Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 24 Apr 2005, 21:47

My brother in law took ill at our wedding - bad timing I know - his daughter, my niece who is 8 said it was the best and worst day.

He had had strep cough and two lots of antibiotics. On the morning of our wedding he had sore calf. He made it to the wedding but had to leave the church to go back to his hotel room as he was in so much pain. Later him and my sister went to casualty - they did some tests, said they weren't sure what was wrong but take some painkillers and see your GP on Monday! He was admitted to Paisley Hospital on the Sunday, they did more tests and eventually diagnosed septacemia, septic shock, recusitated twice, 3 blood transfusions and 2 ops later he is now on a ventilator and dialysis. He is due another op tomorrow.

Paisley told him if ERI had treated him promptly he would have been ok. You wonder why people go private...

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 25 Apr 2005, 10:02

Sandra and Bearcub,

That's appalling and I hope bro-in-law/bro makes a good recovery. Here's some flowers for him

The new RIE seems to be OK if you are 'elective', but heaven help you if an emergency!!

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 25 Apr 2005, 10:50

Sandra I've sent you a pm. I hope all goes well today and that the next few weeks brings better news for you and your family.

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 25 Apr 2005, 11:32

Sandra wrote:Paisley told him if ERI had treated him promptly he would have been ok. You wonder why people go private...

Sandra, i am so sorry to hear about your BIL, a good friend of mine went through a similar trauma, I hope he gets better.

I have great difficulty accepting the above statement. Paisley have been completely unprofessional in making such a statement. Furthermore, my friend would be dead if it wasn't for the quick, dedicated, skilful intervention of the people at ERI.

Mimpty · Post by **Mimpty** » 25 Apr 2005, 13:15

sorry to hear about your brother-in-law, Sandra.

Welcome back though - did you have a lovely honeymoon?

DG · Post by DG » 25 Apr 2005, 16:35

Sandra, really sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. Hope he gets through this soon.

Like Porty's friend, I had a very good experience in the new RIE. My understanding is that septicaemia can have a dangerous effect on a person quite rapidly. Very unpleasant by what you are describing. I do hope he gets better soon.

DG

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 25 Apr 2005, 16:57

Thanks for all the good wishes folks

I am just hoping and praying he is ok.

I do realise not everyone has had a bad experience at ERI but it does happen and my sister will be taking it further with the hospital and so she should.

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 26 Apr 2005, 09:40

Sandra (and Bearcub),
I'm so sorry to hear about this - i remember you saying your BIL was ill at the wedding but had assumed it wasn't anything too serious. I hope he makes a fast recovery - what a terrible experience for everyone.

My family have had mixed experiences of the RIE, old and new. When my FIL was taken in on Christmas Day they were fantastic. Unfortunately whenever Nicky's been in they've been mostly useless. And I don't think the "old" RIE was much better - we arrived once, referred by emergency GP, when she was pregnant and had really bad pains and had been really sick. We arrived on the ward at 1.25, where I told them she was dehydrated and couldn't keep anything down, even water; they put a catheter in for a drip but no drip, and left her till 8.30pm before actually giving her any liquid through it. I was stunned - seven hours without water for a dehydrated, pregnant woman. They were awful, and our experiences of them at the new one have on the whole been similar, with one or two good experiences to brighten it up.

BB

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 26 Apr 2005, 17:11

Tonight's EN headline is interesting in the light of this thread...

eri

Don't think I managed that link properly.

No, apparently I did get it right.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 26 Apr 2005, 18:00

That EN story sound horribly familiar - except, I'm happy to say, my father survived orthopedics despite MRSA, bedsores, etc etc!

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 26 Apr 2005, 18:01

I had a bad experience with the ERI, a couple of months back, while phoning a friend who had a stroke, but was able to talk ok.... I phoned her husband and he gave me all the details and phone number, when I called I got a nurse speaking broken english, and when I asked for my friend she said " no, she no here, she no here, you go now" and hung up. I phoned back later while her husband was visiting and got an english speaking nurse and was put right through, and when I asked why I had been spoken to so badly earlier, she said a lot of nurses at the new hospital had the same problem, as they are trawled in from foreign countries, In this case, I found out after after a bit of digging, Nigeria. This luckely, but annoyingly was only a phone call....I shudder to think what would happen if she was handing out medication. When it comes to hospitals, communication is pretty important. and if you are going to trawl foreign nurses, english language is priority.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 26 Apr 2005, 20:32

BIL got through third op but still on ventilator and drugged up - think its going to be long haul. Hope to go see him in next couple of weeks - hopefully he will be out of intensive care soon.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 26 Apr 2005, 20:35

Sandra wrote:BIL got through third op but still on ventilator and drugged up - think its going to be long haul. Hope to go see him in next couple of weeks - hopefully he will be out of intensive care soon.

Sounds like good news so far. Fingers crossed for you all.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 26 Apr 2005, 20:46

Thanks Poppy, and thanks to everyone for their kind words.

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 26 Apr 2005, 20:48

Poppy wrote:
Sounds like good news so far. Fingers crossed for you all.

ditto from us as well Sandra

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 26 Apr 2005, 20:53

Do let us know how things go with him, Sandra. Our fingers are also crossed.
Bellybabe

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 29 Apr 2005, 16:34

BIL had much better night last night, Wednesday night's nurse scared him and was nasty to him

he managed a cup of tea this morning.

Hopefully, fingers crossed he is on the mend (stopping to touch wood, which I have been doing constantly)

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 29 Apr 2005, 20:30

Really good to hear your BIL has started to turn the corner Sandra

teddygirl · Post by **teddygirl** » 29 Apr 2005, 22:33

Yes, that's good news Sandra, hopefully each day sees him getting stronger.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 29 Apr 2005, 23:04

Thanks for all support it means a lot

Gemini · Post by **Gemini** » 30 Apr 2005, 21:27

ECHR

Article 35
Health care

Everyone has the right of access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment under the conditions established by national laws and practices. A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities.

DG · Post by DG » 01 May 2005, 16:59

Glad to hear your brother-in-law is a bit better. Hope he continues to improve.

DG

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 02 May 2005, 11:47

BIL now been moved to High Dependency - its a step in the right direction.

Only bad thing one of the nurses has told him everything he has been through, he is panicking and in an awful state, does anyone know if the hospital has to tell him by law what has happened to him while in their care?

Pal of Porty · Post by **Pal of Porty** » 02 May 2005, 11:59

Sandra wrote:Only bad thing one of the nurses has told him everything he has been through, he is panicking and in an awful state, does anyone know if the hospital has to tell him by law what has happened to him while in their care?

I do not know the law but when I was in a similar situation, I took strength from knowing exactly what my situation was, even though initially it was upsetting. Every patient is different and I guess the medical staff have to make judgements in the overall context of what is best for each individual patient and they may not always get it right.

Glad to here that everything is going in the right direction - every little positive step must be really welcome.

foxy · Post by **foxy** » 02 May 2005, 19:36

From today's paper.

ERI TASK FORCE

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 03 May 2005, 00:22

Quote from Scotsman:
"HEALTH chiefs today announced plans to create a special task force to examine conditions on the wards at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary."

Well, that will cost a small fortune of tax payers money, for a task force, to clean up a mess, that should never have happened in the first place! Its funny how one group always gets rich after another groups screw up!

Gemini · Post by **Gemini** » 05 May 2005, 20:10

Even more costs for ERI under public private partnerships

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=483362005

Pal of Porty · Post by **Pal of Porty** » 06 May 2005, 14:16

The above article also refers to the ERI as -

"providing a standard of care worse than that seen in the Third World"

The next time any of you are ill, I will happily pay your air fare to the Third World so you can go there for your treatment.

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 07 May 2005, 07:09

Pal of Porty wrote:The above article also refers to the ERI as -

"providing a standard of care worse than that seen in the Third World"

The next time any of you are ill, I will happily pay your air fare to the Third World so you can go there for your treatment.

Cool... I've got a sore throat, and would like to go to Kenya please

Pal of Porty · Post by **Pal of Porty** » 07 May 2005, 11:27

CatzVP wrote:Cool... I've got a sore throat, and would like to go to Kenya please

I'm sorry Catz - you sound too ill to fly!

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 11 May 2005, 16:03

BIL is now home, he spent one night in high dependency and three on the ward. My sister was told if he relapses just bring him back to A&E and he will be readmitted..... The hospital didn't tell her how to care for him at home and he is a shadow of his former self. I suppose it all takes time.

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 11 May 2005, 16:08

Sandra, that's good news that he's home now. Best wishes.
BB

teddygirl · Post by **teddygirl** » 11 May 2005, 16:19

Yes, glad to hear that he's home now. I guess it's feed him up on the chicken soup ! Hope he's not a veggie

DG · Post by DG » 11 May 2005, 17:21

Yes, really glad to hear he's home. I'm sure it'll take some time for him to fully recover after such an ordeal.

DG

Gemini · Post by **Gemini** » 19 May 2005, 13:30

Latest on ERI

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid ... =538342005

Talk Porty ~ Portobello

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