I feel mortified about this going to my GP. Would you feel the same or am I upset over nothing?

[Unisu]

A couple of weeks ago I was very unwell on holiday. I called a private GP through my insurance and they diagnosed the problem and then refused to prescribe antibiotics as I had mentioned having a fever. They then said I needed to be checked in person and go to a walk in. I explained that the nearest walk in was nearly two hours away and I had a baby with me. The temperature was a symptom of the illness thay had themselves just diagnosed (and it was what I had suspected prior to the call as well). They appeared to then latch on to the temperature being potentially high and refused to prescribe the antibiotics and said these would be prescribed at a walk in but better to double check my temperature there.

I was feeling so rubbish by this point and couldn’t drive ten minutes let alone two hours. I said I didn’t think this was reasonable and given the nature of the illness it is actually standard practice to prescribe the medication when 1 out of 3 symptoms show… I had all three. They agreed with that but said they still wanted a walk-in.

Anyway in essence we disagreed and I said I wasn’t happy with this and that if I became more unwell quickly then I would be referring to this conversation in future. I recognise this was a bit of a shitty thing to say but I was despairing and also confused by their insistence they had diagnosed the issue but still wanted me to go to a walk in when very far from one.

Yesterday it came to my attention that the letter had gone to my GP explaining the private appointment I had had… and in it there was the suspected diagnosis, but this doctor had also said I was interrupting, insisting on treatment and they had to conclude the call because of this! This was simply not true. I did express I wanted the treatment but I was not interrupting and the impression given is that I was unpleasant. Aside from the comment above I was perfectly nice and listened entirely and was totally respectful.

I feel really upset by this. I always make a huge effort to be polite and decent to people in all contexts and I feel awful that this correspondence is now with my GP for all to see. Would you feel the same? Would you do anything about it?

If you have a normal and pleasnt relationship with your GP that letter won't matter a bit, they won't even remember after reading it that it possibly gave the impression you were a bit hard work.

If you see your gp about that actual issue AND theres a suitable moment, you could bring up that you know they got a letter about when you saw the private GP and that you thought it was a bit cheeky they made out you were being difficult and interrupting when you really weren't. Be light in tone and keep it at that - gp can respond if they care to ask more. But it doesn't even need that because your GP really won't care or think it reflects badly on you so please don't worry about it.

@Trallers thank you for responding. I really like my usual GP so I feel quite embarrassed by it. The way the letter is phrased makes me sound terrible, like I was insistent and rude which is simply not true. Thanks for replying I am awake thinking about it!

id focus on the treatment you need or how the illness is progressing. If you’ve been withheld care because they’ve looked at this note then that needs addressing but your focus for now needs to be how to get what you need tk get better.

in a few weeks I would contact the private gps administrator and say you’d like it noted that your care was denied because of the gps attitude towards you as evidenced in the letter. Your own GP will not mediate this for you.

Very unprofessional of them tbh. You were unwell and dismissed so don’t worry about it.

Honestly they won't even give it a second thought. GPs receive hundreds of letters a day and have far too much that requires action to take any time over one just sharing info. Once it's filed no one is likely to look at it again.
They also understand people can behave differently when feeling unwell so if you're not known as a difficult patient they won't think anything of it.

The GP access I have with my health insurance is very clear that they can't provide anti-biotics beyond the pharmacy rules.

I've used them once for something minor for which I needed an anti-biotic ointment. They are OK for minor things or referring on swiftly, eg, aching shoulder and they will get you to a physio and scan , through your insurance, v quickly.

The reason they asked you to go to be seen was because you'd mentioned a potential feature of sepsis. If the GP had given you oral antibiotics, when actually what you needed was admission to hospital and IV antibiotics, the GP would have been held liable. The reason they've written that you were interrupting in the letter to your own GP is because they are covering themselves in the event of a complaint, and to let them know they weren't able to fully conclude the consultation in case you present to them with the same issue.

I suspect, given the frustration you describe that you probably did interrupt, even if without meaning to, and the GP wasn't able to explain what they needed to. I completely understand your frustration at having to drive so far when you felt so unwell, but that's how you get appropriate care and the GP maintains their licence.
I'd put this to 1 side and not worry about it. Its a good lesson in the limitations of telephone consultations. Your own GP will, in all likelihood, only read the letter looking for anything they have to action, and will then move on to the mountain of other admin tasks they have.

The letter will have been added to your file with your own GP and probably not even read properly. It will only be looked at again if you still have this same condition or if other treatment might affect it in future.

So, did you eventually get treatment / antibiotics? Or did you get better without?

They were happy to prescribe face to face but not remotely. They are covering themselves in case of any come back. I wouldn’t worry about it.

This.

my GP would be rolling her eyes so much they'd be falling off the back of her head

either your GP knows you well enough to know that's BSor they don't, so they really won't take note/care.

how are you now??

If it helps... Your GP won't have actually read the letter. Their secretary will have read it, checked whether there are any actions required, such as scripts, further testing etc and then will have saved it to your record. The GP might read it when you are with them if you refer to it, but other than that you've nothing to worry about.

TBH I was at the dentist and had an extraction. He said to call if any problems. I called when it was obvoous I was developing infection. So I call the dentist, the dentist knows is an infection (or is almost sure due to the work I just had few days prior) but still he insisted I went in to see him for a round of antibiotics. I think is the standard, I don't fight with them because I know they have regulations they need to follow, is not their fault. People died for not being seen face to face and given AB so now they blow in yoghurt, to be on the safe side. I also had chest infection and I needed to see GP I wasn"'t put through because my symptoms indicated heart attack. I knew it wasn't this, I called 101 same thing, they said they will send out ambo. I said No, what a waste of resources chest hurts from coughing. They said I do this on my risk and I still didn't get my AB. Frustrating but what can we do. Is free medical sevice and I am gratedful for it, with faults and all. Don't worry about the letter, nobody will give a monkeys, they just covering themswlves in case your illness progresses, basically they are saying you were reluctant to follow their advice. Nothing will come out of it unless you die (sorry) and they start an investigation into the services you received. I hope you are better.

It sounds like you were frustrated and maybe you did come across in this way. I'd be a bit miffed about this being recorded on a letter but equally the dr is at liberty to say how they feel the consultation went. Just put it behind you.

Are the calls recorded? I would challenge the private medical people if it is

If it was a UTI or similar they have to have you be seen if you have a fever Incase it's a kidney infection or you're heading for sepsis as oral antibiotics wouldn't touch it. They were trying to give you safe advice. They were following protocol for the condition. They were doing what's called a telemedicine role which means there are limits to what they can provide without you having an in person consultation.

It absolutely sounds like you were interrupting and insisting on treatment, what would you call it?

The reason they were asking you to attend in person is in case it was sepsis/something life threatening. I had a similar issue when my toddler had a chest infection.

Private doctors were very clear she at least needed antibiotics, but they wouldn't prescribe it as they wanted us to take her to emergency care in case it was something more serious/she deteriorated. It's not because they didn't believe you - they didn't want to treat and then you don't get properly assessed elsewhere. It's standard practice for private.

The letter is just them covering themselves, your GP probs won't even read it so dw.

Just from your post alone it makes it sound like you were insistent on antibiotics and refused to accept any other advice, so you can see why they thought you had that sort of attitude

Where were you that it was a 2 hour drive for a face to face appointment?

GP’s lives are so busy with really important stuff this will barely register. There are loads of really genuinely difficult and complex patients, I think you getting a bit narked isn’t in that league. Just put it behind you.

Exactly this. You say that you weren't rude but all I was thinking when I was reading your OP was how rude you were being, and that is from your own, obviously biased opinion.
I suspect they found your telephone call very difficult because of your refusal to accept their decision. It's as if you think the GP was just trying to inconvenience you and that you knew better.
Your GP won't bat an eyelid at the letter, if they ever get to read it, so I wouldn't worry about that

I don't think your GP will think any less of you and won't give this a thought. So stop worrying about it.

Yes I agree with the posters who say I probably didn’t consider exactly how I had come across.

I am going over it and perhaps I did interrupt to say I didn’t understand why they had diagnosed it but wouldn’t give treatment, then they were saying they would have done if I hadn’t mentioned a high temperature. I was trying to explain that the high temperature was fleeting, it had then remained only a little bit raised and not increased again. None of this was put in the letter and clearly it wasn’t sepsis if that’s what the worry was as the temperature went down and didn’t increase highly again.

Regardless, I just feel embarrassed that this has been written about me and that I was ‘insistent’ which I wasn’t. I was querying it and certainly not insisting on medication in the way they’ve expressed it

Unless you remain ill and require treatment id not give it a second thought

What if it was the start of sepsis. You're not a doctor I presume? And you died. And hadn't been seen because they gave you treatment on the phone? They're liable.