One thing I've learned over this last year is that Health care professionals only care about money and lowering their workload. As we grow up we're given this notion that when we're hurt or sick, depending on severity we go to our GP or Hospital and get help, this isn't the case all the time.
My experiences with GPs has been varied one, when I was little we had a GP in which you would go and tell him what you had, what medicine you needed and he would just write a prescription. When I fell pregnant with my son I went to my GP to say I was pregnant he gave me a prescription and said to book antenatal with the reception, I left and went down to the reception to find out that I was supposed to be given a letter in order to book my bed at the hospital for when I had baby. I had to wait at least an hour for the GP to have a break in seeing patients to get this letter, then when I went to the chemist to get my prescription of folic acid tablets it turned out he gave me somebody else's prescription! Because of this I chose to have all my antenatal appointments at the hospital.
My second doctors surgery I never really had any experience with other then to have my son's injections.
My tired was when I moved to the area I'm in now, this was not a good experience from the start. The receptionist were rude and very rarely wanted to give you an appointment at all. The first time I went to my doctor my glands had swelled up in my neck, under my arms and groin but I wasn't feeling sick or that I had an infection, the doctor said that I had an STD. I was mortified! She said this in front of my husband who was sitting next to me, luckily we have a very trustworthy and honest relationship and he instantly thought she was wrong otherwise this doctor could have caused a relationship and marriage to break down. Even though she said I had a STD she never gave me any antibiotics of toke blood and a swap for testing, she didn't even send me to the GUM clinic in the hospital who deal with STDs. I was angry but just went home, I felt like there was nothing I could do as because of my postcode it was my nearest doctor surgery and nowhere else would take me.
The next experience I had was when I fell pregnant with my second son, because I found out I was pregnant at eight weeks and managed to see the doctor around nine weeks pregnant. The problem I had was to book my three month scan the doctors needed to fax over a letter to book my bed and my antenatal appointments, the fax kept getting lost! It ended up that I got an appointment (much to the annoys of the receptionist in the scan department!) for my scan a couple of days before.
During my first antenatal appointment I went to the doctors and sat in the waiting room where I see a blood pressure machine so I decided to take my blood pressure, making it useful to the doctor. When I went into the doctors room for my antenatal she asked me where my urine example was? I was not given a specimen cup so I hadn't done one, she had a go at me saying it was important to aways have one before coming in for the appointment. This made me angry as I was given anything to give the example in and anything I brought from home would have been contaminated!
My last experience with this doctor was when I had Singles while I was pregnant, for those who might or might not know the chicken pox virus can be very dangerous while pregnant. I went to see the doctor (before knowing it was Singles) to see what was happening, the doctor toke a blood test and on the way out of the door I asked him what it could be? He said that he thinks it is Shingles. I was to have the blood test by the nurse so when I went to the reception to book it, the receptionist just looked at me in disgust and offered me an appointment the next week! I said that I would go to the hospital which would be quicker, while I was there I asked for an appointment for my son to see the nurse she offered me a couple of days later despite the fact she told me a couple of minutes before that the nurse was busy until the next week! I just left it and wasn't going to argue.
I rang up a week later to hear from the snotty receptionist that I have had chicken pox, I said "what does that mean?" she just said short tempered " I don't know it just says you've had chicken pox". At this moment I thought "but I know that!" If the doctor had asked me if I had chicken pox in the past I would have told him that I had when I was a child! It turned out that I had waited a week to find out I had, had chicken pox. I asked if I could speak to the doctor about the situation, the receptionist wasn't happy about this. In the end the doctor did nothing for me, it was my midwife in the end who sent me for an emergency scan to make sure my baby was OK.
Once I had, had my son I tried to book my son's first injection which I knew was going to be hard as it was the week of Christmas I was refused an appointment by the receptionist. I phoned the week after Christmas and was told that they weren't doing routine appointments till the new year. I rang the first working day of the new year but was told that because of the snow we had the nurse couldn't get in, the next week I rang and was given the same excuse, that was enough for me. We registered in a doctors that had just opened up near us and never looked back.
My doctor is an amazing man, he doesn't beat around the bush or try and baffle me with medical jargon. When he doesn't know something or something is out of his hands he lets me know, he also tells me straight if I'm being a hypercondriac. He explains everything clearly so that I can understand, his officiant and has restored my faith in GP's. When me and my husband tried to show him our appreciation by buying him a bottle of wine and his wife some flowers he couldn't take them as it would be viewed as a bribe. I mean come on people! Surely money would be a better bribe then a bottle of wine and some flowers?
The hospital isn't any better! I have never met my consultant and when ever I have seen a resistor it has been for five or ten minute appointment and four months in between. I have had a neurologist who was rude and accused me of benefit fraud and making up my symptoms and it all being "in my head". When I have been in serious enough pain to even have to call an ambulance and given Morphine and gas'n'air I have been just chucked out on Morphine with the excuse that I have a "chronic illness" and its "not their job!".
In short bear in mind the fact that if you ever become ill Health care professionals don't care about you, they only care about the big pay package they will get at the end of the month. Know your right for treatment and know the fact that you are entitled to be helped otherwise they would by pass you and forget you. My nan never spoke up when she was mistreated and ended up being killed by those who were suppose to help her. The NHS and Health care needs to be reformed, they need to go back to the vision Florance Nightingale had.
Thank you for reading xxx
It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm.
Florence Nightingale
We should treat each patient like an honored guest
Florence Nightingale
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