Can we have a thread on ridiculous things GP's have said?

[Butmummysnotanearlybird]

My contribution was "Oh well baby needs to know what sick tastes like" when they actually had CMPA and reflux. I'm sure there's worse out there 🙃

My fave is 'There's absolutely nothing wrong with you' from a doctor after I'd had weeks of morning sickness type feelings, including getting so dizzy I was nearly fainting - she told me this with confidence after one blood test. I figured out for myself that it was probably The Pill which wasn't working out for me and the symptoms stopped when I stopped taking it.

I took my son in age 3 and said 'I think my son might be lactose intolerant, I've heard it's more common in children with autism. He said in a really patronising tone after sighing 'and what on earth makes you so "sure" your child has autism'

I replied 'the moment I was really sure was when the consultant paediatrician diagnosed him after a 6 month assessment by child development services'

He wasn't expecting that answer and got very flustered. Turned out my son did have lactose intolerance. Just no need to be that patronising

For the sake of balance I have a lot of very positive experiences with gps too

"You have all the clinical signs of glandular fever, but I am going to refer you to a psychiatrist to try to find out why you think you are ill."

I have lived with the after effects of that second bout of glandular fever ever since.

Some years later I was referred to a rather confused oncologist when I had shingles in my mouth. This was by the same GP who looked increasingly confused during another consultation and eventually admitted that he had my SD's notes in front of him. She was a tween, I was in my 40s.

Our surgery is still not open following the pandemic and I haven't been able to see a GP face to face for over two years. In some ways, it's a blessing.

@DoItAfraid not defensive nor passive aggressive (you might want to look up the definition of this before accusing people of it).
I was challenging the wall to wall assumption that GPs= bad. I am not a GP but am proud to work alongside them daily and have done for 17years. I have had the pleasure of working with hardworking, conscientious, professionals who put the well-being of their patients above all else. The longstanding underfunding of the NHS AND current public and media bashing of them is utterly heartbreaking.

But the reality of GP land isn't what the general public want to hear or see - the patients who come in with a splinter or a bruise, or those who come with toothache. The endless demand, the shifting of work from secondary care to primary care as they are overwhelmed and the time wasting bureaucracy which all creates a workload that is untenable. GPS are leaving in their droves, we cannot recruit no matter what we do. Medical students are not choosing GP - why the hell would you choose it when you have this image to contend with.

I used to scoff at my previous GP Partner who said that no one respects a service that they don't have to pay for at point of access. I don't anymore.

DH Gp categorically stated he was registered blind - on his hgv medical. No apology. Thankfully dvla accepted an opticians opinion that he just needed glasses for close work. Nearly cost him his livelihood. Another GP signed home off as being dead - so hat was an interesting time getting them to see he was actually alive and kicking.

During covid, mil died in her carehome. No GP would come out to sign her as dead. No ambulance or even a nurse. Dh had to declare she was very much dead over the phone to the 999 operator and use a hand mirror to ensure she wasn’t breathing…. GP then rang to three days later to ask what made DH an authority on her death and was there anything life saving measures Dh wanted carried out on mil, such as an ambulance calling. - DH said it’s a bit late now and put the phone down.
(the funereal home and care home staff were very shocked at what had happened. but brilliant in their support).

one respects a service that they don't have to pay for at point of access bollocks and you know it.

We pay through NI anyway.

Teeny violin.

@Butmummysnotanearlybird Yep. Totally agree. Dh mother was a nurse (matron and district nurse) - and even she knew some GP had “terrible bedside manners” and poor knowledge. She had no qualms about hauling them over the coals when necessary.

I’m not sure that any of the dreadful stories on here could be classed as GP bashing. It’s merely people giving their personal experiences of the dire treatment they’ve received. And it’s perfectly reasonable to have no respect for utter incompetence, free at point of access or not.

This entire thread needs deleting.I notice the OP hasn’t returned,clearly just wanted a Doctor bashing thread.

@Ladywiddio I've been working all day unlike some

GP overruled hospital consultant on high strength opiates after my common bile duct was badly damaged during emergency gallbladder removal. I just needed breathing exercises.

After five years fighting and a recent home & gp move I'm now on strong Oxycodone with no quibbles.

Agree with @Prestissimo

My GP had been absolutely amazing these last 2 or 3 years. I speak to her about every 3 weeks and she is always so kind and helpful.

"Ah, I see you've had some quite extensive surgery, what was that for?"

"That's the marks the seams of my tights made before I removed them".

Best I had was whilst living abroad.

Asked for contraception. Doctor asked, does your husband know you are here???

🙄😧

Shocker

"You will have to learn to live with it" when I went to the doctors because I had lost the feeling in my legs & feet. I had been 3 months earlier to ask what was wrong but the bloody doctor spent all the appointment talking about my thyroid & when I managed to get a word in edgeways & said I had gone about the numbness told me my time was up & I needed to make another appointment. Then Covid hit & I didn't get to see someone for over 6 months & by that stage the nerve damage was permanent.

As a black woman I have experienced inequalities in healthcare. Many GPs have been great but quite a few very dismissive. I had an abscess and was told by one it wasn’t that bad to go home and take some paracetamol. Ended up having to go to A&E and stay in hospital for a few days as it was really that bad. And that is just one case - some are just too depressing to share.

I can’t even imagine going through pregnancy and being at the mercy of someone who may not even (consciously or unconsciously) have a bias against you that impacts how they treat you.

I am thankful for the thread, many women are easily dismissed and suffer for it. It is good to know one isn’t alone.

Agree with much of this.

Being patronised, ignored and made to feel an encumbrance isn’t helpful for the patient.

The GP system isn’t fit for purpose and needs a 21st century rethink.

I think we should have more higher level nurses, period & menopause specialists at a local level.

I’d be happy to pay more taxes for this, but it’s clearly not a great time for our country financially so realistically … what is going to change?

I do medical translation on a voluntary basis, meaning I attend GP, hospital, nurse and all kinds of specialist appointments for all sorts of different people, all the time. I'm afraid I and the rest of the team I work with have reached the unavoidable conclusion that there are bad doctors - whether their colleagues choose to admit it or not. We find for our patients that many go round in circles receiving inadequate care until they reach the one good doctor who actually takes an interest, and in that moment their lives change, sometimes after years of problems which could have been solved much earlier had certain doctors just given a shit. I know it's uncomfortable to hear but it is also a fact. It makes it very hard to go to the doctor for myself and my family because I have sat in on so many appointments where I have resolved never to use that particular doctor should we ever need to. I actually have a list of names. On the plus side, there are also some very good doctors, and the main difference between the good and bad seems to be less their knowledge, more their willingness to listen and care.

After seven years of reporting episodes of acute chest pain to my GP practice and being told "We have no idea what this is", I finally got a referral to Cardiology and, after some hiccups, was diagnosed with a heart condition that could result in my death. It's serious, potentially really serious. Letter sent from hospital to GP practice in the usual way.

A year later I was having migraines and went to see a GP who prescribed medication and gave me detailed instructions about how it should be taken. When I picked it up from the pharmacy, the instructions on the box were very different, so I looked it up on the BNF and the first contraindication on the list was my heart condition.

I called the surgery back and it went something like this (speaking to a GP)

I'm a bit concerned that the tablets your colleague has prescribed for migraine are contraindicated because of my heart condition.

You don't need to worry about that. You don't have a heart condition.

I do, you should have a letter from the hospital dated ....

Pause ... frantic tapping

Ah, so you do. We didn't put in on your record because we couldn't find a code for it. I'll do it now.

More frantic tapping

I can't find a code for it either

I had to suggest various alternative names until she found a code that almost fitted.

That was not the end of my problems. I have never had an annual check up, even though it says on their website that if I don't they can't look after me safely, they refused me ambulatory BP testing recommended by the cardiologist before I start to take additional medication and they have just removed my current medication, which is potentially lifesaving, from my prescription list.

Still waiting for surgeries round here to open up post-pandemic so that I can move.

When I was so tired all the time I was falling asleep at work: "It's probably because you're fat." Yes, because we all know fatties can't get through the day without a nap.

When I'd had a constant headache for six months: "What do you want me to do about it?" In hindsight I think that was a result of some new NHS initative where GPs were supposed to involve patients in their treatment plan, but the wording was awful!

Mine too. In fact the whole practice is bloody brilliant. I’m grateful for all they do.

I’m a HCP and grew up in an affluent area, our surgery was great. I moved to a poorer area and it’s awful, the quality of dr is night and day.

When dh was having frequent appts one put down he’d had an asthma check because they get paid more for them. Apparently his asthmas well controlled 😂 he’s using two ventolin a month ffs.

The hospital drs are much more switched on as clinicians. They just are. There hampered by the gp services though fobbing patients off when they need care.

I’ve had more than one hcp say eggs are dairy too. I was nearly refused a flu jab once by pharmacy because eggs are dairy.

I’ve also had people in my profession who’ve had the same allergy training as me tell me if I have milk all the time I’ll get used to it. I was 27 when I became allergic, if 27 years isn’t long enough God help me.

I think many GPs are pretty useless when it comes to managing chronic conditions tbh. To an extent, this is understandable – if you live with a chronic condition on a daily basis, you are going to know much more about how it affects you personally than anyone else. A GP might know the science, but they won't know the personal impact on the patient.

So I wouldn't fault them on that, the problems arise when they insist that they do know more than you about your own body and say things like 'all carbohydrates have the same effect' (they don't) or 'stress doesn't affect sugar levels' (it does), or 'exercise will lower your blood sugar levels' (long term probably, but it can often result in a short-term spike first). Once they start telling me things which I know not to be true in my case, I switch off and file under 'ignore'.

I think many GPs are pretty useless when it comes to managing chronic conditions tbh

This is true, there’s a stigma that shouldn’t affect medical professionals’ judgement but it does.

It’s telling that long COVID seems to be taken seriously by GPs but in fact it’s just chronic fatigue. I used to work in health insurance and the amount of GPs who thought this was a ‘made up’ condition was staggering. I remember one GP got struck off for daring to state the opposite.

Chronic fatigue under a different guise/name I meant