Potential Medical Negligence Claim

[MissCommando]

Hi,

Not sure if this is in the right category but thought more people look in this section. My husband, as some as you may remember has had a growth/swelling in his leg since Feb 2009. He has seen 4 consultants and had 5 scans and it is yet still undiagnosed!!
He is in constant pain and our lives have been put on hold. The consultants don't want to take responsibility for biopsy/ing/removing the lump and keep referring him to other consultants.
He is currently unable to work/drive far, does not sleep (due to the pain - leg cramps/spasms all night and day long) and depressed about the whole situation. What makes it worse is the NHS Trusts reluctance to do anything!
He is currently on an urgent waiting list to see a Neurologist (he has been on this list for over 6 weeks). We are disgusted with his lack of treatment as are other doctors, including his GP and consultant at Royal Marsden.
Would it be worth complaining to the Trust and if so, complaining via a solicitor?
We're not interested in compensation but think the Trust/hospital needs to get its act together! Also, when you're on an urgent waiting list - is there a time limit whereby you should have been seen?
Thanks all!

[China Doll]

I'd write to your branch of PALS in the first instance and they can put you in touch with the relevant people.

If you're saying he's waiting to see a Neurologist then forgive me but is there a chance this is psychosomatic? (In which case, no matter what tests they do they won't find something physically wrong hence the length of time in diagnosis).

If they are referring him to other Consultants then technically they ARE doing somehting, they just don't know what's wrong and hoping another expert will.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'urgent' list... The only urgent patients I'm aware of are cancer pateints and those who will have a limb/organ drop off if not seen in a very short time. I'm afraid I wouldn't class chronic pain as urgent (in my world it isn't) so I can't answer about urgent waiting lists.

[MissCommando]

The orthopaedic surgeon thinks it may be a tumour on the nerve and it is quite obvious from the look of his leg and seeing the cramps that it would NOT be psychosomatic.

[hc4361]

Neurologist is not psychiatrist. Neurology has nothing whatsoever to do with phsychological problems such as psychosomatics.
Neurology is the nervous system, not nerves.

[China Doll]

Again forgive me but that doesn't necessarily make it obvious, your brain can tell you you're suffering from pain when actually there's nothing physically/diagnostically wrong in that particular area which is the only reason I mentioned it and indeed the query about the Neurologist.

If they believed the tumor to be cancerous then that would put him on a two week waitng list generally.... And going on my specific area but I think cancer waits are the same in general.... that usually means seeing a consultant, having scans and then some form of treatment plan which may or may not involve surgery within two weeks.

If it is not thought to be cancerous then it's not classed as urgent and this would involve scans, treatment plans, consultation etc... The 18 week rule brought in by the goverment generally dictates that this is the time frame you can expect but I don't know how well all Trusts are adhering to this. I know that if you need surgery in my area then theres 2-3 month waiting list for surgery for non-urgent cases.

From a clinical point of view, if Sqad is around he may be able to advise.

I think perhaps PALS (Patient Advice & Liaison Service) would be the best starting point for you and most hospitals have a branch of this within their organisation.

[China Doll]

Oh... And as an aside, patients are sometimes referred to Pain Specialist Departments if doctors can't find anything diagnostically wrong but the person obviously continues to expereince pain. However it doesn't sound like this is a route being pursued yet from what you've said :c)

[Eve]

It does sound like they are doing something with the scans and referrals and are trying to find what is wrong with him. Maybe he could try and organise some kind of review via his GP to make sure that he is helped as much as he can be in the meantime for example referal to a pain management clinic.

Some waiting lists frustrate me and I posted about it the other day but have to accept that I am going to have to wait and cope in the meantime. I last saw my gastro consultant in about May I think, I had some scans within a couple of months but apparantly have dropped off the system somewhere and still don't have the results.

I called my consultant's secretary the other week and she had no idea why I hadn't been called back and said it may not be possible to get me back in to see the consultant until around June, over a year later. As I have had further problems in the meantime and my GP won't do much as they say I need to go through my consultant, his secretary has arranged for me to see one of the specialist nurses next week to see if they can help.

Have had a similar problem with rhumo as had an MRI scan back in October to look at some spinal abnormalities on other xrays. Again they said it was really strange I hadn't been called back or written to so the consultant's secretary said she would speak to the consultant and ask her to write to me and GP so I can try and get some help in the meantime before my next clinic appointment.

It seems like some kind of admin error in my case but I have to say I've also found the specialist rhumo nurses fantastic help inbetween seeing the consultant.

They have also been good with pain management via medication and therapy such as physio and other advice so might be worth a try seeing if you can see other healthcare professionals who can assist while they are trying to find a diagnosis.

[Sqad]

Didn't you post on here some weeks ago? If not please accept my apologies.

Facts:

1) He has an undiagnosed swelling in his leg....nothing psychological there.
2) Nobody wants to biopsy it. Why?
3) Why a neurological opinion? Is the swelling on a nerve?
4) It is clearly not cancerous.

If the facts are as you say, then this is a totally unsatisfactory situation and you should have had better input from the doctors as to the situation, even if the advice is that nothing can be done.

1) See you GP again and push for some sort of explanation. Ask to see and have a copy of the Consultants report to the GP......that is your right. If then you are still confused, then come back onto answer bank with clear evidence of management from the consultant and we can try and decipher what is going on.

2)China's idea of PALS is a good one.

At the moment, I see no grounds for a compensation claim, but you must ask to see the Consultants report to your GP and get a copy.

[China Doll]

Consultants don't do reports to GPs Sqad.... Or at least none of the ones I work with do and that's including outside my own immediate area. It's all done via letters and the patient is copied in to those automatically. Any kind of Imaging/scan and other test results are usually given in a follow up consultation and not automatically sent to the GP unless requested. Just the letter that gives the results from the follow up consultation... You can ask the PA to have the information sent to the GP. I've done that before. Getting actual scans sent is a bit problematic but you can certainly have the result faxed.

[humpy07]

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. Just for the record, I am MissCommando's hubby... the one with the lump. Thought I would update you with the latest. My uncle (who is a GP) received a telephone call yesterday from one of his friends who is a Consultant Oncologist at the Royal Marsden. He phoned up to see what the results were of my biopsy. When my uncle revealed that the Orthopaedic Consultant had refused to do the biopsy, and referred to me see the Neurologist he was disgusted, and couldn't believe that I have already been waiting 6 weeks to be seen. He has now agreed to speak to the Neurologist at the Marsden and get me seen by him within the next week or so and finally get the biopsy done. Either myself or MissCommando will keep you informed of the progress. Thanks once again for all your replies, they really are very helpful.