After a lot of anxiety and frustrating conversations to try to get a doctors appointment after major heart surgery, I did manage to get an appointment.
But this was only through the efforts of the practice pharmacist.
The practice pharmacist was asked to phone my husband to do a medicine review on drugs prescribed, not by the practice, but by the cardiology team.
He had been given this task by the receptionists who thought that this was the reason for me wanting to see a GP.
This in spite of being told that it was a post operative check up after heart surgery.
I told the pharmacist that I valued his skills but they were not the ones that were appropriate to a post op check up.
I explained what I had requested and I said that I felt that he had been misdirected in his task.
He agreed and said he would sort it out.
I really did not believe that.
But twenty minutes later I received a phone call from the reception staff to say an appointment had been arranged for the following day..
We attended the appointment and the post op check was completed….I told the doctor that himself had not had effective pain relief since coming home.
That the liquid morphine was very short acting and it did not help to get a pain free sleep.
Some alternative pain relief was prescribed and I collected it the following day.
We are off to Blackpool tomorrow to see the advanced practice nurse.
I am not sure what she will do or how we might benefit.
At the moment my other half is going to bed early and getting up late.
I have still needed to get up in the night to get pain relief.
So yes, I am tired….but it is good to have him home….though I have to admit to being irritated by him sometimes.
Then I remind myself that on that Friday last month……well, that brings me up short.
So tell me was it really necessary to have to leap through those hoops to get a face to face appointment with a Doctor?
After all it wasn’t just for the sniffles or an ingrowing toenail.
It was for a condition that is about as serious as it can get.
But this was only through the efforts of the practice pharmacist.
The practice pharmacist was asked to phone my husband to do a medicine review on drugs prescribed, not by the practice, but by the cardiology team.
He had been given this task by the receptionists who thought that this was the reason for me wanting to see a GP.
This in spite of being told that it was a post operative check up after heart surgery.
I told the pharmacist that I valued his skills but they were not the ones that were appropriate to a post op check up.
I explained what I had requested and I said that I felt that he had been misdirected in his task.
He agreed and said he would sort it out.
I really did not believe that.
But twenty minutes later I received a phone call from the reception staff to say an appointment had been arranged for the following day..
We attended the appointment and the post op check was completed….I told the doctor that himself had not had effective pain relief since coming home.
That the liquid morphine was very short acting and it did not help to get a pain free sleep.
Some alternative pain relief was prescribed and I collected it the following day.
We are off to Blackpool tomorrow to see the advanced practice nurse.
I am not sure what she will do or how we might benefit.
At the moment my other half is going to bed early and getting up late.
I have still needed to get up in the night to get pain relief.
So yes, I am tired….but it is good to have him home….though I have to admit to being irritated by him sometimes.
Then I remind myself that on that Friday last month……well, that brings me up short.
So tell me was it really necessary to have to leap through those hoops to get a face to face appointment with a Doctor?
After all it wasn’t just for the sniffles or an ingrowing toenail.
It was for a condition that is about as serious as it can get.
