These photos were taken 2:30pm approx. on 10th June 2025, Half an hour or so after I spoke to a nurse/secretary(?) who called me from Matson Lane to arrange an appointment to speak to a doctor over the phone tomorrow. I told her I was about to go out to buy essentials from local shops.
When I went out on my Ebike I had a mishap & it resulted in the injury pictured below. Caused by a metal pedal striking my shin in the area of my Leg Ulcer problem. Blood is still running down my leg at 2:45pm.
I post it here so that someone from the Surgery might be able to see it in reality. I don’t ‘do’ Social Media but I do have my own hobby website.
Not serious but an example of what frequently happens to me when I have to travel even short distances. I’m not sure what to do except clean around it & let the blood coagulate.
Sorry Dr (Can’t recall your name) who just called me. I was just about to add the Terms & Conditions page to the Menu when you called. Now done at 3:25pm. I appreciate you are busy & I thank you for your time & extra effort. I thought photos would assist if we were to have a phone conversation tomorrow. A picture paints a thousand words & I saw that as a partial solution.
June 15 2025
Thought to keep a diary here of relevant, related events, following legal advice.+ Just for the record & explain my actual, current situation in writing/pictures. My experiences with the current NHS are not peculiar to me I am certain, & may well be of interest to others in time.
On 11th June I was called by a doctor as arranged. Our conversation was solely about my injuries as pictured above. Advice was, as expected, that I should attend A&E & get it stitched. The doctor had seen the above pictures.
Since I am not able practically to visit A&E & know very well that I would have to wait many hours in the process I did not follow her advice. I told her so. End of conversation.
On the previous day, when I had a lengthy phone conversation with a nurse (? Not sure) the good lady told me that I would be able to speak to a doctor about my other health problems during the call. Persistent, but occasional pains in my lower abdomen & inner, upper left thigh. Problems controlling my bladder & bowels. Dizzyness at times which had resulted in several recent falls & coming off my bicycle several times, once on my way to my last attended appointment where I injured my right elbow. This was actually photographed by the doctor I saw on that occasion, (on an unrelated matter) because I could not actually see the gash myself.
I cannot seem to get it through to the practice that I cannot guarantee to keep any appointment in advance because some days I cannot leave my home because of frequent lack of mobility. Swollen, painful feet & ankles. I’m told that I cannot get home visits because I am not housebound. Truth is I am often housebound, but not permanently. Yet. The distinction seems to be very important.
A brief explaination of my current situation is this: I am born December 1946. I live alone in a first floor flat, with one flight of stairs to negotiate each time I go out & in. That is not always a big problem, but it increasingly is. I am on the lowest possible Pension. I get Pension Credit. I therefore cannot afford taxi services. Bus services to the surgery require a bus into town & another to the practice with walks in between. I cannot walk half a mile at any time without assistance. I can get a lift at certain times from a neighbour, but he works weekdays & is not available during normal work hours. I do have an electric bike which, if I can get on it, provides me with some better mobility. My weight is on the saddle rather than my feet. The snag is that my balance is not good at times & I have come off it twice just keeping appointments with the surgery. I have come off it at least three times other than that recently, but luckily not suffered any serious injury. Just scrapes & bruising up to now.
The photos below are taken today Sunday 15th June 2025, five days after I bandaged it up. Doesn’t look good to me, but what do I know? It has been painful at times, but less so now.
The raw part is where the scab had stuck to the bandage. I exposed it removing the dressing. I have no antiseptics or even the correct dressing here. The extra redness does not look good to me. (Same camera, same settings & light)
Some relevant notes here.
The practice is 3 miles from me. When I call the correct number on my phone I waited close to 30 minutes, listening to a minute or so of ‘Info’ & repetitive ‘tunes’ in between, ‘you are number 1 in the queue’ twice with no ‘pick up’. Both my phones, mobile & land line, are charged on a per minute basis. Supposedly to save me money… Of no consequence for the practice, but costly for me. When I get emails from the practice they are headlined ‘do_not_reply‘. (So why should I bother replying to that??) When I check the practice website & look for a means of written contact, it is well hidden several clicks away. Changed/’updated’ recently. A nurse I spoke to recently could not figure it out either… She tried to find the relevant site written contact spot while I was on the phone speaking to her. She couldn’t. Contact is not encouraged seems to me. A mere patient. I do wonder if any of your staff ever try to use your own website…. It is far from user friendly. It was easier to use previous to the ‘update’. My conclusion is that the best way to contact the practice is old fashioned snail mail. In 2025. Might take a couple of days, & a postage stamp, but it might still work? I haven’t tried yet.
To make things very clear here, all the practice staff I have had contact with have been super friendly & helpful. Especially the nurses. I do understand that our NHS is deliberately underfunded by this government & the previous crew. I know you are overloaded & in difficult circumstances. For a long time & well pre Covid. Doesn’t help me in my final days, but it needs saying. I say it bluntly here.
June 20th 2025
Both photos below taken 2:30PM 20th June, 2025.
It looks infected to me. When I touched it there was bloody, yellow puss oozing from it. This is 10 days after the injury as seen in above photos. I have not spoken to anyone at the surgery since I had a conversation with the doctor on the phone on 11th June. I thought it was healing up slowly, but obviously not. I have no suitable dressings nor antiseptics & will attempt to visit my local pharmacy shortly to see what they advise. I will also attempt to call the practice on the phone when I return.
To be clear/transparent I intend to keep this page live & updated regularly on my website in case I need it in the future.
22 June 2025
In the 10 days or so since my injury to my left leg my right foot, ankle area has swollen noticeably. A comparison with the previous pictures illustrates that. I cannot get my right shoe on & it is painful when I put weight on it.
Overnight there was a thin, watery yellow/red liquid oozing out of the yellow part of the lesion, the 3 tracks are still visible in the above photo, even after I had attempted to clean it up.
I do not find it easy to take photos better than the above, but they are the best that I can do.
I have no dressings, ointments, nor Dermol Lotion to deal with the dry skin on both lower legs/ankles/feet. This morning I have repeated stabs of pain in my left leg, around the area of the wound & I am unable to put weight on my swollen right ankle & foot. (Is that ‘Housebound’?) I have taken no pain killers at this point. I am intending to call 111 shortly for assistance if it continues, or gets worse. I cannot believe I’m in this situation in 2025.
A partial screengrab from my email inbox ably illustrates my experiences as a patient with this (or probably any) practice, trying to connect with you. This is what I get. Even a simple phone call by me to the practice is problematic…
You can call me, on an undisclosed number, (potential scammer) emails are headed do_not_reply, & texts are simply announcements or containing links which are only good if my mobile is able to connect online. In reverse I can only try your phone number… and wait for 30 mins or so & still not get a pick up. Or use snail-mail. Your website is a confusing mess to me, & some of your own staff. In 2025? Wow! is all I can say. It all seems designed to make contact difficult, as per many modern ‘service supplier’ websites. Sales are easy peasy because they want your money… Likely a free call.