To say new GP was vile towards me?

[chattoaspanishgirl]

I couldn't see my regular GP so I had to visit what's called a locum Dr, I think they're GP's that are temporarily there.

Anyway, I went in because I needed some more Naproxen and mine is due to run out. I ended up going in my wheelchair because I physically cannot walk at the moment. I can't even use my crutches. I have to be helped in and out of the shower, I can't lift my arms up to put a jumper on... you get the idea.

I remember the conversion word for word. I came away feeling pathetic and useless.

He beamed at me and said "Helloo!"

Then he said "Oh no, what happened, why are you in a wheelchair? Had a fall?"

I said no, it's just my joints are incredibly stiff and I have muscle weakness. I can't walk.

He laughed and said of course you can! Have you tried ibuprofen?

I said yes, that didn't help. And no, I can't walk. I then went on to say I'd come for more Naproxen but it's on observation since it can cause stomach ulcers, and I have been coming in every so often to see my GP after a few repeats.

He said he wasn't sure I needed it, but he'd hand it over if I was certain I hadn't tried anything else to manage it

He then saw I was on tramadol and very vocally said "Tramadol!"

I said yes, for pain. He said I can't see why they've given you this. For Fibromyalgia? No no no. I think this needs reviewing.

I could quite literally feel myself welling up with tears. That medication is also under review but it's the only thing that takes the edge of some days, when things are simply unbearable.

Long story short, I came away with my prescription feeling pathetic and useless. As I went to leave, he said "should I open the door or will you stand and do it yourself? "

He had a lot of so called 'banter'

AIBU to feel so cross, or am I being sensitive? I really can never tell these days. I pass so much judgement it usually never phases me. But this feels like outright belittlement.

I just don't know what to think

He's a knobhead. Definitely request a meeting with the Practice Manager.

This!

The up side of course, is having a fresh pair of eyes on your condition and gibkibg about alternatives or investigations which your own GP may have overlooked having been caught in a rut of already deciding what's needed

With the greatest respect I've had so many bloody eyes over the years that the likelihood of a random locum, with no specialist pain training and no knowledge of me as a patient, coming up with some radical new miracle is pretty much zero. The chances of them dicking up my medication resulting in pain and impacted work until I can get it fixed by my regular GP/Consultant is quite high. I'd rather stick with my own GP and the myriad of specialists I've seen.

Agree with pp above you should be on omeprazole or similar to protect your stomach.
Have you seen a specialist OP? It’s awful you should have to put up with such treatment from doctors who don’t understand your history.

I work in a surgery some locums won't prescribe certain medications I guess it's because they don't know your history so they usually send the patient out and ask them to make a appointment with a regular Gp. They also don't usually sign repeat prescriptions e.g. the ones we print from a patients repeat and then give to the doctors to sign. All doctors i velieve gave been advised to review everyone on thst tyoe of medication and also slerping pills ect So I do understand the not prescribing but there was no need to be rude to you about he could of just explained the situation to you nicely

excuse typos on phone

re his last comment I would have been tempted to reply - "who do you think you are - Jesus"

Sorry you had to deal with him

You should make a formal complaint. You are not being unreasonable. Fibromyalgia is a very misunderstood condition and some doctors don’t believe it exists, despite the evidence that points to it being extremely painful and debilitating. It sounds like this doctor is one of those who don’t necessarily ‘believe’ in the condition. However, this attitude should be kept secret, and should not be broadcast to patients or affect his manner or the way he treats his patients, particularly when they are not his patients and he has no knowledge of their medical condition in which to base any doubt on. His personal beliefs about the condition are not your problem, especially since he isn’t your doctor and you haven’t consulted him for advice about your diagnosis but merely a repreat prescription. I feel so sorry for you. Using a wheelchair and being in pain must make you feel extremely fed up and vulnerable, not to mention how the pain must make you feel. This is disgusting.

Complain.

Jesus Christ! YES tramadol for fibro! My god, it's such a poorly-understood condition anyway, and you'll have spent so much time and mental/emotional/physical energy getting the diagnosis and figuring out what drugs work for you and whether you'll be allowed them. To have all that undermined in 5 minutes by a locum just makes my blood boil. I don't care if he was really jolly nice, he undermined you and could fuck up your treatment plan longterm. Complain, complain, complain.

Complain. He is fecking dangerous.
I'm so very sorry you had to endure such a knobhead.

Rafal, I agree that all Drs should be courteous and sensitive to the patients. As I said, Locums seeing patients with ongoing conditions and medications who usually see a regular Dr, need to be especially aware that the questions they HAVE to ask to clarify condition and medication, can cause patients to feel anxious and even threatened, especially if there is a suggestion that the usual diagnosis or medication is possibly being challenged.

The thing is that with these kind of things, there is always a matter of perception. Sometimes, without a doubt, a Dr has been rude, inappropriate or unfprofessional. Sometimes they haven't at all but a patient perceives these behaviours. Sometimes behaviour is such that it will be fine with some people and upset others. Patients who are sensitive due to the stress of illness and especially when seeing a Locum who doesn't know their background, might be more sensitive and feel they aren't treated kindly or courteously, even if they actually are. It's important to be aware of this.....and Dr surgeries will be aware of this, as they do receive complaints, some of which are warranted and others are due to perception issues.

Here, Op seems to report exact wording of what the GP said. It doesn't sound sensitive or polite.....but we are hearing it out of context of whole conversation. What is certainly the case, is OP felt uncomfortable during the whole thing. Was the GP aware of that....we don't know.

Is it worth a complaint? Well yes it is, if on reflection the OP decides the GP was inappropriate and rude, and that the way she felt was entirely due to his behaviour. It might be on reflection she thinks that his manner wasn't a manner of her preference, but it wasn't inappropriate, or that because she felt ill and stressed about having to explain her condition and medication, she was more sensitive to him than she might have been otherwise, that a complaint isn't needed. She will have to reflect on this and decide.....to be honest, strangers in the Internet who weren't there cannot really make a categorical judgement on this, but Op can.

What is absolutely right, is that wherever possible, for long term conditions, it helps a lot to see the same person. They understand the background, other professionals the patient has seen and other treatments they have tried and discarded and exactly why any medication is prescribed, and what to look out for in thinking about ending or continuing that medication. The patient and GP also get to know each other and each other's manner....so it isn't a surprise, and this helps too......in lomg term cases, a Dr -patient relationship really is needed, and you just don't have that with a Locum.

Mostly, with regular appointments it's poss to book for a time when the regular GP will be there. Sometimes it's not and I agree that patients should expects coutesy and to be taken seriously and that sensitivity is needed by Drs. But patients too should be aware that seeing a Locum will feel different and just the very nature of not having the prior relationship or shared backstory, which means more questions have to be asked, can make the patient feel less comfortable, even when done in a kindly way.

some locums won't prescribe certain medications I guess it's because they don't know your history so they usually send the patient out and ask them to make a appointment with a regular Gp.

Which rather defeats the point of having them for anything other than minor ailments. I can actually understand the nervousnous but it makes them pretty useless to me as a patient with a long term, chronic condition.

Do you tell patients when they make appts that if they are on long term medication they should not see a locum? Because having to do a delayed, repeat visit for someone with a painful disability is really not a trivial thing.

I recently had an upsetting experience with a locum GP. I spoke to the practice manager face to face and she was really good. I think feedback on locums is useful as they can not book them in future.

I'd also encourage you to feed it back to the clinical commissioning group and CQC.

Not banter. Just rude, insensitive, disparaging and inappropriate. Complain.

Whilst a fully qualified GP, a Locum will often be reluctant to, or told by the Practice, or in response to good practice guidelines, be reluctant to prescribe certain drugs, especially if they are rather unusual for a certain condition. The regular GP through months or years of the patient trying and discarding other drugs and seeing other specialists might have concluded that an unusual course of treatment is right, but the Locum cannot take responsibility for such actions without full knowledge.....and as Locums, they just won't have that full picture. This is why they will often ask patients to return and see the regular GP.

So yes, a Locum can be great for the day to day minor stuff, or the more serious regular and non controversial stuff, but won't be as useful for anything unusual or with an ongoing unusual or controversial treatment plan.....you're right, it's not a great help if you're in chronic pain....but how can it actually be different, if you think about it? Again, wherever possible, plan ahead, ask the regular GP when they will be around and book the next appointment so you see them.

And yes it would help if regular GPs point out that if you see someone else, you might not make much progress and need to wait until you see them again, and if Locums made clear that they aren't usually refusing treatment but that it is something the regular Dr needs to decide.....this might clarify the situation for patients and remove some of the stress.

Ideally, everyone would always see their regular Dr and these kind of things be avoided, but Drs go on holiday and emergencies happen...and both Drs and patients have to work within the constraints of being a Locum working with patients with ongoing conditions, with complex and sometimes controversial treatment plans.

"he didn't come across as aggressive, just very outspoken and overly 'bantery'"

Passive aggressively getting his point across that he thought your symptoms were, at best, psychosomatic or that you were exaggerating them.

Man was too cowardly to actually come out and voice his out-dated beliefs or actually accuse you of 'faking it', so he settled for making you feel like shit instead!

I'm so sorry you are having such a rough time just now and that this person made you feel even worse.

I think his bedside manners could have been better but you must know that some people are addicted to these addictive medications and exaggerate in order to get a repeat prescription? sadly those people ruin it for the genuine patients like yourself. I think he was hinting you may not be genuine and faking/exaggerating your illness. :(

Yep terrible behaviour from him, make a complaint. I have had such bad experiences with locums, they so often dont seem to give a shit. He shouldnt be able to put you on review after two seconds of seeing you either---leave that to your actual longterm doctor. I would kick up a fuss.

That wasn't banter he was just being an arse.
My partner is on morphine due to long term severe pain and if he had a doctor like that it would have upset him to.
Don't second guess yourself because of this locum.

Feed it back to the practice manager. Where I go, if you feed back to the manager about good or bad experiences with locums they take it into account when booking them and won’t book a bad one again. There’s plenty of locums to be had.

His manner could have been better?!! FFS he asked OP if she'd had a fall cos she was in a wheelchair?! Oh so no chance she might have a serious illness requiring a wheelchair, or even maybe been paralysed from the waist or you know, something like that? Just assumed she'd fallen over? Is that what people are meant to think when you see a wheelchair user? I'm incredulous. Please do complain OP.

And yes it would help if regular GPs point out that if you see someone else

Out of interest, how many practices do you know where patients are given this advice and/or are warned about it when making an appt? IME the opposite happens - you are pushed into taking the appointment available and when you say you would need to see (one of) the regular GPs you are challenged to explain why to an unqualified person.

I have never been warned when making appointments that a locum may want to review (ie remove) one of my prescribed medications.

Pretty much every patient I've ever met at pain clinics would tell you the same story.

Thank you for the replies, I will drop a line to the practice manager

Unfortunately, you can't book appointments in advance. You have to call on the day, and hope you get an appointment.

It's a bit of a shoddy system.

Elephant and op: i dont see the issue with asking if she has had a fall. Presumably a regular wheelchair user would be flagged up/mentioned intheir medical notes, if to mention that they may need help or accessible clinic and as he didn't see any such notes he did not expect a patient in wheelchair. it would make sense that she had a fall as a wheelchair is a pretty extreme aid for someone with such limited or no mobility and if she wasn't prescribed one or has it noted on her medical notes then i dont see why a new doctor would be wrong to ask that?! espcially that she was using it occaisionally because her joints happened to flare up.

it would be more insensitive if she had been a wheelchair user for the past 10 years because of say a spinal disability.

But he’s a doctor, he’s there to help you and perhaps that is exactly what he was trying to do. What if you shouldn’t be on tramadol and he knows of a much better alternative? I assume he read your notes so maybe he expected you to be in a better position than you appeared and perhaps had ideas on how to make that happen.

He asked why you were in a wheelchair chair. Well it's not because you like getting wheeled around or going wheel chair freekin racing is it!!!!!!.
If he'd read up on your notes ect he'd have known why you have to use a wheel chair.
To be honest i have my doubts whether he was a Doctor at all. I think his mum bought him a Doctors outfit for his birthday.