Injury

[KAREN1]

hi thought i would up date you on my needle stick injury i had the other week. well yesterday i got a phone call from occ health to say that they had recieved my bloods but the patients bloods had been lost in the system so they cannot test thier bloods for hep b,c etc. my bloods should have been kept in storage for testing later on after the patients had been tested. but they have told me they have by mistake tested my bloods for various things including ones that need councilling for without my consent. i am very angry and upset with the incompetence with the way it has been dealt with and needless to say so is my husband he is wanting me to see a solicitor but i am unsure. i have to wait six months now for another blood test to see if anything has materialised in my system. all i got off occ health was well you are in good health you should be ok, i told them i have diabetes type 1(8 months) and she said oh you will get used to it, i said oh i dont know about that (because i am sensitive about it still) she said well you will have to get used to it! unbelievable!!! sorry to go on just wanted to get it off my chest. hope everyone is doing ok! x

 

[insulinaddict09]

You will have to get used to it !!!?? what a bl**dy cheek !! would she think the same if it was herself or one of her family I wonder ? 😡 I'm with your husband on this one bring in the lawyers , the mental anguish alone should be compensated at least. 😡 I hope you are ok anyway Karen , oops sorry for the rant 😱

 

[Steff]

hi karen nice to see you posting firstly id like to say sorry you have had such a bad experience , I cant belive this cock up here that is shocking you have every right to be so upset hun , mixing up bloods and now you have to wait 6 months fgs!! I think your husband has a point about solicitor but you have to feel its the right path to go down so sit back and think hard before you make any kind of decsion like that , she sounds very unsympathetic also with her care free attitude towards your sensitivity,sack her off and report her she sounds very uncaring x

 

[Caroline]

The woman you spoke to sounds very unsympathetic. Nothing showed up in your blood and it will be checked again, so on the bright side, you are being kept an eye on.

The whole system sounds flawed to say the least. I hope there are improvements and you don't have to go through this again and that no one else has to go through it.

 

[vince13]

Karen, like anyone else on here who reads your story I am shocked at the treatment you have received.

I was diagnosed about the same time as you and can share your shock/horror/dismay at having the diagnosis. I have been told (by well-meaning "friends") about the cousin/sister/friend who now has diabetes or has had diabetes for years and "all you have to do is...." and as to injections "well, you just have to...." - then they make this jabbing motion "and that's all there is to it".

Of course we are all going to "have to get used to it" (and some seem to adapt more quickly than others - I'm another one who's not there yet !) but what an insensitive person you have had to deal with.

The trouble is, if you report her and she gets a rebuke or a adverse note on her employment file, if you still have to work there you can get a reputation (wrongly in my view) as a troublemaker. Having said that, why should she get away with being so uncaring ?

I don't know what the answer is for you - just wanted to say I was thinking of how I would feel in your place. I can understand that your husband is also very cross on your behalf - anyone who cared for you would react in the same way - but getting a solicitor involved, well that's another step along the way and it's for you to decide.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and please keep us up to date with your future health and progress. I've found great support on here both with information and how I'm feeling emotionally, so don't give up.

Wishing you all the best, Faith

 

[Northerner]

Hi Karen, like everyone I am appalled at the cavalier and insensitive attitude of the occ health people. Even without the person's lack of empathy and compassion, serious mistakes have been made somewhere along the line with the handling of the samples, and I think you are entitled to an explanation of where the errors occured and why, and what they intend to do to prevent it happening again (and also why the needle ended up in the wrong container in the first place!).

I would find out about what the procedure is for investigating and rectifying these problems - it is not about causing trouble for people (though it may not be something they like!), but about improving things and learning from their mistakes. Someone should be held accountable because this is a serious matter. Are you in a union? They should be able to help you.

I hope that future tests reveal that there is nothing to worry about.

 

[sofaraway]

Sorry to hear that you have been treated so badly. I would consider making a complaint about what has happened to you.

How did they know which patient the needle had been used on? My thoughts are then that if they knew which pateint it was the it wouldn't be too hard to find out who was responsible for putting the needle there. If they lost the results why can't they ask the patient again to provide another sample?

Is there any support avalible whilst you are waiting the 6 months for the tests?

 

[Proudspirit]

Hi Karen,
Sorry didn't understand the thread. Have they oked your blood? what will you get used to? having diabetes or people leaving sharps about for you to get hurt on.

I would not be pleased if it was me getting pricked by a random needle. I would def put in a complaint.

Hope you are OK?

Julie x

 

[Copepod]

Karen - couple of factual points to try to help a bit:
(1) diabetes doesn't make you any more likely to contract a blood borne infection (unless you count the fact of finger tip / side pin pricks providing potential entry points)
(2) most of us have found that we've got used to diabetes over the months / years, although I know I wouldn't have responded well if someone told me that at the time.
I also work in the healthcare sector, and would be very disappointed by the loss of blood samples, "accidental" testing of my blood etc, and would definitely approach my union, not least to try to improve systems so that the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else.

 

[Twitchy]

all i got off occ health was well you are in good health you should be ok, i told them i have diabetes type 1(8 months) and she said oh you will get used to it, i said oh i dont know about that (because i am sensitive about it still) she said well you will have to get used to it! unbelievable!!! sorry to go on just wanted to get it off my chest. hope everyone is doing ok! x

Hi Karen,

So sorry you've been through the mill! People are so odd sometimes... I guess some people are so darned thick skinned themselves they forget that not everyone has 9inch thick armour plated emotional skin! I guess it's that or they do actually mean well but have foot in mouth disease & just blurt the wrong thing out because they are feeling awkward?! When my mum died, I remember some well meaning, (but hopelessly misguided) muppet saying, "oh, you'll be alright after the first year"... interesting idea... Still, I'm surprised a "professional" like an occ health bod would have such a pants attitude! Not really displaying a 'people person' trait there...

Hope the results come back good & you get the support you deserve at work to sort things out. All the best,
T.

 

[KAREN1]

thank you all for your replies to my rant! i have since been to see my manager and have aired my views and have told her i want another incident report sent to risk management. she was very angry herself as she personally sent both sets of bloods off to the lab and informed occ health of the incident and cannot believe what has happened, she is going to look into the matter herself and keep me informed of developments. I would just like to say everyone here is so great its a brilliant site and i enjoy reading the message boards you can ask anything and there is always someone who will reply! 🙂

 

[Steff]

good for her she sounds a great boss hope it gets some asses kicked x

thats waht we are all about karen helping each other out in bad/good times xx