Making a Complaint Against the NHS - maybe graphic
So I self harmed fairly badly today. It needed to be dressed and I didn't have any dressings left. So I went up to the hospital up the road from me where they have a minor injuries unit. I've been having a pretty tough time recently and I've had to go up a couple of times in the past week or so.
I went up and asked them to dress it for me. It was one of the nurses I've seen already this week and she kept tutting as she saw me waiting to be seen. When she asked me what I wanted I told her that there were a few cuts I needed to have dressed. She asked me if they were new ones and when I said yes she said "What excuse do you have for them this time?". I just kind of shrugged and sort of smiled at her. Then out of nowhere she just stopped, looked at me and said "Why are you always smirking and smiling about it? Do you think it's clever?". I was a bit stunned and didn't know what to say really so I just said "Sorry, I was just being nice." Her response to that was "It's not exactly and appropriate reaction to it, is it?". I mean what am I supposed to do, be rude to her??
So we eventually got in the room and she asked to see them. I rolled up my trouser leg and showed her and she just gave me a really dirty look and told me disappeared out of the room for about 5 minutes while I was just sat there dripping blood all over the floor.
When she came back she handed me a tissue and told me to run it under the tap and clean it up myself. Then without even looking at the cuts she just told me to leave them and they'd dry up on their own. I told her that it'd been about 3 hours and they hadn't stopped bleeding. She told me they'd be fine and said that she was too busy to do anything else.
I asked her if I could have a dressing to put over them to stem the blood flow a bit but she told me that the NHS has limited resources enough without students thinking it was a free-for-all.
So I left the place still bleeding quite a lot and having trouble walking because it hurt so much. I decided that I couldn't just leave it to bleed so I headed up to the only other place I could get to easily which was my GP's office. It took me quite a while to walk there and by the time I got there I was feeling pretty faint because of the blood loss and stuff. I asked if they could dress it and they were more than happy to agree. As soon as they saw it they were pretty shocked by it and were surprised that I'd managed to walk at all. Anyway, it ended up that they put in about 25 stitches and bandaged it all properly. I'd bled so much that by the time I got there, my shoe was full of blood.
These cuts obviously needed medical attention but I got turned away from the place that is meant to give it and I was quite insulted by the reaction of the staff. I'm in a town where there's quite a lot of students and there's no way I can be the only one who's ever been to them with self harm injuries.
Do you think it's worth making a complaint? I'm really angry about it because I lost a lot of blood and was in an incredible amount of pain from having to walk to my GP surgery.
Kind of ironic that on my way out there was a big poster which said "The NHS pledges to treat all patients with dignity and respect"!!
Last edited by everylastbit : 10-12-2008 at 08:25 PM.
Reason: adding a bit
I don't want to spend the rest of my days
Running around, chasing my shadow
So please don't let this chance slip away
If I waste it this time
I won't be here tomorrow
Definitely make a complaint.
That was appalling of the nursing staff at the hospital to treat you like that and not attend to your wounds which obviously needed stitching.. and there was no way they could just "dry up". Awful
I'm really sorry you were treated like that.
Not surprised you are angry.
x-x-x-x
thats utterly horrible that the nurse treated you like that and i definately think you should make a complaint. I would be extremely angry too if I was in that situation. I'm sorry you had to go through all that.
xx
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world?
Just because you can't see the stars doesn't mean they aren't there
they didnt treat you horibly, they treated you as less the human, ive had it before. just because we are who we are, some medical staff seem to think they are better then us. unfortunatly the last time i was involved in an incident like that it resulted in me being taken to caught for assult, the nurse told me i was pathetic, i told her she was pathetic and hit her.
that wasent clever.
i got done for assult, she got fired.
all in all i would say i got off lightly compared to her.
That is disgusting and absolutely unforgiveable. It's people like her that stop us getting help in the first place which ultimately leads to us using up more of these 'limited resources' when you end up with an infection, or problems as a result of the blood loss.
Definately requires a complaint. She should not be in that job!
Definitely complain. Something similar happened to me once, and I regret not complaining about it. Nothing can be fixed if we don't speak up for ourselves, right?
That is absolutely disgusting. You should definitely report.
This actually makes me really angry even reading this, I can't even begin to imagine how that made you feel. Sorry you had to go through that, I really hope you do complain.
~Beauty without intellence, is a materpiece painted on a napkin.~
You should definatly complain. Put in as much detail as you can, try to find out this nurses name, put dates and times in at every oppertunity and I would imagine you would need to send your letter of complaint to the local health authority. If they dont give you a satisfactory answer or appology you have the right to have your complaint looked into by an independant board. To find the address of where to send your complaint, look on your Primary care trusts' website.
Im so sorry you had to endure that, its disgusting and inhumane.
*cuddles*
L_M_G is my mummy :) inkerman and razorbladedarling are my two non-identical twin sprogs (concieved on same day) Scabette< cos she has the cutest puppy dog eyes and i cant resist!feeling-afraid< my bottle of glitter!! which i just have to have :Pmidnight stars< my gorgeous sister, whom i love to bits ;) Dance With The Fairy< *star*gazing*buddie :] Broken-Fairy is my partner in crime ;) little_miss is my real life saviour PaperClip is my stationary queen
Like a lot of the others have said you should complain. There was no right for her to treat you like that at all, we should be treated with as much respect as every other person who walks the planet.
To back you up with your complaint remember your GP may be able to help you as he/she saw what state you leg? was in.
Amy x
'Cause I'll always remember you the same.
Oh eyes like wild flowers within demons of change ♥
^^ As everyone else has said, definately complain to your local HA and PCT. Get your GP to back it up (they can confirm the need for stitches et al) and put in times and names wherever possible.
*hugs* the way they treat us sometimes is just shocking.
If the Human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we wouldn't.
what a bitch!! she deserves to be fired!! defo make a complaint and maybe ask for the doctors support in it (the one who saw to ur cuts and stitched them up) so they know how serious it was. hope ur cuts are doing better.... sorry ur having such a rough time of it atm.... pm me anytime if u wish xx
alone in a world of people
Razors pain you, rivers are damp, acid stains you, drugs cause cramps, gun aren't lawful, nooses give, gas smells awful, youmightaswelllive.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
so YEH! i know mental health stuff is supposed not to be understood properly but that is an understatement!!!
completely unprofessional for a start. becuase you went to the gp they will have records of the injury and the fact that you NEEDED treatment will be recorded. do you have her name etc???
if you speak to the receptionist at minor injuries(by phone if need be) ask for the number/address of who to make a complaint to (you dont have to say who you are) then when you write in make sure you say you want this to be taken as high as possible (i work for the nhs so know how these things work)
this is really important it is dealt with, for a start you didnt get hte treatment you needed or deserve and secondly if she treats people like crap other things could happen, eg risk of further sh / people not seeking help when really need it and risk of suicide!
we had a staff meeting about similar thing the other day from the equal equality people the other day, very uncomfortable to sit through but so valid for people that htink they can treat uslike **** cos we happen to do these things to ourself!!
xxxx
this pic is so i can always remember jen who was my l'il sock monkey friend who has left ryl and i miss her!!!
That is absolutely disgusting. You should definitely report. 
this pic is so i can always remember jen who was my l'il sock monkey friend who has left ryl and i miss her!!! 