To want MNHQ to get rid of the link to 'I want great care'?

[sallysparrow157]

It's an awful awful website. It is not moderated or validated. Doctors at times have to do things that patients don't like (ie sectioning someone mentally ill, not prescribing methadone for someone who is still using heroin as some extreme examples but even things like not giving antibiotics for a viral infection or not referring someone to something inappropriate), this doesn't make them bad, in fact it makes them better doctors than someone who will do something they think is wrong just to keep the patients happy. However, anyone who has been annoyed by their doctor can post on this site and write whatever abusive things they like and there is no way for the doctor involved to respond.
It is not kept up to date - there are doctors who have been entered as the wrong speciality, doctors down as still practicing who have retired and doctors who have actually been entered on the site after their own death. Relatives of these doctors have contacted the people who run the site and asked for their details to be removed as it is obviously upsetting to know that anyone who fancies it can write abuse on the internet about your dead father, the people who run the site have not done anything about it.
I am a doctor. I undergo constant monitoring of how I do my job, both the clinical side of things and how I communicate with patients and their families. There is an effective complaints/feedback system so if my patients think I am doing something wrong they have a way of letting me know this so I can improve. So I'm not being precious and not wanting anyone to say horrible things about me. I just think that this website is a good way to spout anonymous hatred online about named professionals, if you are that way inclined, and as it is not updated and contains the details of dead and retired doctors but does not contain the details of many doctors working today (including me and everyone else who works in my department - apparently there are no paediatricians in this city...), it is also completely useless.
I'm very disappointed that mumsnet has chosen to publicise it.

The idea that most GP practices have a completely objective complaints procedure in place is the silly one. Look at how Harold Shipman was able to get away with so much for so long and if you think things have changed much in the meantime you are mistaken.

Oh my good lord. Harold Shipman was a single handed GP who was much loved by his patients. Of course I Want Great Care could have stopped him being a fucking psychopath because soooo many people knew what he was really doing. Get a grip.

If you'd actually taken the trouble to read the posts the point I was making re: Shipman was about the idea that GP practices have completely objective procedures in place - I wasn't remotely claiming reviews would have stopped him. Frankly trite remarks such as "get a grip" say rather more about you than they do about me.

How long do you have to trawl through aibu to find a year old thread?

ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT - THIS IS ALL FROM NEARLY A YEAR AGO

Wow, weird zombie revival.

I hadn't heard of IWGC at all and never noticed this thread or the adverts at the time. Does it still exist and is it still as unregulated as the OP suggests?

If you have a complaint, I thought PALS was the way to go, but I don't have experience of them myself.

the fact that this is an old thread doesn't mean the issues raised are any less relevant. The lack of any real accountability of gp practices and the importance of having the freedom to feedback on them are issues which affect all our lives - rather unlike a lot of the celebrity-obsessed piffle which takes up such a significant part of this website.

I came across this thread and found I had to respond to the comments on it. I can't relate to the cries of 'not fair!' at all. For far too long, patients have not had a voice in the healthcare system. Whilst there are many very good doctors who take what they do very seriously, there are also some very poor, arrogant ones and to have the chance to comment when care has been poor is a great innovation and to my mind is democracy in action. No-one would advocate abuse, but as long as we have social media of any kind, we have to put up with those with a grievance or a grudge, which may not reflect reality. This is far outweighed by the fact that the NHS complaints system is self protecting and weak - poorly administered and designed to make sure that practitioners are protected from accountability. Viz Mid Staffs. All the regulators in the world couldn't protect those poor people who had to suffer at their hands. The CQC is a toothless, self serving, poorly managed bureaucracy that does little to really identify sub standard care in a timely fashion. Psychiatry in particular is a non accountable 'profession' which comes up with some very rum diagnoses and relies far too heavily on the pharmaceutical industry. Many psychiatrists lack the basic skills required to care for mentally ill people, fail to keep up with the latest thinking on mental illness and are far more vested in their own academic careers. I've had to deal with many as I have a mentally ill daughter and am repelled by those I've dealt with. GPs too can often be lazy and superficial in their dealings. It is too easy to say 'change your doctor if you're not happy'. This is very often not possible and there is a huge closing of ranks if you dare to complain about someone's poor practice. I welcome iwantgreatcare with open arms and hope there will be many more opportunities for the medical profession to come under scrutiny from the people they serve rather than 'regulators' and government. Those who are really good need have no fear of being demonised. Even if there is the odd posting of poor practice, the majority of their feedback will reflect their aims and behaviour. Bring it on!

ZOMBIE THREAD.

This thread is nearly four years old!

Why didn't you start a new thread rather than digging this one up after 3 years?