A hard, rough mole I had been watching for a month suddenly changed colour and shape.Knowing a Melanoma is aggresive and deadly, I went straight to the Doctor's surgery.9.05am. Entering the surgery my haert sank to see the only receptionist who dislikes me behind the desk.As expected she said my Doctor's appointments were full as were all the other Doctors.
I told her my problem was urgent.How urgent, she asked.Very, I said.I need to know a little more she said.
The woman continued her questioning, and although there were a dozen other patients in the waiting room,who could hear every word, I felt my only chance to see a doctor was to tell her, " I have a lump"
Her reaction shocked me, " oh, a lump, you will have had that for a while, another 24 hours waiting is neither here nor there"
I went home to worry for 24 hours when two minutes of the Doctor's time would have put my mind at rest.
What should I have done.What should the receptionist have done?
thinkingtime - If you had noticed the lump a month ago, another 24 hours for an appointment doesn't seem unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteYou should have phoned for an appointment.
Princess*Party*Pants - You should have just made an appointment with the next available doc, if it was what you expected 24 hours wouldn't have made much difference plus you lied how is that gonna look, you do realise that the receptionist would have typed that up for the doctor so when you go to see him/her they're gonna think its strange you told the receptionist you have a lump but tell the doc its about a mole, you sound like a hypercondriac....
ReplyDeleteTeeK - She is within her rights sadly. Part of her job is to prioritize patients and she is right that another 24 hours would make little difference to the condition of the lump.
ReplyDeleteThat to me however is not the point, you were clearly very worried and seeking reassurance, to leave a patient in distress as you were is NOT a good judgment in my opinion. Far better for her to have called the Doctor and asked if he/she would see you.
Do you suffer from depression? If she tries that next time and you do suffer from depression/anxiety state, ask her if she is aware she is taking legal responsibility for your mental state by denying you a consultation the same day, and ask her if she has the necessary medical qualifications to present in court for doing that?
She will most likely say that if you are so worried, go to the hospital and they will be able to see you the same day. Ultimately that is what it would probably come down to anyway, if you need medical reassurance the same day, she might insist that you go to a hospital, as the Doctor is "busy" or "full up".
I hope things go better for you in future.
Q - Sounds to me like you have an entitlement complex. As you've said, there were a dozen people there waiting patiently, yet you thought the doc should make them all wait and take you first. 24 hours to wait is nothing in terms of danger, and the people waiting there, who all made appointments, had likely been waiting much longer to see the doc. You can't expect everyone to drop everything and let you go first. They too all have their lumps and are scared as well. The doctor isn't your own personal servant. It would take more than 2 minutes for the doc to make his determination, if the determination was to be worth anything. You're acting like the doc's time, and everyone else's time, is nothing, while your time is valuable. That there's a receptionist at your doc's office who knows you well enough to dislike you suggests to me that you are a frequent visitor, with frequent, similar crises and frequent, similar dismissals. If that's not the case, then I'm sorry I said it. But regardless, you need to take other people's fears, other people's time, and other people's sometimes prior claims, into account, before insisting that you're special and should be able to jump the line.
ReplyDeleteConfuzzled - Next time you go to your GP practice and ask for an urgent appointment, ask the receptionist for a pen and paper so you can write down your problem confidentially.
ReplyDeleteIf you are unhappy with the way you are treated, ask to see the practice manager and if they are unavailable at the time, write to them with your complaint.
It may very well be that lumps and bumps are not seen within 24 hours at your GP practice according to their local policy. If you're not happy with the policies at your GP practice, join a different one. Shop around! You pay for it with your taxes, so you have a moral right to expect a certain service and have some accountability of you're not happy.
If it were that urgent, you would have called the GP practice as soon as the lines were open. You can't expect to get an appointment if you roll up at 9:05am, as all of the urgent appointment slots would probably already have been allocated.
So, the receptionist was being a bit overzealous in their role as 'GP gate-keeper' and should perhaps have been a bit more reassuring (but they get demanding and aggressive people ahssling them every day, so they can be a little bit aggressive back when pushed), and you were also a bit unreasonable to walk into a GP surgery at 9:05am and expect to be seen then and there.
To be honest, your lump could just be a wart or a skin tag, so don't panic and even if it is something sinister, it is doubtful if 24 hours will make a difference. What seems urgent to you may not be urgent in terms of clinical priority, so don't assume that the receptionist was being unreasonable.
Next time you have an urgent medical problem, call the surgery to make an appointment as soon as the surgery is open. Usually, if there are no appointments, a doctor will ring back at some point during the day to 'triage' people such as yourself so that they can decide whether you need to come in that day or make an appointment for another day (or to tell the patient to get to A&E straight away).
NHS Direct is a useful source of information and reassurance if you ever feel that your GP practice is unable to help. Your local pharmacist will also be remarkably experienced and able to give you some quick advice/reassurance, so don't assume that the GP practice is the first place you should head to if you have a medical concern or problem.
april - I bow down to Q's answer.. Couldn't have said it better myself
ReplyDelete