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Problems with Salisbury Hospital Urology Dept

Posted By urology

"Problems with Salisbury Hospital Urology Dept "

About: Salisbury District Hospital / Urology

(as the patient),

Following a radical prostatectomy, I was referred to the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital by my GP who wanted me to be under Urological care.

At the time of my referral my PSA was .01 which was the lowest possible result at that time.

In a letter to my GP, which I believe was signed by the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital, a one year follow up was suggested. As far as I am aware, normal practice in a case like mine would be to test PSA every 3 months for the first year and every 6 months for the next year and NOT to leave it for one year.

It’s my understanding that the parameters of the PSA test being used by the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital were set to a level which is not appropriate for me having had my prostate removed.

Any upward movement is cause for concern where someone has undergone a radical prostatectomy and there is a threshold which indicates recurrent disease.

I believe that due to these shortcomings, I was not re-referred to the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital until my PSA reached a level which surpassed the threshold.

I understand that the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital would not change the parameters of the PSA test until my GP wrote and expressed his concern about the matter.

A consultant in the Urology Department at Salisbury Hospital recommended radiotherapy treatment which failed and my PSA rose to 1.50. They suggested this might be due to hormone recovery but were unable to explain why they thought this might be the case.

At this point I started to lose my confidence in the department and my treatment.

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Responses

Response from Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust 11 years ago
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 03/09/2012 at 15:29
Published on Care Opinion at 15:29

We are sorry to hear about the issues you have raised. These relate to a specific complaint which we investigated extensively some time ago. In doing so we acknowledged that some communication around laboratory results could be improved and we apologised and have made changes some time ago.

However, we are concerned that some of the information presented here is inaccurate and could have a bearing on what other patients expect of their treatment. It is usual for patients to be tested at 3, 6, 12 months and then annually following a radical prostatectomy. However, your GP was measuring PSA levels and monitoring you closely. The GP referred you correctly when the PSA levels started to increase.

In terms of our laboratory reporting parameters, the department made the decision itself to change these as they felt that they could be improved to better take into account patients who had had their prostate removed.

While we feel that we have addressed all the issues you initially raised, we are always keen to resolve all concerns. Please contact our Customer Care team on 0800 374208 if you have any new issues.

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