GP Complaint - Am i in the right here?

[Kwill121]

Hi Everyone,

I've used this forum as me and my wife have always come here whenever we have had concerns with the children and felt so much at ease when others have discussed the same issues and really wanted to come here today for an opinion on our situation.

Its abit long winded, I'll try and condense it as much as I can ! sorry

Our son is 8 years old and since early last year his hearing became an issue, and we took him to the doctors where we seen a practice nurse, she said he had slight wax in his ear and to go away with oil and it would shift. It never did !... We gave it time but his hearing wasn't any better.
We took him back again where we seen another practice nurse who said its a slight infection and gave us eye drops (apparently these can be used in the ear?) they never worked and his hearing was deteriating still. I need to point out that I had requested a hearing test each time I took him and explained my concerns.
Again there wasn't any progress so we took him back again, as he had a parents evening and the school expressed their concern and had advised it was effecting his school work, and his ear was now beginning to smell, when we took him back he was given another set of eye drops and off we went ! I had advised he had been numerous times before but there was no concern on her behalf.
My sons hearing at this point was getting really bad so I took him again where I finally got to see the GP, and I demanded a referral to ENT as something was right, he was deaf in this ear and it smelt, he gave us another set of drops and said bring him back should this carry on, it did and I took him back, he was then referred.

The referral was in 2 months time, when the day finally come the consultant said to me, this ear should never of been left this long and assumed I had just left my son and I had to correct him. The consultant said to me that an infection should never be this bad in a childs ear, not in this country and the only solution for my son now was surgery.

In the meantime, waiting for the referral my son started to develop a rash all over his body and his skin was peeling, this was something he suffered from whenever he was run down, so I knew the two where linked. My wife took him back to the doctors and he was seen by the most awful nurse. The day before I had requested my sons medical records to see how long we had been taking my son, which she clearly knew about.

She spoke to my wife awful, and actually said why haven't you brought him sooner (she clearly had never read his notes like the previous nurses) she then said to my son, here is your cream, its going to sting but that's how it goes! the most awful attitude and she scared me son, putting the cream on was a nightmare after that!

I written to the practice manager with all my concerns and everything that has gone on, I have an hours appointment tomorrow from the GP where they called and said he would like to discuss a referral, I thought an hour was very long to see a doctor.

My post is to see if anyone else would of done the same thing and any advice on this if anyone has had a similar issue, the practice manager written back and advised they would contact me in two weeks.

Any advice would be extremely appreciated

Regards

I meant to mention that the appointments for [redacted] ear went on for nearly a year before referral, since June of last year. This post was edited by MNHQ

I would've seen a GP, not a nurse.
Why did you not get an appointment to see the GP?
Hope his hearing will return after the op.

Have you considered moving surgery?

Was he seen three times since June of last year, twice by a nurse and once by a GP? I think I would've been more proactive in taking him and asking for more to be done. Wait to see what the manager comes back with then plan your next course of action.

Before you meet with anyone you need to sit down and write a complete timeline of appointments, who you saw, what was said/ prescribed etc, together with your son's symptoms.
Also the school's concerns about his hearing.
Make a copy in case you need to give your account to a third party.
I am sorry this has happened to you.

Why did you see a nurse the first two times and not a GP?

I wouldn't be happy with the whole process but I would only have seen a GP for an ear infection. If I was concerned about hearing loss I would have been asking for an ENT referral not a hearing test. I hope your son gets better.

Not what you are asking but creams do sting so ask if same thing is available as an ointment.

You sound like you have a valid complaint.Any reasonable GP should have a complaints process and follow it.

Hi everyone, part of the complaint was that I had requested to see a doctor but getting to see one was very difficuilt, and the only alternative was to see the nurse Practioner who was on at that time.
My son never had pain with his ear, had he been in pain we would of took him every week, we took him whenever the signs where there, and he went a lot more than three times, I have just tried to condense it down for you guys. We are moving surgeries btw :) thanks for the comments

Has the wait impacted his hearing long term ? Make sure you take a timeline and anything the hospital said.

3 nurse appointments and one GP appointment-is that right?
What was the name of the drops prescribed? There are some that can be used eye/ear. There would be no reason to have a hearing test until the ear was clear so they are not wrong to not refer to audiology. The fact that the ear wasn’t clear and you took him only 4 times in nearly a year is surprising.

I think an hour blocked out to discuss the issues shows the Dr is taking it seriously and will be looking in into what has gone on and what has gone wrong. It will be recorded as a significant event.

Sorry your son suffered for so long, I hope the consultant wrote a scathing letter to the GP but, having had a similar experience with a nurse (DC ended up in A&E the following evening after she said he was fine!) , I would have booked in with the Dr for the next appointment rather than being fobbed off with the PN again.

What do you want to happen from this meeting and what are your expectations? I suppose at the very least you could request for all further problems that DS sees GP rather than PN not I’m not sure how possible this would be. Is there another practice you could move to that you would be happier with? I expect you may get an apology that it has gone on so long and an explanation about how nice guidelines say X amount of treatment options need to be tried before referral.

X post. Glad you are moving.

I would have insisted on seeing a GP on the second appointment you had and I certainly wouldn't have left it so long between each appointment.

It's easy to blame medical staff for not picking up on this sooner but you weren't as pro-active as you should have been. Waiting until his ear started smelling??? Really? And now making a complaint to the Practice? You have found time to make a complaint but didn't have time to get your son seen to properly when he needed it? YABU

The GP is unlikely to have done anything different to the first couple of nurses tbh.

How far apart are these appointments and when you say numerous, are there more appointments than you listed here?

I don’t think the course of treatment is completely unreasonable, but it should have happened over weeks rather than months.

Those saying that the OP should have seen a GP rather than a nurse - it is not the patient's responsibility to make this decision. If the nurse felt that this needed GP input (which obviously it did) they should have suggested it. If anything, this is potentially another part of the complaint if the nurse didn't refer to the GP appropriately.

You had a few options here:

Surely after two nurse appts you should have spoken to the practise manager and asked for a GP appt?

You could have cut your loses and spent £80-£150 on a private ENT, paediatric or GP appt.

You could have taken him to a walk in/minor injury clinic when it was smelly one weekend when the GP practise was closed.

I understand your frustration but honestly you could have been more proactive.

I think the number of visits is relevant.

Three in a year wouldnt scream out as an ongoing serious issue- 12 would iyswim.

I’m surprised a nurse is handing out cipro drops tho- they aren’t first line and I’m surprised they are on their formulary but they must be.

The hearing loss might have been a bit of a flag but if he was otherwise well with no pain etc then I can see why they managed it as they did.

If it makes you feel any better I had the exact same problem as your son and I was 45 at the time. Ended up having time off work and finally paying to see a private ENT specialist.

By this time I had severe fungal infections in both ears which should never have been left and should have been spotted given the very clear indications- the GP had been treating them as bacterial.

As said, keep a timeline and yes, I would make a complaint. Especially about the high handed way you were treated.

We where pro-active as much as we thought we should of been in this situation, he had been to an out of hours doctor also who again treat with antibiotics, I pushed and pushed to see the GP but getting an appointment was terrible, calling up at 8 on the morning and never getting through then being told it was only nurses appointments left. We didn't want to leave it, so took the nurses appointment. It was pure luck when we finally got to see the Doctor and I will say, he was fantastic. He is the reason we got referred to ENT. The reason for my complaint is to make them aware of the issue they are having with appointments. for people who are saying I should of done this I should of done that, that's easy to say. As a parent I believed I had done everything I had in my power, and you do trust nurses and doctors just like we did

You can blame the practice, but not a GP as you didn't see one for months. Why would you expect a nurse to know as much as a GP?
It baffles me to be honest. A nurse can't refer you, they haven't spent 10 plus years in med school and every year after that studying, they're taught how to nurse (one would hope) not how to diagnose.
I dislike this movement towards nurses replacing GPs. I'll diagnose myself if that's the case!
You should have asked for a GP appointment. A nurse, no matter how good she/he is, is just a nurse. A doctor is a whole different thing. It's like bringing your Picasso to the local artist for them to touch up or something.

I agree Dohee, not that Im downing nurses for one minute, but they are all that are available at the moment when you make an appointment and doctors are so hard to come by!

I'd move practice, every time we've taken my daughter in with concerns we automatically see a doctor rather than a nurse due to her being young. Also we can book appointments online and I can always see a doctor within a few days. Your sounds terrible. I hope your son is better now.

I think it is unfair to generalise.
A nurse practitioner saved my BIL's life when the hospital doctor put him on medication that reacted dangerously with medication he was already taking. No excuse because it was all on his current records. She was knowledgeable, quick thinking and professional in an acute situation that needed fast action.
I have worked with some excellent nurse practitioners and some really awful GPs. And with some wonderful GPs and hopeless nurses.

I bet that they aren't really nurse practitioners. I bet they're just some poor sod of a practice nurse who is being expecting to function as a GPlite, because this country doesn't have enough GPs. I'm involved in training paediatric nurse practitioners. We're very picky about standards that have to be achieved. I don't know anyone who despairs at much at "nurse practitioners" as actual proper nurse practitioners.

The eye/ear drops isn't an issue. This is a normal way to prescribe.

I have sympathy. I have had an ear infection since last summer and it still isn't sorted. Have been three times to the GP this week.

However, I have to take some responsibility myself because in the periods when it had settled somewhat, I haven't pushed for it to be sorted, even though I knew it was still there.

Our primary care system does require patients or their parents to be proactive.