Why can't GPs diagnose?

[ilovemyhens]

Every time I visit the GP, he/she fails to diagnose what's wrong with me and it's then up to me to try and find out what's wrong

One failed to spot that I had a uti even though I told them that I did. Then, one gave me the wrong antibiotics and I had to see another one and point out to her that the ones I had been given weren't suitable for the problem that I had She seemed totally nonplussed and asked where I'd learned this. She then wrote out another script and these seem to be working.

There have also been other things too and I find it so annoying. It makes me worry about what would happen if something really serious were to happen to any of my family.

They just seem too vague and clueless these days, or is it just me?

My GP is excellent. When I was ver ill with pnuemonia last year he was fantastic, saw me at funny hours, diagnosed me himself, packed me off to the hospital and did all my follow ups after for 5 or 6 weeks.

Some of the GPs at our surgery appear to be better than others, but none are anyway bad.

Celibin,

They may be a general practitioner but I would still expect them to know more than me!

I had to insist our GP checked my son's ears when he had a fever and vomiting. That is just part of any exam a GP should do (and, in most of Europe, even healthy children have regular mandatory ear checks for hidden infection). In addition, when our 5 week old baby failed to feed and was breathing poorly, he told us at 9AM to come in for a 5PM appointment. Lucky for us that we use our own judgment, as he probably would have been dead by then (ended up in PICU on CPAP for a couple of days). However I have been called up at all hours of the day to ask how my youngest son is fed and to confirm (about 5 times) vaccine appointments.

There seems to be a real problem with priorities here, and I think the way GPs earn their money has a lot to do with it.

I agree with you that there are good GPs around and I must confess, when worried now, we use a private one. Of course it is an unfair comparison (as they have about 30 mins per appointment) but I have no interest in taking any risks with my children's health.