To say the NHS don't care, and to think a private billing GP would care?

[plplz]

DD is 5 months old and I am convinced she has a chest infection, she feels warm, is wheezing and has had a cough for three weeks. Have had two covid tests and both negative, but the NHS doctor still won't see her. Its like they don't believe me and think I'm over reacting.

Her nursery sent her home because she had a temperature, and the GP said everyone is just being overly cautious and its probably nothing.

I am thinking maybe a non NHS doctor (one
I would have to pay for) might actually want to see us; because they have a financial interest to do so.

AIBU? Am I over reacting? Feels like the NHS just don't care now and covid is a great excuse not to actually treat anyone.

Could be whooping cough?

I've twice failed at getting my 1 year old seen by my GP. I'd not thought of a private appointment but I will look into it now. First time he was very poorly with a temp of 39.7 and now he has a testicular issues that needs checking. My GP is normally excellent but basically the shutters have been down on the service since March at my practice.

I'd play merry hell with the doctor until he agreed to see me personally.

Please ring 111 or take her to A&E.

Do this.

I'd very carefully ask how they have ruled out x, y and z over the phone and that they were 100% sure their diagnostic assesment was accurate over the phone. Given you are physically there and they are not, I'd say you are actually more qualified to say when something is a amiss.

My NHS GP surgery have made it crystal clear since March that they don't want anyone coming in. They are fulfilling the bare minimum of appointments they need to, to get their payment from the NHS.

Same with most dentists.

We have a private GP who we see if needed, £38 for the appointment and they see you within 24 hours of your request. The consultation is thorough, you really feel like you've been listened to - and no they don't dish out medication just because you feel you might need it or you've asked for it.

To be honest, with a 5 month old baby, I'd say you know better that there's something wrong over a GP who can't even be arsed to examine the child. If she's wheezing I'd be going to A&E.

@FrancesFlute please read my post properly. I did not say that NHS GPs cared less.

I am sorry your relationship with your DH is poor. I too had a DH who for 20years worked 15/16 hour days (not a GP but a very high pressure/high responsibility role). I had to accept him only seeing the children at weekends and sometimes less but we worked as a team through it

You sound as though you are hurting and I am sorry for that.

Thanks @OhTheRoses. You suggested a private GP 'will give the impression of caring more'. I read that as therefore NHS GPs give the impression of caring less or not at all. Sorry if I misunderstood your point. (You have correctly identified it is a sore point for me).

On the whole, of course there will be a few bad apples, but it isn't fair to tarnish them all with the same brush. Like so many professions/businesses, most surgeries are doing their best under lots of pressure and responsibility. If sounds like the OP and several PPs have surgeries and doctors who are not working as well as they could be, which is a shame.

DH takes his stress out on me and doesn't help much at the weekends .

@FrancesFlute it sounds as though you have a DH problem rather than a GP Husband problem. My DH was pretty much absent for most parenting duties until the DC were older (interestingly that coincided with DS distinguishing himself on the sports field and the touch line and wicket turned into diary fixtures). On the whole he added to rather than helped with the domestic/family load but as I have said on many a thread he almost always responded well to being told to step up (If necessary) or stop being a dick (If necessary) and happily accepted a cleaner was a need not a want. If you can't good naturedly tell a man to buck up or fuck off for want of treading on egg shells you need a new man. I hope things work out for you and suspect you are amidst the hard yards of littlies during a dystopian period, possibly without much other family support. It's tough.

Vis a vis NHS GP services during covid ours switched seamlessly to digital almost immediately and services have been much improved and easier to access. Long may it last. And dd was referred over the summer to outpatients for a scan and was seen earlier than her appointment time - brilliant!

Did you actually get a (phone?) consultation with a gp or are you just getting fobbed off by the receptionists?

I only use private GPs. They don’t prescribe antibiotics when not needed, but they have time and don’t fob you off. I switched to private as I found I had to sometimes go 3 times to NHS GPs to get the correct diagnosis and could never get an appointment.

@Stompythedinosaur

In my experience staff who favour working in private practice are not more caring, no. They are more likely to do what the paying customer wants though.

100% agree

A friend of mine was diagnosed as "it's nothing" over the phone by the GP when she found a lump in her breast. Main reason was that she was under 30. She got a private referral within 24 hours through one of private GPs, and it wasn't "nothing" - not malignant, but she had to have quite urgent surgery.

I cannot fathom how a doctor can take a chance and diagnose things like this without even seeing their patient.

What you are describing does sound like bronchiolitis, you can read the NHS advice page here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/bronchiolitis/

"Bronchiolitis is a common lower respiratory tract infection that affects babies and young children under 2 years old.

Most cases are mild and clear up within 2 to 3 weeks without the need for treatment, although some children have severe symptoms and need hospital treatment.

The early symptoms of bronchiolitis are similar to those of a common cold, such as a runny nose and a cough.

Further symptoms then usually develop over the next few days, including:

a slight high temperature (fever)
a dry and persistent cough
difficulty feeding
rapid or noisy breathing (wheezing)"

Have they had a persistent high temperature over 5 days? Do they look unwell to you - i.e. unusually tired, refusing feeds, not interacting - I would make sure they're seen today by a doctor if your GP refuses then A&E unfortunately. Also check with your local provider regards walk in centres but a lot don't like seeing under 2yrs.

Have a good read through the bronchiolitis page as there is some good advice regards red flags to watch out for.

Op you should not be here you should be at A&E.a mother knows best as far as when her child is not right.
The NHS DO care,more so possibly than those who work in the private sector but for now ,forget about it.go and get your baby looked at.
I hope the advice so far is right and it's nothing to worry about,but please get yourselves up there as soon as you can.good luck.

A wheezing baby is an emergency. Go to a&e op.

Any update, OP? Have been hoping your DD is ok.

Thanks loads of the advice posters!

I did go to A&E and saw a paediatrician who basically said I have to always be a bossy mum when it comes to the NHS and that the squeaky wheels will get the grease.

Dr said the surgery was wrong to fob me off and I should be reporting them, no idea who to.

She has a virus that's causing her to have a sore throat; and that's why she isn't breastfeeding well. Normally she is ravenous. Poor girl.

I have been on about this to 111 and my dr for four weeks, 111 just put me back to my gp. And I even got two covid tests for her over the time to show them they could have us in the surgery. Being a new mum is hard enough let alone all this going on.

I’m currently paying a consultant as the waiting list was stupid in the NHS.

I’m trying to book another appointment, but cannot get hold of him and no returned calls. I can’t get any further medication without seeing him.

My lovely gp on the NHS responds quickly. So no, l wouldn’t bother paying.

There are some really bad GPs, mine is awful. (Everything is always “probably fine”... I ended up going private and needed three surgeries).

So my experience is that private is much better, not because they care more or are trying to make money, but they are less exhausted, have better equipment and their priority is not always to do what is cheapest. For example it is v v hard to get a child’s tonsils out on the nhs now even when the child has tonsillitis every couple of months. Private doctor took them out straight away = no more sick child and weight gain and development is much better.

I don't think the reluctance to whip out tonsils is a recent thing. My mum had trouble getting the GP to refer me when I was off school 1 week in 3 with tonsillitis, until she got an appointment with the most old-school GP at the practice who referred me to his ENT mate, who was equally old school.

This was in the late 1960s.

Skysblu we had exactly the same with grommets 25 years ago.

Email the GP practice manager with your complaint, also the CCG ( community commissioning group) for your area and Matt Hancock. I’ve had to call GP practices on a professional basis and the numbers who wouldn’t even answer the phone are shocking. The lack of GP care right now is scandalous and will lead to many more hospitalisation and deaths

Just go to a private GP if you aren't getting the answers you need. Tbh since our GP surgery started saying "I haven't got anything at all for 5 weeks" I stopped calling them and go private (although to be fair we don't go to the GP very often). It can give you real peace of mind, and if you do need a referral they will do it there and then.

Also contact your MP we need people to shout about this scandalous state of affairs as not everyone can afford £70 for a GP appointment and they are being paid from the public purse throughout the pandemic. As a HCP who have maintained a service and seen patients f2f if necessary with appropriate PPE I find the attitudes of some HCPs appalling