Richard871 said:
Im in the same boat. Told im 8.1/ 50 what goose eggs? No explanation heres metformin make an appointment. No wiser. Certainly no second test to confirm only the 1 test.
I know doctors are hard pressed but it'd been nicer to be told a bit more. My doc mumbled about a diet sheet that he didn't have and then "times up"
That's a common experience. Mine was similar,
'well, it's official, you've got diabetes'. Nothing else. The diabetes nurse is a joke, keeps getting everything mixed up and doesn't even read the notes. It's not just we here who are moaning, Roy Taylor, Professor of Medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle University wrote in Practical Diabetes Journal:
"It must be recorded that many individuals expressed frustration at the routine manner in which their doctor, nurse or dietitian regarded the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This conflicted with the cataclysmic blow which they personally felt. They were told that the diagnosis was clear and therefore the guidelines will be rolled out. Lose some weight and take this metformin. Get used to it."
This sort of casual and complacent attitude is prevalent in the NHS thesedays. Yesterday Mrs Yorks, who works in a haematology lab, had cause to question a young doctor about a clinical incident whereby a blood sample for cross matching in preparation for a transfusion had been wrongly labelled. It was only because my wife knew the patient was O+ that she queried the result, which was A+. The young doctor, whose name was on the sheet as having taken the sample did not actually take the sample,
'it was my friend who did it for me'. That is against protocol. The 'friend', also a doctor, didn't check the name of the patient from whom the blood was taken, another breach of protocol. There is a reason why patients are issued with wristbands. It transpired that the intended patient had left bed to watch TV and another patient with dementure had got into his bed. The two young doctors thought this extremely funny and appeared oblivious to the consequences of transfusing an O+ person with A+ blood, usually fatal. Their response to my wife informing them that she would have to raise it as a clinical incident was simply to laugh it off as a
'fuss about nothing' as
'no harm was done'. God save us from complacent health professionals.
