To think this letter from gp was really rude?

[ariane5]

Dd2 has a lot of health conditions and is frequently very unwell.

Last sat (2nd) she was terribly poorly and our gps were shut so we took her to the ooh walk in and she was prescribed antibiotics.

On monday she was worse and woke up at 3am in the morning extremely ill and with high blood ketones (she is diabetic) so dh took her to a+e, she was let out the following morning.

Yesterday I received a letter from our gp and the more I read it the ruder it sounds.

"I noticed you took dd2 to a walk in centre on monday. I am concerned and disturbed by this. We have her records here and can provide better continuing care. I am worried as to why you felt it necessary to take her immediately to a walk in centre"

"Please make time to explain this to us, make an appointment or telephone as this issue needs to be discussed"

For a start dd2 went to a+e not walk in early tues morn-surely if information has got through to gp then it would have stated the time date and reason?

I don't understand why they had to write a letter like that, would have been much easier to phone me and clear it up.
It has made me really annoyed.I feel like phoning tomorrow and telling them to check their facts before writing a letter of that tone.

AIBU?

[RedToothBrush]

Lattelady, how fucking hard is it to explain that in a letter then?

Thats the bottom line.

That and the GP is on a power trip to control the behaviour of their patients. It not an acceptable way of communicating with patients. Its bullying in tone. It leaves the GP open to being accused, quite rightly, of doing so.

I would not trust my care with a doctor who behaved in this manner and did not respect me or my ability to make decisions.

[Tee2072]

The letter is beyond clumsy Latte. It's rude and speaks down to the OP, to name just two things that annoy me about it.

There is nothing in it about using the 'wrong' OOH, but that she went to OOH at all.

If this is the direction the NHS is going, I'm going to start seeing how much private insurance is. Absolutely fucking stupid.

[Wewereherefirst]

Concerned and disturbed?! Bloody hell, that letter is awful.

I would be tempted to tell them to fuck off, when your child needs urgent medical treatment they shall get it, which is the right and correct action for you to take.

The letter is quite disturbing and should not have been sent at all. Highly unprofessional.

Ask for copies of your DD's notes, then you have all the information you need when it comes to urgent treatment. I really hope your GP's surgery provides 24hr emergency care so that you have somewhere to go when you need to.

[PuppyMonkey]

Automatic letters with "concerned and disturbed" in them... Really?

[GregBishopsBottomBitch]

"concerned and disturbed" Whats the GP gonna do, call SS on the OP for seeking appropriate medical attention for her DD, what a rude and uncalled letter.

[RedToothBrush]

BTW make sure you damn well make a comment on NHS choices about this, so that they are embarrassed enough into changing this for other patients and don't just have to be answerable to you. If its happened to you, you can bet your life they are doing this to other people.

[joozy]

It's your choice, surely? None of their business if they're closed at 3am!

[Loftyjen]

That letter is appalling & is obviously a standard letter sent out (probably "triggered" by 2x OHH attendances in a few days) by admin staff, I daresay without any knowledge of your GP.
HerCate's letter is fab & strongly suggest sending it as well as complaining to the Patient Advocacy & Liaison Service of the trust that covers your GP so that your complaint has to be formally investigated (would complain about DS1's meds + them going on about the expense of meds).

Until recently I was a paeds A&E nurse, obv the situation differs from trust to trust, but I would say that A&E is the best place for initial assessment & management of diabetic patients as they need urgent care/attention & often resus facilities to stabilise them before transfer to ward.

[maddening]

I wonder if the pct charges them for ooh for their patients?

[maddening]

Ha should have read on -

Anyway - yanbu - their funding is between them and the pct.

I would complain about their approach to the pct.

[ChristmasJubilee]

I would write a letter telling them that you were " concerned and disturbed" to receive such a strongly worded letter. Document exactly what happened over the weekend including the times and treatment given and then, as others have said, ask them for the number you should use to contact your GP out of hours should this situation arise again.

[ChristmasJubilee]

Loftyjen the OP says that her GP signed the letter.

[WireCatWhore]

Tee, that's excellent!

I wonder if the gp saw it & just asked the receptionist to write up the letter.

There is no excuse for this though & you must complain.

[Carrie37]

You need to ask for a copy of thier complaints procedure. Then follow it until you are satisfied that you have an apology and that no such letter will be issued by them again.

So write something like
Dear Doctor,
I am writing to complain about your letter dated ( ) . I took my daughter to a&e at time date because her blood sugars were ( ) her ketones were () etc While this is not a choice I would have made at a time the sugery was open it was closed.

I am concerned that other parents recieving a letter such as this would not seek appropriate care for thier child in an emergency situation such as I was faced with.

I would like your surgery to review the use of such letters and to issue an apology to me.

[OxyMoron]

A child unwell with high ketones needs to go to hospital. A GP most certainly is not in the best position to provide care in that situation. Eejits. (Them, not you OP)

Love the 'dripping with sarcasm' reply. I would definitely look into changing GPs.

[Carrie37]

You need to ask for a copy of thier complaints procedure. Then follow it until you are satisfied that you have an apology and that no such letter will be issued by them again.

So write something like
Dear Doctor,
I am writing to complain about your letter dated ( ) . I took my daughter to a&e at time date because her blood sugars were ( ) her ketones were () etc While this is not a choice I would have made at a time the sugery was open it was closed.

I am concerned that other parents recieving a letter such as this would not seek appropriate care for thier child in an emergency situation such as I was faced with.

I would like your surgery to review the use of such letters and to issue an apology to me.

[LottieJenkins]

I would send a copy of the GP's letter to my MP!

[Sidge]

They get charged every time a patient goes to OOH so will be trying to reduce potentially inappropriate attendances.

The wording is rather unnecessary and slightly aggressive though.

[tinypumpkin]

I m sorry you received this. I would write a letter to the practice manager and hand it in tomorrow (if possible). This is so rude and completely unacceptable. I would be demanding an apology. I would then move, they sound incompetent (previous meds issue) and lacking in person skills!

Really hope your DD is better.

[tinypumpkin]

I am loving the other replies to the GP though, genius! :)

[crashdoll]

It was not inappropriate though. Ariane's DD has a serious condition.

[RedToothBrush]

You can't change doctors to one more practical for work.
So you may have to go to a walk in clinic.
The whole point of walk in clinics was to encourage people who wouldn't normally go to their GP even if they needed it, because it was inconvenient or they didn't like to/found it difficult to take time off work.
And now you are going to be chastised for doing what we have been actively encouraged to do?

FFS they can fuck the fuck off.

[Sidge]

I know, that's why I said potentially inappropriate attendance.

Depending on the OOH service correspondence very little information can be received, so repeated attendances may trigger a letter from the GP. They should have looked into it before sending a letter like that though.

[BoffinMum]

The reason this happened is because GPs now have to cover the costs of A and E/OOH visits (it's slightly more complex than that in funding terms but that's the thing in a nutshell).

[SirBoobAlot]

I'd be complaining. Even if it's a standard letter (maybe more so!) it's patronizing as hell, and almost reads like a jealous sulking boyfriend; "But WE provide the best care! Don't go anywhere else! ".