Absolutely Fuming, poor treatment by GP

[Nat6999]

I had been suffering with a sore eye, I rang my surgery for an emergency appointment & was refused, was told to go to the pharmacy for advice, I went & was sold Optrex for infected eyes, I used this for 5 days & then had an appointment for something else but mentioned my eye. The doctor without looking at my eye gave me a prescription for Goldeneye. My eye has got worse over the next 10 days & I have been to see my optician today, after putting dye in my eyes, it turns out I have very bad damage to my cornea & very dry eyes. I have been prescribed the drops that are used after eye surgery to try & heal the damage & gel to put in my eyes every night. I have another appointment next week to check how my eye is healing. The optician has warned me that I may not get my sight back to what it was in this eye & I may end up having to have surgery to sort it out. I feel that the advice & treatment my surgery gave me was totally wrong & if I hadn't made the decision to go to the opticians, I could have lost my sight.

Eye problems - you see an eye specialist for surely? Which would be an optician?

I don't think the GP has done anything wrong from your post. The chloramphenicol drops won't have damaged your eye.

Sorry that you are having those problems though. In future go to the opticians if you have an eye issue, so there won't be a delay in care.

If the doctor had said that she wasn't sure & directed me to the optician then I would have gone sooner, she just said without even looking at my eyes that it was probably conjunctivitis & gave me the cream.

Without knowing all that was discussed, its hard to say if this was handled correctly. But, if you had change in vision and pain in your eye, the gp should have seen you initially. With those 2 symptoms the pharmacist should not have sold chloramphenicol, as they suggest you did not have uncomplicated bacterial conjunctivitis.
Did you report any pain/change in vision?

The doctor shouldn't have to tell you though. Same as you don't need to be told to see a dentist with a tooth problem. The GP wasn't wrong to give the drops - conjunctivitis is common, and the drops wouldn't have been the cause of your cornea damage.

My eye felt like I had grit in it permanently & my vision was blurred, I told the doctor this, she said it was the discharge from conjunctivitis that was causing it.

Giving drops for conjunctivitis for a patient with a different eye condition can be harmful. Firstly, it delays treatment of the actual condition, which with eyes can be very serious. Secondly giving uneccessary antibiotics can contribute to resistance, meaning antibiotics may not work in the future. As above, if some signs/symptoms were missed by doctor or pharmacist, it's possible they have mishandled this. It depends on the conversations that were had.

I thought it was common knowledge that GPs dont know much about eyes or teeth. I dont think you can blame the GP... an optician has all the proper equipment to diagnose you, a GP doesn't.

At a previous surgery I was at the doctor put the dye in my eyes to check for damage when I had a previous infection, the out of hours clinic did the same when I had problems removing a contact lens when I used them. I honestly thought this GP would do the same.

An optician can see a lot of issues with eyes with their equipment but not all.
You need an ophthalmologist for the rest. GP will refer to an ophthalmologist which can take over a fortnight but that would be the reason you go to a GP for eyes, if the optician's suggestion hadn't worked.
Alternatively you sit down A&E and get seen that day by an eye specialist. (Bring a packed lunch, when I say day - I mean it could be a whole day).

How much does a private doctor cost in the UK or private insurance? I'm just curious.

Ophthalmologist for eyes, GPs are not specialised enough. I've been to Moorfields A&E a few times or been referred to them by seeing an optician. Much more effective. I hope the eye improves OP, but dont think the GP has done anything wrong.

Would you go to the doctor if you had toothache?
Common sense tells you to go to the optician and you know it.
The doctors aren't too blame here...

Our GP has signs up and a recorded message when you phone before you even get though to the options list and one of those is to see your optician for eye problems.

Sorry I should have added (since it was the whole point I was trying to make) you should contact your practice manager and give some feedback regarding the lack of signposting. It is obviously worth then doing as it won't just be you that's didn't know to see an optician (in the first instance anyway, for anything they couldn't treat they would refer you on to a specialist)

I was told that women in the UK do not have their own gynecologist for routine/annual exams and now I see you go to an optician for medical problems with your eyes. An optician is a "technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses corrective lenses for the correction of a person's vision".

Don't you mean an 'Optometrist'? An Optometrist is a doctor who specializes in medical problems with eyes.

I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm just confused because of the gyno thing and people in the UK see a pharmacist for medical advice/diagnoses, which is practicing medicine without a license where I live.

When I say 'optician' I mean the place you go, not who you see, if that makes any sense.

me and my kids have always been sent to the eye hospital when we have had any eye issues (surprisingly quite a few eye injuries between us!) because GP aren't specialised enough/don't have the equipment. there is an eye AnE at the eye hospital

I don't know what people do, who don't live near an eye hospital??

@Prevegen4U I don't think we DO go to opticians for medical problems with our eyes in the UK though?? I have NEVER heard of that before. as I said though, I live near an eye hospital but I can't imagine the optician is where you go if you don't have an eye hospital. I think PP might be incorrect

Another reason I went to the doctors is that I am on a drug for overactive bladder that can cause dry eyes. The doctor never looked at my prescribing list to check what I was taking. The optician said that at least my doctor should have prescribed artificial tears for my eyes..

A number of opticians are signed up to the community eye care service (in our area at least) They will provide appointments within 24hrs/48hrs/7days depending on the triage questions. It's supposed to free up hospital appointments and help you get better care, quickly.
Not every optician is a part of it but your GP should have a list and the receptionist, pharmacist and GP are should have advised you to call them.

Sounds like your GP visit was a waste of time and delayed your diagnosis. I would be very unhappy with that treatment or lack of it and I'd definitely follow it up

.

I would have gone to the opticians first, everyone knows that it can be hard to get a Doctors appointment these days, an optician will usually see you the same day if you tell them it's an emergency and they can refer you to the eye hospital if needed. You could have also called NHS24 for advice. Sounds like a lack of common sense from you.

I would have gone to A&E or the specialist eye A&E if your hospital has one.

You've got to take ownership for your own health, you can't blame a GP that you didn't even see.

I think as you weren't there to talk about your eye problem the GP was possibly more focused on the other issue you went in about. You need to book a double appointment I think.
Also you should have gone back sooner if drops weren't working.