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. 🙄

You have to take some responsibility for this yourself although I appreciate that you assume and expect the NHS to provide.

ALL the people I know who have had these injuries have spent their time finding the best/right private physio to help and accepting that there are shortcomings in the NHS. Partly as the NHS is so slow and also because they don't necessarily choose the right physio- just one who happens to be available.

I'm sure that if you search online using the right terms, you will find at least half a dozen physios who you can consider and could help you.

"... 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?..."

Rather than complaining about the dr at this stage, why don't you simply challenge him (or her) as to why they have recorded in your medical notes things that are palpably incorrect and inaccurate?

Presumably your husband can corroborate that the Dr's notes do not correspond to reality?

There is a vast difference between seeing the same consultant on the NHS and privately.

NHS, they are constrained to what they can offer you. Pay for it yourself, or have your insurance pay and a they can offer you so much more, tests and treatments. and you will always see the actual consultant privately, not a member of their team, get results pretty much immediately without having to wait weeks or months and immediately get refered on if they need to.

I have an eye condition which will need monitoring my whole life. I started out as a private patient but my insurance will not cover on going surveillance (I if I need an operation on my eye or if there is an emergency for example they will take over again, but they won’t cover yearly checks). So he took me on under his NHS clinic. The difference in staggering. Even he apologised- the one time I saw him. Now he’s like the wizard of oz behind a curtain and I see his team.

So no, it’s not the same. Even with the same consultant.

To be completely fair, I've had a health professional tell me another health professional (both NHS) had lied to me. They're not just doctors/physios, they're also human with opinions and empathy. But, of course, they're not risking their professional reputation - because where's the proof?

@JC19827 he wasn't willing to do the nerve test as I had said above he completely wrote that off.

I suffer from bipolar disorder type two so mainly major depressive episodes. I've had steroids before and they ended up inducing a manic episode including hallucinations and some pretty nasty side effects which can be quite common when steroids are given to someone with my condition. With me being as low as I am at the moment my psychiatrist has said not to take them under any circumstances.

The physio can corroborate what they've seen on examination of the OP, but unless they were present when the Dr examined the OP, they can't say what the Dr did or did not observe so can't pass any judgment on the Dr's note - except that it would seem to be inconsistnet with what the physio observed later.

But presumably(?) the OP's husband was present when the DR examined her and will definitely know whether or not the Dr's note is accurate and correct as he would have been present at the time

I wouldn't bother seeing the same doctor again. Why would you, when the trust has broken down?

I think if a doctor had written something so inaccurate in a report, I'd have gone down the road of complaining that there'd been a data breach as something was copied into my report that was about someone else, and I expect a new report ASAP (if another examination is needed, so be it).

@manxexile I have challenged this in my complaint.. I can't really just storm in there and demand to talk to him can I?

Have you got a frozen shoulder.

@darkpassenger1 I've just come off the phone to pals, records are being changed and they've changed my appointment to see the main shoulder surgeon.. hopefully he can help me further. 🤞

Maybe you are conflating a steroid injection and steroids taken orally?

They are not the same and that would be something to discuss at the time.

You could be advised to take ibuprofen or use ibuprofen gel (again, something that the people I know have been advised to do.)

I don't think you need a doctor because this is a soft tissue injury.
The don't need an orthopedic doctor. They tend to work with bones and so on.
What kind of specialist did you see out of interest?

Basically, my advice is you take a step back, let got of your anger, accept that being angry is not going to achieve anything, and spend the rest of today searching online for a sports physio who deals with your kind of injury. (You don't say how you did this - that's relevant.)

@FloridaCheese he completely wrote that off on the report

How does that conversation mean you need to see a surgeon?
They are likely NOT to do surgery but refer you to physio, which you could do yourself and avoid all the waiting.

I agree this sounds odd.

I doubt they could sort all of that out in 5 minutes!

@strawberryjamisbest I have no anger, just utter frustration at it all, I've been doing physio, I've stuck at it. My husband also helps daily, there is no improvement.

It was a trauma injury, shoulder jolted out and popped out, is now deformed.

I don’t understand why this is unbelievable?

It seems perfectly in the line of normal human behaviour that a doctor mistakenly thinks that the rehab unit will diagnose, the rehab unit immediately says “your doctor is mistaken we don’t do that so you won’t get what you’re looking for from us - those doctors must think we’re miracle workers”. The OP is clearly paraphrasing but that very believable scenario could be paraphrased as the rehab unit saying the doctor is lying.

In fact I can’t believe so many people have never been referred to another person for a solution, only to have that second person confused and unable to deliver on what the first person promised from them. It happens all the time in healthcare, shops, call centres… any process that has multiple people with different specialisms that not everyone completely understands.

Kindly, your shoulder can't 'jump out' because that would be dislocation.

I've tried to offer advice based on my brother who has had this issue for many years off and on.

But you're not listening or willing to accept advice, it appears.

Unless you get the right exercises it won't get better.
Can you accept that you might have to be more proactive and start looking for the right physio?

OP I mean this kindly.

You are risking alienating the person who has spent the best part of a couple of decades probably reaching standards needed to become a Consultant in Ortho.

I would dial right back on using words like “lie” and saying you’re reporting to the GMC. Regarding Physio and Rehab staff, I think it more likely they have said your expectations haven’t been managed quite rightly. Which is clear from your original post.

You must be in an awful lot of pain and discomfort, but don’t risk no treatment or less rapid clinic appointments by threatening to report this and that person. The Consultant has literally nothing to gain by misdiagnosing you or trying to upset you.

@JC19827 I emailed my complaint yesterday afternoon, had a missed call this morning with a voice mail to say they've booked me in on the 22nd, She called again about 10 mins ago as she realised she had booked me in with the doctor I had complained about after I had sent a reply regarding the appointment and how I felt about having to see the previous doctor.

Please don't call me a liar. @strawberryjamisbest

Have you had an X ray?

Your shoulder can't be deformed or dislocated or that would be very obvious.