GP marking abnormal results as normal??

[CreatingHavoc]

I had an echocardiogram recently, which showed mild mitral valve regurgitation. However, my GP has marked the scan as 'normal - no comment' on my records. The only reason I know about the mitral valve leak is because I read the report myself. It did say it was largely 'reassuring' but it definitely wasn't normal no comment. I'm really quite annoyed by this.

Similarly, but not quite as bad, they marked my pelvic ultrasound as normal, despite my right ovary being in the pouch of Douglas. This can be normal but given my symptoms, should have meant I had an internal scan booked (should have really been done on the day but the radiologist didn't do it 🙄) and further investigations. I ended up in A&E yesterday with my pelvic issues and the doctor there has confirmed this and advised me to go back to the gp and demand an internal scan and a referral to gynae. At this point however I'm wondering if I should change to an entirely different surgery :/

You have a right to a second opinion so I’d book in to discuss your results. You also have a right to your data being corrected if inaccurate, therefore you should request your notes are amended to accurately reflect the results being abnormal.
I will say though, a relative had 2 X-rays, both showed a broken bone which the relative flagged & questioned. Both times they were gaslit that it wasn’t broken, it was just a sprain. Ultimately a private scan later diagnosed the break & recovery has been arduous because incorrect recovery advice was given. You have to advocate for yourself unfortunately, because you’re just a set of results amongst a stack of results.

I had this for years with my thyroid, results came back borderline with instructions to repeat the bloods but my surgery never did. I only found out when records went online & I could view them. It wasn't until my hair started falling out, I was permanently frozen & I went in going mad at the doctor that they repeated the test & my TSH level was off the scale that I got treated.

My senior gynaecologist relatives think that women exaggerate the pain from endometriosis... and my gp recently had 'never heard of' my not that common but not unheard of heart condition ...

Go get your B12 checked. Breathlessness and other symptoms can often relate to a B12 deficiency. Sadly the NHS under treats B12, so you can be very ill with low levels but fobbed off as fine. Treatment for b12 deficiency elsewhere in Europe is much much better.

My comment was for fruitssaladandchips

Op
The A&E doctor confirmed and advised you demand an urgent internal scan.
Sounds like he was just agreeing with you
Seriously op if he was concerned in the least he would have organised this for you there and then
He told you to basically to go back and challenge your GP yourself.

Another doctor bashing thread…
I’m not a doctor, but I work in close quarters with them and fuck that for a game of soldiers. Medicine isn’t magic, if we were all treated/ scanned / tested for every result that was slightly out of the norm the NHS would run out of money in a week.

As for anybody who thinks that private healthcare is inherently better than NHS, who do you think cares for patients when they get really really unwell? They get whisked off to NHS facilities to be looked after with NHS money. I’ve worked for a private facility, and when the chips are down I’d prefer to be looked after by a non- profit driven doctor every time.

That was exactly my thought! It seems the more serious the diagnosis, the more highly regarded the medic is.

You are demonstrating part of the problem that the NHS has.

It provides medical services to people who then ignore the expertise in favour of google results.

They then keep asking for more and more and more resources, which are rarely clinically justified.

I am starting to look forward to private healthcare when you will have to pay for all the resources that you demand.

I suspect many people will start to be satisfied with less at that point.

The NHS is in crisis and sadly as a result of this a lot of people who in an unstressed health care system should get prompt further investigation are dismissed. In reality 98% are probably fine, but the small number with serious issues will suffer as a result. This is one of the reasons our cancer survival statistics are now so poor compared with other similar countries. I have a liver problem, probably not life threatening, but I am getting a private scan to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other serious problems. If I followed the local NHS protocol it would be more than 6 months before I even got a diagnosis. That 6 months could make a huge difference. Interestingly, even in the UK for my condition there is a huge difference in protocols that are being used. It's usually a policy not individual doctors driving this.

What is your medical training?

Hope you can get some resolution. No one will make this happen other than you.

I shall not defend some of the absolutely crap advice and diagnoses I have experienced via the NHS over decades. The missed fractured ankle, the missed Graves when I twice went to my GP in my late 20s (late 1980s) because I was exhausted but couldn't sleep and losing weight and was told to be more mindful of my lifestyle. The second time he sighed and ordered a test for iron levels. Two months later via the work doctor bloods were done after my legs ballooned and I had lost 21lb and I was sent straight to an endocrinologist at a hospital because my results were so far through the roof that it was feared my heart was affected. Nor the fact that DS nearly died in childbirth because they failed to notice he was posterior and too far into the birth canal for a C section and with the cord wrapped around his neck. His Apgar score was less than 5 and he was purple and had to be resuscitated. Nor the missed broken back in A&E. I therefore take NHS advice with a pinch of salt nowadays and cross question.

However, @olympicsrock always gives very measured advice on threads and the responses to her on these posts has been unacceptable.

Good grief some of the posts on this thread are horrific. I hope you are never dismissed by HCP's when you feel unwell and not given care nor investigative tests.

These days nhs tells everyone anything they've got is anxiety and they need mindfulness, which I respect, but not when it's only used as an excuse for the nhs to spend no money.

@user1471538275

Well put. Gp's will take the advice of the specialist drs!

Also remember that many medical conditions are such that you don't actually need treatment or procedures at that point because they are higher risk than a watch and wait approach. This can even include serious medical conditions like cancer. Over treatment is a major issue in some cases too.

I'm not saying blindly trust your dr in all cases, in fact the joining up the dots from a variety of different complaints is an issue particularly now you rarely see the same gp twice but for the most part I trust the person with the medical degree over dr google

FYI for our pet thread doctor - if someone is a cunt to me I’ll call them one - Gladly.

When you have been treated like shit and denied medication until you were suicidal and then had to pay someone else to fix the mess then had that same doctor tell lies about it in the complaint you raised let’s see how you feel.

My calling that consultant a cunt is a long way from what I’d like to do.

Perhaps you just can’t see beyond your own arrogance and importance to realise that yes some patients are being treated like shit and lives ruined because not every doctor is as oh so wonderful as you.

TBF @Msmoonpie I find it irritates them more either to be asked for their first name if they assume they may use mine or to extend a hand of greeting when they have introduced themselves and address me with my first name and say "I'm very pleased to meet you Mr soandso, you may call me Mrs Hellebores. They usually step back a bit or sometimes go red. I am sure it's more satisfying than calling them a C_nt and keeps things on the front foot.

When they don't appear to be listening or dusmiss what I am saying or suggesting, nowadays I usually ask them to note in my records that I was concerned about x but they disagreed. They sit up then.

I am always excruciatingly polite. Regrettably that is not always the case vis a vis NHS staff although some are lovely. My local hospital I find a toxic cesspit of incompetence. The shabby one in the much poorer area, whilst it looks like the third world, is actually far better although they come under the same Trust.

I would point out that I have not and am unlikely to call aforesaid consultant a cunt to his face - and I was “treated” by him for a few months before what I will politely term the breakdown of the doctor patient relationship became apparent- so the introductory stuff was long since past.

I think it was a combination of his arrogance - what I said was happening didn’t fit in line with his his experience so therefore I was either a liar or mentally unwell. He then dealt with my raising concerns badly by refusing to respond to me until I was forced to make a formal complaint. During which he repeatedly lied and lied.

Fortunately for me I found a competent consultant who eventually (he had to redo a lot of the testing first consultant didn’t do properly) diagnosed me and I started receiving treatment. Unfortunately my condition was much more served by this point and therefore the treatment less effective.

This man cost me dearly - I have even experienced flashbacks from the distress and lack of treatment he caused - that’s how traumatic it was. I’m now waiting on more treatment to deal with that.

Naturally though, thinking badly of him and using a bad word online makes me scum of the earth according to our doctor friend. As expected really.

@mumzof4x no, he wasn't agreeing with me. He mentioned getting a laproscopy (to diagnose endo) before I'd even mentioned anything about my ultrasound experience. He was going purely off my symptoms.

Whoever it was who said the good ones are the ones who tell you what you want to hear, this is not the case at all. I want to be listened to and understood and not kicked out the door after 5-10 mins. I want appropriate tests, I want accurate interpretation and explanation of my results. I don't want to have to scour through the NHS app to find out that I've got a heart defect, no matter how minor or common people might think it is. It's a potential cause of my symptoms and should have been addressed. I have been to see my GP since the echo came back and she didn't even mention the mitral valve issue. I hadn't read the full report at that point, only the gp's comment of 'normal' so I thought it was totally fine. Then my private cardiologist asked for a copy of the results and so I had to download them and I read them. Hence my anger and frustration at the whole thing.

I have been in pain now for years. It's getting worse. I have pelvic pain, abdominal pain, numbness, shooting pains, heavy periods, hip pain on walking, problems urinating, an endless list of neurological symptoms and I've never had an MRI. I've only just had an ultrasound that showed something potentially unusual and it wasn't investigated further, which, based on my symptoms, it should have been.

This is not a doctor bashing thread. Some are decent. Some are shit. I don't appreciate being told by a random doctor online who doesn't know me or my history that my test results are insignificant. I've had probably the most difficult year of my life health wise and have been asking for help from the gp way before it got this bad. Last time I saw her she said 'it's ibs and anxiety.' It shouldn't be like this.