To be really annoyed with my doctor

[MummaV]

There is a bit of a back story here.

I've always had low blood pressure and on rare occasions it has caused me to faint. Last summer I started feeling faint and dizzy more frequently and was passing out on a regular basis. With a baby I started to really worry about this and the danger I was potentially putting my DD in so I went to the doctor. I had lots of blood tests, an ECG, lots of tests on my blood pressure (which at the time was at the low end of normal). Nothing gave a definitive answer as to why I was passing out all the time but my ECG showed an anomaly. At the end of October I was to be referred to a diagnosis team at the hospital.

I didn't hear anything so I went back to the Doctor in November and had more tests, same results, they referred me again. I was told to wait until Christmas and if I hadn't heard anything to call them.

Shock horror, nothing. I called them on 4th January and was told that the referral had been sent in November and they would chase it up and to give them 2 weeks.

After lots of calls I finally spoke to the right person yesterday who advised a referral had NEVER been sent and that I'd have to wait until Monday to discuss it with my doctor and have all the tests done again.

So I have now spent 6 months fainting at least once a week and feeling dizzy and faint the majority of the time. I have a 9 month old who wants to be carried all the time and who I'm too scared to carry much in case I faint and fall on her. Its been 3 months since they were referring me and it still hasn't been done.

AIBU to be really annoyed that I have something wrong with me that makes me scared to live life normally and parent my child in the way I would like and that they seem to be dismissing it completely and not taking the necessary actions to get a diagnosis?

I don't feel that I Can trust them to make a referral any more but being the only surgery within the area where I live (I don't drive so can't move further afield, public transport isn't reliable) I can't change to another surgery either.

Sorry for the rant.

I'd be feckin' fuming too. Put all of that in writing - your original concerns, the agreed course of action, timeline of what actually happened, outcome - and send it to the practice manager. Make it very clear that this is the first step in a formal complaint procedure that you will follow all the way through to the ombudsman if necessary:

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-complain-if-youre-unhappy-with-your-gp-or-gp-surgery

Hit post too soon! In the meantime, ask if your local hospital have an out of hours GP you could present to if your surgery don't pull their finger out. Sudden drops in blood pressure (along with dizziness, palpitations, fainting) can be a sign of more serious problems with your heart's ability to regulate it's pace and rhythm and need to be investigated.