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Blood test nurse with NO appointment got firemen to damage door.Who pays?

440 replies

logiccalls · 03/12/2025 22:06

Someone who goes decades without any G.P. contact (being allergic to chemicals, and therefore never wanting to get pills) decided to get a private health MOT: The results were excellent, except for one which indicated it might be advisable to take a further blood test via the N.H.S.

The person was permanently disabled by a violent and stalking ex, therefore finds it difficult to get to a surgery, and asked them to send a home visiting nurse to do a blood test. This is a person made resilient by adversity, and keeping as healthy as possible, so with no history of mental problems or heart problems or anything else. (And even the requested blood test was resulting from a private MOT, which the NHS knew nothing about)

The GP has never been spoken to, just the receptionist, who promised to pass on the request for the blood test .

There was no further contact: NO appointment: No response: No email: No phone contact: No letter: No text.

Many weeks later, suddenly, a stranger had got into the block of flats, without using the intercom, and was agressively hammering on the flat door and trying to force the door handle to turn.

There was still no phone call, email or text. It could have been any intruder, inebriated, deranged or drugged. The occupant stayed silent.

The mobile phone rang, but with a witheld number, (which someone who has previously been stalked would of course never respond to.) Eventually, the stranger at the door went away. (There had been a parcel outside the door, before the stranger arrived, and as soon as she left, the occupant could at last open the door to retrieve it, and did so.)

An hour (?) later, a man was beating on the door as if to smash it in, and shouting. The occupant is deaf, but was obviously not going to open the door, to violent strangers, so again stayed silent. (But, because the parcel had been taken in, was clearly not lying unconscious on the floor for lack of a routine blood test, for which there had been NO appointment.)

The hammering on the door continued for hours, (?) and although the phone was constantly being rung, it was never used to send a text explaining there was any legitimate reason to attempt entry.

Later, it turned out the nurse had called the fire brigade, and it was their men taking over from her in battering the door. They then began to drill holes in the door.

The occupant had been unable to use the phone to try to get a lawyer, or to ring for any possible help from neighbours or the building caretaker. The 'number -witheld' calls were coming constantly.

With the flat's front door being destroyed, there was at last no choice for the occupant except to go to the door and call out "Who are you and what are you doing?"

A fireman explained who he was, and that there was a blood test nurse who had claimed that the occupant had "failed to attend an appointment for a blood test", which apparently he believed was justification for smashing the door. (?!)

a)There was NO such 'appointment'. b)The occupant had no idea who the nurse was, or the fireman was. c)Nobody texted.

But could it ever be reasonable to smash the door of someone for such a minor reason, for someone with no medical or mental illness history, and with evidence the person has taken in a parcel, so is obviously fit and well?

This is bullying and abuse of power, instigated by that extremely aggressive nurse, and enabled too readily by a fire brigade who were colluding in the constant phoning, yet never requesting a text should be sent, to a deaf occupant, to identify themselves or the blood test nurse, or to give information about the alleged "appointment".

(The medical records will not show much contact with the NHS, for decades, but there would be a note about deafness, so the fireman's statement that he had called out the word 'fireman' would not be justification to destroy a door.)

There is no house insurance. The front door is a security door and a fire door, so will be expensive to replace. Large holes have been drilled through it. Is it true, as the fireman suggested, that the NHS surgery will be liable to replace the front door?

OP posts:
CraftyPlayer · 03/12/2025 22:10

No idea who’s liable but wtf? All over a blood test?!

MissBattleaxe · 03/12/2025 22:10

Sounds like it was a welfare check and the district nurse may have thought you had come to harm.

MissBattleaxe · 03/12/2025 22:11

I mean it may have been initially for a blood test but then she may have been concerned when there was no reply on the phone or at the door.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 03/12/2025 22:13

🤨

PolyVagalNerve · 03/12/2025 22:14

Sounds like a welfare response
fireman would not know about deafness
if person had not been to GP for decades would there even be a visible record of deafness on the records given they would have gone from paper to electronic since patient last attended ??

put in a complaint and they will investigate the response that took place from all perspectives

FullBl00m · 03/12/2025 22:14

Can’t be bothered to read the full rambling message. “The Person” was being deliberately awkward.

Midgetgemsplease · 03/12/2025 22:17

FullBl00m · 03/12/2025 22:14

Can’t be bothered to read the full rambling message. “The Person” was being deliberately awkward.

Agreed. Not deaf. Deaf but could've phoned neighbours. None of it makes sense

Octavia64 · 03/12/2025 22:17

Ok.

so you contacted the surgery and asked for a blood test.

my gp surgery always has number withheld as do most hospitals.

a nurse tried to knock on your door and contact you but got no answer to the door or to your phone.

sounds like she called in a welfare check (ie she thought you were dead in there). She wouldn’t have noticed the parcel.

most people do answer either the door or their phone.

I doubt you can get the money for the door from the surgery.

JudgeBread · 03/12/2025 22:18

The fire service can be called to gain entry to a property where the ambulance service have reasonable cause to believe someone's life may be at risk inside (it's one of the most common things we're called out for actually, usually it's elderly patients who have fallen or injured themselves in some way and are unable to come to the door).

A district nurse wouldn't be able to make this request though (in our region at least), it's only done under specified circumstances - it has to come from ambulance and ambulance have to be present at the scene, so it's very odd that the fire service responded to a gaining entry job without ambulance presence. Again this might be region specific though. Whatever the case the fireman would be acting purely on what he'd been told, if he wasn't told about the deafness that's not his fault.

I'd seek legal advice if possible, it sounds like someone has acted outside of their remit here (or you're not getting the full story).

RudolphTheReindeer · 03/12/2025 22:20

How did they know there was a parcel outside the door before the stranger arrived? I don't believe the phone was being rung so constantly they couldn't call or text anyone. They must have had more reason to suspect there was a problem than someone simply not answering the door.

MidnightPatrol · 03/12/2025 22:20

‘The person’ sounds rather eccentric

MissBattleaxe · 03/12/2025 22:21

Why would you ring a lawyer if someone was banging on your door?

MelaniesLaugh · 03/12/2025 22:23

So they could hear the banging or couldn’t because they are deaf!

EverythingIsComputer · 03/12/2025 22:24

TLDR; you need to look up ‘chemicals’ in the dictionary

gogomomo2 · 03/12/2025 22:25

Yes it can be justified to knock through a door if they have reason to believe a person is ill inside or worse. It sounds like a lot a miscommunication, letters will have been sent and possibly texts, but if a digit was wrong on the records then it would be sent incorrectly. What does that person normally do when people call? Do they not have an adapted bell to make lights flash or similar if they are deaf? It seems that they are in danger if they cannot be contacted, eg in a fire

CoralPombear · 03/12/2025 22:26

The person in their actions and lack thereof made that situation very much worse than it needed to be.

Clefable · 03/12/2025 22:27
Dis Gonna Be Good Jason Momoa GIF
Confused
Feelinguselesssigh · 03/12/2025 22:27

Hope you are feeling better.

probably look at improving your communication - then this would have been avoided. The nurse was doing their best to check on you.

JaniceBattersby · 03/12/2025 22:27

Probably best to just answer the door in the first place tbh

senua · 03/12/2025 22:29

People of MN: be warned. This is what happens when you don't answer the door.
Apparently.

CypressGrove · 03/12/2025 22:29

How does the person survive if they are allergic to chemicals. They can't even breathe or drink water?

MoreHairyThanScary · 03/12/2025 22:29

Have you thought of a reverse scenario, the nurse was requested to visit for a blood test there is little information about the patient ( no contact for years with the surgery), they can’t get access so leave it and walk away, the patient has no next of kin and is found weeks later, the nurse is then blamed for not escalating concerns.

whilst it feels an extreme response the process is in place to protect those patients who are housebound and may be unresponsive or on the floor.

the district nursing service in our area does not ring through with appts we just don’t have the man power if we receive a request from the surgery it’s triaged and added to the caseload, our patients are by definition housebound so not popping out to the shops. If we can’t get access we contact the surgery for keysafe numbers next of kin and check hospital admissions if we have no success then we escalate.

SimplyBudgie · 03/12/2025 22:30

Fuck about and find out.

Next time answer the door or the phone.

QuornAgain · 03/12/2025 22:31

So the person allegedly has no mental heath issues yet:
believes they are allergic to 'chemicals'
cannot go to a GP surgery
cannot open the door or answer the phone
cannot even speak through the door to confirm that they are ok
believes that someone performing a wellness check and being concerned about the lack of response is 'bullying and abuse of power'
These are all signs of poor mental health, agoraphobia is a serious mental health condition. This person needs to see a counsellor to help them process their trauma so they can try to start leading a normal life again

Bambamhoohoo · 03/12/2025 22:32

The person in question sounds very mentally vulnerable and likely to be an unreliable narrator. Are they capable of making complaints/ talking to the various agencies for insurance calmly and productively? If not they need someone to act for them

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