Annoyed with my consultant and feel he is not listening ever since I moved from the South of England to the North most of my records gone

[Sunnysunsun]

Just missing my old consultant he knew me as person first and understood my RA I feel the new doctor is preoccupied with his own things and keeps sending me off for so many different appointments that don't make sense and has never tried to get my history from my other consultant and I have tried myself to get in touch with my old doctor but he is gone

Very disappointed and in pain my body is giving in and finding it so difficult to do anything I hate it I really do hate this horrible illness and people don't understand I feel scared sometimes because I know how bad it can get it has happened several times in the past

I even had to be hospitalised I feel so tired but can't sleep due to pain

Thank you for listening Judith

[helixhelix]

Have you made a formal request for your medical records? You are legally entitled to. Sometimes it's free, other times you will be asked to pay.

england.nhs.uk/contact-us/h...

nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-...

[oldtimer]

I'm afraid it sounds as if you are going to have to be much more assertive with your new consultant.

When he proposes sending you off for different appointments that don't make sense - ask WHAT IS THIS FOR? -how will it help to manage my condition better? politely, but firmly.

YOU need to know what the appointment is for - if it doesn't make sense, then he needs to explain it to you.

He also needs you to explain to him how scared you are of how bad it has been in the past. It is normal to feel afraid of the pain and disability you have had, and of course, he does not understand - how can he? So you need to tell him.

Does he have a specialist nurse? They are often better at explaining what is going on, and often better at listening to your fears (although not always!). But it does sound as if you need to train him into better ways of communicating!

I dread having to do this with new doctors (and nurses). Over the years I've had Rheumatoid Disease I've had lots of practice because of moving around. Sometimes it works well, occasionally I have had to give up and transfer to another one.

I keep my own notes too - records have an unfortunate habit of going missing!

[Hidden]

I do hope things improve for you. The other two replies are very good. I would add that you are also entitled to ask to see a different consultant however who knows, your new one might just be more proactive and maybe the result of all these extra appointments will be that you’ll get even better treatment eventually. I wish you all the best - it’s so horrible being in pain all the time.

[Hidden]

You say "Up North" - are you anywhere near me? I can really relate to bad consultants though. Am on my third - the only one that cared at all about treating patients and what quality of life they have. He gets 7 minutes from patient being called to finishing typing up notes per patient appointment and can only see you at 10 month intervals. If you're agreed to be in urgent need you get to be an overbooking in a clinic and get even less time for that appointment. That's not his fault - it's the CCGs and hospital trust who think anything will do for patients.

I have a really terrible local hospital provision though. Currently the police are investigating stroke patients being bumped off by staff, something sadly not very surprising as "care" is a rareity and where it exists those staff are soon far too overworked and under-resourced to continue to provide it.

[Sunnysunsun]

I see thank you Rachel for that information