I am so angry. My Mum without telling me for fear of worrying me, walked into her Dr's surgery saying she had chest pains and was feeling unwell. The receptionist said Drs were at dinner, and asked Mum if she had pins and needles in her arm. When she said know the receptionist said she wasn't having a heart attack so to go home and ring for an appointment later that day!
She has bad back pain, she's being sick and has bad chest pains, but she went home on the bus and is having to go to an appointment later today. Her Dad died of a heart attack in his 50's. She is in her 80's.
Would you complain to the surgery manager or wait for the outcome of what the Dr says first?
Has anyone else had problems with the Dr's receptionist passing diagnosis?
Written by
lisa1301
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Oh I would definitely complain the receptionist has no right telling your mum she’s not having a heart attack, years of training is needed for that and I’m almost certain the Drs would rather leave their lunch to attend to someone who needs them x
I think you need to make the practice manager aware of this. At the very least she could have phoned an ambulance. Any chest pain is an emergency. Regardless of the outcome of your mother’s tests the receptionist needs to understand how to deal with this type of emergency. So sorry you and her have gone through this I hope she is ok and gets the care she needs. Zena
I agree with the other replies. I am very concerned that some one complaining of chest pain was allowed to leave the surgery unaccompanied. Receptionists are often very helpful and knowledgeable but are not medically trained (possibly first aid trained but that is totally different) .
It may have been the case that doctors were having a working lunch and not wanted to be disturbed but I am sure someone would of been available for advice or your Mother could of waited until after the lunch to be seen then. Another option is that one of practice nurses could of been asked to see your Mother, a nurse could assess your Mother and either ask for a GP review or an ambulance.
I am sure that both your Mother's GP and the practice manager would want to know about this occurrence . Obviously your first priority is your Mother's health and that may take up all your time and energy but if possible don't let this go.
I'm asking because I don't know. Are you having a heart attack if you can get to the surgery by bus and walking? What I don't understand is why she didn't at least ring the surgery. I would have thought 111 would be a better choice myself
On hearing the story, I would have immediately called an ambulance and got her checked at A&E if the paramedics felt that was necessary.
As for the receptionist issue, don't act in anger, calm down and decide what outcome you expect? If as I suspect you want an apology and you want to ensure nobody else is put at risk in the same way, going in and simply getting angry at the practice manager or a GP isn't going to achieve much so plan your approach.
Ask for a pre-planned meeting with the practice manager to discuss a complaint. At that meeting set out the details of what took place with times, day, date and summary of the conversation between your mum and the receptionist, idealy in writing.
Ask what medical training the receptionist(s) have and what the practice policy is with regards to patients presenting out of hours with chest pains. Ask to see a copy of that policy.
If as assumed, the receptionist has failed to comply with practice policy then ask what action they propose to take to ensure there is no repeat of this issue, be that addressing a training need or ensuring compliance with policy.
Unfortunately this kind of response is all to common by receptionists (and some nurses) in small hospitals as well as surgeries. As ibeat says you must have a calm and pre-planned meeting to discuss how this response can be prevented. I asked our local Minor Injuries unit to put in extra training for staff, unfortunately I didn't check to see if this had happened, it hadn't, a child was sent home and died an hour later in the ambulance that had been called out to his home. A needless tragedy
Hi I was s Drs receptionist it is not our place to diagnose anyone. We have to ask patient for symptoms which are passed on directly to Dr. With chest pains and her other symptoms then I would go to A&E to get checked over. Better safe than sorry.
Yes, because many heart attacks have many symptoms, I had a HA and had no symptoms whatsoever. Receptionist told me to come back following week as they had no appointments. Luckily for me my own GP was on duty and agreed to see me after I pushed them. Really annoy me they are not medically trained and it should never be their opinion that counts. Thank goodness she's still going it could have been fatal.
It's a symptom of the shortage of GPs. The aim is to stop people with easily cured colds or simple diarrhoea from taking up the doctor's valuable time, although in our practice we will be sent to see a nurse, rather than sent home.
When we first joined this practice some 40 years ago, the receptionist was generally described as "a dragon" who saw her job as keeping patients away from the doctors. Plus ca change!
Am pleased to say that when I called my Doctors surgery with similar problem was told to call out ambulance immediately. I should definitely not wait and get someone to drive me into the surgery and any time I should experience this to always dial 999.
I am not saying this is the case in your instance but I have noticed that cardiologist’s doctors etc seem to take symptoms from a women less serious than that of a Man having them. I have been told on numerous occasions oh it isn’t your heart women very rarely suffer with heart problems, no your fine it’s anxiety ... how wrong they was/are. I’m not saying this is the case with your mums doctors but please if at anytime you feel unheard or not being taken serious go with your instinct and ask for a second opinion you are well within your rights to do so . Wishing your mum well thinking of you x
I think another part of the problem is that women often don't present with the classic symptoms of a MI. For that reason alone I would never accept the diagnosis of a receptionist.
Agree with comments that this is worth discussing calmly but firmly with practice manager - less serious, but after blacking out at 8am, I had receptionist tell me I couldn’t see a doctor, I’d have to wait till they phoned me at 2pm to see if I could get one next day. Since then, I’ve learned that unexplained fainting should be immediate referral to A&E.
Given you weren’t home to support your mum, as I often couldn’t be, a thought about what she is comfy doing when alone, for any future situations.... I found my mum was impossibly uncomfy with idea of 999 or ambulance, for fear of wasting time. And her GP surgery were too busy, & at times too generalist, to help quickly enough.
So I managed to persuade her to always phone 111 if in any doubt at all. They will often put straight through to a nurse, or arrange a fairly quick doctor phone-back. She could accept this (no one had wasted a journey or physical resources). She found this helpful in discussing how serious or not, and was sometimes told to phone for ambulance, which, having had some medical input, she felt more comfy doing.
I've had ambulance people tell me, they were sure I wasn't having a heart attack, even A&E were so positive I wasn't, they unhooked me and allowed me to walk around. Triponon levels showed differently. I was kept in hospital for a week until angiogram, I had 99% blockage and another 80%. Very mild symptoms. Not all heart attacks the same. I've had 2 different symptoms for both. It's just a difficult area. I hope you get it sorted. Take care. Moni
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Heart condition and non heart surgery
BUPA and pre-existing conditions
How was your \"heart attack\" diagnosed?
Diagnosed less than 48 hrs ago over the phone and terrified.
Tests for underlying heart conditions
