to be mad at my GP and put in a complaint.

[MaMattoo]

10 mo DS had high fever all of sunday, reaching 38.5+, rushed him to GP first thing on Monday morning. He has been coughing and wheezing. Chest was clear, ears apparently were red. was given amoxycillin, paracetamol and neurofen for baby. Was told by the GP - NDG (name) to watch his fever and when it comes down his breathing should be ok. 3 hours later, he is struggling to breathe. I call GP - speak to NDG and she says go to hospital and get him seen by a Paedat. If too bad, I should call 999. Things not looking good and i called 999. Ambulance on its way. GP surgery calls and the head of the surgery - Dr TS, tells me...'ha ha you have called emergency, call them and cancel, little children fall ill all the time, his fever is making his breathing high, he shall be fine. Paramedics will laugh at you and tell you off for wasting their time. Dont panic his breathing should be ok..count 30-40 bps' at this point other GP - Dr NDG says she counted his breaths and they were past 40 in the morning, then TS says - ' its ok, in fever kids do that'. I cut the phone, answer door, go to A&E. Parameds and Docs tell me good job I went - he has bronchiolitis. Low oxygen levels and high temp. Nebulizer + oxyegn given - 7 hours later, told to go home, give him inhaler and paracetamol - ears are ok, no amox neede. and watch closely. He is looking better now.
Tell me, am I being unreasonable to be mad at Dr TS for calling me and telling me to basically take a chill-pill and relax. Baby would have gone downhill rapidly if i had listened to her. Is it not my prerogative to call 999 if i wish to. I want to put in a written complaint about her, AIBU to want to do this?
Had I been an indecisive type of person, or one who hates hospitals I would have listened to her and risked my babies health.

I agree you should complain about Dr TS. DD2 had bronchiolitis when she was 9 weeks old. I had never heard of it! Thankfully my GP was on the ball and sent us straight to A&E, she was in for 2 days and on oxygen and a nebuliser.

DS had bronchiolistis at 15 months. He was struggling to breathe I rand GP to make apt and was told to go straight to a&e and GP rang and warned them we were coming. He was seen within 10 seconds of arriving, given o2 and we were home 5 hours later with strong AB. (this was abroad). I saw pead GP a week later for a check up and cried because I was so grateful to him.

OP YANBU, and I 2nd letter of thanks.

damnitjanet Very sorry for your loss. Very proactive of you to contact MNHQ to see what can be done.

I shall wait and watch what MNHQ says. More needs to be done about this.

MsToni - how is your niece now?

That is absolutely disgraceful. My GPs have been brilliant with DD. she once was quite ill and was simply lying on me taking in really slow deep breathes like she has just sprinted and was trying to get her breath back. I phoned the practice was in there in less than 10 mins later with the GP. It turned out to be nothing of concern but GP was super nice about it saying I did the right thing by bringing her there. She did have some other infections and they gave me ABs but the doctor took time to tell us what to look for if we think something is wrong and her breathing worsens, checking her nails for blood supply, breathing patterns etc. He said if there were any of these signs to call 999 immediately. I felt very reassured by him and have learnt from him about when you need to seek emergency care and what to do in the meantime. He was never once thinking i was over anxious or wasting his time.

I agree, write to both doctors.

The actions of TS sound unusual, as springbokdoc says, even if NDG was (in their opinion) being over cautious, it was still a course of action that would not have led to harm to the child.

OP, it sounds like you have already decided to but as someone who works in paediatrics within the NHS I just wanted to reiterate that it really is worth feeding back in writing on your experience both of what was helpful and what was unacceptable in your son's care. There are procedures that need to be followed when formal feedback of this kind is received and so it will need to be responded to internally to the practice at the very least. I appreciate that you may not feel you have the energy to right at the moment and that with the relief of improvements in your son's health the impetus to write may fade but please do if you can because it really could make a difference not only in the treatment your family receive in the future but also to other families. IME health care professionals will NEVER consider a genuinely concerned parent of a baby with physical symptoms to have wasted their time; if in doubt, trust your instincts and make the call/trip to A & E. Believe me, they would much rather have the relief of telling you it is not as serious as you might have thought than think that you hesitated to call because you feared being made to feel like an over-anxious parent. Take care and hope it all works out for the best.

Like an earlier poster I wouldn't "complain" as such but would write to let them know the outcome. Its important its a learning experience. Am not saying you are being confrontational....just think the best outcome in this is that it doesn't happen again.....and if its a consultative letter rather than a blame letter you may have the desired change of behaviour.

At 2 I almost died form severe croup, went blue, stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated by my aunt whilst on the phone taking instructions from the paramedics.

The doctor had reacted in the exact same way that you GP did and was furious with my mum (phoned her) for calling an ambulance, I spent 2 weeks in an oxygen tent.

Any way the point of the story is my mum to this day, that is 22 years later is still furious with her self for not having made a complaint.

So no, YANBU to say something.

I would write two letters, to keep the issues separate and minimise the likelihood of the surgery fudging the issue.

The first to Dr NDG, thanking her for her prompt attention and timely advice and advising of outcome.

The second to Dr Ts, asking for information about what her/his decision to call you at home was, why she was making a clinical decision without seeing the patient, why she didn't ask for an update on your babies condition when she called before giving advice etc. I've found this non-confrontational "I would like some information as to why x, y, z decision were made/actions taken" very effective when dealing with the NHS as they're so procedure and outcome focused.

Glad your baby is better and Janet, how absolutely devastating for you, I'm so sorry to hear about your baby.

I had a very similar experience with my surgery misdiagnosing my DD- TWICE

once when tiny & like you it was actually Bronchiolitis, she stopped breathing 3 times - saw 5 Drs & even had 1 stroke my hand like I was some over anxious teen Mum, with the immortal words all babies cry dear, its the Mums we worry about - I didn't complain that time - I was just relieved when I finally realised we had a childrens hospital I could take her too

roll forward a few years & I had exactly the same again - this time I even argued with the GP after great advice from NHS direct - he still stood by his "oh its a virus she'll be fine you are worrying for nothing" - an hour later she was choking & we were rushing her to A&E - she was in 2 weeks with double pneumonia - 1 in intensive care - had I trusted the GP we would of lost her

That time I DID complain, because I was fuming & also realised that I am bolshy enough to stand up to the Drs & trust my instincts, someone else might not be, & a child might die as a result.

I raised it as a complaint with the practise manager, put it in writing, but let them know that I wasn't taking it further by way of wanting compensation, DRs balls on a plate even though I knew i had a good case & could, but that I WAS insisting that the GP responsible realised that Mothers have instincts & he shouldn't be so arrogant as to dismiss that as over fussing & presume he always knew best

Since then we have had nothing but the best & most thorough checks for any illnesses with DD, & I hear they are very thorough with other kids we know who go there too, so I am very glad I did complain & would recommend you do too :)

please do write a letter (or two) both praising the younger doctor and criticising TS. the actions of TS in second guessing a colleague's diagnosis without conducting an examination of the patient are at best poor judgement. i think it may make a big difference to another family at the some point in the future.

i can't imagine our practice leader doing such a thing. and i'm not massively impressed with our local practice.