Doctors Surgery & Chicken Pox

[curiousgeorgie]

My DD is 21 months. Had a snotty nose for two ish days then woke up with about ten spots (on chest, behind ears and on face)

I called the GP at 8.30 and said I really need an appointment because I think my DD may have Chicken pox, but I was unsure once before so should check.

They told me to come in at 10.30.

I got there at 10.20 and went to reception, holding my clearly spotty DD and was told to go to the waiting room. (separate room)

While in there I kept DD on my lap, didn't let her go over to the children's corner or play with any surgery toys. At 11.10 I went to ask how much longer I would have to wait as she was really unhappy and it was getting difficult to keep her on my lap.

I was told I should be next and I should go back and wait.

At 11.40 a lady with a toddler in a buggy came in (same sort of age as DD) took one look at us and left the room.

The receptionist came marching in, and from the doorway in a very crowded room said very loudly pointing at me 'Are you here because you think your child has chicken pox??'

I said yes, and she raised her voice again and told me to get out. I apparently should be standing in the hallway. I stood up to leave and told her that she knew why I was there, I spoke to her on the phone and she saw me at reception twice, and she's already left me sitting there for over an hour so isn't it a little late for hysterics. (And, this was hugely embarrassing. Especially with super annoyed DD on the verge on hysterics herself by now.)

We continued to argue like this and I was called to the doctor by the screen so I just left.

As I walked past the woman who 'told on me' in the hall and she literally pulled her buggy back to the wall.

So, DD does have chicken pox. But whatever happened to politeness? Patient confidentiality?? Generally not being a dick??

AIBU to be pissed off about this???

No, but I have the sense to not expect them to remember everything everyone says on the phone to them. Like I said before they aren't psychic.

I hope you get something to help her when you go back.

A CP on the eye doesn't mean anything untoward, ds had about 30 on his face alone when he had it. It's if it gets infected it can be nasty. definitely from the 'wait and see what it's like in the morning' school of motherhood

Sirzy - if my DD was vomiting should I ask to be isolated? How about a cold? Or a fever? Because all of these things can be contagious and can turn into something more serious.

In all seriousness, do you not think that every child, adult, everyone in that surgery could have had something infectious that could potentially harm someone with an immunity problem? So perhaps the issue is that, and they should always ask to be isolated, just in case. Or there might be one of you in the waiting room and thirty kids in the hall.

It would be like "here comes Georgie, that bloody insane parent again, get the isolation room ready!!!'

CuriousGeorgie - chicken pox can be fatal to someone whose immune system is suppressed, and it can cause birth defects if a pregnant mother catches it. I believe that you didn't know this before this thread - I was a nurse, and didn't know this until I read it here on mumsnet.

It sounds to me as if you did all the right things when you arrived at the surgery, and the receptionist made a big mistake by not asking you to wait in the right place, and her loud and rather officious actions in the waiting room were a blatant attempt to put you in the wrong by implying that you hadn't told her that you suspected chicken pox, or that you deliberately went and sat in the wrong place - because she doesn't want to get into trouble if the other mother complains to the practice. I think I would have reacted in exactly the same way in the same circumstances - you were in the wrong place, but she was in the wrong for trying to imply that you hadn't told her about the CP.

With regards to isolating patients who might have CP, I think you need to consider the logistics - it is far easier to isolate one person who might have chicken pox than to isolate all the pregnant women, people with suppressed immune systems and other ill people (who might not suffer any terrible outcome if they get chicken pox, but might be more likely to pick it up if they are under the weather).

I hope your dd feels better soon. When I had it as an adult, and the spots were itching like hell, I found that a cool bath helped to soothe it for a while.

I think you're getting a bit of a hammering on here too.

As a first time parent I didn;t know what CP looked like compared to other rashes etc and I knew CP was contagious and kept DD away from people. I was was amazed at people suggesting thier kids come around to play so they could get it. I knew some children ended up with horrendous complications.

At the time I had no idea about pg women and people with suppressed immune systems. Now in child No3 with the pox I'm more educated - 5 years on!

It should be automatic that when you mention CP to the receptionist when you phone up that they tell you the procedure for waiting. I can understand why you ended up having a bit of a row - ill, restless baby, stuck in a waiting room for over an hour etc people having a go - I probably would have been so fed up and close to tears....

But the risks are on the whole worse for chicken pox. You can't avoid everything but if you have something you know to be highly contagious and dangerous then of course you make the effort to keep your child from others.

If someone had D and V and needed to go to the GP with it then yes they should ask about being kept away from others.

What you need to remember is that a lot of people in drs waiting rooms are already ill and vulnerable so adding the risk of chicken pox to that is dangerous.

Good point OP. Potentially doctors' waiting rooms are FULL of germs that could be very serious to someone with an immunity problem. I don't know how common immunity problems are but perhaps those with such problems could ask to wait in a separate room.

Sirzy is right - I should have said that the risks from getting chicken pox can be so much worse than if an immuno suppressed (or pregnant, or just already ill) person picks up a cold or stomach bug.

Obviously pregnant/immuno suppressed people can't avoid every risk, and surgeries don't have enough rooms to isolate everyone who is infectious, but the possible bad outcomes from chicken pox are so much worse, that that's why it is a special case.

There is a reason why the nhs website recommends staying away from the public when you have chicken pox (as oppposed to the other things you mentioned) - because a wide variety of people can be very badly affected by chicken pox. My ds has an undiagnised genetic condition, he has trouble with swallowing, and is prone to respiratory problems - as I said earlier, he has had to go to the drs a lot. We haven't always known he has this condition, it is a process of discovery. His gp decided that it would be worth him being vaccinated against chicken pox, as it is not worth the risk of him getting it. But up until then, do you suggest we wait in an isolation room, just in case someone comes in with chicken pox (or my friends who are on chemo, or friend's dcs who are immuno suppresing drugs etc). Surely it is more sensible for the person who will be contagious for 5-7 days to be isolated.

I thought from your posts that you hadn't said about the chicken pox when you saw the receptionist face to face, you had assumed she could tell from the spots, but if this isn't the case then the receptionist was massively out of order.

I still say the woman who 'told on you' and moved her pushchair away, didn't do anything wrong, before ds was vaccinated, I freaked out and scarpered when I was at the chemist and noticed that the child next to us had raging, unscabbed chicken pox!

By the way, i hope your dd's eye is ok, my friends dd had an infected spot in her eye, it looked horrible, but cleared up with antibiotic eye drops. Good luck.

Before being on mumsnet I didn't know how dangerous CP could be to pregnant woman and people with supressed immune systems. I knew it was contagious, but I thought it was one of those childhood illnesses that everybody gets, and infact it is better to have had in childhood than to have it as an adult as it can come with complications then.
A lot of people still think like this. A couple of my friends still carried on as normal when their DCs had chickenpox as they were unaware of the consequences (i did try and gently explain to them that perhaps it would be unwise even to go to a busy outdoor play area where other mums, and quite possible pregnant mums would be in close proximity).

There should be more awareness of this.

hope your DD is better soon OP.

Oh for Gods sake what happens if the OP's dd had d&v? All kinds of things are dangerous to pg women; what about swine flu? What about vomiting viruses? The OP's dd might not have had CP; that was why she was at the doctors after all! She couldve had hand, foot and mouth.

Many surgeries now have a special clinic waiting area for women waiting to see the midwife (all in my area do; I assumed it was standard).

That woman is going to have one hell of a shock when she has to take her child to a&e!

The receptionist should have asked you to wait somewhere else. She obviously forgot or didn't bother and then was embarrassed when the other woman complained. she should have apologised and admitted her mistake to both you and the other woman and asked you politely to move to a different area. if she was as rude as you describe you are right to be cross.

DD had CP just before Christmas. I knew it was going around nursery and I had a vague idea what it looked like but I'd never seen it at the early stages before. DD is prone to viral rashes and I have been told to get any rashes checked out and not to assume it is anything....

When I thought she might have CP i rang my Dr's surgery, explained what I thought and was told I needed to come in. However I was also told to let tem know on arrival. On arrival at the surgery I let them know why I was there and I was taken through to a different room where we waited for the GP. It was CP.
3 weeks later DS came down with it. As I now know what early stages of CP look like I didn't go to the GP.
I do think the receptionist was being UR in the way she spoke to you - I suspect she knew she had messed up a bit and was reacting badly to cover her embarassment. I don't think the other mum was BU - you have no idea of her child's health issues.

Slatrern I very much doubt they would want someone with suspected swine flu sat in a waiting room.

It's not just the pregnant cp poses a risk for, there is a large group of vulnerable people a lot of whom probably spend too long in a drs waiting room

Sirzy I caught swine flu when ds was 10 weeks old from a doctors waiting room!

Then that is another case of bad management by the GP, when I had swine flu I was given very firm instructions from the surgery to stay away, infact I was given a home visit.

I had to take my dd with cp to the gp when she had a nasty ear infection, I was very clear when I called she had CP and identified myself at reception as the mother with a poxy child . We waited in a side room.

I am not sure why this didnt happen if the op had told them and told them when she arrived? I would have been cross if I had got shouted at !

You would have thought modern technology would mean less time waiting in doctors surgeries. I know appointments sometimes run over and you can't always predict that but how hard can it be to set up a text service to say you will be seen in 10 mins or whatever? Then you could wait outside, in your car or even at home if you live close by.

OP YANBU.

Drs are paid to diagnose rashes!!! It's not always obvious - the number of times a dr has said 'I don't know' about ds's rashes is disconcerting (different drs for different things, usually they just put it down to a viral rash).

You did what you were asked to.