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?

Dd had an ear infection 4 years ago and I was told they don’t prescribe antibiotics anymore for that. She ended up with a perforated ear drum and still has a sensitive ear. It’s horrible seeing your dc unwell but gp was following guidance. High temperatures are not life threatening and are the bodies natural way of fighting the virus. I think it was if the infection lasted 7-10 days they consider antibiotics. Gp advice was fine but mnet is telling you otherwise so you’ll believe that and take dc to a&e for non life threatening illnesses in the future because you don’t want to be told the gp was right.

This is awful, complain

@MeadowHay and @fuckfuckingcovid19 I think the gp was referring to a fellow dr who had severe asthma, ie a particular situation. not all asthma sufferers

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

I agree that if a face to face apportionment is necessary then it should be carried out. However many things can be done via phone appointments. I've had the best, quickest care I've ever had during the pandemic; a phone call at 11am to the doctors surgery, phone call back by 3pm by the doctor and a referral put in the same day to the hospital.

To any GPs reading this thread you have my support, gratitude and understanding. I realise that you have picked up slack from secondary care over the last 8 months and been dealing with situations that are not normally your domain. I realise that you have been told there are no reagents available for anything other than 'hospital admission avoiding' bloods. I realise that you have been given guidelines from senior practise staff as to what patients you can and should not see in the practice over the covid pandemic and sometimes these decisions are not your own.

I am an A&E doctor and have not felt that we are seeing things just become GPs do not want to at the moment.

Whilst I agree that the GP in mention has not acted correctly, I am sorry for any GP who is reading this GP bashing thread. How demoralising for you. Some of us out there recognise that you are working very hard through very difficult situations.

I would be furious too OP.

In a case like this my GP would have given a prescription but told you not to fill it unless things got worse. He's done that for me as an adult.

Give your little one a big MN hug.

I do honestly wonder why some people go into medicine if they are unwilling to deal with sick people.

Actually I do. I shared flats with medics at uni and those who wanted to go into GP were mostly those who wanted an easier life and weren't too ambitious. Or those who wanted to have time to do sports. GP was viewed by as the graveyard by most ambitious medical students. There are of course many exceptions and I realise I am going to be lambasted by GPs on this thread who will take me to task, but that is the impression that my medical student friends at uni/friends who went onto work in hospitals gave me.

The accepted "tolerable" low level of negligence of GP in Britain is a very real problem.

@cardboardleaves I'd be interested to know which particular situation means a person will certainly die from Covid if they have asthma. Genuinely, my husband has moderate asthma requiring steroids, my step mother has very severe asthma and neither have been told they'll certainly die if they catch covid.

@Mintychoc1, the isn't necessarily nationally. I know my practice nurse personally. She had to kick up a fuss to see patients again. She was being paid to do nothing and resented having to turn up to the surgery to just sit. I also know outpatient Nurses who are glad of the rest.

@Sodamncold, my DD had to take my GC to A&E for the same issue. She had a five hour wait on an uncomfortable chair having to hold a three year old the entire time. Only one person is allowed in and you aren't allowed to eat. She had to arrange childcare for the other children, which people don't want to do. After a night of hardly any sleep, you would try to avoid it. I don't know why that would baffle you.

As I said really tough decisions, and I promise I’m not bashing GPS. As with most public service sector what we see on the service is a minor bit of the work. I know a GP who regularly works till 11pm. Same for teachers, social workers, nurses etc.

But we have to learn and develop. So sometimes a complaint gives a bigger picture of what’s happened and allows a review of the situation. This happened with me where some blood tests were not checked for my DC, it could have been fatal. I complained and a new system was put in place, not expensive not time consuming.

My local GP has just shut. I received a message saying that we were to attend the local hospital walk in Center which is in the next town.

Awful for elderly people and families with sick children who don’t drive

I'd complain. My daughter had an on off temperature. Episodes where I'd would go over 38 for a 5-15 min period and then go back down to normal. Had phone call with gp, then video call. She said to monitor. Then 10 mins later she called back. Said she felt she should see her. Told us she would see us in the car park & to stay in the car.

The way your sons been treated is disgusting

Personally I think both GPs and dentists need to be made to justify any changes. We may not get a vaccine that fully works. Special clinics, or first thing appointments could be held for more vulnerable patients. Some of us aren't at risk and don't mix with people who are.

I agree that the care your child received was not great, but I have actually found our GP practice is working better under Covid.

DD (9) had conjunctivitis and they didn’t even want the photos to support my assertion. Prescription to collect an hour later.

DH stomach pains, telephone appointment, called for in person appointment, followed by hospital admission

@ABitOdd sorry I don't know where you are but where I am the lack of services outside of Covid or denied due to covid is shocking.
My DS is supposed to see his consultant twice a year. We've not had so much as a phone consultation. We've had 3 appointments sent and all 3 cancelled "due to covid". In our area between June and September there were minimal cases and no deaths yet an appointment for mid July was cancelled due to covid.
I've made repeated requests for a call at least and been told no, in fact one desk dragon told me off as "have you not realised we are in a pandemic".
The only time I've managed to sort a GP call was when he had an injury to his face, but that was send a photo and they rang and said not much.
It took 8 weeks to get a flu jab as they had forgotten his age group and he should be on the vulnerable list (again I got moaned at because "covid").
I called as my asthma was dreadful in summer and they refused to even offer me a call unless I wanted to pay for a call or an appointment. Then suddenly the covid would know I paid and would leave me to it in safety as a paying customer I was told as I was having breathing issues I would not be seen as I could have covid. I gave up in the end
Honestly, for every surgery or hospital doing what they should there are many doing the opposite and using the virus as an excuse.

I feel so sorry for your child. Thus happened to one of mine over lock down. No one would see her, because of the temperature. But they did prescribe antibiotics. I'm shocked they failed to issue antibiotics, so you should definitely complain.

Complain and complain loudly. I had mastitis in May that had been treated with antibiotics over the phone twice. However it kept coming back and on the third occasion I had a temperature of over 39 and the skin on the breast was red and angry and I had bloody/pussy discharge from the nipple. I asked to actually be seen by someone rather than have a telephone appointment because it was getting worse. The GP I eventually saw was very snotty and when she took my temperature gave me a telling off for putting “mine and my staffs lives at risk” with potential Covid. I was literally in tears saying I didn’t have Covid, look at my bloody tit. She wouldn’t treat me after that and sent me on my way. I went back out into reception, said no way is this good enough and demanded to see another doctor. This time they did give me the time of day and his exact words were “you poor old thing, that’s a terrible case of mastitis, you’re one step away from IV antibiotics”. He gave me a stronger, longer course and I was on the mend within four days. I also complained to the practice manager- absolutely not on to let people suffer like that with totally avoidable illnesses.

cruellada It’s not a GP bashing thread, just people commenting with their own bad experiences, which are clearly numerous - not to mentioned disturbing. Yes there are some decent doctors, but the frankly disgusting attitude of some them taints the medical profession. See a current trending thread about women’s experiences with nurses. Not good. A lot of medical staff would be better off if they has frequent training for their personalities.

@Sodamncold

I would have taken to a&e

Baffled you didn’t earlier

Our nearest A&E were on the local news yesterday saying that they had passed capacity and couldn't cope and they were begging for people to only come if it was completely unavoidable. Even pre Covid, attending A&E with something like a child with an ear infection might involve a six to twelve hour wait.

I assume this is probably the case all over the UK, not just my local hospital.

@cruellada picked up the slack from secondary care?!! Are you for real?! What an absolute crock!

My local GP also shut a few weeks ago, although doing a flu clinic only if you're lucky enough to get a flu vaccine and long waiting times both on the phone to get a very distant appointment at the surgery in the neighbouring town. I've been very unhappy with the level of service. Obviously there are front line workers putting their lives at risk, but there is a now a risk that all that goodwill will be lost. No-one should be above scrutiny and it is becoming impossible in some forums to make a genuine complaint about NHS service because the organisation has god-like status. "Save the NHS" is all very well (I am a strict rule follower and have been pretty much house bound, working full time, for 7 months now, and totally agree that we need a community spirit to get through this) but their mission is to save us, from curable illness.

Our local GP surgery is great. 3 doctors, 2 are amazing one is pretty good. They really try and see everyone in a sensible time-frame, do home visits in their own time (!!) if they need to deliver bad news as well as if you’re unable to get in, and appear to want everyone to leave an appointment feeling like they’ve been “sorted out” (even if they’ve not been able to really solve the problem).

They’re obviously trying to limit who can go to the surgery just now, but despite that they’re still doing the same sort of healthcare.

It’s unacceptable for GP surgeries to be centralised. GP’s who know you (eg if you have a short-term but serious condition, particularly before it’s diagnosed, or an unusual condition, or a mental health issue, or...) are much more able to help. Let alone the difficulties of getting to a Health Centre if you’re elderly, short of money, unwell with children, etc.

It does seem crazy that OP’s dr said “no antibiotics unless a temperature” then with a temperature “no antibiotics coz I can’t see you when you’ve a temp”. It sounds more like “no antibiotics for ear infection unless it becomes very severe”, but GP should’ve said that.

That's terrible. When DD1 was little she developed an ear infection which became apparent one afternoon at the childminder's. CM rang me at work, I phoned the GP at 4pm and got an appointment for ten past five. By about 5.30pm she had been taken to the GP by me, had been examined and prescribed antibiotics. They don't usually mess about with little ones and ear infections.

Some parts of the NHS seriously have their priorities skewed at the moment. Everything is Covid and nothing else matters.

@Dopeyduck - that is absolutely atrocious care from your GP surgery. If this is the way they react to a child with a temperature (ie suddenly refusing to be your child’s doctor), then the original GP should have given you a prescription at the first appointment and told you not to use it unless your child’s symptoms worsened and he developed a temperature. To send you away with nothing because your child had no temperature and then refuse to see your child when they predictably developed a temperature, and not to tell you to go straight to A&E to do the GP’s job for them, is astonishingly negligent, unless they think burst ear drums are a good treatment for severe ear infections and wanted to wait for that! There is also no excuse whatsoever for it - all GPs in the practice will have access to your child’s medical notes, so it didn’t have to be the same GP that saw you the 2nd time to know your child likely had an ear infection.

Complain and complain again. GPs are being allowed to get away with far too much because of COVID. She would give your child treatment and was happy to put her colleagues in A+E at risk instead.

First GP should have acknowledged that normal rules don't apply and prescribed antibiotics rather than allowing a temperature to develop first.