GP doesn't help, asks for money, how to complain?

ThinkingOfLinking

Every GP I've had in the past, in different parts of the UK, has asked for a fee for a sick note. They tended to have a list of charges up in the reception area, ie cost of sick note, cost of certain vaccinations, etc...

Valli

linda008 wrote: »

I was just god smacked.

That must sting

peachyprice

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

I have previously had experience of bad GP's who would'nt listen to me when I knew my son as a baby was not well at all. It was documented that I was a neurotic mother and they constantly tried to push anti-depressants on me concerned I had a mental illness.

Sometimes as a parent you know when your child is not right. My son had 9 admissions through A&E at our local hospital only to be discharged the following day to be told I was overreacting. I was always sent away with a bottled of calpol telling me in a patronising way "you can never have enough calpol" as if it was some magic cure. I used to arrive at the doctors surgery to be greeted with "Hi Ladym, what is wrong with your son today". My son constantly had a temperature of at least 39 degrees and his nappy was always full of blood. He screamed constantly from morning until night. The answer from the GP and hospital was it was another "Virus".

Eventually I woke to find him saturated in blood in the middle of the night, rang my local hospital in a panic to be told he had too many admissions but they could not turn him away, they said if I brought him in I would be waiting 48hrs for a bed as he was not priority. I then got in the car with him and drove him a number of miles to the nearest childrens hospital, as I arrived they was a bit annoyed due to not being our local hospital but agreed to see him when I lifted the blanket and they saw the blood. He then needed an emergency blood transfusion due to the amount he had lost. He was six months old and they told me if it would have been an hour longer he would have bled to death from his bowel.

A few years on he has endured 2 Bone Marrow Transplants and spent most of his life in and out of hospital. He has a complicated medical history but at least now I have a diagnosis.

I can honestly say I knew after a couple of days there was something seriously wrong with my son, it was just instinct. The GP's receptionists were quite embarrassed and apologised when they realised how poorly he was but it did not make up for how I was treated. I felt I had received appalling treatment and mistakes were made in many areas.

I have to be grateful that my son is still here with me but it was huge fight to get him the treatment he needed and I feel angry now looking back at what I had to do. Even at the childrens hospital following the transfusion they tried to discharge him without a diagnosis, blaming food intolerances and viruses, I said they would have to get the police to get me out of that hospital without knowing what was wrong. Two days later a consultant happened to flick through his notes and said to me how has your son slipped through the net? He had him in theatre within hours for an exploratory operation and then we had a devastating diagnosis. He eventually came home 6 mths later with me trained up to do his intravenous medication for 19 hours a day before they would even consider a Bone Marrow Transplant as he was not well enough to survive it. My life changed literally overnight.

It is ok saying the OP is a nightmare and hopefully her son will fully recover but these mistakes do happen everyday with GP's and Hospitals.

Sorry for the long post but until it happens to you, you just don't realise what a battle it can be.

xx

Tragic, really.

But OP's child has an ingrown toenail.

MothballsWallet

SUESMITH wrote: »

Britain doesn't have a written constitution.

Sorry to go O/T for a second, but there is an ongoing project to put a written constitution for this country.

jackieb

MothballsWallet wrote: »

Sorry to go O/T for a second, but there is an ongoing project to put a written constitution for this country.

We'll probably have the right to bare arms in ours. Bingo wings ahoy!