Did you find your GP was helpful and ... - Fertility Network UK
Did you find your GP was helpful and knowledgeable about fertility issues and funding?
I have never seen a GP about fertility issues/ funding so this may be an unfair reflection. I was referred to a service directly by my surgeon after I suspected that previous surgery may have been causing issues. However the referral still took longer than I would have liked considering that that is only the beginning of investigations and then placing you on a waiting list for IVF.
All the time women are waiting for referrals, results and then for waiting lists for treatment they are getting older and AMH is reducing so it is really important that GPs do not further slow the process by fobbing people off and telling them to keep trying and come back in 6 months or a year especially once people are already in their 30s.
My GP didn't do anything 'wrong' and did refer us to the hospital after we had been ttc for one year. However, I had a 10 minute appointment and nothing more. I wasn't offered any emotional support at this time which is something I would like to see GPs do. There was no acknowledgment of the stress. It can be difficult to seek out support (whether it's counselling of support groups) by yourself. By the time we had our first appointment at the hospital (10 months later) I was only coping because I had paid to see a counsellor privately which isn't an option for everyone! The GP was also unaware of the waiting times for treatment and had said I would be seen in 3 months which proved very wrong!
Thanks for raising the issue x
My GP was able to provide referals (thats his job!), but I had to suggest or request them first, after doing my own investigations. It was kind of; they won't suggest it, unless you ask for it first! Which I found exhausting, as I am not a medical professional! I would have liked my GP to have provided me with all the information he thought I required, then we could talk through the choices together.
The first GP we saw said she wasn't sure whether we could get help or not. The second referred us to the hospital to get IVF, which we weren't illegible for (at the time) and then the final GP I saw (I was asking whether clomid may help as I'd heard other people were successful on it), basically told me I was too old (40 years and 4 months at the time), to pull myself together and get on with my life without children. She then told me she had two of her own!! 
Our GP was very understanding and arranged for the initial tests to be carried out. After my day 3 tests, I got a call from the gp surgery saying my hormone levels were pre-menopausal and I should come in for an appointment, which needless to say completely freaked me out (I'm 34). So after arranging for an appointment the next day (having to shuffle things at work to get time off and frantically googling pre-menopause all evening), I went in to see another GP, who just completely dismissed it (rightly so as the numbers were low but not drastic). However, in addition to being relieved but annoyed for the stress caused, I was grateful this was not my usual GP - completely unsupportive and telling me to stop using OPKs as that can 'stress me out' and just have sex 2-3 times per week, as if I was a complete idiot and after (then) 1yr of trying had no idea how babies were made!
Our GP was great. Knowledgable? Erm maybe not (I wouldn't expect him to be) but helpful, understanding, compassionate and referred us without questioning or dismissing what we told him.
Ordered all the tests without us having to ask and the nurse I saw spoke to me about counselling as she had recently had a miscarriage and felt it helped her. I think we've got really lucky with our surgery.
Hi,
Can I ask how long did it take to get your initial appt with the hospital. My gp said she'd refer me and my BF last week.
Did you have to wait long for treatment?
Many thanks
Claire x
Hello. Our gp was really quite good. A little bit insensitive. But I think that was more to do with not having enough time per patient anymore. Just my opinion of course. But sent us straight for several tests no questions asked. Very efficient. Refered us to anther infertility doctor who then refered us to our clinic.
Hi how long did it take from seeing your go to getting an appointment at your fertility clinic?
Thanks
I was very shocked by the insensitivity and poor knowledge of my local GPs. At my very first appointment I outlined my very serious concerns and observations I was flippantly fobbed off with "well it can take 18 months to conceive" AND as I was leaving the doctor said "I hope to see you again soon when you are pregnant" !!! Erm, maybe you didn't hear a word I just said??? Another GP in that surgery even stopped part way through our infertility consult to check his ringing mobile phone, in case it was his children calling. We were less than impressed. We have had to fight for referrals and have had to educate our health care professionals at every step (fertility clinic included) More than two years later we are about to meet a specialist IVF clinic for the first time and I seriously hope things will improve.
My first gp was great at getting me referred to the hospital and have since undergone surgery but then I move house and my current surgery do not seem as caring - it feels like their attitude is as I'm still being seen by the hospital they don't need to worry despite having other things going on!
My GP was very good and did some initial tests and made referral to our local hospital for further tests these have took forever and had to chase up due to lost notes, referrals not being sent. In total waiting over a year and still not started treatment yet. The whole process is so stressful they should give you some sort of time line of what happens to prepare you better
Very, very dubious this question. I have been forced to tick 'no' when it's not in context at all... so, on that basis, I would say that the results will be flawed. Sorry, but this is my line of work, you need a 'neither/nor' option, with a further space for an expanded reasoning... how bizarre that we all know and have experienced the complexities of [in]fertility yet still fail to address that in posing questions. Perhaps a starting point would be (say) around 10 questions, each with a sliding scale, and an 'n/n' option with space for comment. More research needs to be done here. My company would be happy to provide expertise in this, but nothing around [in]fertility seems to be addressed in a professional capacity. Why? It's about time the debate was opened up and both the public and private sector be better scrutinised and/or held accountable.... my apologies for any offense caused here, but this type of unreliable research is a complete waste of resources. Let's do better... for the next Mr & Mrs Needing A Helping Hand In Trying To Conceive, please.
...and we have to remember that a General Practitioner is just that. A very valuable 'jack of all trades and master of none'... and as patients we can all insist on a referral... it's what happens next that's important. Each of my 'specialist' consultants (public and private) have not been informative, transparent and/or empathetic. It's a disgrace, quite frankly. It wouldn't happen in any other health care setting.
Hi Hepzibah
We always appreciate feedback and your comments about the poll will be passed to the Chief Executive.
Best Wishes
Alison
Thanks... You may also want to note that you have written two questions in one. Just for the record. Fertility issues and funding are two separate things. Respondents would respond better to more open questions. For example: Was your GP helpful? Y/N/DK. If so, how? If not, why not? What could be better? It would become more complicatd after that. Since, many people wil see more than one consultant... and there are two people (usually) in a relationship undergoing exploration. As I say, the GP is the first step. The next step after that is crucial in facilitating the journey. I have opted for 'no' despite that fact that my GP has been fantastic - and this may be why other people here are elabotaing, I'm sure. It's not as black and white as 'yes' and 'no'. It could never be.
I think I was lucky my practise has been fantastic. My gp ran tests and also referred me with understanding. They felt if they got the ball rolling some of the test results would be ready for the consultants when I was seen 3 months later at the hospital. Every time I've been in to the doctors for something completely different like an ear infection or an asthma review I've been asked how my treatment is going and wished me luck! I was offered counselling on the visits I got teary when asked about my IVF, but it's so hard to access if you work full time. And when I fell pregnant they were so happy for me, many of the stAff stuck the head out of their offices or into the waiting area to congratulate me. Couldn't have asked for more!!
My first GP was awful but the new one I'm under is fantastic
We went to them very confused and didn't have much hope.. Had all my scans etc and now being put on chlomid hoping it will help my old GP left me without help and in a lot of pain .. Didn't particularly care this doctor is on point and I've been lucky enough to not have to wait too long for appointments
My GP was dreadful. He didn't believe we'd been trying as long as we had, thought I was over-reacting, and then assessed us against out of date criteria for our CCG so we were delayed over 6 months. It was so upsetting and very stressful - I made a complaint.
My GP was great. They referred me straight away as we'd been trying for over a year and because of my age. I was so lucky because they'd only just started funding IVF again in my area. Maybe that's why they were quick to refer as it had being recent news. Any how I was so grateful.
Awful experience. It took me three years and a half to be referred to specialist. Despite extremely heavy prolonged bleedings, they used overweight as excuse for not doing further investigation or referral to specialist. After paying for private consultation i was sent back to the nhs with letter from the private clinic requesting further investigation. After finally being referred i learnt from the especialist that i have PCOS, blocked fallopian tubes, and at now 40 low ovarian reserve. Overweight was a sympton of being insuline resistance and PCOS. Both GPs that saw me, first one more than three years ago, told me that i might have to face that i could not have children before there was any diagnosis or clear cause to the heavy bleedings and infertility. I guess there are bad professionals everywhere, i just was incredibly unlucky to find two in the same surgery.
My gp has been one of the only ones I trusted x
I think it's the luck of the draw. I went after two years of marriage and trying and I was in my early 30s. The GP sent me away and said don't come back for another year. I did this and then saw a different GP who was horrified and referred me there and then. It took a year after that before we were seen at the clinic. I feel like the first GP robbed a precious year of trying from us especially when I was at a much more fertile age. So, in reality we were seen at the clinic after four years of trying to conceive. A far cry from the one year they suggest to wait when you are in your 30s.
