Casualty 19/02/2011

[Blaadyblah]

I've just watched this on iPlayer.

I can't see that they've done anything other than show exactly how many of us are treated in hospitals when we do finally seek help. It's a real shame they didn't take the opportunity to do us a favour and point out that actually the injury was probably not self inflicted and the patient was treated neither appropriately or effectively but that's about as likely as my rose bush bearing figs.

Shame, I usually expect much better of the BBC (even the drunk teen in the same act was better treated), but I suppose they're looking for some degree of realism of hospital treatment and unfortunately, that's exactly what we got. Could have been written by any one of us.

I feel a little as though complaints would be better directed at the NHS staff that continue this sort of behaviour rather than at the BBC for portraying it. Their failure was in not showing clearly that the medical staff were bang out of order after all, a shamefully wasted opportunity which was probably the fault of their medical advisors and/or script writers, who were only bothered about displaying the woman's ruthlessness.

[Rosie]

Hi all

I have put in a complaint as well. I have ended it by saying that I looked forward to see ing the character reprimanded for their attitude towards this patient, and questioning their compliance with the hypocratic oath.

Rosie

[Tabi]

I've complained, although possibly me ranting isn't going to do very much.

Shoulders HURT when the go back in though? Oh...

[lis]

Hi all,

I've complained too, here's my complaint

I am disappointed how Casualty chose to portray Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (eds) in the recent episode aired on the 19/02/11. Referring to the patient as a "frequent flyer morphine addict" who deliberately dislocates his shoulder in order to get his morphine fix. To exasperate this statement further, there was no background to show how the dislocation had occurred and the plight the suffer endures day in day out, and the actor representing the patient didn't even have any lines! Therefore leaving your prime time audience thinking that EDS suffer's are basically morphine addicts who will dislocate themselves just to get there fix and in turn become a drain on the NHS.

Eds is a rare genetic disorder which effect's the musculskeletal system and soft tissue which is extremely debilating and in some cases life threatening. As a sufferer I found your depiction an insult to what we have to deal with everyday and I feel the BBC's representation rather than educating only fuelled the myths further, and enforced the stigma that eds sufferer's face everyday. Your flippant statement will have a profound negative effect on eds sufferer's education of friends, family, school and employer's, those who have watched this episode, on a prime-time tv show will assume your portrayal must be correct and in turn will just perpetuate the ignorance EDS suffer's face.

I only hope that you re-introduce this character or another character who suffers from EDS and give a factual portrayal of this rare genetic condition which is already misunderstood, and undo all the damage your recent attempt on covering this sensitive issue has done. I'm sure the Hypermobility Syndrome association or Ehlers Danlos Support Group would be more than willing to provide you with factual information which could be used along side the anthology of poem's written by suffer's which gives a candid insight in to our plight, which is also available from the Hypermobility Syndrome Association.

I look forward to your response to my compliant

[jeanz]

I agree with all of what you have commented i thought oh great now everyone will think my pain is self inflicted and will think i do it for attention and pain medication. It certainly didnt put us in a good light. maybe they should do a proper main story on eds as an apology to us ! I know they once diagnosed a menieres sufferer and described it aqs being like a drunk.. (i also have menieres) So now that makes me an attention seeking,drunken junkie who inflicts pain on herself ..hmmm greeeat! used to like casualty too

[serenity79]

Has anyone heard anything yet? I thought I'd at least get a generic 'thank you for your input' email but so far I've heard nothing, which is annoying in itself. At least acknowledge that we've written to you, BBC! We can wait a little while for the full apology, but it's nice to at least know you've heard us.

[Blaadyblah]

Typical. Just jotting this draft down, I'll write in later.

This evening I dislocated my left shoulder while driving to the shop. Obviously, as it's been a couple of weeks since that shoulder went out I should probably have high tailed it to the nearest hospital to demand morphine, but since I am an actual EDS patient and not a fictional character dreamt up by a medical advisor whose attitude to patients stopped developing somewhere around 1980 I did what most of us do; very, very, very gently stretch out the joint, reduce the dislocation, get home and rest the affected arm for the remainder of the evening with a little pain relidef from my TENS machine and my usual analgesia.

I'd like to thank the BBC for so accurately portraying the attitude of medics to most EDS patients. I don't regularly attend a hospital to have my injuries treated. I'm often asked why and now I'll be able to show them the one minute clip of Casualty episode 'Til Death do us part' by way of explanation. After all, who's going to hang around a hospital in severe pain for several hours in order to be dismissed as a self harming hypochondriac with a drug problem and then have an injured joint wrenched about by a medic whose intention is to punish the individual in question because they do not understand their condition.

Contrast and compare how ITV soap Corrie handles Ehlers-Danlos. With sensitivity and thoughtfulness they've been using Cherylee Houston's character to help explode some of the misconceptions some of us face daily, for example being in a wheelchair but able to stand and walk a little must mean you're a fraud, likewise having an invisible disability makes you benefit scrounging scum. I understand that with the current government rhetoric about disability benefits it is easy to join in the witch hunt, but really - I expect much better of the BBC.

I trust we'll see an episode shortly featuring the same character, who following the rough reduction of his shoulder by Holby staff was afraid to return to the hospital despite his hand starting to go blue in the days afterwards (I'm repeatedly told I risk this every time I put it back in without an Xray having been taken). I'm sure those medical advisors can come up with some lovely consequences of failure to seek treatment for any number of injuries - really, take your pick... the EDS character will likely have them on a daily basis.

[serenity79]

^ That's brilliant.

[Blaadyblah]

Thanks. I'm learning, write when angry, edit while calm. That could be a while.

[parent]

I agree bladdy but i found it really hard, anyway i have submitted my complaint i can't believe they ask do you want a reply?

[Blaadyblah]

Often when people complain about distressing subject matter they don't want to be contacted later - further discussion can be just as upsetting. Also people are occasionally just notifying the organisation of an error - they don't need to be reported back to and would rather the time was spent fixing the problem. It's a fairly standard question in complaints depts for that reason.

In complaints you are damned if you do and damned if you don't!

[paw]

I haven't seen this because I am in the USA and iPlayer doesn't work here. I have to throw in a comment though. We all want people to have a good impression of EDS because we live it and deal with it every day.

There are drug addicts with EDS though just as there are drug addicts without it. There is a lot more reason for people who pop their shoulder out of joint to need morphine than there is for the average drug seeker. I have known people with EDS to get into trouble with their pain meds. I am talking about legally prescribed pain meds for problems they did nothing to cause.

The people I am thinking about were able to sort out their problems and be much more careful with pain medicine. They couldn't just stop using it because they have legitimate need for it. Maybe that should be the focus if they bring this character back. Admit that he used morphine improperly, that he actually needs help and get him into treatment and also treat the injury properly. It sounds like they did a bad job of treating the patient and also portrayed the EDS group badly.

Like a lot of you I take less pain medicine than I should because I know there could be another injury that will make me need higher doses of my medicine. I don't want to get to a point where the meds hurt me or where I have no further options for pain relief.

[gila]

I complained yesterday- but thanks to blaady's first comment of "actually this was quite realistic - this is what many EDSers are regarded as/treated as in A&E" -

I put it like "... To deal with this condition in a very brief snippet with a story line of "FREQUENT FLYER JUNKIE with EDS, self inflicts a dislocation 3rd time this month to get morphine"- then to have dislocation rather carelessly, quite brutally re-located with a throw away quip by the doc...
strikes me as possibly very irresponsible.

unless this was the beginning of a story to be continued-

as yes, pity enough it was quite realistic in its depiction of "EDS and A&E" ... it is not uncommon for EDSers to be suspiciously regarded as drug seekers, accused of "self inflicting" all sorts of injuries which we can incur by simply doing normal daily things, being inappropriately treated too roughly (as this can do lasting damage) when presenting in A&E

so currently I am hoping that this snippet was just a "lead in" to a possible story of for example:
guy comes in again (maybe with different joint dislocated)- turns out he is of course NOT a 'frequent flyer junkie' at all- of course he didnt selfinflict it, unless you want to count doing something utterly normal as 'self infliction'- he also still has probs from the 'brutal shoulder relocation"- it's found that that relocation actually caused some further damage to shoulder- original docs get into trouble, a lecture on EDS... "

and blaady- love that you will bring up the corrie character!!! and although yes you can feel some anger and sarcasm in what you wrote, I feel it's an appropriate amount of it, appropriately voiced- imo what you wrote is brill!!!! and doesnt need editing at all!- imo send it as is!
xxg

[Englishgremlin1]

This is what I sent on Monday, no reply yet though
Dear Sir

I'm writing you in regard to Saturday night edition of casualty.

Whilst it is good that you show more awareness of EDS than the average A & E Department I found your presentation of the condition to be belittling of what is for some of us a very serious problem.

The reference to the EDS patient as being "a frequent-flier" and that he dislocates his own shoulder just to get morphine is both very insensitive and misrepresents the problems suffered by people with EDS.

Whilst I appreciate the need to create drama this represented a very negative image of people like myself who suffer with this debilitating condition. In fact most of us with EDS do not go to casualty every time we get a dislocation or subluxation, if we did this we would have to move in. Neither are we morphine addicts!

Whilst the treatment of the patient by the new lady consultant, especially in her manner, is not unlike the treatment we sometimes get when we do need casualty facilities the very little information given about EDS suggested that:
1. patients dislocate to get morphine
2. they deliberately dislocate
3. that it is a minor condition
4. they always require a hospital to put back their joints

All of these points do not help us who suffer with EDS as it is already very much not fully understood by many in the medical profession.

I can promise you that people who really suffer with EDS do not deliberately dislocate as this causes major long-term problems for their joints.

Hopefully you will correct the misrepresentation that was on the programme and apologise for the offence given to a lot of disabled people.

Yours faithfully

[Chloe♥]

I agree with Blaady - but I think the problem is that this doctor was portrayed by the end of the episode as being this incredible maverick doctor who saved the day, and our favourite maverick Nick Jordan thinks she's wonderful too. Therefore, her "unorthodox" way of dealing with the EDS patient was right.