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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

This man should not have been seen before us

83 replies

Teenagecrisisagain · 22/02/2016 20:10

Dd2 felt unwell after school. Suspected UTI and very high blood sugar (she has type 1 diabetes). I called for an emergency appt and was told yes but we may have a long wait. That was ok as she needed to be seen and often there is a wait

We got there and waited. And waited. After 45 mins dd was quite fed up and obviously feeling rubbish so o have her water and tried to distract her etc. after an hour she was more unhappy and tired.

Our surgery is not a walk in. In our borough there are three big walk in surgeries /ooh for anyone and also both hospitals have urgent care centres

A man walked in and said he had an appt. after a while two receptionists were speaking to him saying it was impossible he had an appt as he wasn't registered with the surgery. He kept arguing saying he wanted to see a Dr. They kept saying no. They asked where he lived and he named somewhere approx 30 mins away so not even in the surgery catchment. He sat down and refused to go saying he wanted a prescription.

They kept reiterating he wasn't a patient and they didn't have his medical notes but he insisted.

They then let him see a doctor! Dd had to wait another 20 minutes so I complained and they said "oh we had to see him he had been waiting" to which I replied "so have we and dd is six years old and feeling very unwell and had to wait longer than someone unregistered who just walked in and demanded an appt???!" They just said "sorry"

AIBU to put a proper complaint in tomorrow to the practice manager? There's no way I could walk In to a random non walkin surgery and just demand to be seen! It's not fair at all when other people have to register and wait

OP posts:

Original poster

Teenagecrisisagain · 22/02/2016 20:57

It was just frustrating

Like some posters have said though perhaps better he was seen and got out of the surgery but at the time with a poorly dd it was very very annoying

OP posts:

Micah · 22/02/2016 20:58

His prescription might have been methadone or something equally urgent.

He walks in, says i need my methadone script or im walking out to get heroin. Simple, quick job for the gp to prescribe, a whole lot of issues averted.

Or caring for a cancer patient at home and needing painkillers quickly.

Sorry but yabu. There's a lot of perfectly valid reasons he might have been seen first. Even if you complain, all you'll get is another apology at best. You wont get an answer, patient confidentiality and that.

ForalltheSaints · 22/02/2016 20:59

You could contact the Practice Manager to say you felt that the staff were pressurised and perhaps felt bullied by him into jumping the queue as it were.

Blacksheep78 · 22/02/2016 20:59

An obviously ill 6yo with a diabetes problem should have been seen immediately. Make the complaint.

Musicaltheatremum · 22/02/2016 21:01

It would be worth raising your concerns. I would not have seen him ahead of you (unless there were valid reasons) the only other option is another GP agreed to see him. No they can't put you off the list for complaining. So I would diplomatically raise your concerns about this.

goodnightdarthvader1 · 22/02/2016 21:05

And if DD had had gone into a diabetic coma because of Mr Methadone, I'd raise hell.

Wellthen · 22/02/2016 21:09

Yabu, as many have said there is most likely a lot more to this. "just a prescription' can be life or death - GPs do more than diagnose. Perhaps he had run out of something vital, in which case simply handing over to the doctor to get it is the easiest way to end the situation for everyone. Should the receptionist have called the police knowing that this man (how ever much of a twat he may be) is walking away without life saving medication? I wouldn't like to make that decision.

You have no idea how ill he is. Saying he 'looked well' is meaningless - people can look well the week they are diagnosed with a terminal disease.

Also, I wouldn't personally be advertising the fact that I listened carefully enough to a receptionist-patient conversation carefully enough to hear his issue and address! They may have been talking loudly but surely everyone tries to ignore/forget what they hear in the waiting room.

Original poster

Teenagecrisisagain · 22/02/2016 21:14

The waiting area is right next to reception and the receptionists themselves were not quiet in the slightest. They and the man would have known we could hear it all so it wouldn't have surprised them that if overheard

OP posts:

Oldsu · 22/02/2016 21:14

It is possible just to go into a GP surgery where you are not registered and be seen if its an emergency.

Happened to me in October I had a tickly cough when I left for work by the time I got into work 3/4 of an hour later, I was struggling for breath and was really ill.

Colleagues panicked and were going to call an ambulance but one put me into her car and took me to her GP practise, I was seen within 5 minutes after filling out a form and diagnosed with a severe chest infection .

It might be of course that I live in an area where there are a lot of holiday makers so maybe its something the surgery is geared up for..
But what ever the reason I was very very grateful and yes I did realise that other patients waiting who were registered with that GP were going to be waiting longer as I was being seen.

If the surgery hadn't been able to see me my colleague would have driven me to hospital, I certainly wouldn't have made a fuss and demanded to be seen, the receptionist took one look at me and sprung into action so I must have looked as if I was at deaths door

Original poster

Teenagecrisisagain · 22/02/2016 21:16

It was more the fact that he was unregistered and had come quite a long way (?) to insist on seeing a doctor there. It just came across as very rude and made me wonder perhaps it wasn't the first surgery he had tried but with three actual walk in centres in the borough why choose one that isn't a walk in. Very odd and very frustrating when dd was feeling so unwell

OP posts:

BarbarianMum · 22/02/2016 21:26

A week after my parents moved, my dad got seriously ill (heart failure as it turns out). He hadn't got round to registering with a Gp and the local one wouldn't see him Then practice in the centre of town agreed to after my mum phoned and begged. Saved his life.

I don't know if you are being U or not but doctors will thankfully bend the rules on occasion.

MidniteScribbler · 22/02/2016 21:32

I can understand your frustration, but I suspect that it was the most reasonable course of action for the safety of staff and other patients.

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 22/02/2016 21:41

I work at a GP surgery and my manager would have said no and that'd be it. We arent a walk in and we wont see people at the expense of our patient. Only in exceptional circumstances would we have done that.

I'd complain to the practice manager, they cant throw you off the books without valid reason.

MudCity · 22/02/2016 21:41

I think it's one of those situations where you have to trust the staff's judgement that he needed to be seen first.

We don't always know why some people take priority as they may not appear ill but we have to trust there is a reason, whatever it is.

So, no, I wouldn't complain. Your daughter was seen and I assume her needs were met in spite of the wait. You are fortunate that you have a surgery which will ensure you are seen on the same day. Many people don't.

ohtheholidays · 22/02/2016 21:43

No that was bang out of order and I would complain.Your poor DD I hope she's started feeling better now.

MrsOs · 22/02/2016 21:55

Yanbu they are bang out of order and you should complain... I would have been livid. He should have been turned away!

Nancery · 22/02/2016 22:02

Hi OP. Im a Type 1 diabetic and can empathise with how grotty your poor DD must be feeling. I hope the medicine for her UTI kicks in sharpish and her blood sugar starts to get back to normal.

And, I don't think you were being unreasonable either!

Paulat2112 · 22/02/2016 22:06

YANBU

suchafuss · 22/02/2016 22:06

Diabetes can deteriorate rapidly and with serious consequences. Complain

insan1tyscartching · 22/02/2016 22:12

It could be that he was "known" and the safest option was to get him out as soon as possible. When I worked in the benefits office there were certain clients who were "known" or had their claims marked in such a way that everyone knew they were a risk. If one came in agitated we would have seen them as a priority regardless as to the length of the queues. It obviously appeared very unfair to those waiting but it was a matter of keeping them and the staff free from harm.

228agreenend · 22/02/2016 22:18

In our gp surgery, they only see registered patients. If you are staying in the area, you can register as a temporary patient. They wouldn't see unregistered patients, I'm not sure it's even allowed.

lougle · 22/02/2016 22:27

Just to clarify....your DD had a suspected UTI and high blood sugars. The corrective measure for raised blood sugars is insulin. Which presumably you had and could give? She also had a fever? Which could be reduced by paracetamol, if necessary, which again you have (or could get OTC). So that leaves the UTI, which would be treated by antibiotics. Antibiotics take time to start working and don't relieve symptoms, so there would be little difference in being seen 20 minutes earlier or 20 minutes later.

YABU.

But I hope your DD gets well soon.

ClarenceTheLion · 22/02/2016 22:34

I'd complain. This is one of those cases where we can all pitch in and say 'oh, it might be this, it might be that', but you were there. If you think it's unreasonable, that it was just a case of receptionists letting a rude person push in because he was more insistent than you, that's probably what it was. You should complain, not just for yourself, but so they think twice before letting themselves get bulldozed so easily next time.

Oldsu · 22/02/2016 22:48

228agreenend it must be allowed otherwise I would not have been seen by my colleagues GP and I was.

It MAY have been because my town is a tourist town and there are a lot of hotels near where I work so lots of out of town visitors.

But I was seen in five minutes, I just signed a form

t1mum · 22/02/2016 22:59

lougle - "Just to clarify....your DD had a suspected UTI and high blood sugars. The corrective measure for raised blood sugars is insulin.Which presumably you had and could give?"

When a type 1 child is ill their insulin needs can change very dramatically. You can only give correction doses every couple of hours and it is impossible to tell whether the correction dose will have no impact on the blood sugar or whether it will be too much (leading to severe hypoglycaemia/seizure). Meanwhile high bloods and illness lead to ketones which means DKA (life threatening coma) can develop in a matter of a couple of hours. And her DD would have felt like absolute crap.

OP - I do think that the receptionists were trying to get a potentially dangerous patient out of the waiting room, but I really feel for your DD. Hope she is feeling better now and that the antibiotics are kicking in.

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