Hospitals and GPs

[squeeky]

I am just wondering why hospitals and GPs dont communicate with each other? what is the reason? I recently moved and informed the PCT and my GP, presuming that then my Neourologist would also be informed and that my hospital notes would follow.

Alas, it has not happened and the GP notes do not contain my medical background from the hospital.

What followed was the new GP giving me totally the wrong drugs because he did not understand the disease I have, nor how to treat it. He has now been given enough info via my partner, for him to read and looked really happy to have been helped. ( saved him having to do it, didn't it?)

I have been lucky enough now to have tracked down a neuro, off my own back and now have an appointment.

My future is not good, and I wonder when to pull the plug? I thought the professionals ie: in the care industry were supposed to know their jobs, and care and talk to each other? Please tell me why they dont communicate....

I now have a shed load of dangerous drugs that will kill me if i choose to take them all now.

I'm sorry if this is distressing to anyone, but i trust NO ONE now and the cyber community may be able to help somehow....

Squeeky xx (my nickname)!!!

[MrXLA]

First I'd like to say Im sorry to hear of your condition. Secondly I truly can appreciate that you feel let down and uncared for. You are certainly not alone in your situation and it is a very sad state of affairs. However I would say that you are in the minority (I'm sure many ABers will say otherwise, but just think most of the UKs population has been referred for specialist treatment at some time). Of course Im sure this doesn't make you feel any better. Most of the time health care professionals do communicate (although not always well!) and Im sure you appreciate they work in a very demanding job with nowhere near enough time to do it and despite that most of them are dedicated to the work.

[nursecarla]

so you were referred to the nuero by your gp and he didn't receive your hospital notes is that what you are saying?

[squeeky]

No, i was never referred to a Neurologist by a GP. I was lucky enough to loose my sight on my left side and went to the opthalmology unit at the hospital where i used to live. My sight has returned, but is damaged by the scarring. I had complete loss and the recovery took 2 months.

From then on, i was looked after solely by the hospital and sent for an urgent MRI scan. This was 4 1/2 years ago.

I was treated very badly by the previous GPs who ignored the fact that i had pins and needles and had got out of bed one day and collapsed. No feeling in my legs. Pain in my face and arms and it goes on...

They sent me to a ENT specialist...

Then a General Physician, after i asked to be referred to a Neuro and was refused. Why? "you'll be waiting 6 mnths for that dear and theres no need" she said...

So, no... I was not referred to by a ruddy GP....

So, NurseCarla, my original Q. why dont NHS workers communicate with each other?

Thank you MrXLA, your words are kind and much appreciated...

[jay139]

sorry to hear about your experience, maybe its time to change GP. If your unhappy you can make a complaint.You say that you have tracked down a doctor of your own back, i take it that means you are now going private?.

I have worked in the NHS for over 10 years and have never came across this situation before, sounds very extreme.

I would advice you to take the drugs you have left to your local pharmacy and ask them to dispose of them in a safe manner.

Also as a hard working care worker, your blanket views on care workers is what hard working NHS employess have come to expect from a very abusive public. Can I also correct you that GPs and doctors are not in the "care industry" they are in medical proffession..

all the best and please dispose of medication in the proper manner.

[squeeky]

Jay, i have moved. ergo have changed gps hence Why dont they have my medical notes from the NHS?

I'm keeping the tablets as i am planning an overdose before i get to ill.

I have managed to get an appointment with an NHS neuro through friends at my old hospital, thank you.

And, as a care worker, and that is all you are... a care worker your opinions mean jack to me. Although at the start of your post seemed to mean well and then you attack me that i have blanket thoughts to the care industry. Thank F. then that you are not my care worker.

I have care workers myself, from a charity... Kindness in the extreme. They are not medically trained, NVQ yes, and know how to get me up, and understand me.

Now, my original Q. Why did the NEW GP not have any idea of my hospital treatments and the right drugs for my disease?

Jay? can you answer this is your care worker opinion please?

[kazza12345]

it's simple really, the hospital trust, and the primary care trust are two different organizations. Although they both come under the umbrella of "the nhs", so do school nurses, palliative care units, health visitors, midwives and radiotherapy departments, but you wouldn't expect all the above to copies of what was going on with you. The new pct would have tracked down your old gp notes (although this can take some time), but if you had been being treated solely by the hospital, your old gp would only have recieved summaries, not your full notes anyway, hence why the new gp didn't have the information.

In summary, the pct deals with stuff in the community, while the hospital deal with people being treated in/at the hospital and they are completely different organizations which wouldn't ordinarily have any access to each others "notes" as such (in fact your neurologist would only have access to the letter your gp sent referring you, not any subsequent treatment your gp has given you)

So in fact, it probably unrealistic of you to expect that to have happened , as that is not the way that pct's and hospital trusts deal with each other, so it's not like you have been let down by people not communicating with each other, but just that the system we use in this country does not allow that communication. The current government are trying to address this by having a single patient record, held electronically, that any health professional that you have dealings with has access to, but it is a long process! If you are looking to blame someone, try the last conservative government

[squeeky]

The GP did not refer me Kazza, as i already have stated.

[kazza12345]

the answer that i have given has nothing to do with whether your gp referred you or not really - my point being, if your gp didnt refer you then the neurologist will not have access to any information to/from your gp, and even if the original gp did refer you, the nuerologist would only have access to the letter your gp sent as a referral.. I guess it would have made sense for your original neurologist to refer you directly to a neurologist in your new area, and probably would have done so if you had asked - then your new neurologist would have some information from your orignal one, but not all the note, as the hospital has to keep them for something like 20 years. They would still only have sent a summary.

Just to make it clear what i am saying - gp to gp contact happens when you move area. Hospital to hospital contact happens when you move area (if you let them know) but gp - hospital notes arent transferrable. They rely on the summaries that are given. If you saw your new gp pretty quickly, it's possible he/she didnt have your notes from your old gp yet, and in that case would rely on you/your partner to tell them what you needed

[nursecarla]

your hospital notes should have gone to to your new hospital squeeky this is common policy but sometimes the communication between hospitals is poor and i understand why you are angry, as kazza states they are trying to computerise medical notes for easy access to all hospitals but i cant see this happening in the near future, hospital notes go missing and are misplaced quite a lot and it is quite often down to the sheer workload admin staff are under, you must dispose of the drugs you have safely and please try and stay positive x

[jay139]

You are coming across as very bitter squeeky, I take a great deal of care in my work , and I am educated to degree level. You say all I am is a care worker , I hope you treat the people who look after you with a bit more respect.

You only have one life, and I wish you luck. Please treat people the way you would like to be treated. If you give people respect, and they are decent you will get it back.

[kazza12345]

having re-read your question, it seems you only informed the pct of your move. In this case, how would the hospital know? Common procedure would be to inform your consultant you were moving, and let them sort it out with your hospital notes/ new neurologist. You obviously seem distressedby the threat to your health, as is natural, but i think you may have had unrealistic expectations of what might happen, after all the "nhs" per se has 60 million "customers" potentially, and i think that you have to take some responsibility for your own health care needs by communicating yourself with the relevant people (although forgive me if you did, i am assuming you didnt talk to your neurologist as you didnt say in your post).

It does make me sad when people have bad experiences of the nhs and get the wrong impression of a service that many countries can't enjoy. In some african countries they can't even get hold of morphine if needed for cancer pain, and the decision over whether you have treatment or even see a doctor at all dosent rest with you, but the person who will be paying the bill!

[malaise]

jay139: Try not to be so disrespectful of care workers. I too am educated to degree level (times two!) and am proud to work in the caring profession. I am intelligent enough to work in the medical sector, but made the CHOICE to work with people less fortunate than myself. Your comments make it sound as though care workers could only be in the profession through necessity!

Squeeky, I understand your bitterness towards the NHS in general. My parents both have terminal medical conditions and I feel (and possibly through lack of education as to what is available and possible) that not enough has been done for either of them.

I used to attend a day clinic, and I know that I had to inform them myself of my change of address, to allow them to liase with the new day hospital.

You don't say what disease you have, but I can only suggest that not all GPs can possibly know the treatments for every disorder. They're only human, after all. I know that your medical notes do take some time to be transferred to the new GP, as I've just made this transition myself and found it strange that the doctor sat opposite me with a blank page, and had to ask me what specific drugs I'd already tried for the condition I was looking to treat.

As an aside, when the time is right for you, have you looked into the possibility of assisted euthanasia abroad? It may be worth looking into, as a more controlled and organised alternative to suicide.

Best wishes, x

[jay139]

Malasie I am in no way disrespectful to care workers,I was asking squeaky to show a bit more respect to hers , and responding to her comments.thanks

[squeeky]

thank you, thank you, thank you Malaise. Yes i am looking into assisted suicide.

And i am always very kind and supportive of my charity, i do not have any problems with my care workers just jay taking great offence to myself and reading into my statement and twisting my already greatly upset brain.

Yesterday was the first time my bladder and bowel let go completely. I am in my 30's and i'm frightened of my illnesses and fed up of the pain i'm in.

I am stressed by the treatment that i received by my previous GPs, aside from the fact of my confusion at the medical notes.... but it seems after 9 yrs Kazza, the government are going to put all our records in one... probably not in my life time. I dont understand why the conservatives are to blame for that? when we have had a new government for 9 yrs? not long enough? still, i actually dont give a damn myself, just enjoy the soap operas of our people from afar.

I'm too busy sorting out MY problems and will leave the soap to the people who have a life.

I will get in contact with Dignitas, but i truly think my heart is going to give out before then, as the new GP told me the drugs i've been on for yrs have effected it.

i'm tired and my gripe is with the previous treatment and not with care workers. Not once did i state that.

From a twisted and confused mind, with a brain killing me. Thanks for taking the offence you did jay, you dont know how close i came yesterday to killing myself. but as usual i dont explain myself well.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[kazza12345]

I blame the conservatives for splitting up the nhs into "trusts" each seperate entities, each businesses, and also for splitting up health and social care, making it seemingly impossible to get coordinated care of any type between hospitals and gp's (if i remember rightly it was the era of virginia bottomley when all this happened)

The new computer sysytem has taken ages to get off the ground, as is the way of big important projects (just look at wembley!) and it probably wont be ready any time soon. There are a lot of problems that have to be overcome, not least being security. There are also practical problems like staff training, hardware and technology etc, let alone the financial side of things. I honestly cant see the nhs lasting in it's current format for too much longer because it just takes too much money. The point in my previous post was that even just having drugs that are enough to kill yourself is something that wouldn't happen in other countries, where people are denied drugs at all, based on their ability to pay for them. I just feel i would like to stick up for the nhs a bit. I suspect that you are probably more angry that this awful thing is happening to you, and seems so much out of your control than actually angry with the semming lack of coordinated care that you have experienced. I truley wish you luck in your search for assissted suicide if that is what you really want, but i think is it a bit low for implying that the innocent things people say to you on a website might make you commit suicide. I'm afraid you can't expect people to have the same views as you on all things, and you have to appreciate that bareing your innermost thoughts on a public forum may lead to people saying things you may not wish to hear. No need to make them feel responsible for any act that you may carry out yourself though!