Wow, good for you Patsy! I’ve told off a veterinarian or two but with it being so hard to find a doctor these days, I don’t know if I’d tell off my GP.
That said, I’m lucky that my go is younger & more on the ball about things than some of these stodgier ones who don’t seem to know what’s going on.
What has always killed me is it is true, you are what you eat, you otherwise wouldn’t even be alive, but doctors don’t seem to take much stock in nutrition unless you’re diabetic or something.
Oh yes that appointment where the doctor sits one side of the desk and I sit the other and he says why are you here, I reply my review, he says OK ? I say yes and he says what do you need and prints out the prescriptions I want. Yes a good and thorough check up :twisted:
So you don’t question your meds at all?
I take ones that make me feel better and don’t get the ones that don’t. My blood pressure tablets I need, they make me feel better, my painkillers I take more than prescribed but no one ever challenges it, my anti shake meds I don’t take they make me foggy and feel worse and so on… So no I don’t question them I just select what works for me. I refuse out right diabetic meds, statins and such like. No way will they get me on those.
now what I like about your post Julie is your ability to share this medical information that is personal to you without TELLING other forum members what to do with their medications - " you don’t cross the line" as some chose to do. Thanks
lots of comments about whether we trust doctors or not but the ‘doctor’ does have his/her option too. If a given patient refuses to accept medical advice or changes their medicine dosage without consulting their doctor OR acquires drugs from internet purchases then any doctor is legally entitled to withdraw their services to that patient on the basis that the patient is refusing to take their own doctors medical advice and instructions.
Doctors, like participants in any profession are people, and the question is, if you had the relevant training, to become a Doctor (or a member of any professional body), would you trust you?.
As they treat drug users and drinkers etc I don’t think they can so selective, also they change drugs and doses without asking us too and they do refuse prescriptions or lose them or forget where they have sent them - that rush round the local (and not so local) chemists is always a joy looking for medication when they can’t remember which chemist they sent it to.
I think it’s like any other consumer product or service. If you don’t like it, or you are not satisfied with it, go somewhere else. I wouldn’t hesitate to change doctors if I felt the one I was seeing wasn’t meeting my needs, or there was a disconnect of some sorts. Of course, I don’t know what it’s like in the UK… perhaps there are not that many doctors that you feel you are stuck with one? Don’t know… Of course, even here, some are limited by who there insurance policy allows them to see, but still there is always more than one choice. I’ve changed docs before… I’ve changed dentists before… if I’m not satisfied… I move on.
Not so easy many surgeries have waiting lists and many won’t take on new patients who will cost them a lot. So fit and healthy you can change doctor if you can find one who is open to new patients but if you have long term problems not so easy.
Ahhh… Here it’s a matter of money. LOTS AND LOTS of doctors, but if you cannot afford health insurance, or are not wealthy, you are pretty much out of luck. If you do end up so ill you need to go to an emergency room and you have no insurance, you will probabley be financially ruined and in bankruptcy. Hopefully, our new Affordable Care Act will alliviate some of this problem, however Republicans continue to fight against it and prefer to see rich insurance companies and destitute dying constituants.
there are many view and facts going on here some from America, Australia and England to name but a few - and all systems have similarities but also are different - we need to ensure we are not talking at crossed purposes!
having lived in Uk and Oz I know it is easy to change doctors in Oz but not so in Uk - USA a assume is simillar to Oz in this respect?
I certainly don’t trust doctors these days…I think they prescribe medicines that they (ahem) may have a financial interest in doing so…
About 2 years ago, I came back from Malta, and found I had a rash and peeling skin…It itched like crazy so I went to see my doctor who had a look and then said ‘‘Yes, it is a thinning of the skin’’(What?)…’‘It happens as people get older’’
Thinking I was going to resemble an anatomical teaching mannequin in a couple of months…I went away with a tube of cream…
A couple of days later I had to have my blood pressure checked by a nurse at the same surgery…I showed her the spots…she said ‘‘they look like flea bites to me’’
And they were…
Hopeless…
Looks like some could do with this.
Brilliant idea and get asked to find another surgery ! Never complain in person they can make your life hell.
We complained about my Mum’s treatment meant she never got her place in the hospice and died on a trolley in the hospital. Vindictive some staff can be.
Healthcare is free here but not a ton of doctors. When we moved to the country we still traveled to Scarborough (almost 2 hours, especially once you’re in the city). Then our doctor retired. We had no doctor out here until 2 years after we moved. There’s hospitals within 15 min driving & a wonderful medical centre. Finally we were able to latch onto a regular GP.
The medical centre is fragrance free too which we’re very glad about.
There are many, many free walk in clinics too in various burgs but I never liked going to them.
So change surgeries if it’s that bad, you don’t even have to tell your current surgery, just go to a new one and say you wish to register with them.
How many times do I have to answer that one ? surgeries around here are rammed with people, waiting lists for each GP. To change and remain within distance to get to the surgery is not possible. Only GP taking on patients are the private doctors, our surgery they are gradually taking on more and more private patients elbowing out NHS patients so eventually we won’t have a choice but until we have to find some one to take us on (and as has been explained earlier no one takes on patients that costs them money). So we will have to find one many miles from us, not very convenient if we find ourselves without transport at any time.
Another instance of medical incompetence was when my youngest son was 5…he developed a large lump on his calf…took him to the doctors…who sent him to the hospital for a biopsy…
The diagnosis was that the lump was pre-cancerous…and they were going to amputate his leg at the knee…
I had my doubts…the lump wasn’t painful…he had no other symptoms…didn’t feel ill…
I took a gamble…
He is now 29…and still has 2 legs…
Boy weren’t you & your son lucky! I had thyroid cancer, there was a lump in my throat (literally) & it wasn’t painful at all. I don’t think cancerous lumps are painful, although I think I would’ve gone for a 2nd or 3rd opinion before gambling with my kids life. Cancer leaves original areas all the time.
