GP comment

[Yorkiee]

I'm a FTM. LO is now 8 months old. We had rough start. She was under light therapy for 3 weeks and had jaundice and low blood count for about 3-4 months. It felt like a very stressful time.

As FTM now and then I'm not sure what to do. For example in June she was teething. She didn't feed and I called the GP for advice. Tooth took 10 days to cut through. I thought okay back to normal now. Few days later she wouldn't feed at all.

So had to call GP again. Then a few days later I saw second tooth had cut through. She went back to eating again. Now when this happens again I no not to worry and what to do. Same month I had to call to ask about vitamins. Conflicting messages from health nurse. Then I had to call again because she had blood in her mucus.

I don't have anyone around me to ask and instead of sitting down and worrying I just book an appointment and ask the gp.

Recently I noticed her feet are ice cold. Even when it was really hot for two days. I put socks on for her. Part of me thought this is not normal. I monitored the situation and even if her body is warm her feet are ice cold. Made an appointment - not my usual doctor but a doctor I have seen before and she said maybe I should see a psychologist and that she could refer me because I made 5 calls in June.

I said she was teething but she is feeding fine now and eating solids so it's much easier.

It was way difficult months ago but now its getting easier because of solids.

The other gp always tells me to call rather than sit and worry about it.

I don't know how I feel about her comment. Part of me feels sad. She was just making assumptions or was I wrong to call?

Feel like making a complaint against her.

You've had a challenging start to motherhood. The GP was just doing their job! 5 calls in a month is quite unusual (excessive) and is an indicator of postnatal anxiety and depression. If the GP hadn't discussed those concerns with you they would have been negligent.

The things you spoke with the GP about are things you can ask a health visitor or health care assistant at the HV clinic about. Do you have the phone number for the HV team?

I agree with pp, it’s sometimes really hard to know what to do and it’s so easy to be worried but a GP isn’t really the first port of call for most things - you can get in touch with your HV or call 111. I’m surprised you were given GP appointments for most of the things you’ve mentioned, I would imagine I would have been given an appointment with a nurse at my surgery if I had phoned about those things.

Do you have a friendly pharmacist you could ask instead?
I agree there’s nothing wrong with seeking advice or reassurance but I can also understand how a GP might be worried about you looking at 5 calls in a month.

Well I hadnt called in March, April, May.. it was just the whole teething thing, blood mucus and cold feet. Because the other two have been so nice I didnt think not to call gp again..

Pharmacist nearby is always busy.. he tells me to wait.. (30mins)

Pharmacist nearby is always busy

There are pharmacists in pretty much every supermarket - you really shouldn't be tying up your GP's appointments with these matters.

Your health visitor should be your first port of call, you may have to wait for a callback, but that's life.

@NikeDelaSwoosh thank you - sorry I dont think you read my previous posts.. HV is never there when I call and other HVs always tell me to call gp.

Anyways thanks everyone!

If you think calling the GP on those 5 occasions was the best course of action available to you, then just ignore the other GP.

Sorry posted too soon. If you think in hindsight there were other avenues you could have used, then just bear that in mind in the future.

If you want some simple, straightforward, free health advice from a highly qualified person, then your local pharmacy is open six days a week. Just go in and ask to speak to the pharmacist; this is all part of NHS services.

Any new, inexperienced mother whose baby had a bit of a rocky start is more vulnerable to anxieties.

Far from complaining about your GP, be grateful that she has paid careful attention to your needs and circumstances and offered you some valuable support. Take it, it will help you relax and enjoy your baby.

[quote Yorkiee]@NikeDelaSwoosh thank you - sorry I dont think you read my previous posts.. HV is never there when I call and other HVs always tell me to call gp.

Anyways thanks everyone![/quote]
The Public Sector is under an enormous amount of pressure and pretty much every part of it will try to fob you off to another service if they can, irrespective of how inappropriate it is for you.

It is up to you to ascertain which part of your health provision is the most appropriate and then seek that service. Push back if you are fobbed off.

You need to stand firmer in the face of people trying to wriggle out of doing their job.

@NikeDeLaSwoosh that is very true! Thank you for that advice.

It does sound like you haven't got the best HV and the current circumstances have made it hard to get advice. Try the pharmacist or NHS website first. The GP may have come across as blunt but was doing her job with the information in front of her...post natal anxiety is very real and very common. In my experience the doctors with the worse bedside manner often turn out to be the best doctors...

I think your gp surgery is unique in that you don't have a passive aggressive receptionist filtering gp appointments! I cant remember when I last got past our receptionist!

Absolutely no complaint necessary.

If you want to make a complaint, make one. I think it would have been a lot more constructive for her to refer you to the health visitor. They are generally more helpful in these situations as they're dealing with these issues day in day out whereas GPs see a much broader spectrum. DS was constipated for a week as a baby and when I finally got to the health visitor she was brilliant. She explained to me at his age their digestive system changes and basically what was happening was normal. The nurse and GP I spoke to before getting to her, although they were kind, they didn't seem as clued up as her.

I used to have to take him to be weighed every week. I know all that has gone out of the window with covid, and i think I'd find it a bit of a pain this time around as I feel a lot more confident. But even though you may not have drop in clinics, I wouldn't hesitate to call the health visitor if I needed advice. That is what they're there for, and I've always found them very good.

I think what you need is a friendly playgroup where you can talk to other mums (impossible at the moment I know).

Is there a Facebook group for parents local to where you live that you could join for now? - we've got some good ones in Durham where lots of people get advice/help and might be able to suggest parent groups that would help longer term

I also google a lot and serious things come up especially with blood in mucus and cold feet

Yes, stay away from The Google. It's never your best friend in these situations! . Call to speak to the other GP.

@DamnYankee :)) thank you. Definetly stopped googling.. and yes won't ever book with her again. The other two are lovely.

@User0ne thank you. Will have a look.

GP should have referred you to the health visitor not a psychologist.
The bit you need help with is support with baby unless you feel the need to get other help for yourself.

I would have been annoyed by that GP comment as well. It's understandable that you might be over cautious with the problems you have had so far and apart from that I don't think any of those things you called about were unreasonable. I would just try and avoid the unhelpful ones in future (not easy when you don't always get the option to choose which one you get to see, but try and request the more helpful ones).

If you weren’t in lock down you would probably be at baby groups and be able to talk about all this but you can’t. So you called your health visitor who said call your gp. Which you did. Sounds all fine to me.

5 calls a month would be concerning if it was every month, not just one concentrated issue.

No complaint needed but also don’t let it play in your mind.