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The man at the district nurses office was very understanding and suggested I get back to the surgery about the problem so that is what I did.
Don't you just love doctors receptionists?
After I had explained it all to the receptionist she said she didn't think there was much they could do for me. WHAT!!!!!
I did explain that I thought the practice might be able to argue my case a little more strongly than I could myself.
The last I have heard of it is a telephone call from the practice manager to tell me that the duty doctor had faxed the district nurses office.
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Sharron what can I say it seems everything has got out of hand a little bit of common sense might prevail if docs and district nurses conversed with docs pointing out Fred can't get to surgery except by bus and the surgery is closed by the time he arrives and that he is not altogether fit to do so ... what a to-do!
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Doesn't life get just too complicated sometimes Sharron, what a palaver to get a simple thing sorted out.
You must feel like screaming sometimes. I know I would.
Keep up the good work hon, and don't let the b****rs get you down!
Lizx
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I am not a health professional. I am doing a job that has been landed on me by fate to the best of my ability if not very well.
In one direction is the village of W where our doctors surgery is located. There is a bus to this village a couple of times on three days a week. On the day we have it organized for Fred to go to W, this means having the carers in early twice, the surgery sees its last patient an hour before he arrives. There are still staff there and the doctors realize just how important it is that Fred should be able to get his own hearing aid batteries and see a doctor there rather than have the hime visit we try to avoid so they will sometimes wait to see him.
The surgery is undergoing a huge upgrade and we have had one or two little glitches like prescriptions not being sent to pharmacy.
Last Friday the district nurse came to do Fred's usual blood test for his Warfarin.
On Tuesday he turned up to take another because our surgery had failed to send the last one to the hospital. Unfortunately Fred had gone to S for his lunch. S is the village in the other direction and there is a bus which goes there and to the local town four times an hour from the end of the road.
Fred doesn't need any special organizing to get there with his mate so I encourage him to go as often as possible.
Fred not being there, the nurse said he would not be working the next day so he would come back on Thursday. After he had gone I thought I might save him an extra journey by getting Fred to go in the surgery to have his blood taken.
I rang the surgery to arrange this with the receptionist who had to consult the phlebotomist to be sure she was going to be there for it and I assumed they would be liasing with the district nurses who, for all I know, may work in the surgery.
Before he went to W that morning I even rang the surgery to ensure the phlebotomist would be available an hour after the surgery closed and a special note was put on his file. Naturally, this didn't stop a different receptionist telling them they were too late but the blood was extracted anyway.
On Thursday the district nurse turned up at home to take the blood.
This morning a letter arrived to the effect that the blood could not be tested because there was not enough of it so I rang the surgery to book yet another blood test.
They gave me the number of the district nurses who, evidently are based in town. The very pleasant man who does the appointments or whatever was very sympathetic about the runaround we had experienced and even more so when he explained to me that the district nurses would not take his blood any more because it is a service for the housebound. He must go to the surgery he went to last time.
I was only trying to be helpful!
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