to think nhs could save a lot of money if docs did their jobs?

[HelenHen]

It seems far too common for docs to write something off as a virus or to tell people to 'keep an eye on it's

I had to hold my 2 year old in such a way so as to make him scream today to show the doc that there is a problem. He was determined to fob me off and get rid of me. It's really disheartening!

If it gets worse we'll take him o a&e. I'm hoping they're right and it will get better but am sick of the apathy!

I hear what you are saying HelenHen, in the past I have come away from the Doctors feeling very anxious and questioned their judgment but luckily in my circumstances the GP's have always been right and the virus has run it's course.

My DS (4) has received excellent care from the NHS over the last few days. I took him to our drop in centre on Monday evening because I was concerned that he had been severely vomiting and had the runs since Friday and it was showing no signs of decreasing. I expected to be sent away but he was that concerned about the size of DS tummy that he sent him to A & E who admitted him. After constant monitoring, an x-ray, blood test, stool sample and lot's of interaction with the play specialists,we were allowed home the next day. The Community Nurse rung me this morning asking if I required her assistance and told me I must not hesitate to contact her and if need be he will be re-admitted. I could not ask for better care, so there is good practice out there. Ours is a hospital which has a terrible reputation and often makes the national news but the paediatrics and maternity departments are second to none.

My sister died of undiagnosed lung cancer and my mum had several mini strokes and even a full blown one which was missed by doctors. 2 young children also lost their dad due to a gps wrong diagnosis.

So I do get where you are oming from op.
However, we Re generally very lucky with the nhs

How on earth can a Stroke be missed by doctors - my dad had a mini one and i guessed what it was immediately.

Don't know if it's still the case but I read a book written by a nhs doctor where he said they were allocated x amount of time per patient but got extra cash for ticking the diet advice and exercise advice boxes, which took up a chunk of every appointment.

My sister nearly died from pneumonia because a GP insisted that she had a bit of a cold, my other sister took one look at her and immediately took her to a&e...she ended up having to have her chest cranked open to dig out the pus, it was touch and go. My brother nearly dies from a hospital acquired infection, another GP missed that. Doctors would do well to lose a bit of their god complex.

The only problem I've found is nurses seem to be doing a lot of the roles doctors once did, leaving behind their availability to do the more caring roles. But on the whole I think doctors are brilliant and I thank them for everything they do. They saved my life on more than one occasion. If it's a virus there's nothing they can do. Let your child's body do what it needs to do.

We called a gp out following her full blown stroke. Gp was going to send her to eye hospital. Junior doctor at hospital also though it was just an eye problem too.

My sister who was there at the time thought it was a stroke too.

Unfortunately, in the two surgeries I have belonged to, most of the GP's haven't been all that great.

I know mine are always running 30 minutes behind and as a result, they seem very eager to get you out of the door. I have never felt comfortable taken up 10 minutes of their time as it is so obvious they want to catch up.

I had a GP who was fantastic but he is retired now.

My mum lives in the country and her surgery is full of amazing GP's who really do go the extra mile.

Hi I am confused, you said that any moving of his hips causes him to scream and say sore back, but that the doc did a thorough check of his hips. Did your son not scream when the doc checked his hips?

If not and the pain is actually higher up in his back as opposed to his hips, then I personally would be very concerned at this. Back pain could be kidney infection, or something else but should be investigated if there is no clear sign of bruising from falling, or history of injury to cause the pain.

Personally I would not be happy leaving it in this situation.

Not any moving but if you raise his bum in a lying down position it hurts his back! Ds had a suspected clicks hip at birth, had a shallow socket at first scan, was in harness for some weeks and all subsequent scans have been clear. It's because of this history that they're focussed on the hip! But it's not his hip at all!

Regardless of his history, given what you've said on this thread, I think hips would have been the obvious first thing to check. I don't think the doctor was wrong to do a thorough hip check at all.

It doesn't sound like you or your DC were dealt with very well but I don't think the generalisation helps.
I work incredibly hard, listen to what patients say and hope to allay fears where needed. But this is on a background of reduced funding and more demands. It feels like GPs are blamed for the problems of the NHS by the government and patients too. As a result I left the UK and am now working as a GP in Australia where the system is not perfect either but there is more time and access to investigations and GPs are not constantly denigrated. The practice I was working in 4 out of 12 of us have now left to work overseas.

The GP surgery I grew into from it being my childhood praacticecwas terrible, but I didn't realise that until I worked up the nerve to change, and then had caring, thorough GPs to compare to. Even at the second practice there was one Dr I learned to avoid. I don't know why he has a completely misplaced sense of loyalty to them but my brother still hasn't left that first practice, even though they fobbed him off with a v. painful condition for years , which they only acknowledged had a real cause after my dad paid for private diagnosis and treatment abroad for him. My mum has stayed at the same place too, which I simply cannot understand - why would people have a sense of loyalty towards Drs who have given them terrible service.

And don't get me started on mental health and being closed out of specialist services and being caught in a cycle of getting referrals from GP back into service because... It's chronic, the GP has no other avenue but to refer you on. Why, why, why do they close your case and send you around in a frustrating but predictable circle? It certainly isn't for the patient's benefit and after over a decade of it it does get hard to remember to not vent your frustrations on the GP when they would rather not be caught in the cycle with you too.

Helen Hip pain actually can cause referred pain to the back, so don't be sure it rule it out. Is he hypermobile by any chance?

Candy I had to Google hypermobile . He's not but you may have just diagnosed his dad... And I see it's hereditary!

Mum2cjt I'm sorry about the generalisation and glad there are doctors like y

Another worry we have with ds is his growth. He seems to have stopped growing. He hasn't grown a mm in at least two months, also raised with hv and docs. Could this be normal or could there be any connection?

I think you need to go and force the docs to take your concern seriously. Growth does slow down considerably at 2 years, but not to stop too long. Has weight stopped progressing too? Even if all is well, you need to hear some reassurance that does just that, reassures you!

I had my son lose weight at age two, and I got treated like an idiot by the docs in hospital until they got out the growth charts to prove to me I was being stupid, then they realised that what I was saying was true, and finally did some tests to find out what was wrong.

Unfortunately I didn't bother having his height and Sri chug t monitored after a year as he was fine. But a few months ago all his friends shot up and he's stayed where he's at so it was only then we got hv to record it 7 weeks ago! I checked him today and he hasn't grown since she measured.

Can I ask what was wrong with your boy?

Meant to add his weight seems fine

It's normal for height to go in spurts so I wouldn't worry too much about that yet, perhaps ask your HV to measure him now and then again in a few months?

Notice you have already had the HV check. I wouldn't worry about no change in 7 weeks, and also remember it only takes a slight wriggle to make the measurement inaccurate too. DS "grew" 2cm when measured at clinic today when we realised he was slumped

Yep we've been waiting fir a spurt for a long time! Tbh I'm not sure he's grown much since about 18 months. It's just 7 weeks ago was when we got it recorded

late to thread this should be name, but to answer op I think a lot of them forget to listen as some point in their career and its v frustrating and I am not basing this on one doctor but have very sad personal experience of this , so no you are not being unreasonable at all.Each surgery should have an up to date expert in the most common conditions then we might get somewhere.

I have changed doctors due to our previous GP twice telling me ds' chest was clear and I was worrying needlessly when he actually had pneumonia and ended up in hospital. I felt that not listening to that extent was actually quite dangerous. Our new one is great though.