Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Chest Infection .. Receptionists
26 Answers
After a 5 week wait for appointment .. my wife got to see her GP yesterday. She was told to go for an xray, as he felt .. she had a chest infection. This is the fourth time in 8 months this has happened.
Having gone for an xray this morning, we were told that the results will be with our GP in 5-10 days. We then returned to our GP's surgery within the hour to ask if she could make an appoinment for 2 weeks time to see the GP and ask him what the next step may be. The Receptionist said the next appointment was 8 in weeks time and that she could give the results of the xray over the phone when they arrived.
Am I being unresonable in hoping my wife see's a Doctor for the results.
If there is an issue, I am sure he will call her in. But if she has a question that can only be answered by a GP about alternative treatment (anti biotics every 2 months doesn't seem to be the answer) then the receptionist will be baffled and say " You will need to talk to a Doctor about that " .. " and you will need to phone at 8.00 am the next morning and state that it is an emergency !
My wife wont allow me anywhere near the surgery when she goes there, because the last time this happened. I went in and told them "if it was a *****n emergency the last place I would come is here".
It seems that the 'Receptionist' is now the First Line Of Defence in obstructing you from seeing your Doctor... am I being cynical ?
Why do the chest infection keep re-occuring ?
Having gone for an xray this morning, we were told that the results will be with our GP in 5-10 days. We then returned to our GP's surgery within the hour to ask if she could make an appoinment for 2 weeks time to see the GP and ask him what the next step may be. The Receptionist said the next appointment was 8 in weeks time and that she could give the results of the xray over the phone when they arrived.
Am I being unresonable in hoping my wife see's a Doctor for the results.
If there is an issue, I am sure he will call her in. But if she has a question that can only be answered by a GP about alternative treatment (anti biotics every 2 months doesn't seem to be the answer) then the receptionist will be baffled and say " You will need to talk to a Doctor about that " .. " and you will need to phone at 8.00 am the next morning and state that it is an emergency !
My wife wont allow me anywhere near the surgery when she goes there, because the last time this happened. I went in and told them "if it was a *****n emergency the last place I would come is here".
It seems that the 'Receptionist' is now the First Line Of Defence in obstructing you from seeing your Doctor... am I being cynical ?
Why do the chest infection keep re-occuring ?
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\\\Why do the chest infection keep re-occuring ?\\
They may have a predisposition....smoker, overweight, diabetic or other systemic diseases.
They may have underlying lung disease.....bronchiectasis, unresolved pneumonia and other conditions of the lung.
\\\\ I went in and told them "if it was a *****n emergency the last place I would come is here". \\\\
Not one of your brightest moments.
If your wife is unhappy with the service she is receiving then she should make a formal complaint. Swearing at staff isn't helpful. Receptionists, however they behave take their cues from the doctors and its the doctors who decide what the policies of the practice should be in this respect.
I am a teeny bit confused as a chest infection that was bad enough to see a doctor 5 weeks ago and has neither resolved nor got much worse just seems odd to me If this has happened 4 times in eight months including the x rays and the waits for an appointment and yet it hasn't got bad enough to end up in hospital it seems even odder.
I am a teeny bit confused as a chest infection that was bad enough to see a doctor 5 weeks ago and has neither resolved nor got much worse just seems odd to me If this has happened 4 times in eight months including the x rays and the waits for an appointment and yet it hasn't got bad enough to end up in hospital it seems even odder.
When you phone the surgery at 8.00 am it is for 'Emergencies' only .. evrything else .. phone after 10am.
I'm afraid what one person sees as an emergency is completely different to what another one sees. If it was an emergency I would phone 999.
When you do get an appoitment the waiting room isn't full of emergency cases, but full of people sat quite calmly waiting their turn.. they obviously think they are emergencies cases, otherwise they must be like the rest of us and have waited for weeks on end to get an appointment.
Afraid 2-6 weeks is the norm for an appointment at our surgery and in view of how I have seen the surgery go downhill over recent years. Not sure how much more I can bear.
Earlier this year my daughter had surgery where endemertriosis was found.
A few days after surgery she was on the train and started to get severe pains in her stomach. She got off the train and in a state of panic started walking to the surgery which was close by.
By the time he got there she could hardly talk because of the pain.
The receptionist said " You haven't got an appointment so you cant be seen"
My daughter then collapsed onto the floor where she was unable to speak only cry (27 years old). Other people in the waiting room attended to her.
The receptionists looked over the desk and carried on talking to her friend about what she was wearing to a party at the weekend.
My daughter managed to call home and I jumped in the car and brought her home where and immediately called an ambulance. The paramedics attended to her for three hours at the scene before another paramedic turned up to administer morphine morphine. A police escort and an ambulance driving at 10 mph got her to hospital where she spent the night.
Receptionis have a lot to answer for and I'm afaraid and I feel they are way out of their depth .. certainly at our surgery.
Possibly time to relocate to another surgery.
I'm afraid what one person sees as an emergency is completely different to what another one sees. If it was an emergency I would phone 999.
When you do get an appoitment the waiting room isn't full of emergency cases, but full of people sat quite calmly waiting their turn.. they obviously think they are emergencies cases, otherwise they must be like the rest of us and have waited for weeks on end to get an appointment.
Afraid 2-6 weeks is the norm for an appointment at our surgery and in view of how I have seen the surgery go downhill over recent years. Not sure how much more I can bear.
Earlier this year my daughter had surgery where endemertriosis was found.
A few days after surgery she was on the train and started to get severe pains in her stomach. She got off the train and in a state of panic started walking to the surgery which was close by.
By the time he got there she could hardly talk because of the pain.
The receptionist said " You haven't got an appointment so you cant be seen"
My daughter then collapsed onto the floor where she was unable to speak only cry (27 years old). Other people in the waiting room attended to her.
The receptionists looked over the desk and carried on talking to her friend about what she was wearing to a party at the weekend.
My daughter managed to call home and I jumped in the car and brought her home where and immediately called an ambulance. The paramedics attended to her for three hours at the scene before another paramedic turned up to administer morphine morphine. A police escort and an ambulance driving at 10 mph got her to hospital where she spent the night.
Receptionis have a lot to answer for and I'm afaraid and I feel they are way out of their depth .. certainly at our surgery.
Possibly time to relocate to another surgery.
Squad .. Further to why is the chest infection re-ocurring ..
About three years ago she had a .. (where they put a camera down your throat thingy).
They found she had a Hyatus hernia. Since then she has been on Omerprazole and sleeps in a raised position. They also said there was a patch on the lung but did no further tests.
Her GP as I said before, just seems to send her for an xray and then give out anti biotics.
She is not the sort of person who will give into anything and will carry on regardless. She just keeps coughing. Where do we go from here.
About three years ago she had a .. (where they put a camera down your throat thingy).
They found she had a Hyatus hernia. Since then she has been on Omerprazole and sleeps in a raised position. They also said there was a patch on the lung but did no further tests.
Her GP as I said before, just seems to send her for an xray and then give out anti biotics.
She is not the sort of person who will give into anything and will carry on regardless. She just keeps coughing. Where do we go from here.
It may be....just may be....that the recurrent chest problems are due to her hiatus hernia, causing acid to regurgitate into her throat causing her to cough, the so called gastro-oesophageal reflux disorder (GERD).
It may be.......
Now the patch on the lung was clearly an X-ray diagnosis and i am surprised that there was no further investigation into this abnormality, however, if further X-Rays were clear, then further investigation would not be required.
I would have thought that a better control of her hiatus hernia might well be the answer, although if omeprazole is controlling any pain, then i cannot think of anything else.
It may be.......
Now the patch on the lung was clearly an X-ray diagnosis and i am surprised that there was no further investigation into this abnormality, however, if further X-Rays were clear, then further investigation would not be required.
I would have thought that a better control of her hiatus hernia might well be the answer, although if omeprazole is controlling any pain, then i cannot think of anything else.
Thanks squad it's nice to get a positive reply in relation to my wifes problem.
As a rule I would not offend anyone let alone swear at them, but I am sure you can understand where I am coming from. I just feel that the barrier gets higher every time we need to see a GP... Unfortunately it seems to be more often these days.
In fact it's many thanks for your replies .. all round !
Must go now as the tomatoes need watering !
As a rule I would not offend anyone let alone swear at them, but I am sure you can understand where I am coming from. I just feel that the barrier gets higher every time we need to see a GP... Unfortunately it seems to be more often these days.
In fact it's many thanks for your replies .. all round !
Must go now as the tomatoes need watering !
woofgang .. sorry for the late reply.. who do you complain to .. the practice manager ? (she is a receptionist), it's a long story .... Never the less I'll have a go ..
For the past 10 years or more my daughter has had no end of stomach pain. Whatever she eats passes straight through her, usually within the hour.
On each and every occasion she has visited the surgery, she has been passed from pillar to post and the GP's cant quite put their finger on what the problem is. They eventually reffered her to a consultant who operated and found .... NOTHING. The consultant sent a report to our GP ... who gently broke the news to her that .. "Her pains were in her head .. and he would prescribe medication that may help .... and he would also arrange a few sessions with a councillor".
Like father .. like daughter she went *****n mental with the doctor after 5 years of constant pain and no support and then to be told that her pain was mental and not physical was too much to bare. My guess was at that point, her card was marked and from then on she got the cold shoulder on each and every visit to the surgery after that.
After that I told her to take my credit card and go private to find the source of this pain that appears every time she eats.
Her first port of call was with a nutritionist who immediately told her that she was ... wheat, gluten and dairy intollerant. Her diet was then adjusted accordiangly, and basicaly... she can eat ... but with great concentration and a lot of label reading .. I would say that the contents of a free from box taste much the same as the packaging .. it's horrible.
Why didn't the surgery suggest tests for that .. it's all down to cost we have since discovered !
Not sure if people are aware that their GP's surgery has to pay for various tests conducted outside the surgery.
Since then I personally make her batches of vegetable soup.. I actually sow, plant and grow the ingredients of the soup and it totally agrees with her.
She basically lives on soup and when she knows she is having a day off work she eats something 'normal' .. just for the taste and then pays the price ... she hogs my toilet and spends the following day hanging onto a pillow clutched to her stomach.
After a few years of eating the free from range the pain got greater and in desparation she went back to the surgery and as by pure accident she seen a locom doctor who immediately referred her.
The long and short of it is ... the new surgeon could't believe her story and promised to find the problem and apoligised for his fellow health proffesionals in the NHS. After 2 hours he discovered endemetriosis tucked away at the back of beyond. Later he then said that "The previous consultant had obviously missed it and it was very difficult to find" and that "it will be with her forever".
I am not the sort of person who will seek compensation. But I do feel that a lack of support and belief from the various GP's and especially the attitude of the receptionists throughout this whole ordeal is abysmal to say the least. Especially when the various GP's have been proved wrong in their diagnosis.... "it's all in the mind".
We dont want money .. just a reasonable service from our local surgery.
It does seem they are welcoming all applicaions from all nationalities and have technology to accomodate them. So things are looking up !
Sorry but I did tell you it was a long story, but without it I feel assumptions may be cast.
Over the years the GP's along with the receptionistsmove on and it's hard to know what to do. So up until this point we have stuck with our local surgery.
Complain ... were we to complain.. what would happen ... they would all clam up and back each other.
You put your trust in them ... and hope for the best !
The diagnosis at the same surgery in a life changing event ..
(as a 4 year old) .. would have you rocking on your heels .. but that's another story.
I just seen to think this is as good as it gets ?
For the past 10 years or more my daughter has had no end of stomach pain. Whatever she eats passes straight through her, usually within the hour.
On each and every occasion she has visited the surgery, she has been passed from pillar to post and the GP's cant quite put their finger on what the problem is. They eventually reffered her to a consultant who operated and found .... NOTHING. The consultant sent a report to our GP ... who gently broke the news to her that .. "Her pains were in her head .. and he would prescribe medication that may help .... and he would also arrange a few sessions with a councillor".
Like father .. like daughter she went *****n mental with the doctor after 5 years of constant pain and no support and then to be told that her pain was mental and not physical was too much to bare. My guess was at that point, her card was marked and from then on she got the cold shoulder on each and every visit to the surgery after that.
After that I told her to take my credit card and go private to find the source of this pain that appears every time she eats.
Her first port of call was with a nutritionist who immediately told her that she was ... wheat, gluten and dairy intollerant. Her diet was then adjusted accordiangly, and basicaly... she can eat ... but with great concentration and a lot of label reading .. I would say that the contents of a free from box taste much the same as the packaging .. it's horrible.
Why didn't the surgery suggest tests for that .. it's all down to cost we have since discovered !
Not sure if people are aware that their GP's surgery has to pay for various tests conducted outside the surgery.
Since then I personally make her batches of vegetable soup.. I actually sow, plant and grow the ingredients of the soup and it totally agrees with her.
She basically lives on soup and when she knows she is having a day off work she eats something 'normal' .. just for the taste and then pays the price ... she hogs my toilet and spends the following day hanging onto a pillow clutched to her stomach.
After a few years of eating the free from range the pain got greater and in desparation she went back to the surgery and as by pure accident she seen a locom doctor who immediately referred her.
The long and short of it is ... the new surgeon could't believe her story and promised to find the problem and apoligised for his fellow health proffesionals in the NHS. After 2 hours he discovered endemetriosis tucked away at the back of beyond. Later he then said that "The previous consultant had obviously missed it and it was very difficult to find" and that "it will be with her forever".
I am not the sort of person who will seek compensation. But I do feel that a lack of support and belief from the various GP's and especially the attitude of the receptionists throughout this whole ordeal is abysmal to say the least. Especially when the various GP's have been proved wrong in their diagnosis.... "it's all in the mind".
We dont want money .. just a reasonable service from our local surgery.
It does seem they are welcoming all applicaions from all nationalities and have technology to accomodate them. So things are looking up !
Sorry but I did tell you it was a long story, but without it I feel assumptions may be cast.
Over the years the GP's along with the receptionistsmove on and it's hard to know what to do. So up until this point we have stuck with our local surgery.
Complain ... were we to complain.. what would happen ... they would all clam up and back each other.
You put your trust in them ... and hope for the best !
The diagnosis at the same surgery in a life changing event ..
(as a 4 year old) .. would have you rocking on your heels .. but that's another story.
I just seen to think this is as good as it gets ?
I work a lot with GP practices, alava - all of them have a formal complaints procedure these days, they have to. You need to write formally to the practice manager who must respond and investigate, and give you a reply within a given number of days (I think it's 28).
There is a national shortage of GPs, this is why receptionists (even at my practice) gatekeep when people ring up, to try to save expensive GP time. If you can be given a telephone consultation with a nurse or GP, that's a great deal more cost-effective than a GP appointment if that's not strictly necessary. If you have nurse practitioners at surgeries, they are highly trained, many can prescribe - it's not always necessary to see a GP. It's not always necessary to see a GP to get test results, but the GP looks at the results, if they need to see your wife they will call her in, and if the GP has asked to see her it can be prioritised.
If you complain formally (and swearing doesn't help, all surgeries have a zero tolerance policy against aggressive patients) then your complaint has to be investigated. However, if you think it's the surgery rather than the system, then change GPs. It's easy enough to find out which other local surgeries are taking new patients, and it's easy to move these days.
There is a national shortage of GPs, this is why receptionists (even at my practice) gatekeep when people ring up, to try to save expensive GP time. If you can be given a telephone consultation with a nurse or GP, that's a great deal more cost-effective than a GP appointment if that's not strictly necessary. If you have nurse practitioners at surgeries, they are highly trained, many can prescribe - it's not always necessary to see a GP. It's not always necessary to see a GP to get test results, but the GP looks at the results, if they need to see your wife they will call her in, and if the GP has asked to see her it can be prioritised.
If you complain formally (and swearing doesn't help, all surgeries have a zero tolerance policy against aggressive patients) then your complaint has to be investigated. However, if you think it's the surgery rather than the system, then change GPs. It's easy enough to find out which other local surgeries are taking new patients, and it's easy to move these days.
Seeing a GP here in Switzerland ....
Pick from list on web or via directory ...
Phone up ...
See within an hour sometimes , record was within 30 minutes ...
Blood test done on premises and results available to GP within 15 mins...
Ultra sound machine on premises ....
ECG machine on premises ...
This is a one GP surgery.
The surgery bills you , then you claim from insurance that costs less per month than I paid in NI in uk each month.
Accident costs are covers 100% via employers insurance if you work more than 8 hours a week.
The UK really does now have a third world health system.
GP Heer was shocked by standard of care in uk ..he asked how often do you have this test or that test and shocked when I said never.
Pick from list on web or via directory ...
Phone up ...
See within an hour sometimes , record was within 30 minutes ...
Blood test done on premises and results available to GP within 15 mins...
Ultra sound machine on premises ....
ECG machine on premises ...
This is a one GP surgery.
The surgery bills you , then you claim from insurance that costs less per month than I paid in NI in uk each month.
Accident costs are covers 100% via employers insurance if you work more than 8 hours a week.
The UK really does now have a third world health system.
GP Heer was shocked by standard of care in uk ..he asked how often do you have this test or that test and shocked when I said never.
Trouble is - when the NHS was started up in 1948, the thought was that people would use it and get/keep healthy, so after a few years it might not be quite so necessary. It's a hugely expensive behemoth now, but can't keep with demand - people are living longer, being relatively healthy into long active old age. It's a huge funding issue.
Boxtops .. thanks for your reply. I can assure you I do not swear at anyone as a rule. I have the same policy in my work.. zero tolerance. But it is a long catalogue of failures as I see it, going back 20 years or more in our case and in the end something gives for which I am very sorry.
Everyone has to do their job .. in my case I work alone and do the very best I can for everyone. But as for our Gp's surgery ..' lack interest and of ' are the first words that spring to mind. It seems everything is there for those that are part of the system, but for those that aren't .. woe betide you !
As for those words you get when you phone at 08.00.. "Is it an emergency"
How do you describe an emergency ?
Do you think that 8 weeks for an appointment is acceptable ?
If so .. god help the peple who are ill, but dont see themselves as a stretcher case. By the time you see a doctor you may have recovered and gone back to work .. or possibly died !
We happpily pay privately for our dentist and the superior service ... I can see a two tier stage for practisioners soon .. 'For those that have and those that dont'.
Suppose it's already here .. isnt it ?
Promise .. We will change surgeries shortly.
Everyone has to do their job .. in my case I work alone and do the very best I can for everyone. But as for our Gp's surgery ..' lack interest and of ' are the first words that spring to mind. It seems everything is there for those that are part of the system, but for those that aren't .. woe betide you !
As for those words you get when you phone at 08.00.. "Is it an emergency"
How do you describe an emergency ?
Do you think that 8 weeks for an appointment is acceptable ?
If so .. god help the peple who are ill, but dont see themselves as a stretcher case. By the time you see a doctor you may have recovered and gone back to work .. or possibly died !
We happpily pay privately for our dentist and the superior service ... I can see a two tier stage for practisioners soon .. 'For those that have and those that dont'.
Suppose it's already here .. isnt it ?
Promise .. We will change surgeries shortly.
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