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Thread ID: 124881	2012-05-25 05:21:00	NZ Public Health	pctek (84)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1277303	2012-05-25 05:21:00	I have a friend in a senior role at a large Akld hospital. She recently developed a problem with her ear. Couldn't hear, pains, developed to bleeding, pus leaking, lump at back and so on. She asked one of the ear specialists to have a look, he dismissed it as nothing. It went on for another 9 weeks, during which a number of other docs there also dismissed it. As she also works part time at a private hospital she eventually got one there to have a look. Apparently she has a tumour, it's pressing on the brain now also and has caused an abscess, which as it's against the brain is rather a worry. She is paying to have it removed at this private hospital shortly. So, as she was a bit annoyed about the public hospitals dismissal of it, she mentioned this to them and showed them the results and stuff. They took her aside and said as he works in the industry and she is going to have it sorted now, she needs to shut up or they'll blacklist her. Charming isn't it? She's going to go work full time at the private hospital now. As an aside, she told me another little story involving the after hours on call nurses who clean up after the ops. You know they get $85 an hour for that?	pctek (84)
1277304	2012-05-25 05:41:00	As an aside, she told me another little story involving the after hours on call nurses who clean up after the ops. You know they get $85 an hour for that? I don't have a problem with that, it's not a job I'd want and being on call is no fun at all. Think about the things they have to deal with and they need to do a thorough job. It's not something you could get your local cleaning company to do. The ear story is horrendous though, I would hope if I had blood and puss in my ear someone would figure out something was wrong quick smart.	dugimodo (138)
1277305	2012-05-25 07:51:00	Did she actually make a clinic appointment, or just bail-up the Specialists in the hallway for their opinions? What about her GP? Surely with continuing problems she would have seen her own GP? Did she make an official complaint about her treatment at the hospital? If she had 'appointments' on the side, then with no official health records this may be very difficult. I find parts of the story hard to believe. You can't 'black-list' a patient in a public hospital because you don't like them or don't want them to lodge a complaint. I hope your friend recovers well from her treatment.	Jen (38)
1277306	2012-05-25 07:56:00	My sympathies to you and your friend, and I hope she does OK. In many cases, the doctors at the hospital are the same doctors when you pay through the nose to get private consultation and treatment... certainly is the case when you get into smaller health districts or into the specialties. I've often felt that many doctors work on the probabilities of an issue being benign or serious, rather than on the basis of diagnostic tests, particularly when the tests are costly, like MRI or CT scans. In some ways it's justifiable, otherwise every person with an ache, grumble or twinge would be getting $10,000 MRI exams every 4 months (which ultimately can cause tumors through the radiation). So in some ways dismissing the typical twinges and niggles is in most cases the right thing to do when dealing with the population as a whole. In the minority of cases it may result in dismissing someone with a life threatening issue, so it's @#$% luck for those with @#$% issues, but it's the best way of dealing with the majority. As an example, imagine if radiation from MRI exams resulted in 1.5% of people eventually developing a tumor (there are genuine risks). Then imagine if a GP referred everyone with headaches for MRI. Maybe 0.5% of them had an issue that needed further work. Great work for those in the 0.5% who needed treatment. @#$% result for those 1.5% who were fine, but will now get a radiation induced tumor from their diagnostic test. Meantime the money spent on MRI for the other 98% was essentially wasted money. It becomes a fair arguement that doing nothing in these examples is actually the best course of action for the greater good... not that the % figures I've used are based on any facts... just a hypothetical.	Paul.Cov (425)
1277307	2012-05-25 08:38:00	Did she actually make a clinic appointment, or just bail-up the Specialists in the hallway for their opinions? What about her GP? Surely with continuing problems she would have seen her own GP? Did she make an official complaint about her treatment at the hospital? If she had 'appointments' on the side, then with no official health records this may be very difficult. I find parts of the story hard to believe. You can't 'black-list' a patient in a public hospital because you don't like them or don't want them to lodge a complaint. I hope your friend recovers well from her treatment. Totally agree with that. If the friend was concerned about any health problem, they should have gone to their own doctor and be referred through the system. LL	lakewoodlady (103)
1277308	2012-05-25 08:58:00	Strange story indeed.	Cicero (40)
1277309	2012-05-25 10:25:00	You can't 'black-list' a patient in a public hospital because you don't like them or don't want them to lodge a complaint. Back to school Jen. She worked at that hospital.	mikebartnz (21)
1277310	2012-05-25 20:00:00	Did she actually make a clinic appointment, or just bail-up the Specialists in the hallway for their opinions? I find parts of the story hard to believe . You can't 'black-list' a patient in a public hospital because you don't like them or don't want them to lodge a complaint . . She had a consultation with them - not in the hallway . He dismissed it as nothing much . And so did a couple of others she saw there . She asked the one at the private place - he checked her over then got her to go to her GP and get referred back to the ear guy at the private place . See? And they don't blacklist patients, but at that point she wasn't a patient, she was staff . They threatened to blacklist her working, if she went on about their mis-diagnosis . This is why she now works at the private place fully instead, she didn't think much of the comments, never mind their ignoring the symptoms .	pctek (84)
1277311	2012-05-25 20:04:00	You think things like that don't happen? I mentioned my friend a while ago, who spent 5 days in another hospital not being repaired because they weren't able to diagnose her burst aortic aneurysm. The second lot of doctors finally did. She hadn't died cause it clogged up - killing one of her kidneys in the process. Her husband went in to have his gall bladder out a week ago. Fine, sent him home, pain increased, not decreased. BAck to GP, GP puts him in an ambulance back to hospital. He stays there another 4 days, while they do scans and such they have no idea, so send him back home last night. The hospital in this story and the one my friend worked at are in different parts of the country.	pctek (84)
1277312	2012-05-25 21:05:00	Best way to make a complaint - www.hdc.org.nz	Renmoo (66)
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