1 day after World AIDS Day – and the clinic winds us up – HIV Blogger

It is only the day after World AIDS Day, and I am not the only patient that has had issues with the nursing staff in the HIV clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, this afternoon.

I cannot go into the specifics of the incident concerning another patient, but the problem that I had was that they didn’t read the notes that the doctor had made in my notes.

results

CD4 = 90 (6%).
VL = 300.

More Linezolid prescribed and as a result of the CD4 count being so low, I am back on my old favourite of Septrin….
There was a specific test that he wanted them to do.

With a persistent cough, and some difficulty in breathing, I was meant to have tests done on breathing before and after exertion. However, the nursing staff had another view. They saw that there were the usual blood tests to be done, and so they did that then told me to go.

When I asked if there was something else to be done, I was told that there was not. Yet I knew that I had to go for a chest X-ray and then for my meds from pharmacy; as well as the test on my breathing.

When I questioned, I was told that if ‘she wanted me to go for that test it would be with special investigations’. I pointed out that the doctor was ‘he’ and not ‘she’ as would be obvious from the writing and the signature in the notes.

In the end, I walked out; the breathing test did not get done, but the X-ray department and pharmacy were both visited.

Later on, I came back to the clinic to make an appointment for two weeks’ time and then asked the reception staff if they could apologize to the nursing staff for my having walked out.