My wife has pretty much no immune system (Common Variable Immunoglogulin Deficiency). She weekly home injects (SubCut), and is under consultant and superb department at the hospital.

As such when she gets a chest infection, it can be quite severe and quickly progresses, and needs rapid treatment. To this end she usually has a couple of weeks supply of antibiotics provided, she also has sputum sample pots, and knows that when an infection comes on (1-2x a winter) to get a sample into the docs, and to start antibiotics for a week, and if not cleared up call (phone) doc asap for a verbal checkup, results of sputum and more antibiotics. Speed of action is important.

Problem is a twofold:
The doctors receptionist (aka ‘the Gatekeeper) is too good at here job. She Three times now she has basically refused my wife access to the doctors, bar an appointment a few days away. This receptionist has also promised that we will get a docs call, but doesn’t put us on the list. It feels like she is going beyond weeding out timewasters and making medical judgements.
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The docs themselves when they send in the sample know that results are out in a few days, and that they should call for results, as they need to act with more antibiotics. They never do. And we are prevented by the gatekeeper from chasing them up. The doc himself is pretty useless, and when you do get to see him moans about how much paperwork he has to do, how hard life is etc etc, and seems uninterested in patients…
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Twice now the docs have prescribed the wrong antibiotics, and unless the hospital persuades them to get the right one, they won’t change them – even though they are ineffective, and hospital has done a load of tests to this end.
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This week is now the fourth time that my wife has had to call the hospital and get the specialist nurse in charge of her treatment to intervene and call for results and call docs to pass them on.
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It just seems like inaction and unwillingness for docs to allow/assist/manage my wifes illness.
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This all means my wife is ill for longer, and the illness is worse than it needs to be. It also means she ends up spending hours in waiting rooms for appointments to get some basics sorted – but then they don’t get sorted.
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How would you go about complaining / getting things to change? I feel like requesting a meeting with the practice partners/manager and speaking (apart from the Gatekeeper wont tell us who they are this afternoon…)

Move and get a new GP?

Indeed 😀

However, it feels like they need feedback – I presume we are not the only patients who are struggling….maybe make others lives easier…

do as this says

I doubt it’ll make any difference Matt. If I were you, I’d be looking to get a direct number for the GP so as to avoid all the delays.

Can you not have prescriptions (of the right drugs) pre-written ready for use as required?

Oh – and how much are these prescriptions costing you?

Practice website or nhs should have all the details required.

The practice will have a formal complaints prcedure – use it and keep going until you get both answers and apologies. write down every incedednt and keep a record of all phone numbers.

That sort of treatment is bang out of order – people could lose jobs / be struck ff over it and it should not be allowed to happen.

Go in hard and fast and go for the jugular

My missus had a similar situation, we only sorted it by changing her GP and surgery.

Make a written complaint to your current surgery and ring the PCT and request an immediate change of surgery.

We can now ring up get perscriptions (30+ items) within a day.

In the mean time you could get the Hospital to print you off the envelopes and give you the sputum bottles and run them down to the Microbiology dept in your hospital, yourself, they normally have a drop in office.

When my missus contracted Cdiff after her last long stay in northampton general, I made sure that I had the main microbiology guys direct line, and I would run the samples down, and chase the results, and query the correct antibiotic treatment with the microbiolgy lot, myself….

btw, if you want to email me about antibiotics and chest bugs my emails laura.pell1@ntlworld.com the missus is a brittle asthmatic with associated bronchiecstasis so she grows some wierd bugs…..

You could also do as a solicitor friend of mine did and ask the receptionist where her medical qualifications are from. Then point out that delays down to her are her responsibility in law as she is not competent. Usually works a treat on jobsworths who exceed their authority.

As a doctor thought i would add to this- you should change GP. That standard of care isn’t good enough, sounds like a badly run surgery.
Most chest infections are viral, not bacterial but in this case, you wife will be less able to fight viral infection, and this often leads to secondary chest infections with bacteria- this is what we normally call a pneumonia but rarely use this word as it scares people. Very common in the elderly as their immune systems are not as strong, like your wife, and they are less active and don’t ventilate their lungs as well, predisposing to infection.
If your wife typically grows a particular type of bacteria in the sputum, sensitive to the same antibiotics each time, it would not be unreasonable to ask for a script from the hospital for the said antibiotic should she develop infection. However, given they ask for sputum samples every time this may well not be the case, and I think that samples each time would be helpful either way in an immune deficient patient in case she doesn’t improve.
PCT would be the best bet to find a new surgery. Training practices (who have trainee GPs) as a general rule provide a higher standard of care but this isn’t always the case.
If I could help in any other way my email is in profile
Andy

written request for meeting with practice manager/gp.
Take letter from consultant to meeting, with written management plan.
discuss.

see what changes.

if nothing then a) change GP, b) formal complaint.

you wife will be less able to fight viral infection, and this often leads to secondary chest infections with bacteria

Exactly what happens – one thing leads to chest infection…

If your wife typically grows a particular type of bacteria in the sputum, sensitive to the same antibiotics each time, it

She does seem most times to grow a certain thing – hence the specific script each time – which the docs ignoring….
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Cheers all – as druidh says, we are leaving, so its not really about finding a new doc. It feels like they have some staff and procedures that simply are not good enough. Then again, it may be swimming against the tide.
We know its not good enough, it was more a way of tackling it. I will try and speak to a partner tomorrow and see what they say – if they cannot give reasonable defence and assurance that things will change, I do feel like contacting PCT and making a proper complaint.

just found this

complaints

Don’t complain, they will mark your notes as a troublemaker. Switch GP’s!

If a GP practice won’t see your wife, go to A&E!

I’d do a few things:

1. Complain to GP practice manager. It really does sound like their systems are not up to scratch. What if you were less persistent – very likely your wife would become seriously ill because of the lack of treatment

2. Sort out some pre-written prescriptions with the hospital i.e. your consultant or his/her registrar. You seem fairly level headed (for a STWer!)so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you having a stock of antibiotics or pre-written prescriptions at home. Micro could then advise you which one to take depending on the results of the sputum sample. This is quite common for patients with a variety of conditions.

3. Try and arrange something directly with the hospital microbiology dept. Perhaps ask one of the Drs or other staff you know well to ask for you, but I’d be tempted to try and arrange direct access to the micro dept.

4. Ask your consultant to write to the GP with his concerns. You would be surprised how often this works wonders!