Using A & E to see a specialist?

textbook wrote: »

What do you do if you don't have confidence in your GPs opinion. Having seen US doctors, I was told British docs often leave things and don't deal with them in a pro-active way. This is a particular worry of mine with GPs. I have heard of many examples of GPs who have either missed or not taken a condition seriously. My cousin's twisted testical- "GP response- come back if it gets worse"- my uncle now realises he should have taken him to A and E. He will lose his testical.


A friend with a snoring problem- GP- u need to lose weight. He went to a sleep clinic in Brazil- he had the 2nd worse case of sleep apnoea they had ever seen. The list is endless of GPs not spotting or taking things seriously or spotting the problem. Another issue I feel with them is they write down on the computer what the problem is and the next GP who sees you about it just reads the notes and repeats what the previous one said. Leaving things and putting them down to psychological issues is another problem with them. I wish access to specialists was quicker or cheaper in the private sector. It's £30 in Turkey to see a specialist. £170 in the UK, this outrageous. A medical student friend told me as well (20 yrs ago though) that GPs were students who scrapped through their medical degrees with passes or thirds.


If you aren't happy/confident with the GPs competence, how can you get to a specialst quickly? I am not saying they aren't the first port of call, just if you want a second opinion.

If you don't trust your GP then unless you are willing to discuss your concerns, there really isn't anything your GP can do, You'd then be looking to move to a different GP or different practice.
Careful not to lump all GPs in with something someone who is not you has decided. It's the same as saying "oh all young people are Instagram addicts and all old people are scared of computers"- there are genralisations and they often prove not to apply to everyone. Listen to what your GP says and you do the thinking, don't rely on something someone else said when they were not in the room with you.


Sleep Apnea by the way is very much linked to being overweight and losing weight can reduce it. The reason it is linked is due to the structure of the throat being compromised by the pressure from the surrounding extra body fat. Of course there are people who have sleep apnea who are not overweight and vice versa, but it is very common for those with the diagnosis to be struggling with a higher weight, it's just logic; those that are overweight from a biological point of view will be more likely to suffer with sleep apnea just because of the way the body fat has been created.
That would mean there could be some truth in what the Doctor told the patient you mention and left untreated it would likely get worse which may explain why when he did see another Doctor things had gotten a great deal worse by themselves.
Ideally any treatment is about prevention and trying to reduce that which is causing the problem (eg in this situation the Doctor probably felt it was down to body weight) and then either treatment or damage limitation but from what you've said that Doctor did make a sensible suggestion. Not many people like wearing those masks and if their use can be avoided it's normally a good thing.


If you are asking for a Doctor for specialised knowledge and know what you want (eg specific tests or so on) without going through your GPs referral- which your GP wont do unless they have sound reason, you can go privately but it wont be cheap and treatment if it is available will be very expensive. Or you could just talk to your GP and discuss your concerns...

textbook wrote: »

A medical student friend told me as well (20 yrs ago though) that GPs were students who scrapped through their medical degrees with passes or thirds.

Firstly, a UK medical degree is not an honours degree, so it is just pass/fail. Secondly, GPs have to complete two years of Foundation Training, then a 3-4 year GP training programme, with constant assessment and observation. Thirdly, they must pass (very expensive) written and practical exams before being allowed to join the GP register. So your medical student friend sounds a bit of a knob, but I guess with your attitude, you're made for each other.

textbook wrote: »

What do you do if you don't have confidence in your GPs opinion. Having seen US doctors, I was told British docs often leave things and don't deal with them in a pro-active way. This is a particular worry of mine with GPs. I have heard of many examples of GPs who have either missed or not taken a condition seriously. My cousin's twisted testical- "GP response- come back if it gets worse"- my uncle now realises he should have taken him to A and E. He will lose his testical.


A friend with a snoring problem- GP- u need to lose weight. He went to a sleep clinic in Brazil- he had the 2nd worse case of sleep apnoea they had ever seen. The list is endless of GPs not spotting or taking things seriously or spotting the problem. Another issue I feel with them is they write down on the computer what the problem is and the next GP who sees you about it just reads the notes and repeats what the previous one said. Leaving things and putting them down to psychological issues is another problem with them- "do you want some anti-depressants!" I wish access to specialists was quicker or cheaper in the private sector. It's £30 in Turkey to see a specialist. £170 in the UK- this is outrageous. A medical student friend told me as well (20 yrs ago though) that GPs were students who scrapped through their medical degrees with passes or thirds. I met one skiing once who logged onto a spam mail from what she thought was her bank and lost all her money.


If you aren't happy/confident with the GPs competence, how can you get to a specialst quickly? I am not saying they aren't the first port of call, just if you want a second opinion.

This wouldn't be in countries where they pay their gp would it so have a vested interest in prolonging the appointment?


So what would you suggest? Every gp in the country assumes the worse and sends every patient they see for expensive tests only to find out it was something minor?


As I said on another thread, if you really think something is wrong be proactive about it.

Deja_Vu wrote: »

If people are going to A&E simply to try and see a specialist or for other non emergencies I think the NHS should start charging a private consultation fee. Maybe that way people will start to understand what the ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY department is actually for.

The thing is though; unless you are about to have a baby, or about to have a heart attack, you are not going to get to see a specialist if you go to A&E. A&E is about patching you up until you can get to your GP surgery (so until the next working day).


They don't do referrals, they don't do specialist visits, that is not their role.

If people are going to A&E expecting something other than being rather basicly patched up, they are wasting anything from 4 hours on a very good day (and up to 16 hours in some cases) of waiting, to be patched up and if there is no patching up, to be sent home empty handed minus a few hours and possibly having gained every cold and flue virus going via the waiting room.