GP has really panicked me. Should I complain?

[Bookist]

Had a lump/swelling appear on the outside of my upper left thigh in November. Nearly the size of my palm. Not hard (slightly soft). Not coloured. Not hot. Slightly tender sometimes. Occasional pins & needles sensation down outside of the leg. I think I noticed it a couple of days after doing a lot of physical exercise all day?

It's still there maybe slightly larger, not sure. So went to the GP today. She examined it. I mentioned there is a history of DVT in my family, to which she replied (and these are her exact words) "It's definitely not DVT, so no need to worry about that. I'd be much more worried that it might be cancer or a tumor."

I think I went into shock. I'd gone in thinking I'd torn a muscle or maybe bursitis, and she started talking about cancer! I was so shocked that I couldn't think to ask any questions. She then said she would refer me for an UltraSound and sent me on my way.

I can't believe she would be so brutal and callous, even if she does suspect it might be something sinister. I really don't know what to think, I think I'm still in shock. But surely there's better ways of speaking to a patient than this?

@Anonanonanon1

Sorry to hear of your loss, poor boy❤️

That’s the way I like my doctors to talk to me - explain the possibilities, with out hedging and fake reassurance. It’s obviously a difficult line for doctors to navigate.

No you shouldn’t complain. You should be thankful that you have a switched on GP who may have spotted something. She may just have saved your life

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Some of the replies on here have had me really questioning myself. I already know exactly what it feels like to be given a cancer diagnosis. But it was handled a thousand times more sensitively than this, even when they had all the test results and knew for certain.

Thank you again.

No, I never self diagnosed myself with DVT, please read my post more carefully. It wasn't presenting at all like DVT, which I know more about than I ever wish to know because it's what killed my brother. I said I mentioned DVT just as a way of making very nervous conversation as she examined me.

Oh my love, that is just dreadful. There can be no words for how devastating that is. I am so sorry for your loss

Perhaps better in her delivery, but not sure what else you expected her to say if that’s what she thought was a possibility and needed to refer you?

I hadn't thought of how many scan appointments are no shows, so it makes sense I guess to impress on patients that it's important they attend. Thank you. My GP was very young, hopefully she'll improve.

I just assumed she'd explain or explore any of the other (many) possibilities it could be, rather than just plumping straight for the cancer option.

Thank you, that's kind of you. Fingers crossed x

Yes, that's a possibility I guess, though it genuinely had never crossed my mind? Had never heard of sarcomas until today.

Thank you. It really did leave me reeling! I must have been very lucky up until now to have had GPs with a good bedside manner x

Thank you. There were a dozen better ways she could have delivered that information, it's true x

It does sound like perhaps the delivery could have been a lot better, it’s so hard for GPs when they have to get through so many appointments in such a short space of time. She probably didn’t have time to discuss it at length or discuss other things that it’s either unlikely to be or of not huge significance just for the sake of it. The length of her appointment probably only allowed her to say she’s worried it could be cancer and needs to refer. It’s not ideal at all and can imagine the GP like a lot of HCP hates having to practice like this

Have you been diagnosed with an ‘Empathy Bypass’?

GPs cannot win.

Do people not realise the potential impact that flimsy complaints like this against medical professionals can have - including suicide?

I do think people do need to realise that when they complain it has an absolutely massive impact on the HCP they are complaining about. Especially when so many working so hard in such difficult circumstances. Obviously do so if really need to but don’t be surprised if it’s the last straw for them and they decide to just jack in their career. It is so hard to get that communication spot on when head whirring round with a 1000 things in a busy clinic and a waiting room full of patients complaining about delays, but then obviously it’s good for HCPs to be aware if they are upsetting the people they work so hard to try and care for. Perhaps comments on one of the general feedback forms most surgeries have would be better, such feedback does often get disseminated via team meetings and newsletters which makes everyone pause and think about how they could try and do things better

@Mia45 I completely agree. It's not an action that should be contemplated lightly.

"In March last year, the GMC said 29 doctors died between January 2018 and December 2020 while it was investigating them. Five of those were found to have been suicides."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/27/almost-one-in-three-doctors-investigated-by-gmc-have-suicidal-thoughts

Seems reasonable to me, I'd be happy to hear her frank concerns and would expect her to then do an urgent (2 week) referral for me. (And yes, I have been on a suspected cancer pathway - fortunately it wasn't although I needed an operation for something else - and I have had a relative die quite young from an incurable cancer, so this is not hypothetical musing on my part.) How does beating around the bush help you to get the care you need if you do have cancer? The earlier it's said, and investigated, the quicker you will either get the answer that it isn't, or be on an effective treatment plan if it is. And most people on "2 week wait" pathways turn out not to have cancer, it is a precaution, and a good thing to get seen if there is any chance.

I think she was a bit blunt - there are def more kinder ways of putting things. Recently when I had a lump (which turned out to be a hernia but she wasn’t sure), she said to get an ultrasound and then ‘we’ll go from there’ - fair enough.
Drs can say what they think it is and sometimes it’s obvious what they’re ruling out by tests (ovarian cancer, bowel cancer etc).
Hope it turns out ok, OP, but lumps can be anything really from cancer to cysts.,

I'd be fuming. The way she said "It's not DVR,don't worry about that" then to brutally hit you with cancer is shocking. I'd put in a complaint re her attitude tbh.

@Bookist is English her first language? Only there's an overseas doctor in our practice who can be very blunt but knowing others from where they're from it's just how they are. One example was when I went with week-long numbness/pins and needles in one hand and leg "I refer you to neurology, you probably have MS" (hemiplegic migraine was the actual diagnosis!)

Hope the scan is reassuring

YAnBU and her delivery was appalling

try not worry but get checked. I have one of these lumps and it’s a lipoma

Directness from the Doctors!

Some really need to imagine being on the end of the phone call

i teach, a few years ago, my child had a rare condition that has huge range of complications.
After finding she was unable to produce correct levels of Cortisol she was admitted to hospital. Local hospital had her transferred to a bigger hospital so endocrinologist could assess her and the compensating endocrinology pathways which she had developed.
She was sent for a CT scan and back on the ward. Then a very busy hive of consultants, doctors and nurses and I was told that she would have to have a different scan so that the brain could be seen better. I naively, assumed it was because she had been unable to keep still or cope well with the Ct.
We were taken to MRI scanners. A very busy area… at around 4ish
was told that it would take 45-60mins
i was sat in waiting room, all staff disappeared, sat completely alone, no one to ask questions and she wasn’t brought out until 7pm
I was asking questions and told they had wanted more scans and different types. I didn’t think much of it as she had a rare condition and since 5 weeks old, we were constantly asked if they could bring more doctors and students and different specialists to see her. As most had only read about it.
I assumed it was more of the same.
Due to her severe distress and the affect on her stress levels I was allowed to take her home. I assumed that the consultant would call us back once they had worked out the endocrinology jigsaw

Doctor’s inability to be human

I was called in my lunch break to say she had a bed booked for her in the children’s hospital In the next town. Her Ct scan had shown a mass and why she had to have mri
the mri and shown she had a mass inside centre of her brain where the central membrane was malformed.
She should not have been discharged the night before but the ward we were on had been unaware of the problem.

The blood test that had been taken before we left was tested for HCG and was positive and confirmed that it was malignant.

I was told where to go and ward, and consultant, also to take belongings and other supplies with me. To get my young son to a family member as it wasn’t possible to have him with us.

Then they hung up

Im there in the staffroom, with my lesson prep for next lesson, and being told that my child had a mass and malignant

i just couldn’t comprehend what was said and got up, autopilot and my colleagues had heard as I didn’t think it would be anything other then normal,
i said the type of mass etc to the room, we are all scientists, then said I best go organise myself ready for the lesson and be ready for students who were due to arrive.
I went, set up, put books, worksheets and opened register let students in and started going through exam papers etc When the head teacher and deputy head and my head of science walked in and i couldn’t work out what was happening and why they were in my room.They said you need to go, but I kept saying it is ok, they let us home yesterday so they have it wrong.
They were packing me up, and kindly told me I had to go now as they had looked up what I had said, scientists- like that kinda thing- and they had organised a member of staff to drive me home and I cannot thank them enough as it didn’t register

when I arrived at the hospital with her and mentioned I was on my lunch break at school

I was told that they had waited until it was lunchtime to call me as they didn’t think I would answer during lessons.
I said it wasn’t the conversation that I was expecting or that no one was thinking about the situation for me.

That was probably worse than the conversation that I had when she was first diagnosed

Honestly, some doctors need to imagine being on the other side and hearing the news

I thought it would make a dark sense of humour chuckle… as it has a scale of shocking to absolutely wtaf has just happened

I agree 1000% that the GMC could do a lot better. And it's devastating that anyone takes their own life whilst under investigation.

But don't ever let us stop patients and their families from complaining. If something goes wrong, or is badly handled, the health provider needs to learn lessons, take responsibility and endeavour to make amends. Oh, and apologise when they're in the wrong.

No HCP wants to be part of a service that isn't prepared to try to do better. And the system / politicians need to take responsibility too. The workforce need to have capacity to do their job well.