Caught in hospital red-tape.

jaspercat

Hi Everyone, my Rheumy appt has been put back until may, it has been moved twice, so I rung the secretary who said my Rheumy was over booked, not my fault, I then rang out-patients and practically begged for my appt to be re-instated, not a chance. I even rang my Rheumy nurse who is still away.

This turning into a real problem, my gp wants me to see the Rheumy asap, I have continual problem with pains in my hands, wrists and ankles, my right ankle being so swollen that I can't put my shoe on. Malcolm tried to get the gp out today, they refused to come out as I had to go to the surgery. Malcolm then rang the manager at the practice, they soon backed down and sent a gp, a head of the practice no less, they have no upped my pain killers to Oromorph, not happy with this at all.

I have decided to ask for a second opinion even if I have to travel, so any advice would be appreciated love Jaspercatxx

colinone

Hi Jaspercat Sorry to hear of your dilemma, You can ask your GP to find another hospital and Rheumy with no waiting list or one that will see you sooner
Colin

mash65

hi,i too have had my rhmy appointment moved from 9th april to the 29th.i havent seen him since aug 08 & my gp has said my condition has deteriated considerably in the past 7 months which is a worry in it self.i have also been taken off the butrans patches & put on oramorph. the pain iv got now is horible,got pain iv not felt before (or have forgotten about)i couldnt get to the gps today as im due to see him to regulate the oramorph dose.it just making me sleepy,not controlling the pain,but its early days.
the longer i wait to see the rhmy the longer its gonna take to get my scan done,as thats due next.
perhaps they all taking their holidays,laying on a warm beach somewhere,forgetting us suffering here. costa de rhmy

Wonkylegs

HI

sorry to hear that the saga continues :roll: :roll: :roll:

have you tried getting in touch with the hospital PALS service, as other people have had good help from them. They may be able to get something sorted where others have failed, as they will know which buttons to press (so to speak) to get things done.

At least you may get a straight answer from everyone!

good luck!

greyheron

jaspercat wrote:

Hi Everyone, my Rheumy appt has been put back until may, it has been moved twice, so I rung the secretary who said my Rheumy was over booked, not my fault, I then rang out-patients and practically begged for my appt to be re-instated, not a chance. I even rang my Rheumy nurse who is still away.

This turning into a real problem, my gp wants me to see the Rheumy asap, I have continual problem with pains in my hands, wrists and ankles, my right ankle being so swollen that I can't put my shoe on. Malcolm tried to get the gp out today, they refused to come out as I had to go to the surgery. Malcolm then rang the manager at the practice, they soon backed down and sent a gp, a head of the practice no less, they have no upped my pain killers to Oromorph, not happy with this at all.

I have decided to ask for a second opinion even if I have to travel, so any advice would be appreciated love Jaspercatxx

Sorry to hear about this frustrating situation.

I heard something on the radio the other week about rheumatologists having to give priority for appointments to new patients to meet a target. So what some of them were doing was discharging all their patients every time they saw them so that they would count as new patients when they next needed an appointment!

Mad or what?

Wendy

woodbon

My rhummy told me this as well. Thats why hes discharged me, written to my GP and asked her to refer me to the neurophysiology department, that way I'll get a quicker appointment than if he asks them to see me as I'll be a 'new' patient. Its because the hospital has to keep up its quota of seeing new people within, I think.4 weeks of refel, but 'old' patients can wait!!! :? Now, is this crazy, or what Sue