To think the gps at my surgery shouldnt advise patients on things they know nothing about?

[Koothrapanties]

Dd has bad reflux and cows milk protein allergy.

It took months to get her a diagnosis and this was only once she was so ill she was admitted to hospital with blood in her poo and every other symptom on the list. She was in a very bad way. I had gone to the gp again and again, but had been dismissed as a hysterical first time mother.

She was put on domperidone, gaviscon and nutramigen (special milk) by her paediatrician and has been thriving ever since, still very sicky, but much better.

We had to go to the gp to get her medications on repeat prescription and were told by the gp to get her off of domperidone because it was an antipsychotic and very dangerous for her. We tried to wean her down on it but she started projectile vomiting again and was losing most of her feeds. Spoke to the paediatrician who was very cross that the gp had meddled and explained that what she had said was rubbish, and explained any side effects domperidone can cause.

I saw another gp for myself today and quickly asked him how to arrange dd's change to the next stage of nutramigen at 6 months. He told me to give her cows milk because nutramigen is not nutritious enough apparently?! I told him that the paediatrician had said not to even try to introduce it until after 12 months as she had such a bad reaction, and The gp didn't seem best pleased.

The last gp I saw for my pelvis problem also told me I have a problem with my ICG joint, which my physio has told me doesn't even exist! They were all laughing at the letter she had sent to them which made no sense apparently.

This isn't good enough surely? I understand GPs aren't experts in every area, but they shouldn't be giving out dangerous advice like they have for my dd! If they don't know, then surely they should leave it to the specialist dealing with the problem? Aibu?

Unfortunately From my experience as a mother of a child with SN, GP's know a bit about most things but not enough about everything. I always take more notice of specialist's to be honest.

Sorry had to pop out. .

Some of your comments are very depressing. I know the nhs is free, but it doesn't excuse poor care.

I completely understand that a gp isn't going to be an expert in all areas, but I was really quite shocked today.

Silver yes I would agree that was quite a generalisation. I know there are fantastic gps out there, I miss my old gp!

I have had fantastic GPs , I have had good GPs but only one terrible GP so it is just like any other profession really, very small percentage suck at their job.

My consultant ended up recommending I change GP as my GP was doing me harm, going against the specialist and removing important and vital medication because he didn't like it. I don't like having to take that med either, I would gladly change to an alternative without so many side effects if it existed!
One call to my old family GP and I was back on his books even though I was technically not in his practice area anymore. I was terrified when I relocated hundreds of miles away. My medical history and disability make changing doctors as stressful business as bothering about me is clear cut or straight forward. I have to say though that in the 8 years since then I have had three GPs, one was amazing, one was okay and the current one is very good. My new specialist are great and have done a great deal for me. I think that my expire nice with that one bad GP made me very frightened of ending up in that situation again, I am very glad my fear was unnecessary but I am sad that I had to go through the anxiaty of it all due to the terrible GP that I had years before that.
Sadly the rare bad GPs have ripple effects that can go a very long way even after you are no longer their patient.

OP if you know best you could always pay private or retrain as a GP, it sounds like the NHS needs you.

The NHS is not free - we collectively pay a lot of money for it. There are good staff and bad staff in it. There are good and committed staff but there are also bad ones, and there should be a way of making sure that the bad ones are not able to go on giving duff or even dangerous advice.

This thread has made me so upset as i was fobbed off repeatedly but hv and gp with dd who screamed after feeding, had persistent diareah and never smiled till weaned at 5 months...i developed post natal psychosis and i believe this was partly due to thinking i was a terrible mother due to dd screaming so much and never being happy. Once weaned she was a different baby entirely.
Of course, by that point I was very ill.

I just wanted to share this as it was a factor in my illness and i wished i had trusted my instincts more and had the strength to push gp to get dd better...don't be fobbed off, trust your instincts. My new gp is amazing both for me and dd, always investigates all avenues until problem is resolved.

There care from gps/nurses/hvs can have such a huge impact on first time mums especially.

Dolphins what a completely ridiculous comment. Because I object to being firstly told to stop dds meds, making her much worse, then today told to do something that would have made her seriously ill and end up back in hospital, you give me that crap? How exactly am I supposed to feel when they are putting my dd at risk with shitty advice?

But it's free krooth and they are drs they can't possibly be wrong ever

YANBU. Agreed. If you, as a GP, have referred to a specialist, then the specialist should take over that aspect of care. If you have concerns about the treatment your patient is receiving, and you believe certain aspects are ill-advised, then bring it up with the specialist.

Roadkill, so sorry you have had such a hard time, the stress of all that must do you no good.

Twinkle, I completely understand what you mean. I felt so low with all of it , i was very lucky not to sink into pnd. It makes you feel like a complete failure as you can't make your baby happy no matter what you do. I was lucky in that the hv supported me and stopped me from giving up as she was the only one who put it all together and realised what was wrong. How are you now? I hope you had the help you needed to get through it.

I completely agree cardomom. What is the point of specialists otherwise?

Koothra - a lot better now, thank you. It has been over a year since my excellent gp referred me to a wonderful cmht though...long recovery. So so sad that those first 5 months were a total nightmare though.

I remember being told 'oh yes, so many parents think their baby has reflux these days. DD is gaining weight well though, so she's fine'.

From my experience it seems that some hcps only wish to dictate to patients as they are wise oracles, whereas others actually want to work with and listen to patients.

Twinkle so glad to hear you are much better. It's not fair that you had to go through all that, especially thinking you were a bad mum.

Apricot, if you are still there! Me too. Was awful. DS had pyloric stenosis and the tellings off I had from several GPs at our surgery was awful. Only the fact that one female GP believed how bad it was and sent me for scan without even seeing DS got it sorted. Was going to complain but then was just so glad it was sorted and DS was OK.

Op, hopefully you will get the treatment you need and your little one will thrive. It definitely made me realise though, not just to accept that doctor knows best.

My gp was fine with domperidone but consultant paed gastroentolgist wanted ds weaned off it ASAP. I think drs often disagree about medecine.

Is there not another dr in the surgery you could see as it seems this one isn't helping you much?

it is what sconequeen says:

we are not receiving a 'free' service from 'angels' that we should be endlessly grateful for (even when they make mistakes)

we are paying for a service that is overstretched, badly managed and possibly underfunded (but those are political points)
but the hcp's in that service are trained and salaried and have unions etc

a parent of a small baby, as I was, in great pain and distress, should never be 'fobbed off' as it is clear many of us have been. there are cases in the paper every day about people receiving dangerously poor service from gps, as well as other hcps.

Yes, there are some outstanding ones, really outstanding.
I hope that you are one of them silversixpence.
I know it is hard not to be defensive when you feel your profession is being criticised. I belong to a profession that is often criticised too but I don't take it personally. I know I do my job to the best of my ability and I ask for guidance when I am not sure. I also know colleagues that I wouldn't refer my worst enemy to.

Don't take it personally silver, it isn't meant that way.

I was very lucky in that a young GP who saw my son just decided to try Nutragmigen straight away rather than wait and see and within 24 hours he was a changed child.

I have actually got another two GP's at the same practice who are absolute stars (and one who supported me in the most incredible way when I lost a child, I doubt if I will ever have such a good Dr again).

However, I have also had experiences where a GP has really had very little or very outdated knowledge about a problem.

I think this must be in the nature of being a GP now though, is there any way they could actually have the full and in depth knowledge of all the medical problems that we now understand and the current guidelines of treatment?

I tend to do a lot of research privately about conditions that have arisen in my family, and I find it is a real indicator of a good GP (and consultant) if they respect that research.

The times that my thoughts have been dismissed are the times that things have gone undiagnosed etc. which is a real warning flag now that I need to get a second opinion.

What I've found interesting, is the amount of times GPs fob us off.

I was always one of those people who thought I was a nuisance and wasting GPs time, and so often self treated my DCs or myself at home. Any GP visit usually ended in the words 'it's a virus, give them calpol'.

But I took my DS to A & E with one of these 'viruses' in the Summer and they admitted him and kept him in over night. He was put on a drip in case he got dehydrated too. He was no more ill than when I usually take him to the GPs, but the staff at A & E seem to take things a lot more seriously.

Similarly, I called 111 after the GP wouldn't see me, and I ended up taken by ambulance to hospital and kept in for two nights.

Sometimes I really think GPs are just gatekeepers. Not nurses- they are brilliant and anything routine, I will always book with the nurse as she seems to actually care. But I think the treatment from hospital staff and GP surgery staff is massively different and I would always now (wrongly, I know) take any concerns straight to hospital.

Sadly most Gps seem to dismiss most babies problems as a "virus" if they are not sure what it is, till it turns out to be meningitis and the 14 month old (my child) dies 24 hours later, they don't believe mothers intuition!!!

Littleducks, this was three different gps at the surgery. You don't get to choose who you see and it never seems possible to see the same doctor twice.

Lucy I don't think it is possible for a gp to know all the in depth information on everything, no, but I think they can look things up. I have had gps do that before.

Alark I understand where you are coming from, you have a very tough job. However I can't see how you can excuse a gp advising me to stop dd having nutramigen and give her cows milk when she has cmpa! Common sense dictates that that's a stupid idea.

Feel sorry for OP and those others of you who have has terrible experiences. I've rarely had to see a GP and when I have I've found them all helpful and sympathetic.

Several people have said they were labelled 'hysterical mother' or 'neurotic mother'. What do you mean? They actually called you this? Or you feel you were labelled this because you weren't referred straight to the hospital? I would have thought it's normal to have to attend more than once about the same problem as lots of things will settle down on their own? If they referred everyone straight away I'm pretty sure the nhs would collapse! Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick- if anyone was told they are just being hysterical that's awful.

Sometimes it's just a look.

A look that says "this is what babies do, they cry a lot"

Then reel off a non diagnosis of "colic"

Colic means "unexplained crying" it's not a diagnosis of anything.