GPs as gate keepers for specialists?

[KatyMac]

Several times once I have seen a specialist, I have been told "We should have seen you sooner"

But often the GP says "It's just one of those things" & "you need to put up with it, lots of people get them/have that"

So how do you know when a problem you have needs seeing by a specialist and when it's something a GP can deal with.

Is it your responsibility as a patient or does the GP make the decision?

When I last saw my GP about chronic lower back pai he said it was up to me really, he couldn't see what a specialist would do. He offered physio, but left the decision to me. I opted to see the consultant and it turns out I need a new hip!

If the GP can't sort it, then I generally push for a referral.

Last time I needed a specialist, I had to be quite forceful with the GP.

I was dizzy for weeks after any plane or boat journey and he said it was "viral labythrinitis (sp?)" which I immediately knew was a crock of shit, because it would have been far too much of a coincidence that it happened after travelling.

I basically told him it was a crock of shit, and he referred me. And I got the correct diagnosis of Disembarkment Syndrome which was what Dr Google I had thought all along.

I guess you need to be persistent.

May be I'm not stroppy enough (it's not a condition I usually have; generally my friends consider me over stroppy)