To be upset and unsettled about a dr lying?

[Worriedmummy2400]

I’ve had a bad year couple of years. Things have happened which have affected my MH. I was put under the local MH trust and diagnosed with PTSD. I’ve been having phone appointments with a psychiatrist. I had an appointment in spring, and the dr said to increase the meds to 3 a day. But never sent a letter to gp. I had a July appointment booked by he never called. A few days later I get a letter saying I had missed two appointments and I was being dropped as a patient. I hadn’t missed 2, only 1 as he hadn’t called. So I emailed the pals of the trust and told them what had happened and told them my meds hadn’t been upped as agreed in appointment. And no letter had been sent. The nice lady said did I want her to informally approach the dr and get it sorted. I said yes. 2 weeks later I get an email saying the dr concerned reports to them he had spoken to me and I didn’t want to make a formal complaint and that I was upset that a receptionist had been rude and that he was going to tell her manager and sort it. And I’m now happy. Problem is I’ve not spoken to him at all. He’s lying. I had no issue with any receptionist, it’s him who hasn’t called and not done a gp letter. I queried with the pals lady if there had been a mix up and he wasn’t talking about me but she assures me he was referring to me. It’s now automatically going to a formal investigation as I’ve told them he’s lying. But why would a dr lie like this? I’m confused, been left feeling unsettled and I know don’t feel I can trust the dr at all. I asked for my notes and there’s no notes from each appointment, nothing at all which seems strange. A prescribing nurse called and has sorted my meds but I’m left feeling very unsettled. I don’t want to be under him anymore. Has anyone has a similar experience?

Doctors do tell lies sometimes. I had a psychiatrist who lied and wrote into my report that I was sexually abused as a child when I told him that I definitely wasn't.

He was trying to fit me into a psychiatric box which they were struggling to do, because I'm autistic and they knew nothing about autism.

Would the trust be able to check phone records for the day he claimed to phone you?

I was thinking that about phone records and also did he access my records for the number?

I'm so sorry you experienced this - with any doctor, but especially with a psychiatrist. Please pursue this complaint as this Dr will need formal investigation by the GMC. It might help if you have made a record of all your contacts with the MH trust, with PALS and with the Dr. They must not be allowed to treat anyone else until the reasobs for the lies are explored. Sadly, lies like this are probably the tip of the iceberg and it will be important to plumb the depths.

If the Dr is under stress/having a breakdown/needs support, an investigation is in their interest. If it is a symptom of something darker, they need stopping. I'm sorry you are the one to be in the firing line but please please remember that most health care professionals care deeply about their patients and have strong ethics. Please don't lose all trust, if you can. Strength to you xx

I imagine he has lied to cover himself. Hold your ground and follow through with the complaint. I know it is stressful but it is the only way anything changes.

GMC? Is that something I can report to?

General medical Council. I don't know how patients report to them but they are in charge of policing Dr's professional and ethical behaviour.

Here it is: https://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/

You might need to find your Dr's GMC number by searching the register. Full name is enough to do it.

I would hope that your complaint to the trust would cause a complaint to go forwards to the GMC anyway, but I don't think you can rely on it. The NHS, sadly, has form for closing ranks.

Thank you. I will report it. I think I can report to CQC as this trust has been in special measures with deaths in the past.

OP, unless this is an all mighty mix-up (still not good), you need to get clarity, so you can get good care and re-establish trust with the medical professionals.

PP suggested phone records, also access to medical records can be checked (person, time).

You are better off letting it go & moving on to be honest. I've had similar experiences as have many people. MH services are full of dreadful, dishonest people especially consultants. They can't fill posts as decent doctors don't want to go near them. The trusts know there are appalling consultants but they can't function without them so they turn a blind eye
Making complaints just leads to gaslighting & you are likely to be blamed for anything that's gone wrong.

I've got a serious mental illness (a type of bipolar) and I try to keep well.away from the service & just attend medication reviews essential for repeat prescriptions.

I’m worried that I will be made out to be crazy.

If you complain to the GMC it is not about you. It is about the Dr and your complaint will be investigated and either supported or not. You will not face sanction and NOONE should make you out to be crazy. I would suggest you do go forwards with it if you have the strength otherwise nothing changes. But of course it is what you can cope with. I just hate injustice! And no-one can do it for you.

About 22 years ago, before I got my diagnosis of ME & Fibromyalgia, my previous GP surgery had me well & truly in the 'Hypochondriac' box and looking back, never took me seriously. This meant I was left having to make separate appointments for each symptom in the vain hope that I would get somewhere eventually. Quite sad given I was only 17/18....

So there I was one random Tuesday afternoon before work, sat in the waiting room yet again, having had 2 weeks of stomach issues.
The door opened and an acquaintance I knew came out. "Oh hi Emma! How are you?...." Very brief conversation whilst the Doctor closed the door.
A few mins passed and the Doc called me in. I told her my issue. Doc says "You've just copied what your friend Emma came in for haven't you?"
Me: "Pardon?!"
Doc: I find it no coincidence that you and Miss 'friends surname' are both having the same exact stomach complaint, when you've just spoken to each other in the hallway!
Me: .....Excuse me? Emma didn't mention what she was there for. Neither did I! Aside from the fact that there were other patients, I'm not in the habit of sharing that kind of thing and I doubt she would either. I said a quick hello and we agreed we'd speak soon for a catch up! How was I to know Emma was even at the same surgery?!

Looking back I should definitely have reported it as she essentially broke Emma's confidentiality and her own code of conduct as a GP. I could kick myself for not doing so. But I was young and living alone with depression and, as I later discovered, not just ME & Fibro but also MS.
All those endless appointments, being fobbed off and condescended (& probably laughed at/eye-rolled at) and my medical records stained with those piercing words "Health Anxiety" (hypochondriac!) when the entire time, it was all one neurological disorder that could've been treated......

I’m so sorry. How awful for you xx

I don’t think the doctor is being wilfully malicious, doctors are human too and make mistakes, he is probably overworked and a failing trust will be making mistakes all over the place. Personally I would put down everything in a written complaint and then ask for the original letter for an increase in meds to be sent and for you to have an appointment with a different psychiatrist. I wouldn’t accuse him of lying necessarily but would come at it from the angle of him getting you confused with someone else and telling you details of their complaint (as this receptionist part must’ve come from somewhere else). I doubt he will contact you, he probably isn’t thinking about it at all as it sounds like he has more than one complaint to deal with!
I do understand this will have taken a toll on your MH but it’s best to try to move forward like you would if a business had messed up

Thankfully the nurse that rang sorted the meds. I asked if I could have her as my mh professional as we clicked.

And I just can’t trust anew dr.

There are bad doctors and psychiatrists just like any other profession. It's especially concerning because of the vulnerability of the patients. I believe you. Please do stick with your complaint if you can. You have been terribly let down and it's important he is exposed. If he'd contacted you, there would be evidence, so just let this play out.

Health professional here. Please complain. The nurse has confirmed that he hasn't been keeping records correctly so this could be the tip of the iceberg.
There is no reason why anyone will think you are "crazy". There is objective evidence available and this can be investigated and action taken as necessary against the doctor.
The overwhelming majority of my colleagues are professional, competent and caring. A small number are not and need to be weeded out for the sake of the public.

bonzaitree, not on my watch!!!

This is a very good point. Access to each Patients records will be recorded in an automatic electronic audit trail (assuming it's not paper records). There should be an electronic time stamp of him accessing your records on the day he says he claims he dealt with you. Obviously be could have accessed both your records and someone else's, and then just looked at the wrong one. But there should definitely be the time in the audit.

I’ve reported on that gmc link. I also remembered last year when I started the medication I had some bad side effects and I emailed him via pals telling him I wasn’t coping well and that my blood pressure was going up and down madly and he never replied and I even asked pals if he had seen my email and they said yes. So I don’t think I’ve had the best care from him. I’ve got the feeling they will just all close ranks and cover his arse but at least I tried.

Isn’t the gmc more to support drs then regulate them?

Both but don't think this means they will "close ranks". There are different "arms" of the gmc for different functions and they need to protect their profession by ensuring professional standards are upheld