To have been patronising to the Doctor?

The NHS is not ‘wonderful’. Many of the staff are, but some need to be dismissed. This GP came very close to negligence by virtue of neither listening to the patient or reading her notes. These are very basic skills.

On the rare occasions on which I need and can secure an NHS GP appointment I now write and print off a note to the doctor which I give them when I sit down ‘to save their time’. It is in a few short bullet points setting out symptom, how long had it for, what I’d like to happen, any questions. They are sometimes appalled but it works and I always smile and tell them to keep on my notes so there is a record of what I told them…..

There's no need to imply that the OP was overstepping or being rude here. She wasn't. And we'd truly have a 'wonderful NHS' if clinicians listened and aimed to do the best job possible for their patients, rather than trying to prove the patient wrong. The 'be grateful' approach is basically 'STFU and accept poor treatment'.

There are not two side to this. Op was not given space to speak. GP was not listening and was not reading the notes. He fails on two counts.

Time to stop being bitter. Put your energy into getting better. I hope you are being polite to staff that are trying to help you.

Be thankful in your position that we have such a wonderful NHS.

You were bloody brilliant. Good for you. God why is this such a common occurence for women to be silenced and fobbed off. We are the experts of our own bodies. Listen to us before you do us harm.

This

Nitrofurantoin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic. There is no such thing as an antibiotic that "concentrates in the bladder". The reason nitrofurantoin is given for UTIs is because it is known to be effective against the bacteria that typically cause UTIs. It is not the "gentler" or more focused alternative you seem to believe it is.

This thread has reminded me of my first appointment with the obstetrician when I was having my eldest. We were discussing caesareans and I said that my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome meant that local anaesthetics don’t work properly on me and I would need a general. Spent the rest of the appointment arguing with the consultant who flatly refused to believe this was possible. I was very upset, and frankly scared by the end of it. You only have to hear one story of someone enduring a caesarean without anaesthetic to terrify you, and I’d heard a couple by this point.

As I was leaving the hospital one of the nurses chased after me to give me an information leaflet that I might find “helpful”. It was printed from the EDS website and they’d clearly just googled it. It said exactly what I had been telling them.

At my next appointment it was clearly recorded on my notes that I would be having a general anaesthetic for the caesarean and the consultation acted as if there had never been any question of it being otherwise. Obviously I’m grateful they actually listened and did what I needed, but it’s so frustrating to be put through all that fear and upset (especially with pregnancy hormones!) when they could find the information on the internet so quickly as they clearly did after I left the room on the first appointment.

I was then brought round for the general anaesthetic after the caesarean with no pain relief in my body, which was the most horrific experience of my life, but that’s another story 🙄

Surely fundamentsl training for an HCP is about listening and analysing the facts before them on the basis that not all clients will and csn get straight to the point.

I agree with other posters that you should have a script, but (a) I'm not sure you'd have got very far into it with this doctor before being interrupted and (b) the only reason I think you should have one is that doctors sadly don't tend to know their patients the way they did when I was little and "family GPs" was a real thing, and they have not always read your notes. I don't think you should have to advertise something crucial that is clearly in your notes if they are read and I share your frustration that so much of your and his time was wasted because he wouldn't let you speak.

I'm a solicitor too. Day 1 of training is how to interview a client. And cutting them off after 5 words with a hand and bubububub is not it

Haha you made this idiot look really stupid....good. My GP is equally dismissive. I really hope he felt a proper chump.
A lot of my own patients have been spoken to in the same way.

You've never been on the professional side of itthough, have you.
I ve said I was a solicitor up thread. I've had clients go round the houses ten times before they answer what I need to know.

No, I don't really need to know all of this background information.First, just tell me the issue I want to know.

She knows she had a kidney transplant.She knows how bad it gets. In a short appointment, sometimes there isn't time to read the records.Just tell him. I have a transplant, would be the first words out of my mouth.If I d had one.

Not I ve had some urinary urgency.

Sorry somebody didn't sit back and allow her to monologue until she got to the point, sometimes there isn't time for that.

Had recurrent UTIs for years.Like you Op I know how they feel and when they are starting because I've had so many. I was very ill several times as a young woman , when the infection travelled to my kidneys, because I didn't have the confidence to advocate for myself until it got really bad. I went to see the doctor once ( he was later struck off for having child porn on his home computer . Nice) He was sitting in the dark so , when he dipped the stick thing, he couldn't clearly see the blood indicator and announced that I didn't have cystitis. I knew I absolutely did and suggested he put the light on. " Oh yes, blood" he said. Wanker.

No, you would not have been told she was asked to leave her job. That is confidential employer / employee information.

You're making it up.

YADNBU BUT
Don’t complain, their time is better spent on far more important medical issues.
You made your point very well. Well done.

Makes it hard for me to assess the situation but anywho you carry on.

I'm sorry to hear your condition has worsened and hope you're on the mend soon. The notes thing may be moot but if you're not going to read the notes OR allow a patient to speak then you're a dangerous as well as a prick.

the op mentioned it in her OP and then expanded on what she’d written in a subsequent post. Afaik they’re quite common now - the fact you’ve not encountered one personally is somewhat irrelevant.

Just back to this for a moment - the OP obviously required treating according to her consultant’s instructions via the GP. And I do understand the issue of overprescription and AB resistance.
But when I got a UTI on Xmas eve last year I was glad the pharmacy could prescribe this one which concentrates in the bladder so presumably isn’t quite such an issue as systemic broad spectrum ABs?
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/nitrofurantoin/about-nitrofurantoin/

I can't believe this apology for unprofessional rudenes and blatant misogyny. Why should the OP assume that a professional HCP is going to cut her off with a hand in the face after 5 words? I think you were very restrained OP.

You were right, there's a bit if a subservient mystique around how people treat doctors and yes they should be respected for their expertise, but they're human beings and some are better at their job than others. The ones not fulfilling the criteria should be challenged, patients must advocate for themselves as you did.