I have lived on the IOW for most of my adult life and my family have grown up here. We have never had a bad experience with local doctors or the local hospital although fortunately we have not had to call on them much (touchwood xxx).
Like everyone else I have read that nationally GP services are breaking down, hospitals are struggling to cope with demand and of course the NHS is a political football.
Anecdotally I have heard GP services have deteriorated on the Isle of Wight and I do know the main Island hospital - St Mary's at Newport has a chequered reputation and The IOW NHS Foundation Trust that runs it has been under pressure to improve performance in a number of areas.
But speak as you find this is my personal experience over the last few days.
Overnight on Friday last what had been an improving sore throat rapidly got worse to the point of misery. I thought about contacting my GP surgery but an early morning Saturday appointment was unlikely I thought. I was in no mood for 111 etc so I drove to the local A&E. It might have not been the right thing to do and I did feel a bit guilty but I felt I needed some medicine quickly. Self diagnosis - penicillin for tonsillitis !
I went into A&E (not through the emergency doors). The receptionist who might have also been a nurse listened to what I had to say in my impaired voice and asked me to go to the adjacent Emergency Treatment Centre where I would be seen by a GP.
I was quickly triaged and just as quickly called in to be seen by the Doctor which I was pleased and relieved about particularly as it was IOW Festival weekend. I was treated with consideration and in a professional manner. Yes tonsillitis - for which she would prescribe a course of penicillin and I needed to get some soluble off the shelf painkillers. I said thank you doctor - however she replied I should have introduced myself better - I am not a doctor but a nurse practitioner.
I drive home still feeling miserable. When I get home someone is on hand with medical training. His professional view was my symptoms and appearance pointed to the development of a "Quincey" and thought my proposed treatment was inadequate.
Lucky to have a supportive family I am taken back to A&E within the hour. This time I presented with more insight and I was triaged pretty quickly in the main A&E. Within half an hour I am examined by a doctor. He asks me to return to the waiting room while he discusses his observations with his consultant. Another half hour and to my relief he says you did the right thing coming back in - you do have a Quincey - that I need intravenous treatments and because the swelling was close to my airway they want to admit me overnight and probably two.
Everyone was lovely and professional and considerate but they were very busy and beds were in short supply and an available bed might take quite a while to pin down. However medications had been prescribed and I was set up on drip lines in the public waiting room with fluids, antibiotics and painkillers. With a Quincey you don't want to swallow. The pain is just too much. I didn't care where I was treated - I just wanted the medicine.
All I wanted to do was just lay down and eventually this is what I did in the reception area. They were very kind to me even though I am sure they had many more serious cases. They knew I was in a lot of discomfort - could hardly talk. They got me settled on a comfortable bed even though they did not have a bed space. They wheeled me to a corridor in A&E and despite the noise and activity I was able to doze. (It took 8 hours from the admission decision to get me on a ward.)
I was feeling grotty but tried to remain aware. A nurse was carrying my notes as the porter pushed me on the bed. This must be normal protocol. A formal handover. However when we got to the ward there was no one on reception - everyone was busy. I heard the nurse go off to check which bay I was in and I think my notes were then left at reception. I knew I was up to date with my medications because they had just been administered in my arm before we came up to the ward. Several hours later I decided to go to the toilet and asked a nurse to confirm when my medications were next due. They initially could not put hands to my notes but everything was on the computer system. They treated me so well on the ward but I still wonder what would have happened if I did not make that initial enquiry. There seems so much potential for human error or miscommunication.
The next day my situation had not improved and the ENT Consultant made the decision to aspirate the Quincey. No need for graphics here but a different level of pain. The Consultant was pleased with what he had removed and he said with the strong anti biotics and pain killers they were administering I would start to feel better fairly quickly.
The rest of the day and the night went by. I couldn't eat or really drink or talk and my temperature was up and down but around 5am I woke up and felt a world better. I knew my temperature had broken. My throat was still very tender but had some yogurt and tea and a shower. What a relief.
I am happy to be discharged and to sit in the car park in the warm sun and fresh air as one of my sons runs over to pick me up. I still feel a bit miserable but by early evening I feel transformed - continual medications are working. Eventually I have the first semi proper meal for a few days and I can drink. Misery turns to joy. Thank you NHS.
So how would I summarise my experience ? Here are some of my immediate thoughts :
1) The staff at St Mary's were unfailingly considerate and professional. Thank you so much. I feel deeply grateful and you really help people when they need it which is a wonderful thing.
2) I am overwhelmingly supportive of the principle of the NHS.
3) There is undoubtedly a problem with the GP service and this is putting pressure on NHS hospitals. It is for another blog to discuss why GP services are not meeting demand.
4) In schools they supplement teachers with less qualified teaching assistants. They seem to be addressing a shortage of GP's with nurse practitioners. The NP I saw was no doubt experienced and well trained and definitely well motivated but she didn't pick up my more serious problem. That is a worry.
5) I spent quite a few hours observing patients coming and going and A&E striving to handle it. The demand on the NHS is just huge. Can it cope. Can it ever get on top of its work load ? My wait for a bed was not really acceptable. It was miserable. According to the nurses I spoke to my experience is not untypical (and it is something they are never happy about because it makes their lives harder but more importantly means they feel they are not able to do the very best for the patients in their care.) The problem is when everyone is so busy and under so much pressure it is common sense to assume the prospect of error and miscommunication increases. In a hospital environment that is particularly worrying - especially to the vulnerable patient.
6) Finally an observation - not born just out my experiences over the weekend but confirmed by it - if the NHS has any prospect of coping in the future something has to be done about demand. Too many people believe the NHS is paramount (because health is so important) and theirs to use by right but at the same time they do not treat there personal wellbeing as anything like the personal responsibility it should be. So many obese people. So many with poor mobility. We know about smoking etc etc. The NHS and the government needs to be more successful with prevention but to achieve that (in my view) there needs to be some blunt talking - probably some causing of offence - definitely some tough love. Maybe even some sanction. (however the mood is for indulgence and "understanding" and definitely not to offending sensitivities (by realism)- which is why I suspect the NHS is under so much pressure).
But thank you St Mary's. I have gone from misery to a sense of joy in just a few days. It makes such a difference to how you feel when you believe you have secured the right treatment programme. Accessing it is probably the issue.
Not the IOW Festival Weekend I planned - but alas I am so grateful for how it turned out for me touchwood xxxx
