WHERE WOULD I BE WITHOUT THEM? (NHS 24)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	NHS 24
Date:	21/03/09 (192 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: CONVENIENT, EASY TO USE, GREAT SERVICE

Disadvantages: CANT THINK OF ANY

I should start out this review by explaining that I suffer with terrible health and have a chronic illness. This illness got so bad that I was hospitalised in January 2007 to have major surgery on my Colon, I required to have approximately a third of it removed with a large section of small bowel removed at the same time.

Following rather severe complications, I did not manage to recover well from my operation and stay in Hospital for the "usual" 5 days, but instead required two further major operations (one of which was an emergency) and had to remain in hospital for over two months until I recovered enough to be allowed to go home.

As well as the pain and symptoms that my illness causes on a daily basis, another rather unfortunate side effect is the impact it has on my Immune system. Because it doesn't work properly, I cannot keep infections or bugs at bay, and when I DO catch something, I am absolutely floored until it passes... no longer can I just carry on regardless if I have a cold or a tummy upset. If I catch such a thing then I am literally in my bed until it has done it's worst to my wretched body, and moves on.

As a very regular user of the NHS (!), I have found NHS 24 to be an absolute life line at times. I have used them countless times and cannot really fault them if I am honest. For anybody who is unclear about NHS24, they are a kind of out-of-hours service that works as part of the NHS, outside normal working hours (i.e when your GP surgery is closed) for more minor ailments, that do not require treatment at hospital in the Accident and Emergency department.

It works by phonelines in the first instance, where you speak to an operator who takes your details and asks a few questions about your ailment/injury before passing you onto a Nurse (or in some cases, a GP). There are times when the service is so busy that a Nurse cannot speak to you immediately but will call you back to discuss your ailment. (I think that they give call backs in order of importance, i.e the more urgent that your ailment is, the nearer to the top of the "call back" queue that you will be).

The Nurse/GP will then give advice accordingly - i.e if it is a general questions about tablets or medication then this is done over the phone obviously. If, however, you are in pain or are suffering from something that is slightly more serious, the Nurse may decide that you need medical attention and will advise accordingly. In some cases, the Nurse will refer you to your local Accident and Emergency department, and in some cases they will refer you to the Out of Hours GP (which is what normally happens in my case).

The OOH GP that runs in my area is in a medical centre approximately 10 minutes drive from my home. It is not where my usual GP surgery is held, but each 'catchment area' has an OOH GP and I think this is worked out via your postcode.

The last time I used NHS 24 was approximately 4 months ago, on a Friday evening. I had some severe pain in my lower back which had started as a slight "twinge" around teatime. Putting it down to nothing more than an ache, I didn't give it a second thought until later when I noticed that the twinge was most definately now a pain. I took a dose of paracetamol to try and ease some of the discomfort.

Approximately an hour later, and having vomited the paracetamol, I was in severe discomfort on my sofa, with a heat pack applied to my lower back. It was then that I decided to call NHS24 to discuss this with them. As usual, I gave my details to the girl answering my call, and she informed me a Nurse would telephone me back shortly.

I think I waited less than ten minutes, which I was pleased about. After explaining all to the Nurse, she informed me that I needed to be seen tonight and wouldn't advise waiting until the morning. She arranged for me to be seen at the OOH health centre and told me to get there as soon as I could.

After arranging for a cab to take me, I arrived at the Health Centre probably half an hour from the time of the nurse calling me back. I gave my name at the reception desk and was asked to take a seat. After a few minutes, a nurse called me through to a consultation room and took a few details from me (although as I have used the service before, they had them all, so she was just confirming details really) and she did a few small tests, urine sample, blood pressure, that type of thing. I was then asked to take a seat out in the reception area again.

After about ten minutes, a doctor called me in to his consult room. He informed me that the urine test I had given had been "dipped" (when they test it with little strips of treated paper.... ewww) and I had a huge amount of something (can't remember sorry... cells I think) in my urine, which basically suggested I had a kidney/urinary infection. He explained after examining me that the pain in my back was a symptom of this, and prescribed a course of antibiotics.

He also advised me to drink plenty of fluids and take it easy for a few days. He went on to tell me that if my symptoms didn't improve, or if I felt worse, I was to call the NHS24 back, and if I needed to be seen again, I would be.

Happy with this, I telephoned for a taxi to come back to the centre and pick me up. I got the prescribed medication the following day and felt better after a day or two of taking it.

I can't speak for anybody else, but anytime I have used the service I have been completely and utterly 100% satisfied. Not only do they offer peace of mind, but they are kind, polite and courteous on the whole.

Because of the implications of my medication and my illness, I have had to telephone the service countless times over the past five years or so, sometimes just to ask advice from a Nurse about taking this medication with those painkillers, that type of thing. At these times, I am always apologetic for using the service, as I know how busy they can be, and always stress (when possible) that there is no immediate rush to call me back.

That said however, I think the longst I have ever waited for a call back is around 20 minutes, (I have waited longer to see my GP when I've been there for an appointment, sometimes being called 40 minutes after my appointment time).

I can't recommend the service highly enough. To know that they are there should I need them offers me tremendous peace of mind. I know that the NHS isn't perfect, but we could do a lot worse, and this part of it is, in my experience, a fantastic service.

Summary: BRILLIANT!! :-D