Epistaxis (Nose Bleed) Experience

As a healthy 61 year old who takes a small dose of aspirin as an anti-coagulant because of a lung thrombosis after kidney stome operation 30 years ago - and family history of heart disease, I have suffered minor nose bleeds most of my life, usually after a cold or sinusitis and blowing my noise.

This experience was altogether different. I was drinking coffee at the end of lunch (about 2pm) with a business friend and suddenly it just flowed runing tie, short and suit. After trying to stop it for 10 minutes in toilet w/o success, I decided to drive home. By which time it had stopped but started again as soon as I started to explain to my wife. She phoned the doctor surgury, who said \"come round right away\". Half an hour later, the doctor was not interested in seeing me, went in to see the nurse who said there is nothing we can do, go to the A & E which I did (that wasted about an hour - about 4pm). The local A&E was quick to see me but a nice Germna doctor explained that he could only packed the nostril (felt like a conical shaped pummi stone up the nose - unpleasant) and must send me to the famous Oxford Radcliffe hostipal where they have specialist nose, ear and throat specialists who are the only ones who can cauterise the blood vessels. We left at about 6.30pm.

My wife drove me to the OR where we arrived just before 8pm. We were put into a private room and left there until the registrar of the Speciality Surgery department saw me at about 10.30. (We had kept asking the nurses if I was staying overnight but none would say anything until the doctor had seem me. After a while I sent me wife and daughter home and had got into bed).He did not look at my nose, stood at the door way and just said stay overnight and we will sort it in the morning. After 11pm, a nurse checked me in and took my blood pressure and heart beat.

Next morning, a docotr came into my room about 9am with an entourage of students. He did not look at my nose either - just said he wanted me to stay in for 24 hours and then they would remove the pack.

24 hours later the doctor came back, still did not look at my nose, and stated that a nurse would remove the pack later in the morning. I asked the doctor if he was going to look at my nose after the pack had been removed. He said no, not unless it was still bleeding. At about 11am a nice German nurse removed the packing and gave me instructions plus some antibiotic cream. I was able to leave at 2.30pm.

One of the instructions is \"if you are unable to stop the bleed contact your GP who will make an assessment\".

A few points:

1. The side effects of the pack were that I had intense headache the whole of my time in hospital, the eye on the same side of the pack became increasingly bloodshot and watery and painful, and I had toochache. So the treatment is actually quite intrusive on the rest of the head. Fortunately, 24 hours after removal of the pack the head felt OK.

2. I have since learned more about Epistaxis in 10 minutes on the internet than two days in the hospital.

2. The two doctors at the OR were unhelpful, uninformative and arrogant. They have no idea how to communicate appropriately to patients.

3. The nurses were kind but inattentive (presumably due to lack of staff). During a 24 hour period, I saw a nurse 4 times in my room, either to annouce they were on duty or to take my blood pressure.

4. The room was new and the standard of a private hospital - no complaint there - but I had to complain when the cleaner came in and just mopped over about 25% of the floor and left and had not even gone into the bathroom. The nurse said they had had other complaints and then brought the cleaning contractors supervisors to talk to me about my complaint - which I was not really up to. No wonder we have MRSA.

5. As a businessman, one just gets the impression that non-one had a clue how to run anything. And there are still people proud of the NHS!!!

0 likes, 3 replies