"Does it hurt when I press like this?" she said

Does it hurt when I press like this? the nurse practitioner asked as she pressed my abdomen with her purple and silver nail varnished hands where my appendix resided.  The purple matched a shock of her hair which was fashionably dyed as well!

We in Darley Dale are lucky to be able to phone the local practice and get an appointment the same day which i understand is difficult or impossible in some areas.  Anyway I had phoned Thursday morning at 0830 and been given an appointment at 10:30 with Ellen Manson the "Nurse Practitioner". 

I had wanted the appointment because for a number of days I had a niggling pain in the area of my appendix say 2 out of 10 on the pain scale but a kind of "notice" from your body that "all was not as it should be".  Ellen prodded and poked and decided to be on the safe side to send me to Chesterfield Hospital known locally as "Calow Hospital" as it is in the district of "Calow".  I didn't relish the idea but understood the logic and was resigned to a period of hanging around!

I have been to the hospital before and had reasonable experiences and when Sally my wife had a brush with breast cancer she could not fault the the whole experience although wouldn't wish it on anyone.  A friend of ours though had regaled us with 2 of her experiences and vows never to darken its doors again! 

Anyway my experience was not a pleasurable one and i know its a bit of a tome but below is my letter to Ellen, the wonderful "Nurse Practitioner" who has advised me to send a copy of it to the hospital by way of a complaint. I'll be following up the "pain" with Ellen if its still around in 10 days time!

 

I attended your clinic yesterday at 1030 complaining of a slight discomfort in my right lower abdomen and you referred me to the EMU at Calow Hospital.  
 

I am writing to you to ask if you can do anything to find out why I was treated the way I was by the Doctors at Calow.  I would also like this letter to be placed with my local records at the surgery.

I arrived at the hospital at 1210 and was directed to the EMU by the reception staff.  I only had to wait around 20 minutes before I was shown into a ward and allocated a bed.  A nurse attended me and we filled in a few forms and she took some blood to be analysed, this was around 1315.  She informed me that as my condition was undetermined at that time I would be NBM and a doctor would see me in due course.  I was offered pain relief medication but refused as the pain was not acute.

At around 1430 I was seen by a Doctor who introduced himself as George.  After a lengthy examination and because there were no other symptoms present he discounted Appendicitis.  He said he would need to review my case with other doctors and see the blood test results before coming to see me again.  He said I was to give urine sample which I did and the nurse reported that there, “was nothing untoward in it”. 

At 1630 I was wheeled from EMU to Portland ward without any explanation.  The nurses in Portland ward received me and filled in another number of forms.  I asked what would happen now but they appeared not to know. 

Just before 1800 a nurse visited me and said I might have to stay in overnight as they couldn’t determine who had seen me at EMU and therefore couldn’t arrange the follow up that “George” had promised.  I was told “George would have ended his sift at 1600.  (even though no one seemed to know who he was?)

I expressed a wish not to stay overnight and indicated that I wanted to leave the hospital at 1900 but was prepared to return the following morning if necessary.  I did this because I was still NBM and had not eaten since 0700 and not had liquid since 0900. 

The nurse contacted a Doctor (by bleeping?) and they promised to visit me by 1900 to review my case.  This did not happen so I walked to Portland ward reception and said I wanted to discharge myself. 

I was persuaded to sit in a waiting room while a nurse contacted another Doctor and was told I would be seen by 2000.  This did not happen and at 2000 I indicated I was leaving. 

I stood at the Portland reception desk while a nurse rang a Doctor to come and see me.  After a while she put down the phone and said “Why are some people so rude”.  I took this to be a reference to the phone conversation she had just had.  After another phone call she said someone would be with me in 20 minutes this was at 2015.  This did not happen.  I had indicated a number of times that I would be willing to leave the hospital and return the following day for whatever further investigation was required.  By the answers I received it became obvious that the Nurses could not sanction this request. 

At 2040 I asked for a pen and signed the self discharge form and included the time and date on the form.  I thanked the Nurse for her time and effort before leaving the hospital at 2045.  I was not rude and did not raise my voice at anytime during conversations with the staff.

I had explained to the staff present that I was leaving because I was exhausted, had not eaten since 0700 or had liquid since 0900 and had lost all confidence at seeing anyone who could give me permission to leave the hospital and return the following day. 

I understand that the Nurse attending me in Portland ward appended to my notes all the attempts to get a Doctor to come and see me between 1800 and 2040.

I fully understand that the hospitals are busy places and it takes time to get through the “sausage machine”, and hanging around is all part of the time it takes to get things done.  I couldn’t resolve In my own mind though why over 2 hours and 40 minutes and promises from 3 different Doctors why none could spare the time to see me.  

 The pain I had on attending your clinic yesterday is still there but I have taken just 2 paracetamol this morning and the pain has subsided.  This is the first pain relief medication I have tried. 

I don’t want to take up any more of your time than is necessary but I am mystified as to why the course of events took the path that they did?