Post op aftercare

gooner37

I had a minor accident a while back and had a problem with my knee afterwards.Had physio for 8 weeks but to no avail.My GP sent a referal letter to a hospital and got an appointment for 3 weeks later to see a consultant at a cost of 150 euro.2 weeks later i had minor surgery on my leg in and out of hospital on the same day.(covered wit VHI thank god ).all going well.

Was given a cert for work and a perscription for tablets in one envelope and a letter in the other on discharge. On the letter it had a print out of excercises i was to do over the coming weeks , a part telling me to go to my own GP and get stitches removed in 7-10 days and to come back in 8 weeks to see my consultant (+ bring 100 euro cash with me on the day,no bank facilities available) for costs.

i assumed that after the surgery that i would be
1- geting the stitches removed at the same hospital and not having to pay 50 GP fee to have it done ( do i go back in 7 or 10 days ,when will wound be healed)
2-That i would have some sort of physio done to make sure all is going well
3-that dressing would be changed daily / weekly to stop infection
and finaly that the consultant would be responsible for my care post op???
seems like all thay want is my money?

any toughts people?

Funfair

You should probably register on the VHI website, go to members section and ask the 24 hour nurse your questions as you might get guess answers here.

bradknowell

Personally I wouldnt bother going to the GP and getting the stitches taken out. Its fairly simple to do that yourself. Granted some people might not really like the thoughts of doing that so maybe skip that one.
I know one person who got an operation a few weeks back and she went to caredoc a few times to get the dressing changed as the nurse out in the hospital was a complete bitch. After one or two times out in caredoc the lady down there actually showed my friends mother how to change the dressing for her, she even stayed with her and made sure the lady was doing it properly. Its not brilliant to have to get someone to do that for you but if it saves you money from going in all the time and if its possible then you should look into it.


As this site isnt allowed give medical advice, what I said its obviously only an opinion and definitely not advice. :)

gooner37

cheers for replies..Was not looking for medical or legal advice just pointing out that i thought it was a bit rich looking for more money after 8 weeks without any care in between and did any 1 else encounter the same.i mean i could be doing the exercises that were on the sheet all wrong and be doing more harm than good to my recovery and wont know for 8 weeks until i see consultant if i did or not.was it common practice to be in the care of several medical ppl for 1 operation etc etc...On a legal note if anything goes wrong after doc / or myself removes stitches i will be contacting VHI and the consultant about my issues on the matter before i get them removed.

bradknowell

Oh I know you were not looking for the advice.I was just covering me own arse incase someone rips their stitches out and blames me lol.

Daffodil.d

You probably have the consultants number. Ring and complain. Also you can get the nurse in your gps to take stitches out. I don't think you have to pay for that. The whole thing is a money racket.
I was attending a consultant for a health issue, I had several visits and when the problem was fixed I was due back for one more visit to make sure I was ok. I mentioned this to my gp whilst in there with a separate issue and she was fairly shocked that I was required to go back. She told me not to bother and kind of sighed and suggested it wasn't the first time that this guy had scheduled an unnecessary appointment. Your situation is not the same as mine but I am just highlighting that it can be a money racket and well, none of us have it now. 5 years ago you'd just go along with stuff without questioning it but nobody can afford to now.