of services to be available 24/7 but the provision isn't there.