Croydon Hospital

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During the last month of August, I went to Croydon University Hospital (Coventry) for a routine checkup. During this visit, the patient who had been admitted to the hospital a week earlier presented with sudden, severe and persistent abdominal pain. The doctor on duty referred the patient to the National Health Service (NHS) Consultant, who promptly scheduled an ambulance arrival the next day. The patient was discharged after completing a three-hour stay in the hospital. I understood that the patient was receiving intensive physiotherapy and that her condition was not yet serious but, due to her refusal to cooperate with the doctor’s orders, I was requested by the consultant to review her condition.

Croydon Hospitals

While reviewing the patient’s records, I realised that the patient’s health was improving but that she was still refusing to cooperate with the consultant’s instructions regarding the number of ambulance trips she should make each week. Subsequently, the patient had to miss two consecutive days of work due to the ambulance crew not being prepared to contact her on her first urgent call of the day. This was extremely frustrating, as the patient had made a written appointment to return to the hospital on the day of her scheduled visit. Had she not been rushed to the hospital, she would have been met with an enthusiastic patient who would not have been that concerned about the time it took for the ambulance crew to return to make an appointment with her.

Although the paramedic who attended the ambulance flight called to report that there were no life-threatening issues concerning the patient, the health services professional who subsequently contacted Croydon hospital did not inform the hospital that the ambulance crew was not able to make an appointment for the next day. Subsequently, the next day the patient was seen by a junior doctor who confirmed that she had suffered a minor injury which resulted in a back strain. Subsequently, the junior doctor recommended that the patient be discharged that night. I wrote to the consultant who had ordered the ambulance arrival to advise that if the junior doctor had followed the proper procedures and had made the correct appointment, then the ambulance crew would have been happy to make an appointment for the next day.

croydon hospital

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