to want to change my GP (please tell me honestly if I am over-reacting)

[fledtoscotland]

today DS1 woke up with a temperature, eating ok so just put it down to a virus. Paracetamol helped and by lunchtime he was fine. then noticed pus coming out of his ear. phoned the surgery to get emergency appointment and receptionist said gp would phone me today but no guarantee we would be seen. (background is that DS1 has recurrent ear injections and bilateral perforated ear drums. audiology are monitoring him cos he still isnt speaking at 2yrs old). Told receptionist that if we werent going to be seen this afternoon I would take him to A&E. gp phoned me back and saw us. told me that i was over reacting. he has infections in both ears btw. given us abx and paracetamol & ibuprofen. noticed that the doses are wrong (i'm a nurse and give medication advice to parents daily so know for a fact that he has prescribed by the old way of age not weight). i asked for an ENT referral and got told that it is totally unnecessary and there is nothing wrong with his ears

apart from today this practice missed my ovarian cyst (picked up on 7wk scan at epau) and resulted in emergency surgery when i was 9 weeks pregnant that DS1 and I are both lucky to have survived. GP nonchalantly said "oh i forgot to pass on the details in the letter from the EPAU" . another time GP refused to see DS2 with temp of 41 and rash - took him straight to the childrens hospital where he had an amoxicillin allergy.

AIBU to change practices or am I just expecting too much from my over paid/underworked GP?

GMC?? striking off?? and we dont even know the whole story - what a nice bunch you are -??
OP if you arent happy or satisfied, then by all means change your GP, complain to the practice and the PCT, but the GMC ?? Really!!

Agree with loobylu - I would never refuse to see a child with a high temp if the parent was concerned.

I think the cyst is a bit different as there can be so many things that cause pain in the lower abdomen. I don't think any doctor could claim always to diagnose an ovarian cyst correctly, even a gynaecologist.

However, as loobylu says, the crucical point is that you have lost confidence in your GP, so YANBU to want to change.

quick follow up - have spoken to the practice manager another practice and they are happy to take our family on. Just feel relief that I dont have to face more fights with our soon-to-be ex GP

re my cyst, I presented with intermittent lower abdo pain, no bleeding at 6wks pregnant. Self-referred to EPAU (I worked next door to them) and they scanned me for ectopic and found my cyst but didn't tell me the extent or that they were worried. Sent an urgent letter to my GP asking him to refer me to the Consultant led mat unit asap for further investigation. GP didn't act on letter and I had emergency surgery at 9+2wks with necrotic ovary, tube and 9cm cyst. DS1 & I survived because of luck and a fantastic surgeon. GP was quite dismissive saying that the letter had been received and he was aware of the cyst. At the time I was too emotional to take it further as consultant could say for definite that the pregnancy would be viable until scans confirmed the DS1 was developing properly with no effects from anesthesia.

All in all, think we are best out of that practice.

i know exactly hoe you feel my gp did the same to me, my ds had a ear throat infection (had ear infection for 3 weeks) which eventually ended up with a virus. would give me abx told me to give him calpol, ask for a second opinion thats what i did

So glad you are able to change. That sounds like appalling treatment.

fledtoscotland, I think I would report that Dr to the GMC for ignoring the letter.

If your GP ignored the referral request he is technically in breach of Good Medical Practice (GMP) para 2. Doctors have a duty to comply with GMP and his dismissive attitude is possibly a breach of para 22a.
It wouldn't hurt to complete one of the GMC's online complaints forms - even if they don't do a full investigation his name will be on their 'radar' and if anyone else complains your info may be taken into account too as a cumulative effect

YANBU and I'm glad you have found another GP.

Re. your cyst, I had a similar experience. I went to the GP with severe pain at 6wks pregnant, he felt my stomach said it was fine and did I expect pregnancy to be pain-free . I was terrified of an ectopic pregnancy, so I went back next day and saw one of the trainee doctors. She felt something that she wasn't happy with and refererred me for a scan. I had an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit, the obstetrician had his students feeling my stomach as it was so obvious. I had surgery under GA to remove it at 15wks pregnant and fortunately DD was born fine.

The GP retired soon after, I wasn't the only one who made complaints.

OP- I'm glad you've managed to swap practices.

iklboo- I see that you actually collect fees for the GMC hence your extensive knowledge of their website, etc!
As I said before, it would be wrong to report a doctor to the GMC as a first line. It is wrong of you to recommend this to the OP or others reading this thread who may be influenced. Sometimes, what patients perceive to be an error is actually not an error (I am NOT referring to the OP here, just a general remark). If all patients who were even slightly dissatisfied with their doctor were to report them to the GMC, we would all be 'on the radar'. There is no doctor in this country who has never, ever made a mistake or unwittingly upset a patient. I was under the impression that, as well as protecting patients, the GMC were also there to support doctors, not just bill them for ever increasing amounts of money.