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Is my Doctor Playing fair??

C

Captain Kremen

Member
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5
Hi folks, just been confirmed with type 2 and am pretty upset with the way it is being handled by my Doctor's surgery. I don't know if I am being overly emotional or sensitive or whatever so just wanted to run it past people that have been in a similar situation to see if I am being unreasonable or not.
I first realised something was wrong when I was having to get up in the night for frequent toiletorial visits (just made that word up - good eh?) :) I was also feeling really thirsty all the time and very tired. Wifey is diabetic so we recognised the symptoms and tested my blood levels. I was up at 19.9 :thumbdown: So to cut a long story short I phoned the Doctor, blood tests were arranged and appointments mad but it was just on 1 full month before I was started on medication. Having been given the full sp on the harm untreated diabetes can do I found that somewhat stressful. Anyways, they also said my liver functions were out of spec and my kidneys don't look too clever either. So more tests and then I was told to book an appointment to discuss the results. Well that time has come and gone and the appointment I have been offered is 15 days away!! I run out of medication well before that. When I pointed this out to the receptionist I was told to phone 1 day next week at 8 am and I may hopefully be offered an appointment but it's a bit of a lottery.
I think I am quite justified in being a bit upset - what do you guys think? Is this normal for diabetes patients? Is it not really that serious to worry about? I am a bit confused that on the one hand I am told how serious it is but on the other hand there seems a complete lack of urgency when it comes to treatment.
Sorry to go on for so long but I don't know where else to go, it has been alarmingly stressful.
Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Hi. Most of us have hit problems of this kind from the surgery. Does your sugery have emergency surgey sessions each day? Ours does and I would attend one if you do so you can get another prescription. Also you could phone the surgery and ask to speak to a GP to get the prescription done or leave a request? If your surgery doesn't offer any of these facilties then I would look for another one or complain to the practice manager. We have a local Darzi walk-in GP clinic as a back stop and there is always A&E....
 
Hi. just to say hi and query your problem. It's fairly normal for diabetic medication to be put onto a repeat prescription , and if this is the case you should be able to request the repeat from the reception. insist on one the same day
If you need some this weekend then go to a walk in centre or A&E the should be able to sort you out with an emergency prescription to tide you over.
I did it on holiday when i realised that I'd left some of my tablets at home.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys, it's much appreciated. I tried to speak to the practice manager but there is no number or email address on the surgery web site and the reception told me I could not speak to her. I am trying to progress it through the NHS choices web site as I am utterly frustrated with the whole thing and feeling very low about it. Sadly the web site is not working. At least I know what to do now if I run out of tablets. Thanks again.
 
I have had similar problems with my surgery where the receptionist can be incredibly rude. I managed to get past this issue by making it clear to them that I am the patient, and that the surgery is there to serve patients and not the convenience of the staff who work there.

Be firm. If you are clear that you are an ill man who needs to be cared for, then you can also be confident when demanding that you come first. Don't stand for any nonsense! I phoned in one morning, didn't get the answer I wanted, so I went to the surgery and refused to leave. I saw my GP soon enough, believe me!

Complain, and stand your ground, and if you turn up, there's little they can do!
 
A few days ago I saw a post entitled 'what is the hardest thing about having diabetes?' and the first thing that entered my head was 'having to fight for the health care I feel I should be entitled to'. On reflection this is isn't the worst thing, but it is certainly high on the list. I use to think my doctor would also act in the best interests of my health, but I soon realised this is not the case, after he advised me to measure my blood sugar levels once per day so that I would need less test strips. As a type 1 diabetic with a HbA1c of over 8, I knew following this advice would probably cut my lifespan by 10 years.

So despite being avery meek person I have learned to be assertive. My advice to you is to learn everything you can about diabetes and how to manage the condition. Don't assume your doctor will tell you what you need to know or act in your best interests. Decide on what you need to manage your diabetes and then stand your ground until you get it.

Your health is so precious. Fight for it.
 
Some GPs don't know a great deal about Diabetes - they don't get much on it during their training, and they are after all "General Practitioners", not specialists.

LadyAAA's GP is a case in point - only too obvious that s/he hasn't the faintest idea about managing Type 1 :shock: .

This is a sorry state of affairs, but unfortunately that's where we are at the moment. We have to learn as much as we can about our condition so that we can stand our ground armed with the facts.

Captain Kremen, my best advice to you is to take the 15-days-from-now appointment, and spend as much time as you can learning about Type 2, and some of the other things: Google, eg, 'kidney function diabetes', and see what you get. Read round this site as much as possible, and ask any questions you like. There's no such thing as a silly question on here - we've all asked 'em! :D

Your biggest battle is likely to be getting a BG metre and enough strips. Tell them you want to monitor what you eat so you can learn which foods spike you, and suggest you have them for 3 months for a trial. If you get good results they may let you keep them!

Oh, and ask for a print-out of your test results. They are part of your medical records and you are allowed to see them, by law. Don't let them charge you for the print-out! I have copies of all my tests, every 3 months since 2010.

I am very lucky and have a friendly and helpful GP practice who still run Open Surgeries in the mornings :thumbup: . I get most of what I need - test strips etc. But this is still my diabetes, and I am in control of it.

Don't let them get to you! You've lived with this for a while, so it's not going to "get" you in the next 15 days.

The diagnosis "consequences" speech is only to frighten you into taking it seriously. I think many GPs are really frustrated by the number of newly-diagnosed diabetics (or long-term, for that matter) who simply ignore their condition and hope it will go away :shock: .

We're all on your side :D

Viv 8)
 
ladyAAA said:
after he advised me to measure my blood sugar levels once per day so that I would need less test strips. As a type 1 diabetic with a HbA1c of over 8, I knew following this advice would probably cut my lifespan by 10 years.
Click to expand...

I am actually left speechless (and that doesn't happen often! :) ).. I would have reported advice like that to the PCT.. it is truly shocking.
 
Well thank you all for your replies and encouragement. I am going to try and phone tomorrow at 8 am and see if I am one of the lucky ones that gets an appointment for that day. I have ordered 100 strips and a new blood tester so should get that in a couple of days. Reading this forum has helped massively in my understanding of diabetes and has helped me to understand what I need to do.
I was contacted by some one from an organisation called DEAL - they offer 2 x 3 hour sessions to talk about dietary requirements. I have phoned 15 times to try and get an appointment :o All I get is an answerphone asking me to leave my name, address, date of birth, telephone number, NI number and hospital number. In fact all the info that would be needed to steal my ID :D You couldn't make it up! They also tell me that they will be reporting me to my Doctor if I don't book within 2 weeks. Happy days.
Anyways, thanks again, I'll keep taking the tablets and eating the right stuff, doing my exercises and hope for the best.
Kremen.
 
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