NHS Direct

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lynne Day

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent
has any one got experances of using nhs direct for diabetes related help how did you find it good or bad i used it when my son had a bad eye infection they said buy some drops to wash it out at the chemist but luckly the chemist new he had diabetes and so did nhs direct and the chemist said he would not advice diabetic to use it so then had to go off to hospital to get help. so wondered if people have had anything like that.:confused:
 
Hi Lynne,

I have to be honest, the one and only time I have had to use NHS direct they were very good. I was in the middle of my 14 hour fast for an HBA1C test when I started being sick in the early hours of the morning. My partner wasn't sure what to do for the best and I was not really with it so she rang NHS Direct and explained to them what was going on and what my results etc were.

They quickly suspected that I was suffering from DKA and said that I needed to be rushed to the hospital. They offered to arrange for an ambulance but we live less then 10 minutes away so could make our own way.

My partner found that they were very calming and helpful in this case. In the past I have had to contact them with concerns regarding my children (non diabetic) and their only advice then was to take them to the hospital to be checked although the issues were only minor.

Hopefully you won't have the problem again.
 
In the times I have used NHS direct they have been very good. Once not long after surgery (i had been discharged a few weeks), I had shortness of breath. NHS asked questions and then said they would get a doctor to me, who promptly got me into medical admissions at Addenbrookes. Where I was given test and clot busting drugs.

Other times I have used the service they have always got the the doctor to me because of my diabetes and I have never to my knowledge had any complaints about them.
 
The only time I used them was when my blood sugar was reading 'HI' on my meter and all they said was try to and contact my GP, which I had been trying to do all afternoon. I ended up getting admitted to the hospital later that evening
 
Gasman1975 said:
Hi Lynne,

I have to be honest, the one and only time I have had to use NHS direct they were very good. I was in the middle of my 14 hour fast for an HBA1C test when I started being sick in the early hours of the morning. My partner wasn't sure what to do for the best and I was not really with it so she rang NHS Direct and explained to them what was going on and what my results etc were.
Have you got a very sadistic Dr? You do not need to fast for an HbA1c

They quickly suspected that I was suffering from DKA and said that I needed to be rushed to the hospital. They offered to arrange for an ambulance but we live less then 10 minutes away so could make our own way.

My partner found that they were very calming and helpful in this case. In the past I have had to contact them with concerns regarding my children (non diabetic) and their only advice then was to take them to the hospital to be checked although the issues were only minor.

Hopefully you won't have the problem again.
Click to expand...

I have only ever rung them once. They told me to pop along to the A&E department...........Which is 35 miles away.
After hours Drs have always been 100% if not 200% As have my local Surgery and my own GP.
 
I've only ever used them once, when a misunderstanding led to me running out of insulin on a Friday evening. I called them up to ask what I should do, and they were very good. They calmed me down, took my details, and then got a doctor to call me back within half an hour.

I was very impressed with how they handled it, particularly as I wasn't even sure if they were the right people to call! 😱
 
I have never needed to use them, but I know people who have with mixed responses. I think it depends on who you get when you phone and what kind of a day they have had. I know it should not affect the way people are treated or professionl judgement, but we are all human with human failings and strengths
 
my partner has had to use the once for me and they were great, but when my 3 year old son (now 5) split his head open and told us he felt tired the lady on the nhs direct line siad it was ok to let him sleep if he wanted to!!! my partner and i thought this was wrong and kept him awake and called an ambulance as there was a lot of blood. when the paramedics came they told us it was a good job we had called them as he had fractured his skull and if he had slept wouldnt have woke up!!! i think it is a luck draw when you call them and i dont do it often now.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top