Advice needed regarding antibiotics not given by hospital

Your entitled (or rather your partner ) to an apology. "I'm sorry" costs nothing, but of course people are so concerned with the legal implications we lose sight of our humanity. 

With the recent concern over the use of antibiotics one would hope for a more responsible and coherent system, obviously sadly lacking.

I'm sure most people could come - up with similar experiences. That of course does not absolve the whole health service from blame. Sadly the system seems incapable of learning lessons from these disasters.

 Sad that you should feel so powerless, but of course you have done all that you can, which is all that anyone could ask. 

                                                      Thinking of you , Eric 

l,m sorry aabout the experience your going through, and your partner. l and many on here could write of simular bad experiences, whether due to misdiagnoses or undiagnosed, or meds that have not been administered when they should, or wrong doses,  Usually leading to increased suffering, stress, in some cases damage, mine started years ago, post op, slow giving anti bs for infection,  then chronic i.c.long time getting diagnoses, years, so damage done, and  its often with a casual attitude towards it.  l wont go into my history, too long, but l like many are presently battling to get info diagnoses, treatment, and empathy at least, and it seems more of a battle than its ever been. l,m lucky in my local hospital is one of the better ones re compatence and efficiency, but my struggle mainly with my gp,s compatence and attitude. l dont know whats going on, whether theyve just too many patients to deal with, too many seriously ill, or just ill,or social problem patients, too much paperwork and accountable to endless hierarchy, changing attitudes, but many dont seem as compatent, or empathetic, some seeming arrogant and callous, and too many patients  left to cope with health problems,  and circumstances they can barely manage, more so if older with few extended family, and few neighbours now who support.   l recently had a severe urinary infection, l knew from symptoms, ill with it, l had 6  250mg trimethoprin in, took them and felt symptoms easing after 2day,s but rang surgery and was sent l4 l00mg trimethopring 2 a day, took them and infection hung on, l rang 911 to be told yes `its normal dose, they dont do higher` right lve just took higher, so 8 days on and l was rejected for minor op cystascope due to infection and  being  unwell, next day my sample back, and sent 500mg kefalexin, 2 a day for a week, so over 2wk later infection gone, but missed needed op, to find out if cause of health problems, it  put back 2 months. l,d also asked gp for omprazole as well,l asked 3 times, he kept insisting 2-3 times he,s given me a different anti b, and didnt send omprazole with them, it seems if you try to tell them what you need they are then cynical

l try to let them know just how bad l feel, and lifestyle  restrictions massive, but cant get through, l guess the reason many end up going to a and e for diagnoses treatment.  l know there are some brilliant gps, surgery,s, but some are lacking, maybe the ones like mine with l5000 patients, l dont know.   We are told weve rights for things, but even they are a battle to get, re changing gps, hospital reports, and  complaints ignored.  lve had some great treatment and care, when l had cancer it was  excellent, but often chronic health probs get less response, or very slow, leaving you to it, and where are the back up services, as l,m guessing kaydi your an older person, and a lot to cope with practically and emotionally. The chemist should have been able to deliver your script, unless it depends on chemist, mine do that at least.thankfully  l,m personally told to come off one anti b if given another, but cant say if thats essential.l guess by now you might know, and info on u and e, but think some posters know more about kidney probs who might advice.  l hope youve got the info and help you need, and your partner improves soon.

Dear Kaydi , I have a friend who works for this serice, sometimes it works well other times it fails, its not magic but if everything else fails ! Then it's worth a call if all other avenues are closed .

                                             God bless, thinking of you, Eric x

NHS 111 service[The NHS non-emergency number]111 is the NHS non-emergency number. It’s fast, easy and free. Call 111 and speak to a highly trained advisor, supported by healthcare professionals. They will ask you a series of questions to assess your symptoms and immediately direct you to the best medical care for you.

NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

When to use it

You should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help or advice but it's not a life-threatening situation.

Call 111 if:

you need medical help fast but it's not a 999 emergency

you think you need to go to A&E or need another NHS urgent care service

you don't know who to call or you don't have a GP to call

you need health information or reassurance about what to do next

For less urgent health needs, contact your GP or local pharmacist in the usual way.

If a health professional has given you a specific phone number to call when you are concerned about your condition, continue to use that number.

For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, continue to call 999.

How does it work?

The NHS 111 service is staffed by a team of fully trained advisers, supported by experienced nurses and paramedics. They will ask you questions to assess your symptoms, then give you the healthcare advice you need or direct you straightaway to the local service that can help you best. That could be A&E, an out-of-hours doctor, an urgent care centre or a walk-in centre, a community nurse, an emergency dentist or a late-opening chemist.

Where possible, the NHS 111 team will book you an appointment or transfer you directly to the people you need to speak to.

If NHS 111 advisers think you need an ambulance, they will immediately arrange for one to be sent to you.

Calls to 111 are recorded. All calls and the records created are maintained securely, and will only be shared with others directly involved with your care.

I went to our Drs surgery Tuesday showing my partners discharge letter saying he needed a blood test and was told a district nurse would come out but after waiting all day Wednesday for the nurse I rang the the surgery and told them I'm really worried about him as he was showing the same symptoms as before and that his last blood test showed he'd got almost total renal failure. Again I was told the Dr would be informed. Just before 6pm the receptionist phoned back and said the Dr would come out but not until Thursday morning which I didn't think was acceptable and I got the impression the receptionist felt the same so I said I'd considered ringing 111 and she agreed that would be the best thing to do. So thanks Eric your post came in handy sooner than I expected. They were excellent and arranged for a Dr to come out Wednesday evening, they said within an hour but it was three hours later when the Dr came but even so he came and was very thorough. He was concerned about my partners urine output being much less than usual and still showing infection but his blood pressure is ok and he showed little reaction to being prodded in the kidney area so that was good. But he wasn't able to test his blood and said I must keep chasing it up until a nurse came to do it as he really does need it urgently. 

    This afternoon the nurse finally came but she was only able to get one bottle of blood from him n needed two. She said it was because he's so inactive (it's now 3.10pm and he's still in bed) and after trying at least half a dozen times she had no choice but to give up and said someone else would come out and try again tomorrow. In the meantime the bottle she did manage to get will be sent off for testing. As soon as I hear anything I'll post again with the result.

Dear Kaydi,

                    It's really hard to care for someone like you describe . Please take time to care for yourself too . Just a cup of tea and a walk will change your outlook on life, and I hope you will feel a little bit brighter?

Glad to hear your getting a tiny bit of help.

                                                                     Regards, Eric F

 

I waited all day for the district nurse to come try get the second bottle of blood needed to test for Don's kidney function but no one came! His stoma nurse rang and when I told her the situation she rang our GP who then rang me. He too seemed shocked the blood test still hasn't been done and told me to ring an ambulance for Don to be admitted to hospital. I told him Don was refusing to go to hospital (he'd refused last time until the Dr had told him he'd got almost total renal failure and would die if he didn't go). It was the same Dr but he seemed to have forgotten that Don is a stubborn so and so who 

I couldn't finish my last post as for the third time on here my keyboard just stopped allowing me to write. I then spent ages writing another post but when I tried to send it I'd lost my internet connection and lost everything I'd written. I'll post this to explain and then try again - if I can remember all that I'd written!

This is a continuation of my post that ended in me saying what a stubborn so and so my partner is as he refuses to go into hospital. Yes he is stubborn but both urine infections and renal failure cause patients to be confused and I feel this should have been taken into consideration as he has been getting increasingly confused about many things lately. Ringing for an ambulance would just waste their time as without blood test results to show Don how bad his kidneys are there is no way he will agree to go into hospital, believe me I've tried everything I can think of but he won't budge. He said he won't go in on a weekend but will go come Monday. Telling him he may not live until Monday had no effect and I am at a total loss and feel I am losing this fight. 

    His assessment didn't go too well this morning, he was still in bed despite my efforts to get him to get up and he didn't take kindly to having to do all the things she asked of him such as show her if he can get in and out of the bath to shower. He has only managed one shower since his discharge on 9th June and every time I suggest he tries he swears he had one the day before! Today he swore he had one this morning and even when I reminded him he had his council assessment this morning he still insisted he'd showered while in the bathroom with the woman! As I said confusion is part of his illness. The outcome so far on the assessment is she left him a seat over the bath, is arranging for a bath rail and a stair rail to be fitted but will come back in a few weeks to see how he is managing with them. So our hopes for some financial help with the walk in shower and a chair lift have been erased. But if things don't go well over this weekend then there may be no need for them anyway. 

    I feel completely drained, I've fought all week to try get him the treatment he's needed but the NHS let him down. I have no idea why a nurse didn't come back today or why the blood test wasn't given after a week as stated on his discharge letter and I doubt I'll ever know, what's done is done and can't be undone. Our GP did prescribe another course of antibiotics which I collected from the chemist today but I have a feeling it's too late for them to be of much help. Where there's life there's hope though and I'm clinging to that. 

Just to say, like all of us we are thinking of you.

I don't think there is anything else I can say except to add my wishes for your good health and happiness too.

                                      Have a better day today, Eric x