If I complain to GP, will they remove me as a patient?

[Gpcomplaint]

Hoping for some advice.

I've been treated very badly by my GP surgery over the past year. I've had around 6-8 visits and phone calls for a particular issue that I've been having and each visit I've been completely brushed off like some kind of hypochondriac.

The issue I've been having has eventually escalated requiring a trip to hospital and treatment.

I want to make an official complaint due to the GP practices sheer negligence but I'm afraid they will kick me off the books! Is this possible?

I had considered doing the same when a previous issue I had went undiagnosed for years. leading to a mild, permanent disability. I think all my visits before this diagnosis likely lead to them thinking I was a drug or attention seeker, when I was actually very ill and deteriorating. At the time I was just really relieved to be diagnosed and treated by a&e that I let it slide.

It's happening all over again and I don't know what, if anything I can do. I'm afraid to be removed as a patient incase the other GP in the area doesn't accept me as a patient due to my past medical records. (who knows what my current surgery have wrote in my file).

Any advice?

I'm in Scotland if this makes any difference. We have no access to the app thing that England seem to use to check our medical records.
Also I have requested parts of my records previously and there was large chunks of it blanked out. Apparently they can do this if the person that wrote it doesn't give consent for it to be printed. Is this true?

I made a complaint earlier this year to my GP surgery about the way I was treated by a particular GP. I was not removed and they have been especially nice to me since. I did not make a formal complaint as they di investigate things thoroughly and apologise.

Can I ask how you went about it? I might give this a go and see how I get on.

The other practice actually said they wouldn't accept you due to your medical records?
They shouldn't have access to your records until you're registered with them so I don't understand why something in your records would prevent you being registered at the new practice.

I complained about one of the doctors I saw via the friends and family form. No repercussions from the other doctors.

I never said that? I said I was worried about the other practice not accepting me due to what's on my records (as I have no idea what my current practice have put on there).

@shellyleppard What's a friends and family form?

Op it's like a questionnaire thing?? They normally have them in the waiting room. Also there might be something on the surgery website x

I misread but my point remains the same. They don't get your records until they register you so they can't not accept you based on something in your records

This is correct and the you can request a copy

Thanks, that's reassuring. Is it possible for them to reject me after receiving my records?

@Gpcomplaint I'm not sure how different it is in Scotland, but I work in administration in a very large GP surgery. I register patients and receive new patients records. I've never known us to reject a new patient based on their records in the 7 years I've been in the job.

If the practice has treated you that badly, why do you want to stay as a patient there anyway?
I complained about a GP years ago and I moved to a different surgery because of the way I'd been treated.

They can't and won't remove you as a patient just based on a complaint - if you were abusive in the complaint (so instead of "I'm concerned that Dr X didn't investigate etc you wrote Dr X is an evil uncaring fool".

They can blank out parts of your medical record if they contain information given by a third party (not a professional involved in your care but someone like a relative / friend of yours).

Hope you end up feeling more comfortable and confident with your GP, whether that's the same practice or a different one.

The only reason for staying is the other GP in the area has a really bad reputation. The one I'm with is known as the "better" of both. Hilarious really when I think about it.
The other practice has been in the news a few times for negligence and people on the local FB page are often complaining about it.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I'll go ahead with my complaint. Hopefully this will address the problems I've had to make sure they don't happen again.

It would be very bad practice indeed to remove you. Any half decent gp will learn from your complaint. In my experience complaining can lead to positive experiences for both complainants and subsequent patients.

It’s amazing the number of people who complain about their gp but then don’t want to leave.

there are specific reasons for removing a patient - ‘breakdown in relationship’ would be the one in use here. So for example if you complain that you feel your care has been neglected, they look at it and say it follows protocols/guidelines, which is often the case but not what the patient wanted and then you can’t accept that and continue to say you were neglected - that would be a breakdown in relationship.

on mumsnet everyone hammers up the complain complain approach - actually it’s much more often useful for the patient and more effective to have a conversation about your care. A complaint will be dealt with by an admin, a discussion with a doctor about why x,y or z was the investigation and not a,b or c might give you much more clarity and even trust/reassurance in why each think occurred.

and really if you don’t trust them then leave, they’d rather you did and you won’t be happy with any care until then.

I had a F2F conversation with the practice manager about some issues I was having.

She told me I hadn't complained (no details on how to online so I wrote to her!) and said if things were that bad I'd have complained and left.

So I left. Me and ds went elsewhere.

We aren't the only ones to have moved away recently.

When they start seeing a drip in funding maybe "that's how the partner's want to run things" Will change because you cannot run things blind to what's needed without patients and their funding.

Shame really because under the old partners it was a fabulous surgery and I could never find a bad thing to say about them.

So we've to stay put and put up with neglectful treatment (from multiple gp's in the surgery might I add) or just leave?

Or... we could raise a complaint and point out that they surgery have made a bad decision, on more than one occasion, that has resulted in an escalating medical problem that required emergency care.

"there are specific reasons for removing a patient - ‘breakdown in relationship’ would be the one in use here. So for example if you complain that you feel your care has been neglected, they look at it and say it follows protocols/guidelines, which is often the case but not what the patient wanted and then you can’t accept that and continue to say you were neglected - that would be a breakdown in relationship."

A breakdown in relationship? I can't accept what? I haven't complained yet. They messed up majorly with "diagnosing" me, resulting in my issues being missed and then escalating to dangerous levels. I have previously been left permanently disabled by their failure to listen and diagnose me. On this occasion, my situation has also escalated to me needing emergency care due to their reluctance to listen to what I'm telling them, and them diagnosing me over a telephone. Them telling me I had something completely unrelated. I have no idea where they pulled my diagnosis from considering it was not even remotely close to the issues I had explained.
The only breakdown in relationship is from them treating me like a hysterical woman instead of taking me seriously and LISTENING to what I was actually telling them.

Why should surgeries not be held responsible when mistakes are made? If everyone just 'left' then the same thing would happen over and over and there would be no accountability.

The other GP surgery in my town was just in the newspaper as their negligence killed a poor woman, by not listening to her concerns and taking her seriously. She suffered in excruciating pain for the best part of a year before she died, and that's not the only horrible story to come from them. It appears my surgery is the lesser of two evils atm.

I’d like to put in a formal complaint to my drs surgery. It’s a complaint against the Dr that actually owns the surgery. Once I submit it in writing to the practice manager will he have the right to make me leave the surgery? I’d have moved ages ago but the surgeries where I am are all amalgamated so all connected. The receptionists are amazing where I am so that’s a real bonus so would therefore like to stay

My Gp never listened to what I was telling them went as had shortness of breathe the doctor just wanted to give anti depressants when I complained surgery owner advised it was trainee and shouldn't have prescribed me anything and didn't pass exams so not gp. I did give them one more chance but again they failed moved to another surgery but they are no better doctor hadn't read notes told me he can only deal with one issue per appointment and it was his decided issue as blood pressure was high but having acrophobia does cause blood pressure to go up still no tests for breathing issues doctors just quacks gp's jack of all trades masters of none

Everyone think doctors care have they forgotten Shipman

@Gimpee sorry! Misread 🤦‍♀️