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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

GP really arsey

125 replies

sukysue · 12/07/2013 22:26

Well aibu? took dd1 to gp for emergency appt to get antibiotics for cellulitis on her leg following insect bites . She is away at uni and is registered there now not at the home surgery but of course she is home now.Anyway she had to register as a temporary patient to see the gp today. When we went in she gave dd the antibiotics straight away within about 1 minites consultation it was 5 o'clock and we were the last patient waiting. She was on emergency surgery till 6.30. So while we were there I said to her oh dr could you please prescribe my dd some duac for her acne. She went on about how it was an emergency appt and that it wasn't really the time and place to ask for that,she then went on to say I have been here for 3 hours in surgery and I have had a terrible day . By the time she had finished moaning and being arsey if she had just given her the bloody duac we would have been gone already I explained that we wouldn't be going back any time soon as she was in uni and this was to prevent a waste of ours and their time getting an appt just for the duac,honestly we never go to the gp . I was very nice to her thanked her very much and creep arsed around her but it has really upset me to be honest it was such a little thing to ask of her there was no need for her to treat us like that. I just feel really deflated at her attitude. I wish I could do just a four and a half hour shift.

OP posts:

fabergeegg · 12/07/2013 23:12

Oh come on. How hard is it to give a repeat prescription? And GPs everywhere tend to be rubbish.

Also, the one problem one appointment is utterly ridiculous. Has medicine gone mad? When did GPs get to be so entitled? Surely they go through training in order to consider symptoms in context? How is the patient supposed to know how many 'problems' they have?

Absurd.

ImagineJL · 12/07/2013 23:21

Fabergeegg it is impossible to operate any other way. If it was a total take-as-long-as-you-like "free for all", you could very easily get a situation in which the few patients booked in before you would take half an hour each (having saved up several problems to talk about), and you could end up waiting 2-3 hours.

It's nothing to do with being entitled. It's time management. I'd be perfectly happy to spend the entire day sorting out one patient - after all, I'm there all day anyway, makes no odds to me what I'm doing. But the other 1999 patients on my list might get a bit fed up with that system!

ImagineJL · 12/07/2013 23:24

And your question " how hard is it to give a repeat prescription" demonstrates your medical ignorance. Are you aware of drug interactions? Allergies? Contraindications?

Anyway I'm not going to say any more because GP bashing just winds me up.

bimbabirba · 12/07/2013 23:29

One problem one appointment doesn't men you shouldn't describe your symptoms in context. It means you can't go in for a sore throat and then mention you have acne.
Doh!

OllyPurrrs · 12/07/2013 23:45

ilovesunflowers why correct her spelling??

WetDog · 13/07/2013 00:20

My old drs surgery used to clearly state on a laminated sheet you were given when you arrived for an emergency appointment that an emergency appointment was for emergencies only. Not for routine problems or repeat prescription renewals.

YABVVU and you sound like you were very rude to the GP.

Abra1d · 13/07/2013 00:23

She doesn't say anywhere that she was rude to the GP.

DoJo · 13/07/2013 00:40

YABU - if you need regular medication then a repeat prescription should be sought in good time to cover you from when you previous prescription runs out, so you shouldn't need to go to your GP at all, let alone ask during an emergency appointment. If your daughter didn't consider it pressing enough to get from her own GP at university then why should the GP add to her workload by dealing with it during an emergency appointment?

kali110 · 13/07/2013 00:50

I tend to sometimes have few issues wheni go for an app never heard of one problem one app, however at my docs its extremely hard to get an app in next three weeks anyway and thats if you are lucky! However emergency apps should be used for just that, emergencies. Doc isnt going to be able to provide things like that if shes a temp patient, the docs isnt going to have records off what your dd has been provided at uni. For all the doc knows a doc at ur dds uni could have refused to give that particular medication to your dd, how would this doc know?

ThePlatypusAlwaysTriumphs · 13/07/2013 00:50

I think YABU. I'm not a GP but a vet. These "while I'm here" issues might not seem to be a big deal to you, but when every single client adds a "could you just...while I'm here" on, it realy affects the day. Added to that the fact that she is not your GP's patient- the Gp is permitted to give emergency treatment, but ongoing treatment should be prescribed by the doctor who is in charge of her care (and has all her notes/ records/ info)

It's not fair to ask the Gp to do this just because it is convenient for you- without the proper records the GP could leave herself open to all sorts of professional misconduct issues. I wouldn't be happy to prescribe treatment for a dog that wasn't officialy "under my care" so I can totally understand why a GP wouldn't for a human!

softlysoftly · 13/07/2013 00:55

Was the gp Asian?

sagfold · 13/07/2013 01:01

She's only human. Sounds like she was at the end of her tether, when people are unreasonable or complain about their day like that you always have to wpnder what else is going on with them. Maybe heat was getting to her too.

justanuthermanicmumsday · 13/07/2013 01:01

i didn't know gp appointment was for 1 ailment only. That is such a stupid rule. Not only does it waste everyone's time having to rebook the gp and go on again, when it could have been dealt with in one go? Such a lack of efficiency. Is it the same in scotland? I have seen no notice stating only 1 ailment per appointment, please do not present more than, one symptom, its madness!

my surgery wouldn't give me an emergency appointment they changed to walk in style, which is silly, fr very infirm patients, screaming toddlers and those who are vey ill. I was very ill i walked in had to wait til surgery nearly came to an end and by then i was shivering but had a soaring temp and baby with me. One look at me gp sent me to hospital I'm lucky to be alive. This one rule would have meant i was dead.

justanuthermanicmumsday · 13/07/2013 01:03

As for notes they're easy to pull up within 1 minute on the computer system. It's not like when i was younger when they used paper files and secretaries to pass them over.

fabergeegg · 13/07/2013 01:11

Well I can see that the GP was reasonable not to want to deal with the acne issue. But the OP doesn't sound as if she was being rude. It was a simple request; the GP had only to say 'sorry but no'. Don't be daft. But it does sound like the GP is suffering from NHSitis, in which any concept of the patient as an adult worthy of respect and courtesy has gone out the window. From what the OP described, she sounded more like a bossy teacher giving off to a pupil who has forgotten her homework.

Regarding one problem per appointment - still think it's utterly ridiculous! It may sound obvious that acne isn't related to a sore throat. That's a stand-out example though and not representative of where many of us are at. GPs are trained to diagnosis. Patients bring multiple symptoms in one body - the professional's job is to sort out what belongs where. If a GP decided he/she had identified one problem and was unable to make a decision about treatment for possible other problems, then that would be halfway reasonable (although not particularly, given how horrendously difficult it can be for an older/disabled/parent to get and attend an appointment). But to expect all patients to industriously describe their sore throat while keeping their nausea and rash and muscle weakness for another day - you have got to be joking. The NHS isn't working and this kind of thing is a brilliant example of why that is - and why many doctors would be out of a job if they were expected to actually perform what they're trained to do.

justanuthermanicmumsday · 13/07/2013 01:12

i do feel sorry for the gp concerned sounds like she had a hard day, but not all GPS are great either. I had an emergency appointment before i went back to scotland. Rather than doing something about my high temp she told me to use paracetamol even though i said i had used it and ibuprofen for 1 week and had never felt So bad in my life. Only when I went back home to scotland did my gp quickly send me to the hospital. lets face it there are incompetent docs out there too. In this posters case i think she was a good gp, but had to follow the bureaucratic nh rules, to get her work completed.

Btw i always find duty docs dismissive because its unlikely they'll see you again they work across surgeries. i always wait it out for an hour to get a regular gp I'm familiar with, or go Walk in or a&e. i know i won't wait next time I'm ill badly its a&e

fabergeegg · 13/07/2013 01:12

trained to diagnose, rather :)

ilovesooty · 13/07/2013 01:52

You got an emergency appointment and the emergency was dealt with. I don't see a problem. And your daughter should be capable of dealing with her own non emergency medication without your input.

Is it health professionals bashing time just now?

timidviper · 13/07/2013 02:09

Just for info to the person who said records can be pulled up in 1 minute. No they can't unless the patient is registered at that surgery. The DD is registered at uni, so her notes would not be accessible to the GP meaning any consultation would be "done blind".

kali110 · 13/07/2013 02:22

Very true timid what i was trying to say. When i went to uni i didnt know my old gp details and when i came home i had no clue what their details were either ( as id had to change twice due to the one surgery suddenly closing down with no warning) so my old docs had no idea some of the medication that i had had prescribed.

FirstStopCafe · 13/07/2013 03:13

I can understand both sides of this. I always feel as though I'm wasting the GP's time when I need an appointment to get a repeat prescription of something. They usually are very quick so I can see why tagging it on the end of another appointment seems to make sense. Overall I think it would save nhs time.

However I also can see the point of view of the gp. Particularly as your daughter was a temporary patient. I don't think the way she handled it sounds particularly professional though. She shouldn't be moaning to patients about how long she's been there.

Hope your dd is feeling better

toomanyfionas · 13/07/2013 04:23

Makes me glad I don't live in the UK. I often try to serve up family ailments in a batch and it's never a problem. And we always get same day appointments.

Gemd81 · 13/07/2013 04:40

No YANBU sometimes they forget just cos its nhs they're still a service and we pay their wages most of them so OTT god complexes!

VixZenFenchell · 13/07/2013 05:39

I was going to write a reasoned reply.

But they've been written and ignored already.

One problem one consult is standard. One problem may present with multiple symptoms so all symptoms should be discussed. It's up to the GP to decide what is relevant to the most immediate problem and what can be left for discussion at another time.

I doubt any of the "we pay your wages""lazy crap GP""earn more than 100k for sitting on your arse all day" brigade will take any notice of me either.

The GP in this case was absolutely correct not to prescribe routine medication as part of a emergency appointment, that needs to be done with ongoing follow up for side effects which should be done by her permanent GP.

Freudianslap · 13/07/2013 06:05

'most of them so OTT god complexes' !!!'

Yes dear.... What utter nonsense.

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