Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
when lucy bradley Logged in to her NHS app What she didn’t expect was to learn the results of her latest blood test that she was suffering from life-changing kidney disease.
The 29-year-old woman was alone at her home in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, when she read on the app that she was suffering from stage 3. kidney disease – a condition he didn’t even know he was being tested for.
Ms Bradley, who recently had a baby, went for a blood test after feeling tired and unwell. When she was diagnosed with anemia, her GP told her she would need repeat tests to recheck her kidney function. It was only when she went to check the results that she saw the diagnosis.
“It broke my heart,” she said Independent,It should not just flash on the app. No one should be directed to the app for things like this.
He added: “In this modern society, we’re dealing more with automated messages, but when you’re dealing with something so personal, it feels really dehumanizing.”
step 3 kidney disease This means that the patient has mild to moderate impairment of kidney function, which increases the risk of heart disease. But with no information about what the diagnosis meant, Ms. Bradley was left in limbo for a week until she could speak to a medical professional.
“It was the fear of the unknown,” she said. “I found out about a situation I didn’t even know existed. There was no channel or anyone to go to at the time.”
Ms Bradley made a face-to-face appointment with her GP, who said he initially told her there was “nothing to worry about”. Still concerned, she pressed for a second appointment and was referred to a specialist kidney service.
Ultimately it turned to Ms. Bradley The charity Kidney Care UK to get some answers.
In June, the charity wrote a letter NHS England, raising “specific concerns” about patients who were learning about their Diagnosed with chronic kidney disease through the NHS app “without any information, referral or opportunity to discuss their condition with a healthcare professional”.
This came after Health Secretary Wes Streeting Set expansion plans The government’s 10-year plan says the NHS app will become “a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century”.
The charity said in its letter: “While digital communication has a valuable role for many people, it is important to continue to consider that face-to-face contact with healthcare professionals is preferred by some patients.”
Fiona Loud, Chief Executive of Kidney Care UK said Independent That the charity’s helpline was receiving a steady stream of calls, almost daily, from patients who had received news of chronic kidney disease through the NHS app, but had no further information.
She warned: “While finding out that you’ve got a diagnosis has an impact on mental health, there’s also the other side to that: if you’re told you’ve got this thing, and [go to] Look at it, you’ll just see the scary side of it. What you don’t know matters to you.
“If you don’t have that personalisation, if you don’t have that contact, if you don’t have that follow-up, you turn to charity. It’s a matter of finding people without context, which is particularly troubling, and that’s not what an NHS app is meant to do.”
He added: “Nobody should get the message that you have this potentially life-changing condition, and nothing else.”
A patient who recently called the Kidney Care UK helpline said: “I received my diagnosis via text. There is no follow-up appointment. I was shocked and upset. I felt abandoned by the system in terms of appropriate counseling and advice.”
Another charity, Cardiomyopathy UK, reported Independent Patients sought help after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease, through the NHS Digital system.
A specialist nurse at the charity said: “We often get calls from worried patients who don’t understand what they have read and are demanding answers. Results and diagnoses need to be given in context, and by a professional who can answer all their questions at the time. Patients often want to know about the prognosis, which is very personal.
“Apps certainly have an important place in current and future health care. But we need to be extremely careful about the information people can access, because without proper explanation, we are leaving patients in crisis without any assistance while they wait for their appointment.”
Professor Camilla Hawthorne, President of the Royal College of GPs, said best practice is to deliver serious or concerning news in a thoughtful and sensitive way – where possible, in person.
He said: “The NHS app can be a useful tool. But it is not a suitable medium for patients to receive serious or concerning news about their health, particularly if they need reassurance or advice on after-care and next steps.”
In response to the questions of IndependentThe health department And social care said patients should not receive serious diagnoses via app or text message.
Their spokesperson said: “Patient well-being and clear communication are fundamental to NHS care, and NHS guidelines are clear that patients should not receive serious diagnoses through digital channels without adequate support or referral.”
He said the department was committed to ensuring all patients received a diagnosis “in the appropriate way with appropriate support and information”.
He added: “This Government is committed to ensuring that, as we modernize the NHS through digital innovation, we maintain the compassionate, supportive care that patients expect and deserve.”