Went seen GP told him i would liiks letter so i can see my lung doctor earler given last few months of constant infections.
Told him i had seen resp nurse and she advised me i would be better off seeing my lung doctor and to get letter of gp requesting early outpatient appointment.
Only to be told by my GP nurse was out of order saying that.
But like i said to GP we are talking about my health n conditiin NOT who said what n when.
Truly amazing these GP's are THE talk about staying out of hospital yet are not proactive in test or seance of emergency when it comes to preventative medicine
Hi! I suggest that you phone your lung consultant’s secretary and ask her what you should do. I always bypass my GP now and my consultant is happy with that.
Jeff, if you ask them for a referral you can follow this up by asking to see your records under the Data Protection Act (not FOI Act because you are asking for YOUR information).
Details on how to do this are here england.nhs.uk/contact-us/foi/ but, just asking might well prompt some activity from him/her!
Can you get another GP or do you like this one enough to stay with him? When someone gets snarky because they don't like even the merest suggestion that they are not in full control, then I have found it much better to find someone different. I have found that even if I let the first instance go then there will be another instance where their ego causes even greater problems. I have to admit there was an instance with one doctor where we came to an agreement and are now quite good friends. On the whole I find it better for my health and that of my relatives if we completely avoid the arrogant doctors and find someone else who can listen and whose ego is not involved.
The GPs hold the purse strings for referrals. They get money for doing flu jabs and having asthma clinics but it costs the practice to send someone to a specialist. You’ve had some good advice so far from this forum-especially about seeing another dr. I will add that presenting a time line and bullet points of your condition, ie length, severity and incapacitating nature of illness makes your cause more evidence-based and a clinically-minded gp to take you more seriously. I do hope you get to see your consultant soon. Take care.
Hi Jeff, I agree with hopetorun. I would call your specialists secretary, tell her you feel rotten and please please can you have a cancellation. They are usually very nice. My main relationship is with my consultant and her secretary. I only use my GP to get my repeat prescription drugs. Good luck.
My doctor is so different, she sends to to specialist at first signs of something changing. For example I have lots of self printed SPO2 reports and she could not make up her mind over COPD being the cause, or SA being secondary. You should not have to telephone a consultants secretary.
I have done that but only after a disagreement with a consultant. Foe example my Dr referred me for Bradycardia as I was down to 31 BPM at stages in the night. The specialist wanted to fit me with a Loop recorder to see if I was still tacky and had tachy brady syndrome . I am on record as having SVT, VT and AF and could not understand why he could not see, he was looking for what I have on record for many years. A loop recorder you are cut and have it inserted. After that all communication was via his secretary.. Saves my GPs time.
Hi, I had a similar situation. When I received an appointment in the distant future I rang the hospital and was told by the nice out patient appointment person that if I rang in every morning then I could possibly get a cancellation, which is obviously far from ideal but if it gets an early appointment worth it, but all hospitals etc are different I suppose.
I also had a situation whereby the GP questioned a requested prescription by the SPECIALIST RESPIRATORY NURSE. Fortunately I knew what was being requested and why so explained this to the GP (who looks about 19 years old bless her). When I told the Specialist Nurse what had happened her team sent a great letter to the GP surgery explaining who they were and what they did; I think that a lot of GPs do not know themselves what services are available and who does what.
The NICE guidelines are clear about the need for multi-disciplinary and multi-agency work for the best and most effective care. I keep going on about them but the NICE guidelines are worth reading by anyone with COPD.
I also think that doctors can get very precious about who has said what, and how dare a mere nurse suggest something? That’s close to heresy for some of them.
It is a joke because the respiratory nurse teams are there, as someone else has said, to save doctors work and to prevent admissions to hospital. Admissions of their patients cost GPs more money than referrals so it’s in their interest. You would think.
Have a good day
Phil
You did well!! Honestly you are entitled to have the medical care you need.
I would follow the visit with a courteous email to your GP reminding him of your urgent request and cc your usual respiratory clinic.
Like that you have it documented and a little digital pressure doesn’t do any harm 😉
If it doesn’t work I would change GP.
If you don’t want to do so, next infection go to A&E they put pressure on GPs to deal with their patients.
You shouldn’t need a referral from your GP if you are still seeing a specialist. Contact the secretary and if you can’t get through on phone contact hospital PALS team. I have done this when I have had problems and always find them helpful
I see you mention constant infections. I had six months of constant infections and I despaired. But the nurse and GP put me on Azithromycin (250mg) three times a week. That was 10 years ago. I still take the antibiotics 3x a week but I have not had a serious infection since. In fact with regular exercise I am now better than I was 11 years ago. Take the Azithromycin away and I start to get an infection in days. Best of luck.
That's what respiratory nurses are for and gp should go on advice re specialist nurse! She would probably know more than him because it is her speciality and they are highly trained. Good luck.
Morning Jeff, sounds like your Gp visit was a bit wasted, but guess its back to the usual waiting game. You could always contact Pals as suggested but as someone else said it's up to your GP and if they are a small practice cost often over rides patient need sadly. Fingers crossed you get that appointment sooner than later, another suggestion, you are a carer so need to keep your health as good as possible to give your father care. You are entitled to the care in respect of your health. Good luck PS think you might have to use a little pressure on this occassion best wishes.
Totally agree they are reactive not procactive, which in all honesty would save the NHS a huge amount of time and money if they were more proactive.
I'm sure there are some good GP's unfortunately I've never seen one!
You just have to dig those heels in and refuse to take No for an answer, such a shame things are made more stressful when we are not feeling well, it's the worse time to be fighting a battle!
Everybody's comments leave me wondering again about my situation. I was seeing a cardiologist at Southmead who consulted with the senior consultant at the Bristol Heart Institute but said he couldn't transfer me directly because my GP would have to agree because of finance. However, we were both surprised when, out of the blue, I got that appointment and am now being treated at BIH. I have no idea where the referral came from, but both consultant and GP seem quite happy with it! I am just going with the flow and letting them get on with it! It possibly helps that Bristol takes in South Wales for congenital heart disease, although I believe they are expecting to open a centre in Cardiff. But JAS you shouldn't have this bother, and like others I think you should either phone or write to your consultant. You should get a helpful response and if not you could go to PALS or even make a formal complaint. The NHS is there to care for you, and as I pointed out once, if we weren't there they wouldn't have jobs! Good luck, and I hope you feel better soon xx
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