When my dad was diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) he was given a card that says he needs to be seen very quickly if he goes into A&E. But the three times he has been in at Queen’s Hospital Romford it has been completely ignored. Every member of staff has dismissed it.
When we told the consultant this he was horrified, also with the fact dad wasn’t taken into isolation immediately.
Has anyone else got one of these cards and do they ever actually work? We are looking at putting in a complaint.
I’ve been to A&E with the red card I got once. It was 1 week after my final cycle of CHOP chemo.
I called the cancer treatment helpline before attending and was taken straight through to a room on my own.
Hi @Ilona. That’s terrible. I’m under Queens and the consultants are so good there aren’t they - I can imagine he was horrified!!!
The hospital has quite a bit of negative press doesn’t it but I must say, my haematology team are great.
Did your consultant suggest what you could do? I wonder if PALS could help. It’s so important that it doesn’t happen to you again (and others) x
I was given one.
The first time it was dealt with perfectly and I was put in a room and dealt with quickly. (I had a painful skin rash and they were concerned it might be shingles which would require medication urgently.)
The second time they moved a chair to a remote area away from other people and I could not hear my name being called.( I had a soaring temperature and throat infection.)
Not quite so perfect.
@Nichola75 Today he needed to go to hospital again, but was so fed up with Queens he decided to go to Broomfield instead. What a different experience! So much better organised. And they immediately took notice of the card and put him in isolation.
We have an appointment with his consultant at Queens on Wednesday so we are going to mention it to him again. And I’m going to put in a complaint via PALS. It isn’t like it is one member of staff in A&E at Queens that completely dimisses the fact he has leukaemia, it is all of them. The haematology team are fantastic but A&E is just awful.
I’m sorry to hear he had to go to hospital again. However, so glad you had a better experience. How is he doing tonight?
I’ve had to use PALS before and they were very thorough when investigating. I think you’re definitely doing the right thing X
He’s just feeling generally unwell at the moment. But he hit his head a few weeks back and was worried that the headaches he was getting were because of that. But the doctor reassured him it is the leukaemia…not sure if that is actually reassuring, but there you go! He got to go home again though which was good.
I think it’s all particularly hard on us at the moment because we thought he would be feeling better now, not worse. We were told there’s no leukaemia in his bone marrow any more and the treatment has been spaced out to every 6 weeks instead of every 4, to let his blood counts recover. But they’re just not, and he seems to be feeling worse.
That’s good to know that PALS investigate things well. I’ll definitely get onto that. Thank you for your messages. I really appreciate them. x
Things sound really tough at the moment and I can imagine how hard it must be when things are not improving.
Please keep posting to let us know how you’re both doing.
I really hope things start to move in the right direction X
Oh @Ilona thanks so much for the picture of the card, what a different experience.
Sorry to hear another hospital visit was needed, I find they are really exhausting and even worse when you are not feeling well.
Look after yourself
