AIBU to complain that Doctor was virtually falling asleep in the consultation?

[BornOnThe4thJuly]

I took my DC for a Consultant appointment and the Doctor’s eyes were shutting for a split second constantly for the first hour or so but eventually he came round a bit towards the end.
Was I being unreasonable to say I want to see someone else? I can’t see how he can have taken in what we were saying, so god knows what the notes will say that he was typing.
It was very warm in the room, and it was late in the day, probably after a long week for him. I feel he should’ve excused himself though and gone and washed his face, got 2 mins fresh air, got a coffee, done something basically to sort himself out. Then returned to finish the assessment in a properly awake state!
I’m very annoyed at myself for not saying anything at the time. I was very taken aback and couldn’t think of what on earth to say to him, apart from WTF are you playing at!

@Alltneteabagshavegone

OP it’s the rule on MN that you should never ever criticise doctors, nurses or teachers.

I think I may have shouted ‘BANG’ really loudly to wake him up..

I wish this had occurred to me

I knew doctors and teachers were sacred on here, hence wondering what opinions would be. Finding the responses, especially the voting hilarious!

@CrowdedHouseinQuarantine

perhaps this was his way of concentrating on what you were saying?

was he actively yawning?

i guess it was his mannerism

He was in full PPE, face mask, gown, gloves and was nearly 3m away on the other side of the room, so impossible to say if he was yawning.

I agree, as I said I wish I’d said something at the time, and I’m annoyed at myself. I have a condition that makes concentration difficult at times and I was stressed and tired after a long journey to get there

@BornOnThe4thJuly Do you have ADHD too?

As someone who worked in that field for ages I'd be happy to look at a web link to the practice to give an opinion.

I'm sorry but I do think doing 2hr face to face appts at the moment is quite risky anyway.

wait for the report op

genuinely that could have been how he listens op,
ask the receptionist?

He was in full PPE, face mask, gown, gloves and was nearly 3m away on the other side of the room, so impossible to say if he was yawning

Too far away to see if he was yawning but close enough to see his eyes closing?

He was in full PPE, face mask, gown, gloves and was nearly 3m away on the other side of the room, so impossible to say if he was yawning.

Maybe he was just hot under all of that gear?

Was it a room with windows?

Before the appt did you have to complete a questionnaire?

often, the length of these appts can be reduced if a lot of the groundwork is covered before a meeting.

I still think it's the type of assessment that could have been done by video because it's totally inappropriate for a child with possible ADHD to be present in a room for 2 hours under the current circs with Covid.

Is this a 100% private practice?

however it does seem unnecessary to have a 2 hour face to face appointment in this scenario
was a video appointment offered?

@BillywilliamV

Loving the " yeah, you paid for this appointment so he should have stayed awake! " as if your doctor falling asleep on the NHS is perfectly acceptable!

Exactly! Not really setting a high bar with this are we. I get the NHS is a brilliant service and all that, but being able to concentrate properly during a consultation seems fairly essential for any medical appointment to me. So the fact it was private surely makes no difference.

He was in full PPE, face mask, gown, gloves and was nearly 3m away on the other side of the room, so impossible to say if he was yawning.

Oh come on @VinylDetective. She didn't say he was too far away to see him yawning, she said his mouth was covered by a mask so that means you can't see anyone yawning.

@BornOnThe4thJuly Link to the practice or PM me. I'm a former (pre retirement) professional in this field.

@CrowdedHouseinQuarantine

I am still asking if he was in full PPE and wondering why this was not a telephone/video appointment

Yeah full PPE, both windows open and him sitting in the bay window area. Door open too as we were the only patients in the building. I had gloves and face mask on too.

did he confirm the diagnosis op?

If he was typing, he can't be falling asleep?

@BornOnThe4thJuly I would like to try to offer support but need more info.

Was this appt urgent under the current circs when your child is not at school (I assume?)

Why was the practice doing f2f appts with children who notoriously find it hard to concentrate and perhaps sit still?

What type of dr was it?
The usual dr for this is a paediatrician. Some psychologists will assess.

Depending on the answer to the above, you can complain to the practice manager OR the professional body of the person who did the assessment.

What was the outcome of the meeting? Did they assess your child as having ADHD?
Was your child in the room all the time while you were discussing them?

@MiniMum97 not everyone with ADHD is hyperactive.
Actually the diagnostic criteria for ADHD specifically includes hyperactivity. The absence of hyperactivity would be a different diagnosis perhaps ADD?

What’s he talkative? Did he seem on the ball? Did you get anything from the consultation?
I would wait until you get the letter/findings from the consultation and if it appears obvious that he wasn’t paying attention then complain. At the end of the day he may well have been paying attention and you get the diagnosis you are hoping for. If you have never met this chap before how do you know this just isn’t the way he is? I’ve seen many hospital consultants some seem, frankly completely off the ball and a bit dim witted yet have been completely professional in the end.

Having spent decades involved with children having these assessments, all I can say is that there is wide range of professionals carrying out assessments.

There are unfortunately, some centres that are not high quality and do prey on parents being worried and happy to fork out hundreds of pounds for an assessment. Just because someone has 'dr' as their title doesn't mean they are good.

However, having read what the OP has said, I'm not sure there is enough to go on to say he was negligent.

OP- how did he behave towards your child? was there good interaction? Or did he talk just to you for 2 hours? what was your child doing for those 2 hours? Did they have tasks set by the dr to help him assess?

Since the only part of his face you could see was his eyes then you could hardly determine why he was closing his eyes. Wearing full
PPE is uncomfortable and once in place you can’t touch your face. Most of the medical masks are fibrous and after a few minutes the fibres irritate your face making it itch. The only way to relieve the itching is to screw up your eyes which with full PPE on would look like a slow blink.

I doubt it was the end of along week because not many families will be having assessments like this at the moment.

OP- was this on Friday or Saturday?

If it was Friday that was the hottest day of the year with temps of 100F in the south. If this man was togged out in full PPE I guess he was simply expiring with the heat. If it was Saturday, it was still very warm.

Are you over-reacting perhaps?

@Angrymum22 I doubt he was wearing that type of mask as it wasn't actually a clinical setting- he would be a 'dr' but that's not a surgeon or someone dealing with sick people- this was a psychological assessment.

Of course you should ask for an consultation and explain why

We need to move on from this mindset that the NHS is a gift that we mustn’t complain about

Its not acceptable. We know the NHS is under pressure and many staff are but that is for the NHS to manage and deal with not patients.

The consultant may have been coming down with something, overworked, had a heavy day, underlying illness, hungover what ever he reason of they are not fully attentive now can they give an accurate report

When we had our private ADHD appointment it was also the end of the day and most of these doctors work in the NHS too so they will be tired, but even so! YANBU.

Sorry just read it was a private consultant

Still the answer is the same it’s not acceptable

50/50 on the voting virtually, that’s hilarious

God why do people do this. It’s I’m right and I’ve already complained, and I find it oh so funny you all disagree because I’m so right.

Why post. Just hide the thread and move on.