Disappointed

[Skykitty1]

Hi,

I had a heart attack just over 18 months ago and I’m on medications for angina, blood pressure, anxiety and insomnia as well as sciatica, I get headaches and dizziness side effects that affect my vision and walking. My GP was brilliant at booking my appointments for changing medications and referrals. Unfortunately one of the GP receptionists is very rude and now she is making it difficult for me to book new appointments after my cardiac MRI. Before that they were making me wait to see the doctor for up to an hour needlessly. I need to talk to my GP about my MRI report. The hospital said my GP needs to request my MRI report from the cardiologist in case my medications need changing. But the GP receptionist is saying I need to contact the hospital which is not true so now I’ll have to wait until the hospital cardiologist writes either to me or my GP which will take even longer. Any advice on this matter is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

If it were me and the receptionist was going of like she is I would keep phoning back until I got one that would listen to me

I would also if I kept been refused ask to speak to the manager of the Surgery they may tell you to email in if you have a complain but I would say at this stage it is not a complaint but I would like to speak to the Manager

You could even go to the surgery and speak to the receptionists face to face requesting an appointment it could make a difference

Sometimes these receptionists at these Surgeries think they are in charge but they are not and you have to stay polite but stand your ground

I hope others will have some good suggestions and I hope you get an appointment and when you do get to speak with your Doctor tell them all about how you have been treated I am sure they would want to know

Let us know how you get on x

[Skykitty1 in reply to BeKind28-]

Hi, 🙂

Thanks for your caring reply, I really appreciate this. 🙂

Yes I had phone my GP surgery again to make an appointment with one of the other GPs. That’s going to be much later in September and just on the phone because they don’t have a lift. Steps make me breathless due to my angina and make my sciatica worse.

Contacting these GPs is now stressful, the hospital cardiologist and another GP, who unfortunately is currently away, told me to find relaxing activities to help my anxiety.

Sadly the rude receptionist now seems to have a more senior position in that practice and likes to interfere. My heart attack has destroyed my confidence. My cardiac MRI report is important to me because I was referred by the hospital cardiologist. Being dizzy affects my balance so I need a walking stick as I’m unsteady. It is probably because I’m always so polite that this rude receptionist seems to think I’m a pushover.

[BeKind28- in reply to Skykitty1]

Hello

I am so sorry I wished I knew how you could get round this I think we are all having or most of us similar issues with our Doctors surgeries

My Doctor is away this week and I could do with speaking to one yet I think what is the point trying

I understand as well how you heart issues have shaken your confidence I had anxiety before and now mine has left me in a mess to

I really hope you can get someone to talk to you and you can always come and talk with us x

[Larneybuds in reply to BeKind28-]

Good morning....I agree with BeKind. Try and speak with the practice manager, email or go into the surgery. Receptionists are there as the first point of customer service at a surgery. They don't always have an easy job but it is their job to give you a GP appointment if you need one. I am so lucky to attend a surgery where the staff go out of their way to help. Your request is heart related so you need to be assertive in your request and at the end of the day your surgery has a duty of care. If you don't get any joy with the surgery try to contact your cardiac team directly and explain what has happened. I hope you get this sorted. Take care x

[BeKind28- in reply to Larneybuds]

x

[Heartfairy]

Hello Skykitty1, sometimes the receptionists don’t realise how stressed we feel as they haven’t walked in our shoes. I do think it would be a good idea to visit the Practice and speak to a receptionist face to face and just let them know that this whole situation is making your health worse. If you don’t have any success then ask to speak to the practice manager. I think we all appreciate that receptionists are on the front line when dealing with the public and it can’t always be easy dealing with us, but may I suggest that you try the nice approach first by asking to see the GP asap and if you don’t have success then tell them you want to speak to the manager. In situations like this face to face is better than telephone. May I also be cheeky and ask what medication you have been prescribed for your sciatica. I have been suffering for 6 weeks now and have started physio which I have to pay for as the waiting list is too long and I simply can’t walk. I’m not taking anything as I thought things would interfere with the heart meds so I’d like to know what you’re able to take. Good luck with your appointment and keep us posted. ❤️🧚🏼‍♀️

[Skykitty1 in reply to Heartfairy]

Hi, 🙂

Thanks for your kind reply.

Sciatica is a massive problem but I’m not sure if physio alone would help much with chronic pain. Painkillers temporarily ease the pain. I get terrible spasms when walking, sitting, standing and even going to bed. I’ve got a lumbar support armchair from the hospital occupational therapist which helps a bit. I lost my balance and had a terrible fall which made me even more anxious and I had to go to A&E.

I also need advice on a specific muscle relaxant medication for sciatica. I currently only use a prescription cream that has a painkiller ingredient called Algesal, that eases sciatica pain only temporarily.

Anti-inflammatory medications for backache hurt my stomach and cause severe gastritis so those are definitely not good. I’m already having lots of acid reflux side effects from my current heart attack and blood pressure medications so that’s another worry for me, although the hospital cardiologist prescribed Lansoprazole and later Gaviscon. Take care. SkyK.🙂

[Heartfairy in reply to Skykitty1]

Thank you for letting me know what treatments you receive. That’s the thing with the heart and stomach meds, you don’t want other medication to interfere and make matters worse. Sorry you had a fall, that’s not nice and really shakes you up especially when you have other things going on. I do hope you get some positive results from your GP or hospital but do let us know how you get on. Hopefully some suggestions in the replies you’ve received will help you decide how to move forward. Take care ❤️🧚🏼‍♀️

[scentedgardener]

Keep a record of your interactions with her.You could try again to see/speak to your GP about the MRI scan. If she tries to tell you to contact the hospital again confirm her name, and then tell her the hospital told you to contact your GP. If she still unhelpful ask her if she is refusing to book you an appointment that the hospital said you should make, and if so why?

You won't win any friends but she might be less obstructive in future.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

I suggest you write in to your GP practice (not phone) and ask that the practice requests your MRI report and then arranges a GP appointment for you to discuss the outcome. If that doesn't happen complain as below. In any case without knowing the details of your interaction with the receptionist it might be worth complaining anyway to the Practice Manager about your treatment. I recently had cause to complain about an issue with my GP practice and wrote to the Practice Manager and matters were resolved within a couple of days.

nhs.uk/contact-us/give-feed...

[Mdea1988]

I had a silent heart attack some time between my yearly checks, in 2021 to my check in 2022. I needed a cardiac mri to get a better look as it showed on echo but not very clear, I had an mri in Feb 2023 and it took almost 3 months my gp had to wait to get results and letter from my cardiologist before they would do anything, if your concerned I'd contact cardiologist directly as mine didn't even realise I'd not had my regular check up this year till I called! So since mri confirmed heart attack I have got meds but no check since.