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Two and a half weeks ago I got tonsillitis, I was prescribed a weeks supply of Erythromycin (allergic to Penicillin) by the end of the week I felt better but not perfect. Last Monday(5th) I went back to the doctors where I saw a locum (fresh out of Med school) I told her that I had been prescribed said anti biotic and that my throat still didn't feel right she completely dismissed what I said and told me you cant catch it twice ! she didn't even look in my throat ! I left feeling let down by her lack of care etc. What I should have done is asked her to look at my throat !
Fast forward to this morning...my throat has been getting worse over the week but I have been putting it down to tiredness etc. I woke this morning and couldn't swallow and was in agony. I called the emergency drop in Doctor and was asked to come in...I was seen straight away and guess what I have full blown tonsillitis again ! i have now been prescribed Clarithromycin for another week ! the doctor also took a swob of my throat to check for glandular fever I had this about 9 yrs ago and she said now that normally doesn't come back but checking to be on the safe side.
So do I make a complaint or not ? If she had listened to me then I would have been almost off the medication and not having to take more time off work ! I suspect if I make a complaint that will be dismissed as well !
thoughts please !
NB Im feeling sorry for myself ! a day in bed wasted whilst my 2 boys had fun outside all day ! tbh that bothers me more that Ive lost a day with my children !
Hmmm... sounds odd.
She wouldn't be fresh out of medical school as a locum, she'd have to be a fully qualified GP and therefore an absolute minimum of 4 years out of medical school.
If she didn't examine you, said you can't catch tonsillitis twice and completely dismissed you then she was wrong on 3 counts.
What dose of erythromycin did you get the first time?
P.S. I always hesitate to encourage complaints as they're such a ball ache for both parties yet seem to achieve so little but it might be worth it here. If you do complain then I'd stick to the facts and not make it personal. Also, keep the letter short - it's well known that the length of complaint letter is inversely proportional to the validity of the complaint!
Yes I would and presumably addressed to the Practice Manager. We are all accountable and they are no different.
Personally id cut her some slack.
A senior Dr, that i know, when i asked him about a case of medical negligence,i was invvolved in, he said always report it, we get paid a good salary, and have lots of trainig, so we dont make to many mistakes, getting a bad mark should be seen as a wakeup call to the DR concerned.
Ring the surgery and ask to speak to the practice manager.
500mg of erythromycin
now got 500mg of Clarithromycin for another week.
That's good, 250 sometimes seems to be used - normally not enough IME. I give a 10 day course though for tonsillitis as it often seems to need it.
Something doesn't quite add up here... either the doctor you saw is seriously deficient or something has been lost in translation. Are you sure they were a locum and not an F2 (junior doctor)?
a locum as thats how afternoon surgery is run at the clinic I go to no practice doctors work in the afternoon there are 5 practice doctors.
That sounds like a pretty normal appointment to me. Or do some people receive better care than that?
a locum as thats how afternoon surgery is run at the clinic I go to no practice doctors work in the afternoon.
Really?! Sh1t! How many partners are at the practice? Are you prepared to name and shame it?
MTFU! It might be different if they had overlooked a brain tumor or such like. 🙄
If you feel the need to complain, everyone has the right to complain about NHS is they feel they have no received the service they expected. Sometimes there is a good reason why this may of happened but not always. I'm going to end there before I rant on both sides, you can get advice here.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1083.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=162
taken it off...not very professional to name and shame and could work against me
sorry 4 practice docs !
if you did see what surgery I would rather its not repeated on this thread ! thanks
The general thought is that antibiotics might reduce the duration of one-off acute tonsilitis by about one day (IF it's bacterial - most aren't). It's self-limiting, goes away with or without drugs "almost always"
Antibiotics are mostly used/useful for patients with throat infections who have syptoms suggesting that they're becoming unwell more generally - high fevers, really "poorly" - or else if they believe you have a specific bug that is a bit more of an issue generally. If erythromycin is given, 5 days is fair enough
There aren't many infections that will respond to clari once you've had a course of ery - the locum has a point there (5 days should kill the bugs, then the inflammation has to wear off)
Might be worthwhile writing to the practice manager and the doctor involved. If not to 'complain and take further' but if only to inform the people involved-feedback is always useful.
Whether you did or didn't catch a new tonsillitis, the 'original' one can always (as in this case) get worse!
Oh, as this is STW I feel I must also tell you to MTFU and pull your tonsils out yourself.....!
DrP
got my swiss army pen knife at the ready and a few band aids on hand !
Band aids, wimp just use toilet roll torn into tiny squares.
Doesn't make sense to me: you were either so ill that you needed to see the GP the second time and a wishy washy answer without examining would clearly have caused you to question it at the time, or you were happy enough with the answer at the time because "you felt better but not perfect".
Now if you genuinely believe that the doctor is a "danger" then fair enough make a complaint - but if its just for the sake of kicking up a fuss then probably accept that everyone can't be brilliant 100% of the time, and that the practice will be keen to show (publicly at least) that they have not done anything wrong. If I was making a complaint here - rather than putting it on paper (which WILL get a formal but not necessarily effective response) I would suggest calling the practice manager and asking to meet them and one of the partners to discuss your concerns with the aim of avoiding making a formal complaint. IMHO that is very likely to get more attention that a letter which will probably produce something along the lines of "Thank you for your complaint. We have conducted a thorough internal investigation. Unfortunately the Dr who treated you does not recall the same details as you, and recorded in your patient notes at the time that you were feeling better. It is not uncommon for patients to show signs of improvement before the recurrence of an infection. Our investigation has therefore not identified any error. We have however reminded the doctor involved that it would be best practice to examine the tonsils of patients recently presenting with tonsillitis. You have a right of appeal, bla bla."
Oh, and if you've only had 1 day in bed then I'd argue that's not "proper" tonsillitis!
one day so far ! thanks for info