Doctor lying on report..

[Anon662120622]

So I've sent a very blunt email with threats to report to the ombudsman and GMC after appointment with specialist.. Long story short - Shoulder trauma injury, felt shoulder pop out and tear. Still no improvement after 21 weeks, unable to lift arm out any further than 30 degrees. Extreme impact on quality of life

I've been to multiple appointments and four physio sessions (referred by doctor.) Last one was extremely dismissive and actually lied in the report. Physio wrote a letter suggesting he thought I had a paralysed muscle, muscle wastage and nerve damage. Doctor completely wrote that of as he "doesn't trust that physio" because he doesn't specialise in my kind of injury... Why send me there and waste two whole months then?! He told me I was holding my arm down.. it's completely deformed, as mentioned above, I felt it like pop out and it was instantly lower.

He lied on the report saying
*I could touch my thumb to my lower lumbar spine which was an outright lie. I can't get my arm to rotate backwards at all.
*He noted there was no muscle wastage - my shoulder is pretty much skin and bones, there has definitely been a massive amount of wastage.

• noted no weakness of rotator cuff. I'd say not being able to lift my arm out any further than 30 degrees indicates a significant amount of weakness?

I've written a complaint email to the pals team noting that I'm going to complain to the ombudsman and GMC and will even go down the legal route if a delayed diagnosis leads to further problems/permanent paralysis.

I asked for a second opinion and they've just booked me back in to see the same doctor.. fastest response and appointment offer I've ever recieved I might add.

Am I being unreasonable to ask again for a second opinion from a different doctor?
I'm still going to attend the one with the same doctor and have said I'm requesting to be able to audio record this next appointment so any discrepancies can be properly noted with no denial. I'm also requesting for the report to be changed.

I believe the reason he said all of the lies as mentioned would be to downplay my injury to avoid having to take the reasonable steps to treat me properly? He referred me to a rehab saying they'd give me a diagnosis on my first appointment and he'd trust everything they say. They phoned to book my appointment and told me that the doctors massively lie and act like they're some kind of miracle workers. They said they're essentially just another physio and they wouldn't be able to give me a diagnosis.)

I've honestly just had enough, I'm going to have to pay to go private.. maybe our NI and Tax should be a thing of the past, or massively dropped as we obviously aren't recieving what it's all advertised to be. 🙄

I would wonder if the Doctor is actually mixing you up with another client. I can not see how is would benefit the Doctor to lie in this situation. I would see him again and I would also seek an second opinion.

@JC19827 They said they had lied, yes.
I was told I'd get a diagnosis at my first appointment at the rehab which is a lie.

You go back to your GP and ask for a referral to a different specialist. But tbh it sounds like all your anger is being directed into some kind of vendetta against a specific Dr. Do you want a resolution and better treatment? If you do then you are going completely the wrong way about it. If you start attacking the NHS, you'll be responsible for placing them in a defensive position. Yes, Dr's do sometimes get it wrong, but answer is general to find another one and stop wasting all your energy in scoring points, as you will end up still in pain and with a damaged arm.

@JC19827 I want some kind of relevant diagnostic testing of my nerves or something similar that could pinpoint the problem so It can be targeted and treated for what it actually is.

I had a nerve conduction study that pinpointed my issue.

@LetMeGoogleThat I want my medical records to be corrected so that I'm not given incorrect treatment by the next medical profession thinking I can do things that I can't. Put yourself in my shoes for a moment and think about how you'd feel being in my position for 21 weeks.

Can you take someone with you to the appointment as a witness?

Can you go private for a diagnostic, then return the NHS with the evidence of the problem?

Also do those saying OP sounds like hard work... Bloody good for her! The squeaky wheel gets the oil, especially when it comes to the NHS

If I have understood correctly, the ‘your doctor has mis-described what we deliver here; we’re basically physio’ was from a rehab unit.

A specialist unit being blunt about what their limits are and how the referring doctor may have over-promised or misunderstood the capabilities and remit of the unit is, tbh, an entirely believable scenario. Such units may well have an overwhelming number of referrals, including many by doctors who may not have a detailed experience of their services. Gatekeeping inappropriate referrals and being clear to patients about what can actually be provided then becomes a necessary part of the specialist unit’s role.

@Dontyoulooktired that's exactly what my physio thought they would offer. Would you mind me asking what the condition was?

@hedgehoggle my husband attends with be and was just as angry as I was..

I've researched private and the closest one to me has the doctor I've been seeing in the NHS as their main specialist. 🙄 will be looking further afield to find someone different.

I'm honestly not an angry or aggressive person, I've been fed up for the last 21 weeks and to read the last report with the lies has just sent me past tipping point. X

"They phoned to book my appointment and told me that the doctors massively lie and act like they're some kind of miracle workers. They said they're essentially just another physio and they wouldn't be able to give me a diagnosis."

I'll take things that never happened for $500, Alex

Can you confirm which kind of specialist doctor you have seen?

It’s my back. I had a disc injury at some point, which healed by itself, but has left some damage in a nerve causing pain.

I have health insurance though so it was all very fast to get to that point.

Kindly, I suggest you see a different physio. You may need if you can afford to, see one privately. If this is rotator cuff strain it can take months to heal but it needs a physio who knows how to treat it with the right exercises and possibly a steroid injection.

It's typical of RC injury not to be able to lift your arm but they should have given you exercises to do at home- stretches etc.

21 weeks can be par for the course even with the right treatment- it takes time.
It's unlikely you will have permanent paralysis - you just need to right exercises to do.

I doubt you will gain anything by taking a legal type action and it's wasting your emotional energy.

Private physio is around £65 a session and you may only need 1 or 2 appts to get you on the right road.

I'd put your energy into finding the right person to help.
They do exist as I have close friends and family who had your issues and they recovered very well with the right physio.

Look for a sports physio (often based at local private hospitals) who is experienced in the issue you have.

There are different channels to get a quality outcome, a different specialist will contradict the existing report. What do you want now? The required treatment and outcome for your injury? Or to prove that a Dr is a liar? And that one report is incorrect?

I don't need to put myself in your shoes, I've got plenty of very recent experience in dealing with a misdiagnosis, and attacking doesn't work when you you still need a service. In my experience you need to work with them, not against. What you do afterwards is entirely your decision, but arguments at this stage will only prove to be counter productive.

For those saying go private, you do know that it's the exact same doctors that you see in the NHS. There isn't another special group of private consultants.

OP, I have worked in NHS complaints. You have done the right thing by contacting PALS and I hope they can help you navigate this. I understand how awful it is to be in pain and to be limited by an injury, I would recommend calming down a little bit and laying off the threats to go to the ombudsman (they won't touch your complaint until you've been through the NHS process fully), GMC, sue etc. You'll use up all your energy on this, you'll feel much worse, and it's unlikely to change the outcome of your treatment.

You need to pay privately to see a specialist.

Don’t tell your specialist you’re lodging a complaint against the other specialist.

Use the new specialists report in your complaint and then see a lawyer and file suit against the NHS and against the doctor personally.

You reported this doctor for unprofessional conduct and fraud and the NHS referred you to the same doctor.

I've also been told that Physio can dx and will effectively be miracle workers - only to have physio tell me thats not true, they can't, they won't, they're not. Absolutely infuriated physio's, utterly pissed off at being sent a patient they can do nothing for, again and again. (No they did not say 'the Dr lied to you' but they did say, verbatim 'that is not true, we won't do that and we can't do that, I do not understand why you have been told we can/will.'

Funnily enough, torn rotator cuff, nerve damage in neck too - I got a second opinion from another Dr, jabs in the shoulders (it was both shoulders) but thats where treatment ended as covid happened, and now its apparently too late to do any surgery so I remain with limited arm movement and barely manageable shoulder pain as I can't currently get to the surgery for jabs.

If I have understood correctly, the ‘your doctor has mis-described what we deliver here; we’re basically physio’ was from a rehab unit.

Completely believeable

'They phoned to book my appointment and told me that the doctors massively lie and act like they're some kind of miracle workers. They said they're essentially just another physio and they wouldn't be able to give me a diagnosis."

Completely unbelievable.

OP you are not helping yourself with with your wild accusations

OP does not necessarily need a doctor- physios are often the best for this, based on my own experience of family with this injury.

Also, many doctors work only privately (one of mine has for over 20 years) so it's not always the case that they are the same dr you'd see in the NHS.

You'd lose.

If its the same doctor its NOT a second opinion.
I used to work in the NHS and can absolutely confirm that some GP's refer to innappropriate clinicians. I used to manage a rehab service and we had to change our referral forms to ask referrers what PRECISELY they wanted us to do for the patient or what they wanted us to assess because some did it as a "get this person off my hands" action.

Is any of that wrong? It sounds like that would cause the symptoms you are having. Nerve damage, muscle damage and fluid around the joint.