To make a complaint about the GP?

[GoosevonMoose]

My 14 week old DC started showing some fairly alarming symptoms on Thursday. Rang the GP first thing Friday but had missed all the same day appointments. The duty doctor phoned me back within the hour. Having described DC symptoms in detail the duty doctor said she would refer us to the paediatrician. I questioned whether we should just go to A&E and was told absolutely not. After discussion with DH I decided to follow my gut and went to A&E anyway. Triage nurse put us in a room and the paediatrician admitted us as soon as she'd seen DC. Clearly the GP made the wrong call. Would I be unreasonable to complain to the GP practice or should I just leave it?

I would definitely complain. An awful decision from the doctor that if not for you following your instincts could have been disastrous. I wish you lots of luck at GOSH, I'm up there monthly, and was up there for two weeks from birth with my son. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself some time in the fresh air daily. There's a Tesco's express 5 mins walk away opposite Russell Sq station to pick up some supplies. And a Pizza Hut two minutes walk away, I spent many a quiet hour there to gather my thoughts.

Please complain. I really hope your baby gets a diagnosis and treatment soon. As for the people questioning the "absolutely not", I remember a GP telling me I was paranoid about my then 11 month old's cough and he actually started interrogated me about whether I had anxiety issues or possibly PND. I was really annoyed, his cough was awful and he was struggling to breathe. Anyway I went home really upset and worried. About 8 hours later in the night I heard a strangulated cry, ran in and DS1 was blue lipped and struggling for breath. I dialled 999 and screamed for DH who ran through and started packing a bag. We went straight to hospital where he was put on oxygen and had a chest x-ray - he had a chest infection which had developed into pneumonia. I then had to hold down a very distressed baby do they could put an IV in. I was so angry - I had been to 4 GP appointments in the previous fortnight and he had increasingly implied I was paranoid and mentally unstable. I complained - DS1 was lucky to make it.

If you thought it was an emergency you should have just gone to A & E yourself. Which you did, anyway...

She did, Against the express instructions of her GP.
That is the relevant issue here.
She asked medical advice from a professional and following that advice could have damaged her child.

Lilaclily I guess by posting the OP is reminding us that doctors are not all to be trusted.

Floggingmolly yes but we ordinary folks are being advised to not use A and E unless we really feel sure it is an emergency.

OP has said she may not have felt confivebt to against doctors instruction. Please OP write it 'll down. Including fact you may not have felt sure to go to A and E unless someone else encouraged it. Decide layer of your letter will be labked feedback or complaint. I think this should be investigated. Why are GPs giving this advice, pressure from within NHS?

Do complain, OP. I'm so sorry to hear this, I really hope your baby gets well soon. At least he's in good hands now

PMd

YANBU. If I were you, I would write formally as a PP said to get them to review their procedures. I was once prescribed an antibiotic that is contraindicated with a medication that is prescribed by the hospital pharmacy. I became very ill but fortunately, had the foresight to phone the pharmacist and I stopped the medication and improved. I wrote to my surgery not to complain but to highlight a fault in the system. They now have a nice little pop up box that says "patient is prescribed X, Y and Z from * hospital". I felt bad for "complaining" when nothing terrible happened but how do they learn if they don't get any feedback?

Hi there. I don't usually post on these forums, but felt I had to get in touch when reading your post. My son was diagnosed with infantile spasms 4 months ago and from the sounds of your post, I'm guessing you're worried about the same diagnosis.
In regards to complaining about the GP, my advice would be to save your strength at the moment. As a previous poster put, write things down and maybe in the future when things have calmed down you can pursue that, but at the moment focus on your baby and taking things one step at a time.
I sincerely hope you get a much less serious diagnosis than we did and that it's just "usual baby movements".
Seizures are never fun things to witness, especially not in a baby!
Sending positive thoughts your way.

Your GP will get a copy of the hospital admission and realise they made a mistake. You went to A&E and got help, if my child had been having a seizure or apparent seizure I wouldn't have been talking to a GP I would have been straight to hospital.

God it must feel good to think that you know exactly what a seizure looks like, Awkward. But they don't look like a fucking gran mal! These are small jerky movement and I hope you don't ever see them or think you see them and you can carry on with with your smugness. And I don't mean that sarcastically. I wouldn't wish this one anyone.

MelonB can you share more? What the movements looked like? How old your baby was? Were you seen at GOSH? Apparently she is having an EEG, spinal tap and MRI under a general anaesthetic. I feel sick. Her movements look just like the videos of IS babies.

I think the GP was falsely reassured by the fact your baby had already been seen by the Paediatrician- I'm sure they would want to know what has happened -it is important for them to learn from this . Perhaps you could let them know , it doesn't have to be via a complaint . I'm sorry this must be very frightening , you absolutely did the right thing by going to A and E - I hope your little one is ok .

I've PM'd you.

Hope littleone is better OP...i would complain as seizures are a real red flag

if you had been on the doorstep of the doctors at 0800hrs you could have got a same day appointment so maybe your apparent lack of urgency at the time spoke volumes to the doctor , who knows

This may be the case at your doctors but it is certainly not the case at mine

Yes absolutely complaint.

Yes the NHS is over stretched. Yes GPs are busy and over worked. Yes everybody is human and mistakes happen.

But.

This is a baby's life. A telephone consultation isn't always enough to asses certain situations.
They arranged a none urgent pead referral. A&E admitted the baby. They clearly made a mistake that needs highlighting. Next time it could be a baby that loses their life.

Yes please give feedback to the surgery, address it to the practice manager and name the GP that you spoke to (if you don't know the name just put the duty Dr for that date). It's constructive feedback and can be used a learning opportunity for all the GPs in the practice.

Yes you should complain.

GP's are over worked trying to deal with patients who would normally get significant social care, but who have lost funding.

There is no guarantee that receiving the letter from A&E will ensure they join the dots and realise a mistake has been made.

It's not about punishment, it's about feedback, no one can learn from a mistake unless it's pointed out.

It may well be a useful learning point for the whole practice and mean the next child is appropriately referred.

My GP surgery are very careful with babies and it's rare that a GP won't want to see a baby following a telephone consultation, just to be safe.

If you had been on the doorstep of the doctors at 0800hrs you could have got a same day appointment so maybe your apparent lack of urgency at the time spoke volumes to the doctor , who knows

So doctors have a secret stash of appointments that are only given out to those in the know, which doesn't include me? I've always wondered why people in the UK don't revolt at waiting times measured in weeks rather than hours to see a GP, now I know it's because it's only a few poor ignorant saps like me who suffer from them, the rest of you can get in whenever you want.

It would be worth framing a complaint in terms of the surgery looking at their policies generally - e.g. should they be saying they will see babies under a certain age automatically, and what should their response to reports of possible seizures be.

I wish you and your baby strength and I hope you get some reassurance soon.

I would ask the consultant you see to write to your GP. I would also, perhaps later, ask if they think it needs investigation.

At some point in the future, make some time to go through this with PALS and see how you feel.

Awkward
You have no idea what you are talking about.
I hope you never have to find out either.

Make an appointment to discuss this with the Practice Manager. Get all your facts straight and go in when you're feeling calm and in control. Take someone with you DH?

We should all be prepared to take things further if we feel that services have let us down. It's only through doing this that lessons are learned.

The practice should have a clear complaints procedure, which the Practice Manager should tell you about.

I hope your DC is soon better.

Thank you for those that PM'd me. Unfortunately my inbox shows zero messages yet I got an email notification that I have a message. I'll try from my proper computer when we get home.

I would be writing a letter stating the facts in an unemotional way, and finishing it by stating that you feel the decision and advice from the GP was incorrect and you want it looking into.

In the NHS that is the very definition of 'complaint'. (Source: I used to work in an NHS complaints department)

OP definitely raise this as a complaint, but include 2 extra words in there - "patient safety". Tell your GP practice you want it raised as a patient safety incident as well due to the paediatrician telling you that every one of these seizures carries a risk of brain damage. This GP didn't examine your baby, told you not to bother with A&E and referred you to a clinic that only runs weekly - they put your baby's health, and life, at risk.

Speaking as someone who has worked in this area of the NHS, this would have been taken very seriously by my team.