To think this is what happens when receptionists are the ones who decide whether or not you actually *see* a GP? (Ear infection)

[lCantHearYou]

Wednesday last week- woke up with an intense pain in my left ear, and assume I’ve just jammed my ear plug in a bit too far, but over an hour later the pain is still there and I can’t hear out of that ear, so I ring the GP surgery.

The receptionist, based on no medical expertise whatsoever, asks what the problem is and unilaterally decides that all I need is a telephone appointment. The GP she’s scheduled the call with is well known in our community for not doing face to face appointments if she can help it and generally having the attitude of just wanting to get you off the phone as quickly as possible.

Later that morning, GP call. I explain that I’ve been having this very intense pain for several hours now that paracetamol isn’t really touching, my ear is ringing very loudly and all external sound is very muffled and barely audible.

She decides over the course of the 3 minute call that since I’m recovering from a cold I’m probably just a bit congested, tells me to take some Sudafed/other decongestant and paracetamol and it should right itself in a few days.

I start alternating pseudoephedrine, paracetamol and ibuprofen, but the pain wakes me in the night every night.

Thursday evening DH, the DC and I travel up to PILs house.

Friday morning, DH and I leave for a long weekend abroad (on the Eurostar, thank god we didn’t fly or I’d probably have at least one ruptured ear drum).

By Friday evening the pain and hearing loss has now spread into the right ear as well. Spend the whole weekend in pain and practically deaf, which kind of spoils things somewhat.

Monday evening, we all get home. 3:00 am I wake up in so much pain I can’t keep still, DH wakes to the sight of me sitting upright, rocking back and forth with my hands clamped over the back of my head. He calls 111 who schedule a phonecall with a Dr… who rings back 3 and a half hours later and says, sounds like an infection, I can prescribe antibiotics or you can just wait and see your own GP. I opt to see my own GP, so 111 Dr puts in notes that I need a face to face appointment.

So we’re back on the phone to the surgery, to the receptionist who’s halfway through saying “I can schedule a phonecall…” when I tell her about 111 Dr’s advice to seek a face to face appointment. Then she relents and schedules one with a different GP to the one I spoke to the week before. At the actual appointment, this GP barely needs to glance in my ears before saying it’s a severe infection, inner ears are very sore and red, lots of pus and gunk and, in her words, “looks incredibly painful”.

I’ve now been on amoxicillin and cocodamol (which I’m alternating with ibuprofen) for 5 days now. I can still barely hear a thing beyond the very loud ringing and the sound of my own pulse throbbing in my ears. All external sound is very muffled and distorted. If I wait too long between taking pain meds I fucking know about it… I’ve taken to sleeping with the cocodamol under my pillow so that when (not if) the pain wakes me in the night I don’t have to grope around on my bedside table to find them. Part of my job involves being on the phone, sometimes for hours at a time, so I have to jam my earphones right into my ears and turn the volume up full, and by the end of my shift (I work very late at night) I’m doubly exhausted from the effort of straining to hear anything.

AIBU to think that if, on that first day, the receptionist or indeed the GP had paused for a moment and thought “hmmm, intense inner ear pain, badly affected hearing, maybe get her in so we can see if there’s an infection”, then I could have started on antibiotics that day and at the very least the infection would likely have been contained to one ear and might even be starting to get better? As it is the receptionist didn’t bother, the GP didn’t bother, and instead of getting better it got considerably worse, the antibiotics are making fuck all difference and I’ve now had almost two weeks of intense pain and hearing loss for no good reason? And AIBU to be pretty pissed off about it?

Sorry for the twilight rant… I’ve just woken up feeling like the back of my skull is being squeezed. Again.

Hope you are feeling better, ear ache is the worst. I voted yabu as it's not the receptionists fault they are just following orders usually from the local health board, our surgery is telephone consultation and if doctor decides you need seen will see you, I wouldn't be a receptionist for all the money in the world they get all the stick from angry and annoyed patients when just trying to do their job

It’s not the fault of the receptionist - they work on GP’s instruction. The GP’s are a disgrace and seem to think they are above returning to work like the rest of us. Mum had pain, constipation and a distended stomach and was fobbed off with Fybrogel and then movicom and told to eat more fibre. Eventually GP arranged a stool sample which was clear, still no face to face consultation - after 9 months of refusing to see her, a friend of mine took her into his own hospital under the radar and had bloods and a scan done - she has Stage 3 Ovarian cancer.
Thanks GP’s and F you.

Our GP practice doss phone appoints still that's after back and forth message on Ask my GP. Last time I literally stated I wanted a face to face only and wouldn't be fobbed off because I've been fobbed of for 3years.
In respect to Amoxicillin its actually one of the weakest antibiotics. Personally given the extent and that you're still in horrendous pain you need to insist on a stronger antibiotic.
GP will prescribed the weakest to start as that solves 80% patients problems then move up grades based on whether it has/hasn't solved the patients problem.
3 lots of antibiotics in June due to severe reaction to a spider bit even after the 3rd of weak then medium strength then weak against was still raised but I had given up on the GP and was getting sick and tired of forking out on medication so just lived with it until it finally went in August!

That first doctor needs a serious complaint made about her. Sheer laziness and incompetence.

Meseekslookatme · Today 19:22 I am so sorry about your beloved Partner. Congratulations on the assertiveness. 💐

crowisland ·I too had the same but did not get the operation. I saw a senior Partner on Wed. who did not look at my face, let alone examine me, and told me to buy Remigel. On Thursday night, I was in so much pain I could only try to keep breathing. I'm a widow (widowed at 42) living alone and couldn't move for the pain. I thought I was dying and remember thinking, "This is how people die, because they are on their own and can't get help."
I was still alive in the morning and the phone rang. I did manage to get to it and immediately told my friend, a retired Consultant Neurologist, I was in dire pain. He picked me up and took me to my GP. I saw a lady, a Locum, who was wonderful. I remember thinking as I lay on the couch to be examined that in 10 years I'd never been examined there. She took bloods and advised me on what to do - basically call 999 if the same pain came back, and I went home, still in pain but not that excruciating pain. That was Friday.
On Monday the Receptionist phoned and asked me to go back but not to be worried. I saw the lovely Doctor with the delightful name that sounded Sri Lankan to my experience. She looked at me with a kind of upset expression and said, "I think you have passed a Gall Stone into your liver." I asked her to tell Dr Jones that if I only needed indigestion tablets I did not come to the Doctor, but she said she was sorry, she could not do that. Of course, I understood. It was a practice filled with older men who were obvious misogynists. I have had a cyst in my liver with much pain ever since.
I don't know if it was worse somehow, but when I changed Doctors' Practice, on discussing the liver cyst, I mentioned that I had passed a Gall Stone to my new Doctor (male). "Oh No!" says he, "You couldn't possibly have done that! People are screaming in pain long before they do that! It is extremely painful! Someone would have called an ambulance!" Through gritted teeth I said, I was on my own, in too much pain to move, would never have been able to open the door and the Doctor a friend took me to the next day, later had called me back to see her to tell me the blood test confirmed it, it should be in my records.
With old age comes experience, although this experience came earlier... However, I have learned not to trust Doctors, Nurses or Dentists. When you find one you can trust, stick with them if you can.

Mummyto2rugrats Poor you. It's shocking how many people have stories of incompetent treatment by Doctors. I remember being brought up to really look up to our Doctors. Then I did A levels etc and one day, having been aghast yet again to learn just how much a Doctor didn't know, I realised that my A level grades were higher than the grades of my friends who went to Medical School, and they'd be qualified by now.

Now the grades required are usually all As, yet, as an erstwhile Teacher, I think A level and certainly GCSE are not as of such a high standard as our GCE and A levels some years ago.
Also, it is noticeable when you teach at University, in the first year there is a gap that never used to be there and which has to be bridged. Similarly, some Students come to University expecting to be spoon-fed as though they are at school and are unable to read around their subject or take notes at a lecture or participate in a Seminar.
I still admire how hard many young people work, though, because so many do deserve our praise and respect. On the whole, I love Students and have a lot of admiration for how hard they work, especially with having to pay fees on top of studying.

You’re not wrong, sometimes trying to get an appointment is so hard I just don’t bother, I’m lucky I haven’t had an emergency, but I have something I should see someone about and trying to get an appointment when I can only ring on the day is a nightmare.

However, my daughter has recurrent glue ear, perforated ear drums, infections, the works and my GP’s are brilliant at seeing her but I don’t know if that’s because she is a frequent flier with the same problem, whenever I tell them her name the receptionist usually responds with ‘is it her ears again?’ And they get her in as soon as. On the other side, my husband was having a flare up with his asthma and couldn’t breathe and they put him in with the nurse, she said he needed the doctor to see him and the doctor said he should have been given an appointment with a dr.

but it isn’t a sustainable system and I do wonder how many people don’t have medical issues seen to because of the ball ache of being seen

Yes, well that’s the government’s plan, isn’t it? Chronic underfunding. Create dissatisfaction so that privatisation seems like a good idea.

It is rather odd to be offered a telephone appointment when you have a hearing problem. The same happened to me. I did mention it at a patient participation group meeting and the head of the practice said I should have been offered a choice, including face-to-face.

I do think you're being unreasonable. If I had a pound for every time I read a thread like this on social media, money would be the least of my worries. The reality is that someone has to do a telephone triage - who do you think that should be - a doctor ? So, take a doctor out of circulation from treating patients to triage callers. It would be ridiculous.

Personally, I do not consent to a receptionist triaging my calls. I have talked to excellent nurses and paramedics - all fine but I refuse the receptionist, thanks.

Hope you feel better soon 🤗

GP will prescribed the weakest to start as that solves 80% patients problems then move up grades based on whether it has/hasn't solved the patients problem

that’s not how antibiotics work. There isn’t “weak” or “strong” antibiotics.

A bacteria will respond to a certain antibiotic. It the an isn’t working it isn’t because it’s “weak”, it’s because the bacteria is resistant to that antibiotic, or isn’t susceptible.

ideally a swab should be done if a broad spectrum ab isn’t working, to find which bacteria is present and prescribe the antibiotics that are effective against that bacteria. Some GP’s might just try a different one to see if that one works.

nothing to do with “strength”. All to do with different bacteria, different mechanisms of action and antibiotic resistance.

most gps and receptionists are this bad. You should of gone into an urgent care facility or turned up at doctors and demanded an appointment. Receptionists always claim there are no appointments they can release until you’re face to face

You should have taken the antibiotics offered to you by 111 - why you didn't is beyond me. By then, surely you knew it was infected and needed antibiotics? I don't get why you waited for the GP and then moaned about having to wait when really, you didn't. You chose not to accept the care offered on your second attempt to get treatment. Assertiveness seems an issue here rather than the NHS. Yes I hate the NHS and the COVID BS but on this occasion, I think you failed yourself rather than the system. Moral of the story - just say yes...

This is ridiculous.
it’s not the reception team that determines if your need a face to face. Everyone gets a telephone and the GP decides who needs an examination.

You should have gone to a&e rather than on holiday by the sounds of it.

I have a severe rash,rang surgery, receptionist says "we don't deal with rashes"wtf.she suggests seeing pharmacist who says I can't give you anything for that it needs a doctor I ring against be told you can have a telephone appointment, how on earth can they treat a rash without seeing it.
I am now 10 weeks down the line, still with this bad rash all over arms and hands and they couldn't care less.
I'm considering changing surgeries but the next nearest is 10 miles away and will they be any better

What other ear drops can you get from a pharmacy that can ward off an ear infection? I've been told that you can only get drops for wax only and if there's any pain, there's nothing to be out in the ear at all.

Once one has been on an antibiotic it’s unlikely a swab will be effective
Thats why swabs should be done BEFORE prescribing the antibiotic. But NHS doesn’t find this. So many dangerous practices are deployed instead/ e.g., giving antibiotics for viruses, and leading to massive resistance

In my case, pre pandemic, I saw the gp who said it was blocked sinuses despite my audiologist providing proof of perforation. Subsequently as mu hearing didn't return I was sent to hospital ENT where fusion of hammer and stapes was diagnosed which has reduced my hearing significantly in that ear. I already had hearing loss. The hospital consultant said it was a shame he didn't see me earlier as it was now too late to do anything. So thanks GP.

I would have long gone to the A&E

@@purplepentagram
The gp was at fault there not the receptionist
The gp should have asked for him to come in for a face to face appointment if he thought it was needed at the time

It's a complete shit show right now.

I work with a lot of elderly people and I really worry about the lack of care they are receiving. A lot of people can't use the online booking system, but miss the cut-off to call the surgery to book in, because the queue is so long. It is leading to a lot of frustration, and people not bothering. It should not be this hard.

I know how busy and underfunded GPs are etc, but it's a complete mess and we should all be moaning a lot louder.

I hope you feel better soon, OP.

If your AIBU question had been about the GP I'd have said you were not unreasonable, however you actually blamed it on the receptionist who did her job correctly, she got you a telephone triage conversation with a gp who was the one that decided not to see you, not the poor overworked sod answering the phones and taking the flack.

The receptionist has been told what appointments are available and what not to give out They are under a lot of pressure to make everyone happy, doctors nurses and patients . imo they have the hardest job.