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"A former soldier cut off two of his gangrene-ridden toes with a pair of tin metal pliers without anesthetic in his living room after becoming frustrated at a six-week delay to being operated on by the National Health Service (NHS)."
[...] "He says he eventually developed gangrene and his doctor said his infected toes would have to be removed. Rather than wait six weeks for the operation, Dibbins took matters into his own hands.
He says the operation, performed without pain killers and in his living room while biting on a rolled up towel, took about an hour. His wife of 40 years was in the house but says she did not want to look.
“Knowing that it would take at least another six weeks to get me in front of a surgeon again, that’s when I bit the bullet and cut off the toes,” Dibbins told the North Devon Journal.
“I did it because it’s what had to be done. My doctor told me my toes were going to kill me."
https://www.rt.com/uk/364152-gangrene-frostbite-toes-cut/
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:23PM
Even assuming everything you say is the unvarnished truth, and a totally reliable representation of the facts at hand ...
... they didn't call? They didn't suggest a follow-up appointment? They didn't check to see if there were side-effects?
"Oh, good morning mister ... Dibbins. Yes, I'm just calling in regard to your wounds on your ... toes, is that right? Right, so you checked yourself out of the hospital, was everything taken care of? Oh, it wasn't? Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that, can we arrange for an examination, at least with a triage nurse to see if there might not be a problem we could resolve? How's Q3 of next fiscal year for you?"
Nope.
Not even a phone call.
The best, most charitable interpretation that I can possibly squeeze out of this series of events is that the management of end-to-end health care supposedly trumpeted by the NHS is a festering turd. Even my damn dentist can arrange a postcard suggesting I come in for a cleaning. Someone leaves a hospital and they just carry on with a shrug and without so much as a checkup?
And you think that's the GOOD news?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 30 2016, @12:27AM
> ... they didn't call? They didn't suggest a follow-up appointment? They didn't check to see if there were side-effects?
Who knows? We only have the word of an obviously crazy guy. Nobody else gets to talk because of medical privacy laws.
Everything he says is suspect.