Hi

[Askepot]

Hi everyone I hope you are all coping with the hot weather.

So I had my “ health check “ this week, I find it a pointless exercise, only fit for ticking boxes.

As per usual it was done by a support worker who was following a script.

Giving diet advice 🙄 which did not go any further than to tell me what I and all of you already knows, to eat healthy, fruits and fibre avoid processed food. I just bit my tongue not to start a sarcastic comment . Then she offers me a diet sheet🙄 and to join nhs pre diabetic classes ( which already has been a huge disappointment to me) .

Then I had a phone call yesterday from the surgery, this time it is the receipt calling to give me my blood results 😳 how can that be good practice. I have tried to discuss this with a Gp before only to have my head bitten off and told it is perfectly ok and safe.

This time I just listened to what she had to tell me, that some results are abnormal but that they will re check in 12 month time.

Now I am my self a medical professional and are able to check and understand most blood results so I was not too worried when I checked them for my self but I am getting so tired of having repeated to me eat less , exercise more that is all . I care for lots of women and their families I always go the extra mile and it does not take much extra time believe me. Feeling treated as a human being and not a number is so important.I refuse to talk weight loss issues with a support worker who fIrst of all has never in her life struggled with weight issues, secondly all she is concerned about is getting her computer screen boxes filled and she can’t answer any questions at all ,I have tried .

I guess I am what some of my own colleagues would say” a problem patient “ but in my experience taking your time to make some one feel at ease is never an issue and making someone feel like they matter can change so much for a person. If you have an appointment that time should be about you and your issues not a tick box exercise.

I just wish Gp s would start looking behind the fat person they really don’t want to deal with in the first place , and start helping us deal with the underlying issues we all have. But they won’t do that as it is not a quick fix and they can’t just dish out a pill to deal with it.

Sorry I really dislike my Gp surgery but according to reviews it is the best in the town and as they say better the devil you know.

On the bright side my pre diabetic levels is almost back to non diabetic levels so that is great. Cholesterol still needs some work 😁.

Sorry for the rant again just needed to get my frustrations off my chest.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Rather than trying to make changes as a patient, why not question NHS practices and guidelines as a medical professional? Your GP practice is probably similar to most.

I can see several lines you could follow:

1. Nutritional guidelines. You could base your argument using these and many others zoeharcombe.com/2016/03/eat....

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

2. In the UK now, it is your legal right to get access to your medical records online and in print. You do not have to give a reason and you can make an appointment with your GP to get them interpreted if you need to.

3. Diabetes prevention programmes vary across the country and it's a lottery as to whether you get good or bad advise. Diabetes.co.uk gives good advice, so why is that not used for everyone? Dr David Unwin has had huge success with diabetic patients, but because he's done that using other than 'official' practices, he's now being villified.

4. Cholesterol - pharmaceutical-journal.com/...

Good luck!

[Askepot in reply to moreless]

Thanks for the advice.

[lea57-49r Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

I know it doesn’t help much for me to tell you that I have exactly the same experience with my gp surgery. I believe that if the whole situation surrounding obesity is to be improved in the uk then health professionals have to offer us much more than what is being offered and deal with the underlying issues. I have a relative who was fortunate enough to have received one to one help to lose weight and was weighed regularly by a nurse in a practice. She lost about five stones and has kept it off. Receiving the sort of advice you did from a support worker just isn’t enough.

[SofaJockey]

I can so relate to your experience.

I remember very well the fairly useless diet sheet from the surgery, proffered automatically as a 'solution' requiring no further discussion on their part.

Without discovering the 'Low Carb High Fat' approach I don't doubt I'd still be there.

[WhiteRose69 in reply to SofaJockey]

A bit like when I had IBS problems, I was just given a fodmap diet sheet and left to get on with it!

[SofaJockey in reply to WhiteRose69]

Exactly. But there is a way through with help from others who are succeeding at doing the same thing. 😄

[Askepot in reply to WhiteRose69]

That is terrible .