View Full Version : NHS 24
:D A lot has been said in recent months regarding NHS24, some good, some bad, some very bad. I would like to say that my firt, and hope..my last experience of NHS24 was very good.
I had been very ill in bed for 2 days ,even though I had been to my GP, and phoned NHS24 for advise.They said I urgently needed a Doctor. In no time, the Doctor arrived and called for an ambulance which came very quickly and in no time I was in A&E. After a week in hospital, I am now home recovering. I found the voice on the other end of the phone very helpful and friendly, and hope everyone else has had such good response as I did. :lol:
I have used nhs24 in the past never had any problems.It cant be easy trying to diagnose everyone symtoms by the way people explain it on the phone and unfortunatly from time to time we all get it wrong its just part of being human.Dare i say it but i do think if your not feeling well and you phone up nhs24 and if you doubt there opinion you should be more objective of there view and get a second opinion of someone else.
Everyone goes on about the state of the NHS but lets face it when has it every been perfect and does it really matter which political pary gets in
Well myself and my familys encouters with NHS 24 was absolutely pathetic and we eventually had to phone an ambulance.
I phoned last friday night as my daughter was really wheezy, the woman on the phone asked me loads of questions, then she wanted to talk to my daughter, so she could hear her!
We were then told a doctor would phone us within 10mins and tell us where to go, which he did, and we were told to go straight to wick A&E
The 1 problem i had was why wick??
Why not Dunbar where we use to go,all my daughter needed was on a nebulizer for 10mins
My daughter was kept in for a couple of hours packed with steriods and nebulized then put home, which the Dunbar use to do anyway, and the doctors know my daughter very well,in Thurso
It was 2 o'clock in the morning and i had next to nothing in the tank and i couldn't get petrol at that time of the morning, so i had to chance it, but i made it there and back!!
But what i want to know "Is it going to be wick hospital everytime u phone the NHS 24"???
The only annoying part for me is having to travel 16 miles instead of 5 and it was a bad night of rain, i couldn't really see the road it was that bad and they asked me to drive her there!!
~~Tides~~
22-Jan-05, 18:24
Well it could have very nearly caused the death of my uncle!!! [mad] [mad] [mad]
I dont know the details of what happened to him but when he had a serious ?diabetic? emergency the service he got was crap! They farted around while he was seriously ill on the other side of the phone. I think his family just gave up and called an ambulance. Now, if the ambulance was in Inverness with a pregnant mother...
We live in one of the richest countries in the world and having to put up wth health care like this is a joke. [mad]
We live in one of the richest countries in the world and having to put up wth health care like this is a joke.
I totally agree
Had to phone 24helpline last saturday for my mother got recorded message telling me if it was not urgent phone back or hold on I held on for 5 minutes and got played some stupid music with the operator cutting in telling me to keep holding if it was urgent.I ended up phoning the hospital who after I explained what was wrong told me to phone 999 and the ambulance would come which I did.the ambulance crew were great
(V.Rosie&?Risbridger, sorry cant mind your first name).My mother was taken to hospital and kept in for a week.I am not impressed with the new service. :~(
Thankfully myself and my family are very healthy, but if it came to the crunch i am of the opintion that i would not even bother to phone the NHs 24 Help line. If i could i would put them into my car and drive to the nearest A&E or dial 999.
I know this is not what we are supposed to do but i'm afraid my family come before any protocols some man or woman sitting behind a desk can dream up.
I would also like to pass on that the Ambulance & A&E staff are the greatest. They get a lot of flack because of this but they have their hands tied by the rules.
:( Linzzy 222, I think you should have just told the nhs24 phoneline that you were nearer to dunbar Hospital, Thurso, than Wick, and you should go there. If ever you run out of petrol in thses circumstances, the Police will arrange for a filling station to open for you at any time.
:) Lucy, I agree with what you say, and in any emergency people should just phone our wonderful ambulance service, not wait for nhs24 to answer your call or ask so many questions, if time is of the essence.Better still just go in your car, or get a neighbour to take you.
In my case, I wasnt fit to drive and couldnt move, but I had only phoned NHS24 for advise, as I had seen my gp 2 days previously.
It is very interesting to read of other peoples experiences. Dont forget, we have a Caithness Hospital Patients Council, and you can write to them c/o Caithness General Hospital. :lol:
Thats good to know, but i don't usually have my car below half a tank just incase of an emergency with my daughter,its just with the weather being so horrible i didn't want to stand at a pump putting petrol in [disgust]
But i have learned a lesson, coz that night i was worried incase we didn't make it!!
~~Tides~~
23-Jan-05, 16:29
When my sister phoned about a throat infection they asked her if she had swallowed any sharp objects! [lol] [lol] [lol]
Tugmistress
23-Jan-05, 18:48
a couple of months ago my daughter was very quickly taken ill and was struggling to breath so i rang the 24 helpline, i got put on hold with the message to either ring back or hold if an emergency...... i hung up 15 minutes later and took her straight to Dunbar where i got TOLD OFF for not holding on and talking to the 24 helpline as they didn't have warning of her coming! anyway, she ended up being driven through to wick by the doctor himself then transferred down to inverness within the hour. how long would i have been holding on whilst her breathing was getting harder?! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr [mad]
I had to use the service today and can't fault it, although my problem was in no way life threatning.
I took toothache on Hogmany, and discovered a large abscess in my mouth yesterday. I endured a very painfull sleepless night, with the pain spreading up into my face. I tried to phone the dental hepline and my local doctors surgery only to find both are closed until Wednesday.
So after loosing 2 teeth in the past due to abscesses,I decided to phone NHS 24. My call was answered within a minuite, I was asked only questions relavent to my condition and was told I would be contacted by a doctor within the hour. The local on call doctor did phone within the hour and I was given antibiotics and pain killers. I only had to nip up to Dunbar, then to the chemist.
I also used the service last month when my asthmatic son took ill, not very seriously but still with reason to be concerned. I again had my call answered straight away, and was told to go up to Dunbar straight away. The doctor was called and I think he is from the Wick side. He was with us within half an hour, and could not have been nicer.
So I can only praise the helpline in my experience, also the doctor and staff at the Dunbar for being so helpfull.
But in a very serious incident it must be very scary, if you cant get through to the helpline. Hopefully I will never have to experience this.
Thankfully myself and my family are very healthy, but if it came to the crunch i am of the opintion that i would not even bother to phone the NHs 24 Help line. If i could i would put them into my car and drive to the nearest A&E or dial 999.
Don't bother with the A&E if it's outwith normal working hours. you'll just be told (if it's a child) 'We can't do anything for her here - we don't have a pediatrician. you'll have to phone national health line. the phone's over there.'
The woman at the other end of the phone will be astounded that you are actually phoning from a hospital - but I kid you not - this happened to some one I know.
And it was an emergency!
Thats good to know, but i don't usually have my car below half a tank just incase of an emergency with my daughter,its just with the weather being so horrible i didn't want to stand at a pump putting petrol in [disgust]
But i have learned a lesson, coz that night i was worried incase we didn't make it!!
You should have told them you couldn't drive. If neccessary, you will get an abulance. (unless it's in inverness with a preggy mother)
I totally agree
I used to live in a country that is considered belongs to the third world, I have never had public medical sistem becuase it doestn work but I had to choice to pay other sistem I paid my hole life for private medicine I paid as much as you pay here for the public, and there are some things in this sistem that really made me feel sad because as you said this is one the richest countries in the world and you pay your vat and etc . and then I found that there are so many limitation when your health is so important, for example that woman who had to drive for thurso to wick I dont believe that and well other things that I compare and I know that I would like it could be different beucase I found so weird but beucase I am not from here its difficult to speak about that, when I speak with my husband or someone else they say that is becuase you are used to other sistem but honestly you people here deserve a better sistem because helth is the most important and you pay for it. This is just a little stupid thing that I am going to mention which its not really important about helth but I am pregnat and well in my coutnry all my friends they had the right to know what is going to be the sex of the baby here I couldnt and I couldnt find a place near here that I could go the know that then that was a simple little limitation just for being here and not to have other option, when my family and friends ask me what is going to be sometimes I lied beucase they cant undstertand why if I am living here I cant know the real sex , they say in the hospital is better that is a surprise and the most important is it could be a heltly baby, of course that is the most important but what about my ilusion about buying pink or blue things or to call the baby for her name or his name from now not I cant , but I suppuse that is just weird for me but the rest of the women here are happy with the surprise but honestly I would have liked to have the choice to decide if I wanted to be told or no, but as I said that is a single little thing without importance compare with the rest of the things that I prefer do not to mention.
They've stopped telling mothers the sex of their baby, because sometimes they get it wrong and there have been cases where the mother has sued the hospital! Now they are scared to take the risk.
when i had my last child I was booked in for a caesarean on the morning of the op they scanned me as part of a pilot scheme they were doing they told me I was having a boy weighing at least 10lbs - an hour later I had a beautiful baby girl weighing 6lbs12ozs! but i did see the funny side!and ribbed the hospital staff for the rest of the day.
cheekychops
04-Jan-06, 02:15
Don't bother with the A&E if it's outwith normal working hours. you'll just be told (if it's a child) 'We can't do anything for her here - we don't have a pediatrician. you'll have to phone national health line. the phone's over there.'
The woman at the other end of the phone will be astounded that you are actually phoning from a hospital - but I kid you not - this happened to some one I know.
And it was an emergency!
hmmmm where do I start..........
Well the actual reality of what you have said is that the doctors in the hospital have no paediatric training and deal with adults. Yes it's true there's no paediatrician there, but GP's are not paediatricians either, they do however have a great knowledge of the ailments and illnesses that children display.
Adults and children are very different when it comes to medicine and health related things and for this reason it is unfair for anyones child to be seen by a doctor with no paediatric experience when there's a GP available who sees children on a day-to-day basis.
Of course if it's a real emrgency then A&E is the place to go! However I can tell you that peoples actual differentiations of "an emergency" can vary, and some folk will also "pop" in to A&E because it's convenient for them or they can't be bothered waiting for NHS24 to call back. Come on people think about the length of time people in cities have to wait to be seen, and count yourselves lucky that you don't have to wait as long as that.
Sometimes children that are seen in A&E are sent down to Inverness uneccessarily as the doctors in the hospital cannot take responsibility for them(as they ain't qualified to do so). If the kid is seen by a GP they can often be treated as necessary and sent home thus avoiding the uneccessary trip to Raigmore only to be discharged home the next day.
Another unfortunate thing is that because of where we live things don't always go to plan and get delayed. But remember, it's your choice to stay here aswell. You can't just have yer cake and eat it aswell!
I suppose theres no way of keeping everyone happy..................
it doesn't matter if you are a child or an adult, going to a&e outwith working hours, even through the nhs 24 up here the service isnt very good! I know this from 1st hand experience, I wouldnt like to say the docotor that we dealt with was incompetant but he didn't go out his way to make sure the best of care was delivered and we were sent home, next day was in Raigmore hospital and the treatment was very very different!
cheekychops
04-Jan-06, 02:36
There are ways to voice your concerns to the hospital if you have to. Let me tell you folk are very good at blowing off about things, but don't seem to actually grasp the concept that nothing can be done until pen is put to paper and complaints are presented.
If you make an official complaint the hospital is obliged to follow this up and i suggest that folk do, do this so a better service can evolve. No-one but those directly involved need to know about the complaint either. You can pick up a leaflet in the hospital telling you how to go about things.
Hope this helps!
yes i am aware of this, but im told that it is quite a lenghly procedure and it could take months to come around and even then your lucky if anything is done about it, and im sure its just one less stress that is needed if you have a family member who is very ill. But i do agree with you the more people complain -within right- the less it is going to happen.
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