To be furious at GP....

[Dopeyduck]

Saw GP on Friday as DS was screaming inconsolably. Confirmed ear infection in both ears. As no temp no antibiotics were given. Pain relief and call back in a couple of days if no better.

Saturday DS developed a temp. By the middle of Saturday night it was 39.9 after paracetamol and ibuprofen, so I called 111 and spoke to out of hours GP.

She refused to see him as he had a temp - re covid, even though it’s an ear infection. Wouldn’t give antibiotics without seeing him and said ‘he’s probably just burning it off.’

Sunday DS is really poorly but temp is only 38.8. Called out of hours to be told they still won’t see him but he’s getting better.

Monday DS is worse still so I contact GP. They also won’t see him and tell me to keep at home or take to A&E if I’m very worried.

At 2am Tuesday morning I did take him up to A&E. temp 39.9 still. A&E were great and he was seen quickly by a lovely doctor. Doc took one look in his ears and said he’s got a very severe infection in both and he needs antibiotics immediately. He was appalled that nobody had prescribed antibiotics when he worsened and that they didn’t see him.

I now have a very very poorly baby who has suffered for 5 days because in my opinion the GP failed to give him adequate care because they’re more concerned about covid than sick kids.

I do understand covid is very serious situation but a temp is a symptom of many things. Covid or not sick children shouldn’t be ignored.

AIBU to complain?

" Meanwhile my eyebrow technician is happy to treat me wearing PPE 🤷‍♀️"

I'm guessing that they don't want to lose their livlihood?

@DumplingsAndStew - yes it was different drs. Friday seen by a GP then over the weekend it was out of hours via 111 and when I called my practice back on Monday the original Dr wasn’t available as he doesn’t work Mondays.

In hindsight yes I should have gone to A&E sooner but I was trying to avoid the hospital for a minor illness and for everyone’s benefit.

Yes, I agree with Sodamncold, I would have taken him to A&E on Saturday with temp of 39.9. Don't know why you didn't. Very high temp can have devastating consequences sometimes on small children.

@BangBux

Truthfully, a lot of GPs appear to be completely taking advantage of Covid to do less work than they did before. Mine in particular aren't doing any appointments at all - no emergency appointments, no non-emergency appointments, I can't get contraception, they aren't doing smears, wouldn't do DS's vaccinations, not doing flu jabs, wouldn't do a medical exam we needed (not even the over-the-phone questionnaire part), won't do a routine blood test... Begs the question what the hell they have been doing for months!

I don’t think this is true.

[quote Dopeyduck]@DumplingsAndStew - yes it was different drs. Friday seen by a GP then over the weekend it was out of hours via 111 and when I called my practice back on Monday the original Dr wasn’t available as he doesn’t work Mondays.

In hindsight yes I should have gone to A&E sooner but I was trying to avoid the hospital for a minor illness and for everyone’s benefit.[/quote]
But the GP specifically told you to go if you were really worried.

Yes please complain. The “advice” you got from several doctors before A&E was appalling. God complexes the lot of them!

Don’t blame you at all for being furious.

Ages ago, but my DM was dismissed by a GP when Dbro had recurrent ear pain. She eventually insisted on a referral - she steamed open the letter she was given - where she was described as a ‘fussing mother’!

The ENT consultant had him admitted immediately - ‘Don’t even go home for his pyjamas’ since he had a serious infection that needed a minor op.
DBro was left substantially deaf in that ear - it was bad enough to kybosh the naval career he’d always wanted.

I feel so sad for you and your little one. I had an ear infection too and although I was yet to have a temp on the Friday they gave me a prescription for antibiotics to start over the weekend if needed. This was all done over the phone. Surely your tiny child is more important than me a middle aged woman? ... or at the very least they deserved the same regard. I would write a letter to whomever is in charge at your local surgery. I hope your poor baby feels much better soon, ear infections are hellishly painful.

Nothing new and happened before covid
DD is nearly 14 and at 9 months old she was in pain, tugging at her left ear. I saw the GP 5 times over several weeks, he kept saying there was nothing wrong with her, you're being overly worried and neurotic.
At no point was she given antibiotics, even when she started to get sticky, smelly stuff out her ear.
I was told it was teething and her age and because she was 9 months she was pulling her ear in curiosity.
Christmas Eve, I was feeding her and thought she was dribbling and then she just screamed, her whole face just was showing how in pain she was and blood was coming out her ear, it stank as well. Called an ambulance as was so frightened. Her ear drum had burst. Children's A+E were disgusted that I had taken her back and forth and been fobbed off, he said she must have been in agony with it.
Suffice to say we left that GP pronto, but they put in her notes I caused it by failing to seek advice! Only found out when I had DS who was early and we got this miserable old midwife who brought it up and I got very cross and demanded a note be put on her file to dispute this bull.

The GP’s should have seen your child, rather than encourage you to go to A&E where surely the chances of Covid spreading are worse. Awful they withheld treatment.

YANBU OP, I had the same recently. GP refused a face to face appointment for my DD, she had a raging temperature and a rash. GP rang and talked me through symptoms, said it was most likely teething . DD progressively got worse, we ended up in A&E to discover she had a water infection and now has to have a kidney scan.

I was in a very similar situation with my 3 month old recently. You are absolutely not being unreasonable. Hope your little one feels better soon!

@Mintychoc1 that sounds like a good set up with the hub. Is that a national thing?

The difficult thing about saying you have medically vulnerable staff is that currently we have other public services being run also by medically vulnerable staff. This is not uncommon. How do we continue to provide essential services through this time? So many tough decisions.

OP - please complain; I’m a big believer things won’t improve if we don’t complain.

It's not necessarily just a covid issue. We had similar problems with an elderly relative's GP a year ago. Carers called the GP a couple of times because they were worried about bruising on her legs, GP called and said she was on Warfarin, it was bleeding under the skin from minor knocks, nothing to worry about. They didn't do any blood tests. Then she developed stomach problems and they refused to go to see her,. She ended up having to be taken to hospital by ambulance with what turned out to be a very dangerous bowel obstruction, and hospital investigations also revealed that she had extraordinarily high levels of anti-coagulant in her blood which accounted for the bruising.

Her immediate family wrote to the GP's surgery emphasising that this was more in the spirit of alerting them to a pretty obvious training issue than a complaint, and, to be fair, the response was suitably contrite and acknowledged they should have taken everything much more seriously. But it is worrying that effectively they put my relative's life in danger because they didn't want to spend more time on her.

This makes me so cross - my DS used to get ear infections a lot when he was younger and the pain it causes is heart-breaking. As soon as he had that first dose of antibiotics he would improve quickly from then on. I had to take him to out of hours GP once and was told he didn’t need antibiotics - I refused to leave without them! He gave in and said if he develops a temp to give them - of course he did develop a temp! We are all aware of how antibiotics can be misused if its viral but GPs should really know how quickly symptoms can worsen and cause terrible pain with ear infections. I would definitely complain about how you were treated prior to the appropriate treatment received. Just so cross and upset on your behalf!

Also OP - ignore those saying your should have taken him earlier and it’s your fault’.

These decisions when you are tiered and worried are hard! You can guarantee that if you had posted here ‘shall I take him to a&e’ you would have got everyone staying no’

Another example of Covid being used as an excuse for inadequate and poor service.

Why on earth can't GPs do face to face appointments as long as they have masks etc?? So many people are working/have worked throughout without adequate ppe and seem to have survived:

OP I hope your little one is better soon. What an awful situation to be in. I’d be complaining to the practice manager and copy in your CCG as well.

@OhDear2200 - thanks. I accept that ultimately my child is my responsibility and I wish I’d made a different choice - but perhaps then I’d have felt silly. Who knows.

I haven’t slept for 5 days and I’m exhausted.

I making my family eat super healthy and take vitamins. It isn't really about Covid, it is about not being able to go to the GP. I had a bacterial infection in my foot, which I have had before and it is quite serious. They didn't want to know. Luckily it went away on it's own. I've tried a couple of times to take my DC to the GP and it was like I had given them a poo sandwich.

I have made sure we are up to date with all our medical procedures and MOT's except my DS2's dental work. He is entitled this on the NHS and the surgery won't do it due to Covid. However, my other DC who is having private dental work, at the same clinic, with the same Orthodontist, was given an appointment within days.

People are using Covid as an opportunity to give a piss poor service.

OP I have to tell you that this happened before covid too. I had similar things happen when my dc were younger, years ago now. It is immensely irritating and I think it would be better if GPs were organised so that a GP saw the same patient where possible to build up relationships with them so that they could respond more quickly.
The passing from pillar to post helps no one and makes it more of a lottery. I will probably be told that would only be possible in small villages in the Highlands though.

They have a legal duty of care and this is a direliction of it. Your child could have developed serious complications. Definitely complain so it doesn't happen again.

Yanbu at all op. This is exactly the kind of scenario I fear the most throughout covid. Ds has had tonsillitis badly in the past, as have I, which causes high temp and cough. In fact, there are life threatening situations in which a high temperature is often the first sign that something is wrong, such as meningitis. I understand the need to be particularly careful at the moment, but at some point this needs to be balanced against the potential cost of multiple other illnesses that are potentially going undiagnosed and untreated.

Yes I happen to agree with PP, some GPs surgery practices are taking complete advantage of this situation.
My friend has a severely disabled child who was refused basic care by GP. She had to go to A&E to get medical attention, even she said she felt like she was burdening the hospital.
I then experienced the same with another GP (different practice) who during a phone appointment for my disabled child, the GP sounded completely not bothered, hurried me along and hadn't even read the notes on my child's disability, GP also asked about my support network (as in family) And all I got was 'it must be really difficult on your own but at least you have DP'... even though I explained DP works away so I carry the load all alone! It was an absolutely pointless phone call and I'm going to have try again we're in a desperate situation and I know if we go to A&E we'll get signposted to the bloody GP!
I'm really sorry OP, you shouldn't have been treated like that, I feel commonsense has been chucked out the window...not everything is bloody Covid and some ppl have equally serious issues that need dealing with now before it's too late for them.