Have I been a twat or should the GP surgery have given me an appointment?

[Isgreasl]

For context I am a single parent and I work full time so I may be feeling a bit overwhelmed with stress. I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable.

I have had swelling on my toe after falling. It swelled up really fast and has lessened since but the bruising is still bad. I asked for an appointment for the GP to review and I was told to go to a minor injuries unit as it might need an x ray. Minor injuries is 40 minute drive (we are remote) and will take almost an entire day to be seen. I can’t go in first thing as I need to drop DD at nursery (unless I wanted to take her with me which I don’t!).

I have asked them again for an appointment and asked for it to be escalated as I’m not happy with being told to go to minor injuries. I’m really exhausted and confused as to whether I’m in the right here?! From what I’ve read it’s usual to have a few signs looked at with the toe to decide if an x ray is needed and that this is something a GP could do.

Ah yes the GP has magical xray vision

Coming from someone who's broken their big toe, you can't be even walk on that foot it's super painful (you use your big one more than you realise) lol

There is no way to tell if it is broken without x-ray. The GP saved you time.

No, because they don't have magical X-ray vision. I walked on a "sprained" ankle for a week before admitting it wasn't getting better and getting an X-ray. I'd broken my ankle and ended up in a cast for six weeks.

When I was young I broke two or three toes (riding a bike in flip-flops) just before going on Outward Bound. I strapped them up and wore my steel capped workman's boots which were so rigid that nothing moved. Went on Outward Bound for a month, didn't disturb them until I came home and had a decent wash. By then the toes were well on the mend.
Same boots went recently to a friend who broke two toes, a palliative care doctor, and they enabled her to stay on her feet and on duty.
Recently I broke my wrist, hurt a toe, went to minor injuries, they set and plastered my wrist and agreed the toe might be broken but would sort itself if I rested. Forgot about it. Probably wasn't broken.

If it's a toe they don't do anything other than strap it to the other toes (did it myself and my foot was black and blue) so the only thing you'll get from an x-ray is confirmation of the break. Treatment may be the same either way.

You seem to be getting around, and the toe isn't sticking out at a strange angle. Broken or not, treatment will be the same - nothing.

No a GP wouldn't be able to tell you . There really is no treatment for a broken toe except to strap it to the next toe while it heals . I think going to the hospital would be a waste of a day .

They are right you need to go to minor injuries your wasting a GP appointment when all they can do is look at it and say yeah it’s bruised they can’t tell you if it’s broken which is what an X-ray is for. You would only complain if the GP fobbed you off or ordered an X-ray that could take weeks for you to get done by which time your toe could be fine. It’s better if you just do as you were told and go to minor injuries you will get it sorted faster.

That receptionist was very unhelpful and rude. However, can your husband not see the test results on the Patient Access app?

He could also make a telephone appointment with the GP or an in-person appointment with a Nurse Practitioner to discuss the results.

(Personally I would never rely on ‘all being well’ if I didn’t hear back after tests. My own practice is very good though - in addition to posting detailed results on Patient Access they also send a text message summarising the test results.)

Your doctor does not have xray vision so will send you for an xray - stop wasting the doctors time.

Utter twaddle. You may not have been able to walk on that foot … I did 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why cant you do what G.P. Surgery suggest and go at weekend to Minor Injuries or A & E ?

You have been advised to go to minor injuries. . Go to minor injuries FGS.

Ridiculous behaviour for what is probably a broken toe that they won't do anything for anyway.

When this happened to me I followed my usual rule; do everything you can at home and if after a few days the symptoms get worse then see GP. You tend to know if it's broken, absolutely agony and can't be pressure on it. I iced it often, could walk with discomfort, swelling went down and was ok so assumed it wasn't broken.

What can the GP do? Look at it & say 'it needs an Xray' then you'd have to drive the 40 minutes to Minor Injuries anyway. Save yourself the time going to the GP & go straight to the Minor Injuries clinic & make it easier for those genuinely needing a GP appointment to get one. If you don't want to drive I suggest going to the Pharmacy asking what's best to buy to strap your toes up. There's not really a lot can be done even if you have broken toes. The likely hood is they're just badly bruised in which case ice them often to keep the swelling down & take pain relief every 4 hours.