r/Glasgow Tools

It varies.


I was assaulted, hit in the head with a big plank of wood, ended up in hospital after blacking out and nearly going off the road on the next day. Was examined briefly by a junior doctor, told I will be OK in few days, given some painkillers and sent home. They told me it's "mild concussion" and I will not last longer than two weeks.


My condition was only worsening, so my GP told me to go to A&E again and ask them to take a proper look, with an MRI or something. It was almost two weeks later. Again, brief examination, I was sent home.


I had every single symptom from the book, I was in terrible pain for weeks with nausea (Imagine the worst hangover of your life lasting for two months non stop), then I had balance issues, I could not read, or even watch the movies, I was forgetting words, mixing my languages and mumbling incoherently like a UK prime minister or something...


My GP referred me to a neurology specialist, I was told the wait is 12 weeks for urgent patients like me. My GP told me I should not wait as my condition is serious and that if I want to get the proper treatment I should go privately, which would cost a fortune in Scotland, so he literally advised me to fly to Poland (which is my home country) to get it cheaper there. I got a full set of examination, had a full MRI and some other examinations, saw a neurology consultant (who was interviewing and examining me for nearly 50 minutes) and a psychiatrist (due to my terrible insomnia). Got some meds and a treatment plan. The doctors in Poland were outraged to find that nobody even bothered to take MRI of my head after the accident, which is apparently a standard practice in Poland.


From there on it was my (brilliant) Scottish GP who was doing all the treatments and my Polish specialists doctors acted, in an unofficial capacity, as his consultants. Basically, in most cases, I spoke with them on Skype or something and then he was rubberstamping it and writing me prescriptions as set by them etc.


It took ages and I had two fail starts, but after total 11 months off work, I was finally able to gradually get back to work. Only to take a day off, as 50 weeks since the incidents I was finally given a consultation with a neurologist (the guy in Poland told me that if I went there on Polish equivalent of NHS, not paying privately as I did, the wait would be six weeks).


She was generally very annoyed with my presence, like I did some faux pas by bothering her if I am back at work. I told her that my Polish doctors told me to take another MRI in six months, as they found something that concerned them, and since they had no previous MRI from just after the accident to compare it, they wanted for me to have one later so it can be looked into. She told me "this is not how it works in Britain". I said "so I was told, that's why I had to fly to Poland to get proper treatment". She sighed and said "Ok, I give you YOUR MRI", clicked something in her computer and then just left, leaving me alone in the room. I had some questions, I expected to be examined properly - nothing. She just left. I sat there for a while, confused, then went out to look for her, I found her chatting with a nurse, tried to ask question but she just waved her hand at me saying "you will get a letter, no go home".


From what I speak with my European friends (and that involves Italians, Germans, Croatians, Poles and Czechs), more someone had to use the Scottish NHS, less impressed they are. I can say a bad word about anyone, apart from that neurology doctor (but she was an EU citizen herself, I guess, judging from her name), people are indeed friendly and proffessional. But it is like they can't really do nothing except giving you paracetamol and sending you home. The system is badly flawed.