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Original poster

absolutly disgusted..please, please help

100 replies

Evesmama · 23/02/2005 12:04

short version:

dd full of spots, been bad since weekend, not eating/drinking, constantly crying.
rang doc to take her in.
dd fell asleep on my knee only hour after getting up.
already couple inches of snow outside and blizzards start up again.
rang doc to politley ask for doc to come out, explained situation.
was told no1, docs arnt doing call out today because of snow and dont come out for babies anyway???eh?
asked if they expected me to come out and walk 45 mins in thick snow and still falling with 22 month old in pram with temperature, constantly crying and covered in spots...her blunt reply..yes!, the doc would have to do the same!!!!
after much tooing anf froing, managed to get hold of dp at work, got him to come home and rang back to say i was coming in.
they said theyd send me straight through.
3 people later, i went up to ask why we were still there?, she said, shes speak to the other receptionist.
finally got in.
doc said it was a viral infection and wasnt chicken pox as they have fiud filled heads on...what like the ones on her hands?????oh yes, well it could be chicken pox?/but dont know! just keep temp down and come back if im worried???WTF, im here now!
she gave me a prescription for calpol to keep temp down.
asked her if i was okay to give calpol with medised as this was controlling the itching and helping her sleep..she said "yes medised is totally fine to give 'with' calpol".
went to chemist and quiried again and was told...NO!!, medised and calpol both contain paracetamol and i would overdose her and make her very ill if i gave both together!!!!!!!!

where to i go!!!
am very very angry

OP posts:
lunavix · 23/02/2005 13:18

I've bought medised and calpol and calprofen AND the baby nurofen one all together and noone even blinked or reminded me not to give it all to ds at once.

I only bulked up because we were going away and I wanted to be doubly sure nothing horrible would happen.

Yet the other day I tried to buy cold and flu medicine, after 100 questions they told me I couldn't have ANYTHING except plain paracetamol (which I am allergic to) as it all reacts with an AD I am on, and the best they could do was a nasal spray! I was practically in tears!

Original poster
Evesmama · 23/02/2005 13:20

spoke to aunty whos a solicitor and she said they all stick together and wouldnt be able to get anything done about her. makes you wonder how many children shes given overdoses to in the past!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Evesmama · 23/02/2005 13:21

am continuing with medised alone, as i think its good enough imo, unless she gets worse, then i will have to swap for neorofen and calpol

OP posts:
bundle · 23/02/2005 13:22

our medised has a sticker on it saying Not for Retail, not sure why

Original poster
Evesmama · 23/02/2005 13:29

mine doesnt?, just has the 'contains paracetamol' disclaimer printed on which i knew about..shame the qualified doctor doesnt

OP posts:
Bozza · 23/02/2005 13:41

Evemama bearing in mind that I am not a doctor - if DD gets worse couldn't you keep on giving medised but give neurofen as well. Because then she would also be getting the benefit of the anti-histamine in the medised.

Original poster
Evesmama · 23/02/2005 13:46

cant give them together because of the antihistemine in medised. know this from ringing nhs direct

OP posts:
nappybaglady · 23/02/2005 13:58

Am typing this very carefuly as I realise that MN is not a very happy place to be today.

Usually I stay well away from medical threads but am contributing because I feel I may be able to help and this post is offered in good faith.

Medised is available from pharmacists. I do not think that it is available on prescription. It is very unlikely that the doctor will ever have come across medised personally (unless he/she is a parent). However the book of medicines which all Drs have clearly states that medised contains Paracetamol so Gp should have checked. Her advice was wrong and dangerous and she is probably appalled with herself right now. As a doctor there can be little more terrifying than realising that you have made a mistake.

I agree that you should discuss the whole scenario that you were faced with today with the practice and the PCT. The new GP system is in early days and the PCT need to know about both the good and the bad of the new system.

I wish you and DD all the very best. CP was horrid when our DD had it but it will soon be over.

I'm logging off now so Feel free to say anything you like about me/my advice

and please believe that there are some nice, caring, well-meaning HUMAN doctors out there.

(oh b*gger, am I ganging up, just like your aunt said)

Original poster
Evesmama · 23/02/2005 14:23

your not saying anything bad hun?
thanks for your input

OP posts:
HappyMumof2 · 23/02/2005 14:23

Message withdrawn

Caligula · 23/02/2005 14:34

Evesmama, here's a link.

the patient's association

If you're still feeling angry etc., they'll talk you through whether this is worth complaining about, who to complain to, what the issues are (medical versus process) etc.

HTH.

bundle · 23/02/2005 15:05

nappybaglady, we only get medised on prescription, it's much cheaper for the gp to prescribe it than calpol or baby neurofen

marj · 23/02/2005 16:00

EM, how is your dd now? Is she any better? Poor little thing, when ds had it he was rough for several days then just suddenly seemed much better.
The medised would definitely make her drowsy. If that is working though I would stick with it. You can also buy aqueous cream mixed with calamine lotion now to spread on the spots. It moisturises as well as calming the irritation.
Let us know how you are getting on. Please do follow up the complaint. The doctor will feel awful I am sure, but she should have checked. I am a childrens nurse and never give ANYTHING that I dont know about without looking it up first.
Take care.

pixel · 23/02/2005 17:41

Morningpaper, My friend has a lump in her breast and her GP refused to even refer her for six weeks "in case it went away on it's own". Needless to say it didn't and she has now been given an appointment for 17 weeks time. I'm interested, has she got grounds for complaining about this? She just assumed it was a normal wait for an NHS appointment but obviously the not-knowing is torture.

sallystrawberry · 23/02/2005 17:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lailag · 23/02/2005 17:57

just a little mantion that 2 weeks waiting time to see consultant are not the only targets, there are also targets about surgery etc.
Anyway, agree that GP unlikely to know all the brand names of medicines but should have looked it up if in doubt.

Amanda3266 · 23/02/2005 18:21

Hi Evesmama. I know I can't add anything to the excellent replies you've already had. I'm so glad you took it up with the surgery -the GP may not have have known of Medised BUT there is always a drug book handy to check these things. I am only a HV yet I get sent an updated one every year - GPs get a more detailed one. That's what they are there for - to check these things in the surgery. Am so glad you bought it to therir attention. Hope your DD will soon be better.

Twiglett · 23/02/2005 18:37

"the waiting times for consultants in this situation is now almost NOTHING "

um .. are you just talking about oncologists here?

because if you're not then you really are living in a totally different GB to me

Socci · 23/02/2005 18:44

Message withdrawn

prunegirl · 23/02/2005 18:45

Message withdrawn

SeaShells · 23/02/2005 18:47

Doctors are so overworked these days it's no surprise they make mistakes, but some mistakes are just bang out of order, that was seriously dangerous information!

My dad works in a GP surgery and is forever complaining about the doctors there, just the other day a GP referred a patient to him (for counselling) and after a couple of minutes chatting with this guy, he realised it wasn't a cousellor he needed but a hospital, he sent him straight back to the GP and the GP immediately called for an ambulance for this guy, who had serious internal bleeding, the GP just hadn't listened to the man at all!

They seem very dismissive of 'hysterical mothers', I went to the GP about DD who had a cold, and was basically told to 'not be so stupid', a week later, she could hardly breathe, I took her back to the GP who called me 'a very irresponsible mother' and called an ambulance to take DD to hospital, where she stayed for a week with Brochiolitis! You can't win!

Amanda3266 · 23/02/2005 18:50

Have to agree with Socci. Madness that they don't do housecalls - is this now everywhere?

The stupid thing is when I took some of DS outgrown toys (cleaned and in good condition) to offer to the waiting room they said "No". Health and Safety means that once the toys they have are gone they won't be replaced.
So..

they don't do housecalls

they don't provide anything to help you keep your child entertained while waiting

they want you to sit in the waiting room with other people's germs (obviously less risky than the toys).

Just what is going wrong with the NHS now?

SeaShells · 23/02/2005 18:54

Same thing that's going wrong with this whole bl**dy country....red tape and the compensation craze, someone has probably tried to sue the NHS claiming that they caught something from a toy in the waiting room or something ridiculous like that!

HappyMumof2 · 23/02/2005 19:02

Message withdrawn

lailag · 23/02/2005 19:28

my dh (+GP) still does home visits. Like the other day he went to see a lady, who couldn't come to the surgery. There was no response on the door, she did not answer her telephone. So he got the police to break open the door, thinking she was there in coma or so. Just after the police arrived the lady arrived, carrying her shoppoing bags from a trip to the shops....