"Uncaring Attitude to Pain Management"

Apart from a cancellation and a postponement, pre-op procedures for the patient’s day case operation (stt fusion, ulna nerve release and trigger finger release) were very good. Procedures on the day and the attention given by staff were also very good although, because recovery was not complete until after working hours (~1800) the consultant had left the centre without visiting the patient. Pain management advice post-op demonstrates the NHS’s uncaring attitude once the patient has left the hospital. To advise a patient to take tablets normally associated with headaches after a procedure which has required a nerve block as well as a general anaesthetic suggests a wilful ignorance of the amount of pain a patient will suffer once the nerve block has worn off. In this instance the patient had sufficient pain relief available from another condition.