Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be a bit put out by GP's response?

45 replies

MakingAMess · 18/10/2010 12:18

Took DS (aged 4) to the doctor's this morning which a big red welt-y rash all down his arm and leg (about 20 big bumps on his arm and more on his leg). This is the the first time I have taken DS to this surgery since we moved, and the first time DS has been to the GP for 2 years.

Anyway, I explained the symptoms to the GP and took DS's top off to show him the rash and he said 'Some people think we GPs have crystal balls'.

I was all Confused

He then went off on a huge rant about people expecting doctors to be able to guess what is wrong with them and if he knew what was wrong with everyone, he would be so expensive that no-one would be able to afford him. And when I asked whether he thought it was contagious and whether I should keep him off school, he went on about the 'health and safety culture gone mad' and people with their priorities all gone wrong.

Errr??

Is that not the point of GPs? You go along with symptoms, elucidate with explanation of circumstances / other information which may or may not be relevant, and the GP hazards a guess at what is wrong with you!?

What should I have done?

OP posts:
ImSpartacus · 18/10/2010 12:19

He sounds a bit unhinged.

I think I would have asked at reception to see another doctor.

Thingumy · 18/10/2010 12:19

Complain to the practise manager.

muddleduck · 18/10/2010 12:19

ask to see a different gp.

very odd.

MaryBS · 18/10/2010 12:19

It sounds like he was having a bad day. Rather unprofessional, but I guess it happens to the best of them...

childrenofthecornsilk · 18/10/2010 12:19

change GP - he sounds horrible

sethstarkaddersmummyreturns · 18/10/2010 12:20

he was maybe having a bad day and hence being unprofessional.
YANBU at all.

I bet the problem is you don't go to the doctor enough so you don't realise that this is the mad doctor that everyone avoids. Grin.
Every practice has one IME!

Threelittleducks · 18/10/2010 12:20

Sounds like he needs a wee holiday?

SummerRain · 18/10/2010 12:21

change gps... we have one like him down at our practice too and i and most other sane people avoid him at all costs.

Hope your ds is ok, sounds nasty. Be sure to get a second opinion if you're not convinced the doctor treated him correctly.

AdoraBelleDearhart · 18/10/2010 12:21

Take him back and see another gp.

discobeaver · 18/10/2010 12:22

The actual GP was probably tied up behind the examining curtains, while you were seen by the wandering stranger with a doctor complex.

Original poster
MakingAMess · 18/10/2010 12:23

Should I really complain? I think he was just trying to tell me I was over-reacting - I may have been. The rash only appeared this morning...

But if I had taken him to school, they would have sent him straight home, which is absolutely the right thing for them to do if there is any chance of him passing it on to other kids.

So I thought - best get it checked.

I really very rarely take the kids to the doctors. Last time with DS was when he had chickenpox and even then I wouldn't have taken him, but I had to phone the surgery to check whether it was likely to be a problem for DD because she was only 2 weeks old. Wanted to know how serious it would be if she caught it. They told me I had to bring him in to get it confirmed - which I did.

Hmmm - not a great first experience at the new surgery. Perhaps that was his tactic - scare her away so she never comes back!

OP posts:
FranknCock · 18/10/2010 12:24

What a dick. And an unprofessional one at that.

Bad day or not, you don't spout off at your patients like that. He is paid to use his training and professional judgment, not go off on a crazy rant.

I'd complain to the practice manager, or at the very least make sure I never saw that particular GP again.

Original poster
MakingAMess · 18/10/2010 12:25

haha - Seth - I did wonder that. I managed to get a 9am appointment with him, so did wonder whether he was the doctor that everyone else avoided!

OP posts:
sethstarkaddersmummyreturns · 18/10/2010 12:26

Grin definitely!

Thingumy · 18/10/2010 12:27

Yes, complain.

I would hate someone to in and see him with a potential mental health disorder Hmm

Prick.

nickytwotimes · 18/10/2010 12:29

Definitely go and see someone else next time.

We have one of them at our practice.

He is a bell end. And fucking dangerous at times.

chipmonkey · 18/10/2010 12:54

Do complain! I am an optometrist and tbh, there are some patients who have bizarre symptoms and some who are a bit hypochondriac ( NOT saying that about you btw!!!) but I would never be so rude to a patient. And with a rash like that, I would have done exactly the same as you.

xwitch · 18/10/2010 13:07

I would complain. There are ways to say it if an hcp thinks a patient is over reacting and that isn't it. Hope your ds' arm gets metter soon.

CharlieBoo · 18/10/2010 13:23

What an arsehole!!! I agree there is one at every practise. When one told me I was over panicky about dds health and pulled up all the times I'd had her seen at the drs, I didn't complain, just didn't see that gp again. I was so mad, she was 7 months old and had had bronchilitis 3 bloody times in as many months!!!

NurseSunshine · 18/10/2010 15:30

There are hypochondriacs and there are people whose children have unexplained rashes! What an idiot.
Did you find out what it was in the end?

MenorcaFan · 18/10/2010 15:45

I think even hypochondriacs deserve a fair hearing nurse.

We all pay taxes and we deserve to have GP's who take us and our concerns seriously.

Deux · 18/10/2010 15:50

OP, your post has made me burst out laughing. Grin

My GP is mad as a box of frogs but has a good stab at a diagnosis. Sounds like yours has some ishoos. PMSL.

Pixieonthemoor · 18/10/2010 15:51

You are totally not being unreasonable and he is being totally unprofessional at best and an utter git at worst. Why is he in this job if it clearly makes him so fed up?!! In your position, I would have taken him to the docs like a shot so you did the right thing. I used to get a rash which was incredibly nasty if left untreated (acted like a slow motion burn leaving v deep wounds). Nobody ever got to the bottom of what caused it and I suppose that what your doc could have been getting at is that these rashes could be caused by one of a million things so they are difficult to diagnose. This is what I was told but in a very professional manner - not like this twat. Insist you never see him again and, if they ask why, let them have it with both barrels!!

Original poster
MakingAMess · 18/10/2010 15:54

no - no idea what it is yet. DS wasn't sent home from school, so assume it is no worse.

don't think i will complain this time. but i shan't be seeing that GP again!! i was trying to get out of the GP's room and he was still ranting at me. DS was pulling my hand to get away (he clearly didn't like the tone anyway), and the guy was still lambasting me!

i suppose DS could have been bitten by something, but sooooo many bites?? all down one side of his body, though. even all over his thumb. hope it's not an allergy!

OP posts:
Original poster
MakingAMess · 18/10/2010 15:56

Deux - glad i made you laugh anyway! at least it doesn't appear that it was anything life threatening (yet!). but i make sure i avoid him when i go for a repeat of my anti-depressants Wink

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread