To make a complaint about this locum GP?

[QuestionableMouse]

Might be a bit long so bear with me.

Had a GP appointment this morning because I keep getting big nosebleeds (I had to have a vessel cauterised a while ago due to the same) . It was at 9:50am. I was there for 9:35 and in with the nurse getting bloods taken. Back in the waiting area by 9:45.

GP wanders in at 9:55 from the car park, spends ages messing about getting cups of tea and then finds he can't log on to the system. (I know all of this for fact as he kept going in the reception area and I could clearly hear his voice)

Goes back into his room with the practice manager who gets him on the system. I'm still standing waiting. I didn't get called through until 10:30. During this wait, I asked the receptionist what was happening and was told that he was setting his room up.

Finally go in and he barely looks up from the screen, doesn't examine me and doesn't seem at all interested in my problem. All he says about my nose is that it looks a bit red (externally, he didn't look at the inside at all)

Came out feeling like I'd totally wasted my time and with no help for the nosebleeds.

Part of me thinks they're under a lot of pressure and to let it go but another part of me thinks that he was totally wrong - if I wandered in work late and took an age to get organised, my boss would be on my case.

I'm NOT NHS bashing so please don't start with that.

WIBU to speak to the practice manager about this?

Absolutely would. Pretty sure you don’t need a bloody medical degree to know your nose looks red. Anyone could tell you that. You could go to a beauty counter to be told the same thing and be sold concealer. Honestly!!! What a waste of time!!! You also didn’t mention how long it took you to get the bloody appointment in the first place!

Yes you can complain

In my opinion there are too many shit doctors who don't care

Thanks.

I know last time I went with nosebleeds the GP looked up my nose with a scope thing. Was expecting that today but no.

Most GP surgeries are only giving you a face-to-face appointment if they are going to examine you.
Is it a regular GP in that practice, or might it be a locum? A locum might not have been called on until that morning, and it would explain being late, needing help logging on, and so on.

@lanthanum

Most GP surgeries are only giving you a face-to-face appointment if they are going to examine you. Is it a regular GP in that practice, or might it be a locum? A locum might not have been called on until that morning, and it would explain being late, needing help logging on, and so on.

The OP says in her post title that he was a locus.

Not a locus. Or a locust. A locum.

Pretty sure you don’t need a bloody medical degree to know your nose looks red.

No but a medical degree means he knows the possible causes of a nosebleed. Another GP has already examined OP and taken a history so trauma etc has been ruled out. There isn't much else he can do until he gets the bloods back to see if there is an underlying cause like anaemia etc. Presumably OP's blood pressure has been checked recently and is fine.

You can but it won't achieve anything.

I would, but id also gave a little sympathy for him being late. Not the shit appointment though, too many doctors don't care and he sounds one of them.

All the GP locums I've ever seen have been absolutely useless. They just want you out of the room. They do the least possible they can get away with and I've always had to make a further appointment with a proper GP afterwards. I refuse to see one now.

A locum suspected my elderly mother had multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that is treatable but incurable and very serious.

His prompt action probably saved her more bone fractures and agony and she was put on treatment before she became even sicker. Locums can be great and bring a fresh eye with them.

I'd not complain about being late etc. Purely because they might have been covering sick leave at short notice - hence turning up late and not having a log in ready to go. I was once replocated to a rehab facility within my trust due to sick leave one day, I turned up about 2 hours into the shift and didn't have an access card for the computers because we didn't use them at the hospital at the time - just one of those things unfortunately.

Although a valid complaint would be, why are they wasting a (presumably scarce) appointment slot on a patient if the doctor isn't going to examine them or actually do anything. Either they should have made the appointment for 48 hours later to discuss your blood results and look at treatment. Or the appointment should have involved an examination. Seems a bit of a waste of everyone's time to be honest!

How was it left apart from him telling you it looks red? Did he say monitor it and come back?

YANBU, obviously. Complain to the practice manager.

Nose and throat examinations were pretty much halted during the worst of covid so maybe that’s why he didn’t look in your nose. Lots of ENT Drs got v ill as it’s a higher risk examination looking in someone’s throat or nose (ears are ok though!!)
Also locum maybe called to cover at short notice hence why running late
I would have expected him to explain this to you though to be fair

OP, I can see your annoyance, but it sounds like he was late because he was probably booked last minute. Not being able to use the system is a common thing that happens in the NHS unfortunately.

The fact that he commented on your nose being red and had done nothing more just tells me that you were no longer bleeding at the time of the appt. There are special equipments that Ear, Nose and throat surgeons use to look inside, but GPs don't have these. Believe me, him coming close to your face and staring into your nostrils would've added nothing.
You need bloods to make sure you're not anaemic or have a bleeding disorder. If bleeding becomes non stop, then you need to be seen by an ENT doctor.

But as someone else has said, he should've apologised for lateness and explained a bit more to you.

I think I would speak to practise manager, in a " discreet word in your ear" way. With full details.

Apart from wasting your time he seems to have completely wasted the Practice's precious F2F patient appointment, right when such slots are scarce. They need to know that.

I wouldn’t be bothered by the lateness as such but rather his attitude. Did he apologise at all? Surely you’d get someone to sneak you in a coffee rather than obviously letting everyone know you were grabbing one before starting to see patients.

Did he talk you through anything? Fair enough if he didn’t want to look in your nose but he should have explained his rationale/expectations/safety netted.

He barely spoke to me. Asked why I was there, glanced at my face and told me my nose looked a bit red, then asked me to ring in a few days for my blood results.

I'd spoken to another GP after doing an online consultation and that GP wanted my nose examined.