Some may know I am working at one of the NHS hospitals in Yorkshire. From this August, we need to work only 48 hours a week. Previously, it was over 50 hours a week. This post is about my last night experience.
My working time last night was from 20:30 hours to next morning 09:00.
18:30 hours I got up with headache after previous night on-call. Ibuprofen helped.
19:00 hours I did check my emails, Twitter and Gtalk if my sister and mayvelous online or not.
19:55 hours I left for my work place. I popped into a nearby shop to buy sandwich.
20:25 hours I arrived.
20:30 hours Hand-over meeting
21:00 hours I saw a 60 year old lady collapsed while trying to be seated at wedding ceremony. She had breast cancer spreading to liver. Her life span remained less than 1 year (perhaps less than 6 months). This would be her final celebration before her own funeral.
21:33 hours The bride of above weeding came in to see her friend. She was still on wedding gown cleaning hospital MRSA floor while walking at acute medicine department.
22:12 hours Two more patients came in. Both had breathlessness. One of them is my old patient. He is the regular visitor of our ward.
23:03 hours A girl with multiple over dose of medications. I leant that she did so after recently separated with her partner.
23:22 hours A beautiful girl came in. She was the partner of above patient.
00:12 hours Another overdose lady came in. (What’s wrong with England, many want to take their life).
00:30 hours I saw her. She has got multiple self inflicted cutting scar on the arms. Strong alcohol smell +. Nursing staff told me she is hepatitis C positive, very well know to them.
01:00 hour Take-away Pizza arrived. I ordered previously. Hospital provides foods only for the patients. One patient claimed that doctors had been having/stealing tea or coffee supposed to be their quota supplied by tax payer's money. In fact I am also a tax payer as they took nearly £1500 (nearly $3000) a month as a tax. Doctor and patient relationship has been in such a bad condition in some parts of UK.
01:11 hour The nurse bleeped me someone had constipated for 9 days, asking me to do something. She is just a bitch. Doing a bad practice?. Constipated for 9 days. Now they had a big bloody concern about constipation at mid night while I was seeing emergency patients. That is UK NHS.
02:20 hours I felt tired. So I had a cup of tea.
03:00 hours I saw 2 more new patients. One was the elderly came in with kidney failure after his long term catheter was no long working. Another was chest pain after taking alcohol and cocaine.
05:20 hours Someone vomiting all the time. She had lung cancer recently diagnosed. I found out that a big problem with her tummy ?inflammation going on. So I did refer to surgeons.
05:30 hours One of the nurses came back from break time. A strong tobacco smell from her. I asked about where was the smoking place in that NHS smoke free hospital. She told me where she did.
06:00 hours I saw a new patient with breathlessness. He had enlarged multiple lymph glands on the neck suggestive of a serious condition. But his useless GP treated as simple infection.
06:45 hours A new patient asking me to get a urine bottle as an urgent. I did not know where it was kept. Nurses busy with other patients.
07:20 hours. Above patient’s blood result did not come back. I did check with laboratory. They never received it for some reason.
07:30 hours I did repeat blood for above patient. I just leant that it was on his birthday, but he had been on hospital early morning. I just sympathised. I did birthday wish. He said thank you.
08:00 A lady in her 60s told me she was not able to cope with her husband after she looked after him over night with her own will. Normally we don't need any attendants or helps at hospital. she did so herself. In the morning, she had been too tired and got confused. She had been asking to delete her name from next of kin saying that she would not come back to see her husband any more.
08:10 I was bleeped to see an ill patient. I was alone in the room when I examined him. He was over 80. Already dead. But he was still warm. He was my last patient. But a dead body. No family members around.
08:30 I did check some blood results if they were OK
09:00 I had been free man again. No need to see sick people for sometime as I had 3 days off.
6 comments:
Hi,
I would like to invite you to the Myanmar Wikipedia community at http://my.wikipedia.org.
Best,
Aung Kyaw
Interesting journal of a doctor's life under NHS ...
During my uni days in UK, I was admitted to a hospital for appendicitis. I spent a very long time in A&E just lying there and another considerable number of hours being wheeled to various departments for this test and that test. In the end, the doctor who operated on me commented that I wld hav died if i was late by 2 hours into the operation theatre. Phew... that was a close shave.
Not sure whether to curse the UK NHS system or thank it for being able to remove my appendix at zero cost.
From the positive point of view, although you were oversea student, you had NHS service which worth over £12,000.
I have been tax-payer and working at that hospital. But I had to wait for nearly 24 hours for an operation.
In 2006, I rushed into A&E evening time as my knee getting swollen and inflamed. I needed an emergency joint operation. Even though I know most people there, I had to wait at A&E for 3 and half hours.It is something like legal issue to see patient in order, provided that no life threatening condition.
After that, I had to wait for the whole day from morning to evening on nil by mouth. Finally about 9 PM, I was in operation theatre. :-)
A&E waiting hour limit is 4. A&E doctor does initial assessment. After that, patient is referred to appropriate department, in your case, to surgeons' hand. They do reassessment and test. and further management. I know from the side of patients, it is a long time to wait. From our side of view, we are busy all the time.
But we don't do such a comment like your surgeon did, which is inappropriate, I feel. (Such comment is very common among doctors working in Burma for some reason) I still don't know what he did mean. Moreover, we can't say patient would die if late operation for appendicitis. Yes it is true "Burst appendicitis" has complicated consequences, but not necessarily going to die.
Hello, I have amended how and where to donate about Free Funeral Service Society, Myanmar/Burma.
Pls contact them and thank you for your merit.
Thanks SMNTL
I have got my British passport long ago, so you can estimate I have been in Britain for at least how many years.
Of course, if you can afford, you can go to private hospital, like Bupa.
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