"Staff should listen to their patient"

I played football in the evening and returned home via a relatives.

During the football I injured my leg. My relative gave me pain relief tablets for the pain in my leg.

I arrived home about 45 minutes later.

While sitting at my computer and over a period of about 10 minutes I started to feel unwell I got up and walked to the top of the stairs. I felt as if I was going to be sick and felt very hot and sweaty.

I sat down at the top of the stairs and asked my wife to bring me a basin in case I was sick down the stairs.

I felt pretty unwell and very sweaty and my wife and daughter decided to phone an ambulance.

The paramedics arrived very quickly and did an ECG but by the time they were there I was feeling much better.

Despite feeling fine - I was persuaded by an anxious wife and daughter to go to the hospital just to make sure everything was ok as I had had an ablation procedure for AF three years previous - I reluctantly agreed.

I walked down the stairs and out of the house to the ambulance. I got the the ERU and because I had had a procedure previously I was admitted and stayed in the ECU for the next 48H.

I explained to the medical staff what had happened to me and they did blood tests/ECG and chest X-rays.

The blood tests and x-rays were negative and the EGC showed a slower pulse - something I was already aware of as it has been like that since before the oblation procedure three years ago. I have had absolutely no episodes of any type since my oblation procedure.

At the end of the 48H stay I was visited by a doctor who explained that I would be discharged. I asked about the blood tests/x-rays and 24H holter tape and was told that there was nothing other than my slower heart rate.

I was then told that I would not be able to drive for 6 months (in line with DVLA guidelines) as I had had an episode of altered conciousness (blackout/collapse). I tried to explain to the doctor that I had not blacked out/collapsed and that I had felt unwell over a period of 10 to 15 minutes and sat down feeling unwell.

Bottom line was that the doctor didn't seem interested in listening.

I asked to see another member of staff who gave me less than 2 minutes of their time in the busy corridor of the ERU.

I contacted my GP when I got home as I was very concerned that my illness episode had been misrepresented. I explained that the illness could have been a result of a reaction to the pain relief or due to dehydration as I had played football or due to stress at work - or a combination of all of these. I did not collapse or black out as my wife and daughter will testify to but it seems that it doesn't matter what patients say.

I have now been out of hospital for over three weeks with not a  sign of any problems.

To be fair I have an appointment for a 7 day holter ECG record but the hospital say that even it this shows nothing wrong I will still not be able to drive.

My care in hospital was thorough and appropriate and I have only praise for the staff I was cared for by, but recent events have changed the landscape for medical staff who feel they need to cover themselves for events in the future, which might never ever happen.