Doctors

duskstar

There driving me mad! I just moved house, and I registered at a new doctors. My notes havent arrived so when I went to talk about my OA they asically said 'its not that we dont believe you... its just we wont do anything without your notes'

They said my notes will take a month or so, then they will refer me to physio (which didnt help before!) and the waiting list is around 3 months.

In the meantime, they told me to take paracetomol for the pain. What?!? That stuff has NEVER helped. I tried to explain to the woman that Ive just started a new job, Im only in my 20s, and the cold weather is making this worse and worse!

Why will no one help me!!

skezier

Hi Duskstar,

I really hope they will get this sorted for you quickly. Can you ask the old practice to just write what tablets you are on to them? I wish I knew what to say to help but I really do hope they will sort them selves out soon. Take care Cris

duskstar

Medcation has never helped very much. I want an appointment with someone to sit and talk about my options. I only found out recently I have OA, it took nearly a year of faffing to get this far. All I want is a few answers to my questions now and it seems Im going to have to wait even longer again.

skezier

Hi Duskstar,

Its horrible in the beginning but your right you do need to talk through with a doctor and I hope once your notes are through one of the doctors will take a bit of time to see you. Maybe if possible you could book a double appointment?

Depending on your x rays they might send you to the orthopedic and see if they will cus I have always find the ortho's very good indeed.

I really do hope they will soon sort something out for you. I get by on Diclo's, Tramadol and pregabalin and for me it works ok. There are so many combinations and they will find one for you. Take care, Cris

elnafinn

I don't quite understand this one! You have moved and you wish to see a gp and you have registered but your new gp will not talk to you because you may be lying about your arthritis.

I presume you gave your medical card to the surgery for registration. This apparantly speeds up the time for your notes to be transferred. If you wished to have more of the drugs you take you would present your repeat prescription so I see no difficulty there but as you say, you are not really interested in taking meds.

I cannot understand why you are registered with a gp where you live now but cannot talk to him about your arthritis and ask questions. If they do not believe that you have arthritis because they cannot see any visible signs then they can call your old gp's secretary and ask for verification or your old gp can call them back to verify. I have never heard the like, glad I am not moving if no gp will help you if you have moved until they receive your notes which could take weeks.

Think I would be writing to the practice manager at this surgery and PALS.

I, like you, would be most incensed.

Look after yourself,
Elna x

chris7

Duskstar

Sorry to read this, sadly it seems many of us appear to get the runaround trying to get some help. One thing I have quickly learned on here is that you do have to keep pestering even if it is out of character for you. My doc. is also unhelpful it can be very depressing. The first physio I saw infered he couldn't help me and my doc. is now simply sending me to a second! Doesn't inspire confidence. :roll: :roll: Do hope you soon get your notes through at least and get some better pain relief. Am sure others on here will offer their support and advise. Hang in there.
Best wishes
Chris

woodbon

Hi When we moved I asked my old GP to write to my new one, he agreed and when I moved I registered and then gave the address to my old GP and he wrote, which helped. It might be possible to get your old GP to contact the new one and confirm things for you.
I am so sorry you arn't getting the right pain relief or treatment.

I hope you can soon sort this out, it must be hard for you to cope.
Love Sue

livinglegend

duskstar wrote:

There driving me mad! I just moved house, and I registered at a new doctors. My notes havent arrived so when I went to talk about my OA they asically said 'its not that we dont believe you... its just we wont do anything without your notes'

Doctors like to have the patient's notes if its not an emergency, because if they make a mistake, then they may get sued for negligence. If you swap docs then you should get a good supply of pills before moving. If you were requesting an alteration to your normal medication then they would want to wait for your notes to be sure they got it right. Would you trust a complete stranger who walks into your office and says, 'put your job on the line for me, I may be wrong but you will be blamed'?

So that any doctor or nurse treating you would be fully aware of any current treatment/problems is what the NHS computer system was set up for. Unfortunately, the whole computer thing turned into a useless, £2Billion fiasco. It would have been cheaper and better to set up a courier service to transport the paper notes around.

The above probably won't help, but may give you a better understanding of the problems we all face.

Joseph 8)

duskstar

Thanks for replies. The problem isnt medication, I stocked up on that before I moved, the problem is getting the referals to the hospital to see physio and ortho surgeon. I only found I had OA literally a week before I moved. I was told it would take a few weeks for the hospital to write to my old GP so I didnt regreister at a new surgury till just now. A large problem is I was diagnosed with OA at university, and they never had a full set of my notes there, they just used the computer and some info I filled in on a questionnaire!

I moved here and registered again. I wasnt asked to give a medical card, I dont know where mine is anyway, though I suspect my parents may have it!

It just annoys me that it takes this long to move notes. I dont know if theres much using in ringing my old doctors, cause I was diagnosed with OA by a surgeon at the hospital, and I never went to see them after diagnosis cause I moved.

All I want is a referral (which is what they wont do without my notes) or physio. Dont care about the painkillers, cause they dont work anyway.

Hopefully this makes somre sense!

elnafinn

"It just annoys me that it takes this long to move notes. I dont know if theres much using in ringing my old doctors, cause I was diagnosed with OA by a surgeon at the hospital, and I never went to see them after diagnosis cause I moved. "


Your old gp would, or should have been notified by this surgeon that he diagnosed you with OA, even if your never returned there because you moved, because it should be written into your medical notes. If you call your old gp's secretary a copy of this letter can be sent to your new GP and surely a referral can go forward from that. I could see from your thread that obtaining meds was not a concern to you.

Luv
Elna x

jmartin

I had a similar thing with a different illness a few years ago. If you know which hospital you were diagnosed at then your new GP should be able to conatct that consultant directly for your hospital notes. Should take a few weeks at the most for the notes to come through from the hospital - GP to GP takes longer I suspect.

woodbon

Hi, I've moved a few time in my adult life and apart from the first time, when I didn't understand how long notes take to transfer I've had no real problems. Whats worked for me is to discuss moving with my old gP and asking, if they would be willing to help me, I've always found that they have been very helpful in contacting new GPs and giving them a brief summery of my notes. I'm not certain how well you get on with your old GP, but if possible, ring the surgery or write and ask if they would please help you, explaining the problems. Even if it dosn't work, you will have done your best, and hopefully the actual notes won't be too long in following you.
I hope things go well for you, love Sue.