GP surgery sent letter to deter us book appointment for toddler

[Watapain]

Today we received letter from Surgery saying that we have booked several appointments in the last month for our toddler who has been sick often and has got a recurring issue needing doctors attention. We should consider other alternatives and not see the GP.
This has really concerned us as me and DH never see the GP. I am fuming as they have sent a form asking us to sign an undertaking that we acknowledge the letter. We are not happy about it and to sign the letter.
Have you been through anything similar and how do we approach about complaining about it as the tone on it seems threatening that they are looking to remove people from their list.

I’m sorry but this is jut another example of the way in which government is pushing us toward private health care. GP surgeries are private businesses and as such they can throw you off their lists for whatever reason they want. If you’re too expensive as a patient you’re not viable. Suck it up or don’t vote Tory.

Thanks for the helpful responses. I am thinking of taking it to the local healthwatch, CQC and potentially MP. Me and DH never use the service. My DH hasn't been to GP for years. I am really appalled by this letter and their approach to deter people. It's not just about me, I feel concerned for other children and parents who may lose confidence because of such a letter and if something happens to the child who'll be responsible for that. I have paid taxes all my life and I am so appalled by this is what I get in return. Also, I use to work for NHS myself, so contributed fair share to NHS.

I would also suggest mentioning this to your Health Visitor, possibly let your midwife know too.

Also, not to mention about the recent Post office debacle and how people were wrongfully blamed and prosecuted, let's not forget that.

MumblesParty perhaps gp practices should realise this is going to create extra work for themselves and not deter patients in the first place. Mind actually boggles.

OP, pls contact CQC, health watch and your MP. GP surgeries need to understand they cannot do this, even if it means creating extra work. It’s called protecting patient safety.

It's so disgraceful and I had so much respect for NHS all this time but now I feel disgust about the desperate approach they are taking to deter people from using services. I still respect all the hardwork of doctors and nurses but the leadership and direction it's going in is worrying.

The problem with this type of letter, and the attendance ones from school, is that the people who the letter is aimed at won't care and will just carry on but the people who get sent one because they genuinely are ill a lot will be upset.

What a ridiculous approach from your GP surgery. Ask to speak to the Practice Manager in the first instance and ask their rationale for this approach. It could simply be that they have done a basic data search and sent out blanket letters to those who have come out of the search for x number of appointments etc. I would also second your approach to contacting Healthwatch and ICB ( am ex primary care commissions manger/practice manager so that would be my approach)

You are totally right. This is the exact problem with these types of letters. I got the attendance one after DD had chickenpox, they literally wouldn't let me send her in but then I get a letter because her attendance is low, I was upset by it because there was nothing I could do.

OP take this as far as possible it is disgraceful, definitely shouldn't be sent to parents of young children it could deter them from seeking help when it is needed.

The sheer number of times I’ve been dismissed by GPs
I hear the same from my friends, family, colleagues etc
Smart people, articulate people who have to shout to get anywhere
My heart breaks for those who aren’t as privileged
The healthcare system is a disgrace, on its knees, and leadership is absent

I think this is awful.

As a comparison, I have suffered on and off with my mental health and health anxiety in general since I lost my elder two kids' dad a few years ago.

I know for a fact that across the top of my record at my GP surgery it says to always offer me a face to face same day appointment if I ask for one. This being because they know me, knew my late partner, know the kids... they treat my family as whole people. The GP's at my surgery are really kind.

They absolutely should not be discouraging you from accessing medical help for your child, that's out of order.

They are basically private businesses but are also independent contractors working to an NHS contract. If they remove patients it can be challenged and the practice has to
show robust evidence as to why they have removed patient. The first line of their contract is ' to provide services
To those who are or believe themselves to be ill'

Absolutely.

I'd also send it to my MP and my local newspaper and 'chat' Facebook group

Utterly shocking

Absolutely this. You need to find out if you genuinely are on the naughty step - and if not, clarified.

This letter is so unhelpful, and it seems as if you have actually needed to use the service this month.

However, there is a very big gap in the understanding in a portion of the population on what is required for GP and what could actually be dealt with at home or via a pharmacy.

This is particularly bad in Scotland, where prescriptions are free. Going to the GP and getting prescribed with medication that would easily be obtained OTC seems to be an acceptable way of gaming the system and saving yourself £4.

Also few people are aware of free OTC medications from pharmacies if you are on a low income or pregnant. I think GPs would have better responses if they phrased these letters as information on how to get free medication direct from the pharmacy, as opposed to scaring people from reaching out to health care professionals.

Oh God. Treating you like the worried well when in fact your child needed to be seen. I am literally terrified of getting ill and needing to see a GP.

Me too.

This is insane!

This isn't aimed at you as it doesn't sound like the case but I struggle with severe health anxiety so go to the gp more then I should. Sending patients letters out whether it's to an individual or computer generated to multiple patients to basically threaten them is absolutely disgusting. A general practitioners job is to get to the bottom of the problem whether that is physical or psychological and help. Nobody is going to the gp for fun there is always a reason. Its just pure laziness on behalf of the gps and I would put a complaint in.

That’s not true. It’s actually very difficult to remove patients from the list.
Can you tell me where you got your information from?

I don't for a second believe they have said they will remove you from their list, what have they supposedly said? It sounds like they've sent you a letter to make you aware of what other services are available to you such as pharmacy first. When people continually take up GP appointments with minor ailments this means that the GP time is taken up, meaning they can't see those patients who really do need to see a GP. It's sounds like the GP practice are being pro active in making patients aware of the different services that are available to them to try and help them choose the most appropriate one.

Yes, exactly. It's always the wrong people who are caught out.

I would contact the General medical Council and tell them this letter is concerning, especially as it is a child! Imagine if you listen to the letter and were too worried to call up for an appointment and your child became seriously unwell. I would be fuming if I received this.

A pp mentioned the "worried well" taking up GP appointments.

Trouble is, those worried well are...worried! They are not trained to know whether this symptom or that symptom is problematic. Example from another thread this evening - lady with a swelling and family history which made it possible this could be an early sign of something nasty. Suggestions on here ranged from "gp now - cancer" to "hot bath and a good squeeze." Throw in campaigns about eg coughs lasting 3 weeks could be cancer, NHS website signposting to GP for eg lost voice going on past 14 days needing checking in case of infection or more sinister causes and it's not surprising people are turning up who are then dismissed by a GP as "worried well." Those patients don't know they are well, that's WHY they go to the GP! They deserve better than to be dismissed as appointment wasters. Any one of them could easily turn out to be not well, and that won't be picked up on if they don't go to be checked. And personally, I don't fancy flashing my bits in the middle of Boots!

We have also done the pharmacist route a couple of times for dh and ds - pharmacist didn't want to commit themselves so sent us to GP, who promptly sent us back to pick up over the counter treatment from the pharmacist.

The problem isn't the "worried well." It's lonely widowed Mrs Smith in her eighties who makes an urgent on the day appointment each week because her knee aches or she's tired or she can't hear properly when really she's getting on a bit and needs to accept she'll sleep more, and really should get a free hearing aid test from Specsavers, and buy some stronger painkillers from Boots instead of getting paracetamol free on the NHS. And mostly, she just needs human interaction and someone to suggest those things to her as she comes from a time when anything wrong = GP.

I’ve never heard of such a letter, but I’m sure a quick conversation with the practice manager will give answers. If those answers are not satisfactory then OP can take it further. But the knee-jerk “take it to the top” reaction just causes extra work and hassle for all concerned, OP included.