'Swine flu' diagnosis was really meningitis
A CITY grandfather says he was told four times he was suffering from swine flu before medics eventually realised he had meningitis.
Edward Kirkman claims that despite suffering with "violent" headaches and dizziness, his GP told him on two occasions that he had swine flu.
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HEALTH SCARE: Edward Kirkman, 59, of Chaddesden, who almost died from meningitis.
He said that when his symptoms persisted and he went to A and E, once in an ambulance, he was told the same thing.
It was not until he collapsed at home, knocking himself out, that medics diagnosed the potentially fatal brain condition which left him in hospital for two weeks.
The 59-year-old, of Chaddesden said: "If it wasn't for the persistence of my wife, who knows what would have happened? I might not be here now.
"I have no complaints with the treatment I eventually received from the nursing staff, but you can't get there until you get past the doctors in A and E."
Mr Kirkman, of Oakleigh Avenue, said that when he first started feeling ill his wife called his GP at Park Medical Practice in Chaddesden, who said it sounded like swine flu.
When his symptoms persisted, Mr Kirkman was told to go in and see his doctor, who again said it was probably swine flu. Three days later Mr Kirkman, a semi-retired engineer, collapsed at his home and his son, Peter, called for an ambulance.
Mr Kirkman said he was taken to A and E, where doctors checked him over, carried out blood tests and took his blood pressure before telling him to go home to bed and take pain-killers.
He says he then collapsed several more times before his worried wife Sue drove him back to A and E.
He said that he had more tests and was again told it was swine flu and that he should go home and rest.
Mr Kirkman, who has three grandchildren, claims he even collapsed on the way out of A and E, and his wife put him in a wheelchair and took him back inside, only for him to be told to go home to bed.
The following day Mr Kirkman's symptoms took a turn for the worse and he collapsed at home, hitting his head and knocking himself out.
"My wife called the ambulance again, they checked me over and took me back to A and E where I was checked over again and then admitted to the assessment ward for further tests," he said.
He said a sample of spinal fluid was taken, and his condition was then found to be meningitis, not swine flu, as his wife "had maintained was the case since the start".
Mr Kirkman then spent 16 days in hospital, before he was eventually allowed back home.
"There are no complaints whatsoever with regard to the treatment I eventually received on the ward," he said.
"The doctors and nursers there were great. I have not got a problem with my GP, either. I know swine flu is difficult to diagnose.
"It is just the doctors on A and E, they should have realised how ill I was. I don't want anyone else to be misdiagnosed like this, they might not be so lucky.
"I am not looking for any compensation, I just want to make sure this does not happen again."
Mr Kirkman has since raised his concerns with the Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) at the hospital.
On Monday, the Derby Telegraph reported how two senior Derbyshire doctors feared there may be more cases of meningitis or pneumonia being mistaken for swine flu, as symptoms are similar.
In July, the virus was wrongly diagnosed in Gemma Drury, 17, of Brimington, Chesterfield, who in fact had meningitis. She later made a full recovery.
And there was a case of pneumonia mistaken for swine flu in a teenager in North Derbyshire during the summer.
Cathy Bratt, deputy director of nursing at Derby's hospitals, said: "This case has been reviewed by one of our senior consultants in A and E and what's very clear is that staff followed a set of processes from the Health Protection Agency to assess a patient with these symptoms.
"Large numbers of patients go to A and E and GP surgeries everyday with infection-related symptoms which are all very similar during the early stages of infection and the vast majority are non-serious.
"It will be investigated further but the review by the senior consultant suggests that, if the patient presented again with these symptoms, we would follow the same route of care.
"Meningitis is a very rare illness and often these infections start very much the same as flu or the common cold."
The Derby Telegraph contacted Park Medical Practice, but it did not wish to comment.
8 Comments
by Helen, Derby
Saturday, October 03 2009, 10:02AM
“i have to agree in the most part with Rams Fan...these mistakes do happen and although this is really terrible for Mr Kirkham and the suffering he endured, for every person to be given a spinal tap when presenting with such symptoms is not only very expensive but also dangerous.
Swine Flu is already at the disadvantage of being simular to many many other health complaints and this is again one of the reasons that the jab and tamiflu are not really going to help....its a virus.
As for Pete's comment, yes all areas of the NHS have targets to meet, but these targets have never and will never get in the way of treating sick people, without a rash (which is the key sign of meningitis as it shows the actual infection in the blood) the symptoms would be identical to swine flu.
A terrible terrible experience for Mr Kirkham and i wish him a speedy recovery, but a tough call on deciding this illness and believe it or not, even with all the medical training in the world it is impossible to diagnose every patient correct, every time. There are too many types of infection and illness about....spinal taps would just cause pain and in the most case a waste of time and resource, aside from them being dangerous given the small window of the spine that they are perfomed on.”
by Rams Fan, Oakwood
Friday, October 02 2009, 2:47PM
“Pete,
Like I said, I'm very pleased your Dad is now recovering and it must have been an awful ordeal for you all to endure, but the NHS nevertheless IS stretched to almost breaking point by this swine-flu outbreak.
Your Dad's symptoms weren't ignored through incompetence, they were misdiagnosed. Did he have the tell-tale rash? It doesn't say in the story, but surely without it you can see how difficult it would be to diagnose based on such generic symptoms?
I'm sorry that this happened to you and yours but I don't think there's blame to be apportioned here, just thanks to be offered that it WAS finally diagnosed and fortunately, not too late.”
by pete, derby
Friday, October 02 2009, 2:40PM
“i would suggest that if people do request a second opinion or speciallist tests they get it especially as mr kirkman has fed the system with his hard earned cash for over 40 years,the symptoms were nothing like swine flu symtoms,which didnt take an overpaid consultant to work out,and as for saying'these are the facts,deal with it' i think you need to have a word with yourself and think how you would 'deal with it' if a member of your family had to go through this.i hope this never happens to you as you may just have to eat your words”
by Rams Fan, Oakwood
Friday, October 02 2009, 2:03PM
“Joanne, that's exactly my point.
I don't doubt all the medical staff involved have revisited their decisions about Mr Kirkman's case but I find it odd that his own GP, who presumably he has personal contact with, is exonerated whilst the 'faceless' A&E staff bear the brunt.
They're all just people, doing their best within a system that may not always be perfect.
Again though, whilst I sympathise with Mr Kirkman and all of his family who suffered this ordeal, I can't see a better way of dealing with such things particularly whilst we're in the grip of an epidemic.
Very glad he's on the road to recovery and keeping his perspective on this though.”
by Joanne, Derbys
Friday, October 02 2009, 1:50PM
“I have great sympathy for this man, and I too would be very upset had this happened to a member of my family.
I usually don't like commenting on such personal stories.
But in this case, I do think it's important to put into context.
I'd imagine that GP's and frontline services are completely overloaded with cases of suspected swineflu, and other nasty viruses at this time of year.There is currently a huge outbreak, and a lot of confusion over swine flu.
Also, some of these illnesses have extremely similar symptoms, and things are not always clear cut.
A+E depts can be horrendously busy and chaotic places- sometimes overloaded with people attending for minor ailments.
However- there is no doubt this is a very unfortunate case, and I hope lessons have been learnt.”
by Rams Fan, Oakwood
Friday, October 02 2009, 1:05PM
“What would you suggest would be the better course of diagnostic action then, Pete?
Consider how many people would have turned up at A&E departments all over the country presenting with these self-same very common symptoms; should they ALL have had spinal fluid drained? The resources of the NHS are very carefully administered and, as I said earlier, whilst it would be great to have personal doctors running every test for every patient, that's not something that can happen. This is an unfortunate side-effect of a national system overburdened with too many patients and not enough subscribers, and decisions have to be taken that are for the good of the majority rather than always the individual patient. To remove these constraints would lead to medical anarchy.
These are facts, learn to deal with them or suggest a better sytem if you can.”
by pete kirkman, derby
Friday, October 02 2009, 12:44PM
“what an absolute load of rubbish the 'rams fan' comment is,obviously has something to do with the nhs themselves banging on about the cost of these precedures,thats the problem with the nhs,they wont take action until sumthing bad has already happened,it shud be prevention and not cure but the consultants are that wrapped up in hitting targets and not denting the budgets that they forget how serious some patiants symtoms are,and knowbody seems to mention that the consultant that eventually diagnosed the illness said a lady died in the hospital weeks before after being told she had swine flu that turned out to be meningitis and how lucky his patiant was that his wife was so persistant,i wish he would sue the nhs for neglegence as thats the only thing that will make these so called 'consultants'learn.”
by Rams Fan, Oakwood
Friday, October 02 2009, 8:08AM
“What a lucky escape for this man!
I can sympathise with the A&E staff he¿s singling out for complaint though; they are under huge pressure to diagnose when patients present with any number of symptoms. The red rash which generally accompanies bacterial meningitis isn¿t mentioned here and the other indicators such as drowsiness, headaches and fainting are also symptomatic of many other ailments; no surprise then that it was missed the first time around. We cannot expect every patient that rocks up to Casualty to have spinal fluid extracted for diagnostic purposes, it is a dangerous procedure and would cost an exorbitant amount of money.
The NHS is not perfect, not by a long way, and diagnosis by description of symptoms can go awry as they¿re only as accurate as the person describing them. It¿s an unfortunate set of circumstances but not something I believe can ever be removed from the NHS.. in an ideal world we¿d all have private doctors attending to our every ache and pain but, considering the demands placed on it, the NHS does a sterling job.
Very good to hear Mr Kirkman isn¿t suing though; a refreshing change in these litigious times. I hope he recovers fully.”