A personal story ....... NHS at its best?

By : Forum Member
Published 22nd May 2015 |
Read latest comment - 16th September 2015

The NHS always seems to be in the press for one reason or another, or someone is trying to sue them for malpractice - well i have nothing but praise for them

I'd thought i'd share my own experience of the last 2 weeks.

Several weeks ago my now not so new partner told me she didn't like the look of a few moles on my back- i dismissed them as nothing as i was busy with the sister site project but agreed to go once things quietened down.

I went to the GP around 2 or 3 weeks ago who referred me to a specialist clinic. I had a letter within a week but i postponed it due to being away for a few days. I deferred until this Monday (18th), who then stated i would need to go to hospital to see a dermatologist with a view to having it removed.

Wednesday afternoon i had a call asking me to attend another clinic as the file had been marked URGENT and i was to attend at a local hospital Thursday (yesterday).

S**t i thought - this doesnt sound good 

I went along and despite a slight delay in waiting past my appointment time i was seen by a consultant and had a thorough examination of the suspect looking moles.

Didnt really take in much of what he said as i was terrified - i heard the words - i don't think its too sinister !!! Yes it needs to come off but not for a few weeks and then its only precautionary but it will be biopsied to double check.

The likely cause of this - too much sun exposure without a high enough SPF from when i was younger when SPF wasnt even considered!

A cautionary note for all you sun worshipers from the BBC website today: 

Quarter of skin cells 'on road to cancer

How anyone can knock the NHS? I have received nothing but the best treatment at the most incredible speed. Seems when Cancer is mentioned the NHS machine whirls in to action.

For someone who lost their father due to cancer, mother has had it twice resulting in a mastectomy and then 2 skin cancers removed i again can only praise the NHS as on a whole ( there were a few blips with my fathers care towards the end) but on the main the NHS has been spot on with each and every treatment.

I think my family have had their share of bad luck with this terrible disease. I'm hoping my consultant is spot on and its nothing more than an ugly mole. Surgery date TBA 


Clive
Comments

Your episode is almost the exact same as mine lol ... I have to say mine to was dealt with the best of care as well ,although I had to go back for a 2nd time to have even more removed,couldn't move for ages while in bed and the itching was awful when it started to heal ...Thank God for the wife lololol.

While the service was superb here they don't offer a brilliant service called "mole mapping" I had to have it done when I went to visit my family in South Africa ,basically they take high definition photo's of your entire body, then when 2 or 3 years pass you go back again and they do it again to see if any moles have changed or grown    


Thanks,
Andy-C | Pewter World

Glad to hear you're getting it sorted out, Garde but in future please treat yourself as being the priority and not the business!

Agree with you about the NHS, it is a pretty wonderful organisation in spite of the worst the government throws at it.


Linda
CareersPartnershipUK

I know it's not funny, but somehow I keep associating this thread with Jasper Carrot and one of the funniest comedy routines ever... "I've got this mole you know"

On a serious note though, I don't think anyone can really knock the NHS. As a child during the 60s if anyone had cancer you would give them a wide berth, you just didn't want to be anywhere near them in case you caught it, times have changed thankfully and the stigma no longer applies and treatments providing they are caught in time, in the majority of cases tend to have high success rates. I have only had 2 dealings with the NHS, once with a gall bladder, which they said was self inflicted and got dragged out over a year ended up having to start legal action before they would operate. Second time was for a foot infection I got from standing on coral in the Maldives. Was close to having the leg amputated, you never seen so much puss in all your life, they just kept pumping me with antibiotics for around 3 weeks and saved the leg.... So I cannot complain about them really....


Thanks,
Barney

Andy - thanks for sharing your story too - really would have preferred to hear that the removal process isnt going to hurt though lol.  They did suggest that i start taking photos of my back as i am really moley - something i intend to do once ive had the pest removed.

Linda - we all do it to a certain extent - we think we are indestructible and bury our heads - fortunately i have a great partner who didnt let up and was so supportive 

Barney - omg ! thats exactly what i said to the consultant!! only he was too young to understand why i started laughing after i said it - i suddenly felt very old. 


Clive

Glad to hear you're getting it sorted out, Garde but in future please treat yourself as being the priority and not the business!
 

Definitely!

Luckily it's a good news story and a massive relief all round but Clives bang on about the NHS, and it's great to hear other people sharing similar views.

My (recent) experiences have been related to the kids and the missus, from meningitis to blood clots, but every-time care and diagnosis from the GP, NHS Direct or A&E has been first class and you can't complain.

We've always ended up in A&E via NHS direct, (not sure what the new service is like) and it's been superb. Although the paramedics called it NHS redirect as they did to tend to send you to A&E, but the staff have always been first class. It's rare we've ever had to wait for hours as you hear on the telly, but A&E is normally a last resort, rather than turning up with a nose bleed or a splinter like some seem to do

Maybe we are lucky with the NHS in Warwickshire, but I'd like to think it's UK wide.

Where it does fall down in my view, is hospital stays. Once you are out of danger, some of the after care can be mixed. Minimal staff on night shifts, poor English night staff, some lack of common sense. eg trying to do a hearing test on a baby, in an open ward, with a cleaner clattering dustbins, only to be pronounced (incorrectly) deaf in one ear. But this is where funding and politics comes into it.

But I think we are all lucky that 24/7, if the worst happens, wherever you are, emergency care isn't far away. Anyone who moans about it should try living in the MiddleEast or Asia 


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

I've used them loads over the years.  The NHS is great.

Of course, there will always be "issues" because of the size of it!  All large organisations do, but as a whole it really can't be beaten! 


It can easily be forgotten how lucky we are with the NHS and that the majority of care is pretty good. I had a bit of a crappy time when I had my baby with rude staff and the like and things being forgotten, but we made it out okay in the end (I self-discharged to escape!).

The cancer care appears to be particularly good as my mum was treated really well when she had her breast cancer treatment but terribly with a back operation (I had to put in a complaint and all sorts). The elderly care is also massively lacking in most areas of the country, my poor grandma suffered thanks to that. 

I had a mole removed a few years ago under my arm! It wasn't too bad, so I wouldn't worry. Hopefully you get the confirmation of an all clear too. I'm glad you're getting it sorted! My husband is really moley so we have to keep an eye on them!

 

 

 


Well D-day was Wednesday and the pesky mole is now in histology - results in 6 weeks!

It was as bad as i was expecting and still in discomfort now but co-codomals are helping.

Yesterday i woke up to a pool of dried blood on my sheets (ok maybe a pool is a slight exaggeration lol) like a brave lil' trooper i glanced at my back in the mirror to the original dressing had slipped & i could see stitches   rang my GP got an appointment with the nurse later in the afternoon.

After peeling off the dressing, cleaning my back & applied a fresh dressing 

Still in full admiration of the NHS - i've had nothing but the best of care and yes ok im a wimp and practically passed out on the table during the procedure but even then i had caring attentive staff to take care of me 


Clive

How is it feeling now Clive?

 


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