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I've a friend who picks his daughter up from Kent for contact weekends, but in order to get her a doctors appointment - Has to travel to Kent under the current NHS policies. I think this it totally out of touch with the family Units in Society today. I too have experienced. What with familes now sharing contact 50/50 not being able to take your own children to your own doctors surgery because they are register with the other parents doctors is in my view is not in the best interests of patients, especially children.
Yes, agreed. It seems that the whole "system" is geared towards a parent with day to day care and a parent without. Just look at the benefit system! I also think that institutions in general, whether schools or doctors etc could take the millisecond needed to check out someone's surname when they phone a parent about their child. it always infuriated me to be addressed as Mrs H, just because that was my sons' surname.
I wonder if you could contact your local Health Authority to raise your very valid concern?
I have a meeting (sparklinglime) with my MP next week so it will be interesting to see how she reacts.
Louise I did contact PALS the chocolate tea pot service in Amersham. But as my previously comment states the chocolate tea pot service is being dispanded. Not a bad thing really as the manager i spoke to was not at all transparent and deviated from wanting to address the issue. Which is probably why they are being dispanded becuase they are ineffective. What really bothers me about such matters is the way people react to problems. I am a creative and thus approach problems in a way that accepts they exhist and then take action to address the cause of the problem and not the impact.
Winston Churchill said "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
If we are ever to enjoy efficient and effective services in our community we really do need cultures that foster learning and have integrity at the heart of their DNA. Currently we have old school British thinking which is fear driven blame culture in which questioning is frowned upon. When actually questioning will lead to transparency and transparency will illuminate inefficient and ineffective people and processes. GRrrrrrrrrrr :-)
PS; it feels great to have somewhere to rant, havnt done this in a long time.
Rant away :-))
Aren't some larger towns having walk-in GP type services? Perhaps this would be the way forward for future surgeries, with records kept on a national data base. I would quite like the idea of having a walk-in option of anywhere, as I really don't have much to say about my practice (similar negative comments about the other practice in town).
I'm going off topic here, sorry.
Good luck with the MP.
As for the organisation being ineffective - nothing like knowing you're being disbanded to destroy any enthusiasm they may have had.
I sort of understand that feeling (with my scout group!).
I don't think I understand. Is this a regular doctor's appointment? Surely, in an emergency any doctor will see a child. It makes much more sense to be registered with one doctor - what if two doctors disagree about treatment? The child would get drug A in Kent and drug B elsewhere? The two might interact or double up, and then?
In order to register with two doctors at different sites (and I do understand your reasoning) those two doctors would have to talk to each other about treatment or mistakes will happen. Now, that's ok if only one of their patients is 'double-registered', but times this by I-don't-know-how-many, all to different second doctors and you run into big problems.
If the care is 50/50, this implies to me that the actual distance is not that far or the child does not go to school yet. If the distance isn't so far, it's just a minor inconvenience. If the child doesn't go to school yet, it's a question of time management.
I really think the NHS has a lot worse headaches than this one!
(Sorry - I am not unsympathetic, but if I was to choose where in the NHS money is spent, this would not be it)
Thanks hopeful, thats a good insight i had not looked at it from that view point.
Let me give you a real life example that happend last month with my 12 year old daughter. Which nearly cost the NHS an expensive law suit. In which all of the consults (health profressionals in the hospital) totally 4 were all shocked as to the decision the practice manager in XXXXX choose not to even assess the severity of my daughters condition.
The interesting thing is, I recorded the conversation, as I have no confidence in Doctors surgeries or their staff to have patient care at the forfront of thier culture.
1. My daughter came to stay over with me, and her other 3 siblings at my house in XXXX.
2. I noticed she had an infected finger, so thought i should seek a professional opinion, to assertain the priority level of this condition.
3. Called about emmergency appointments and told to contact them later in the afternoon to see about cancellations etc.
4. I took her there in the afternoon and staff said we can help you sorry. Verbatum - We cannont even see her of assess her as she is not registered here. ( this is my doctors where my self and my son are registered)
5. I requested to discuss with practice manager who said the same thing. ( I have in the past taken my children to an effective doctors surgery who were flexible and understand - who have seen my children in the past)
6. This places a parent in a very difficult dilema. How do i make a diagnosis as to the severity of the condition. Do i need to take her to A&E or is this just a cut finger? I dont know? This decision also relates to taking time off work, travel costs etc.....in this diffcult climate.
7. Bearing in mind I had my daughter at the doctors surgery between 4-5pm. I did not have the petrol money ( believe it or not to get here to her doctors some 14 miles away. ) Not to mention it was rush hour traffic and would of been inpossible to get her there in time.
8.I waited till the next day to see if i had more understand to make my own diagnosis as I had no access to a doctor.
9. My daughter had cut her finger and it looked like a very saw swowlen finger. But again when you are not medically trained how can you determine the importance of knowing where or not this requires a trip to A&E. After all the words accident and emmergency didnt seem appropriate for a cut finger.
10. so the next day I took her to A&E after she woke up. It transpires the infection has spread to her blood stream and up her arm.
11. She had to have X-rays and I had to take her straight away to the XXXX hospital to see the plastic sergeons.
12. The consultants who were shocked as to the conduct of the doctors surgery gave us the option of keeping her in over knight and giving her an operation on her knuckle and to control the infection or a course of adult antibotics over night and to come back the next morning at 830am. Together we decided on the latter.
13. Not only was this painful and my 12 year old daughter had to endure this for some time and the worry of an operation.
14. The infection was visably all up her arm in her right arm.
15. So the question is, how does not assessing a child in a doctors surgery ever become in the part of being in the best interests of patients and patient care?
16. What people with money in their pockets do not understand, is there are people in socienty who have to sell their possssions to obtain petrol travel costs to get thier children to hospital. I struggle to find petrol money to pick up my children, how many other 1000s of people there have an understanding of this. Do you buy food this week or petrol? Have you ever had to make that choice? I wouldnt call it a minor inconvieniance i would call it a major issue. But I guess thats just time managment.
When we truly understand ever factor at the heart of a problem, only then can we find a real effective solution not based on assumptions, but on real applications.
17. Im my view their needs to be centralisation of records digitally.
18. I can see 1 of 5 doctors in my surgery and i dont even know their names, but they can all access my records. So I dont see how doctors can double up?
19. I think the NHS have some very big headaches coming and are strategically vulnerable to litigious attack. Which as you well know, law suits run into £1000s.
I'm not into sympathetic responses either (!)
Ah, now see, for emergencies any practice should see anybody anytime they are open. I totally agree with you that your practice was out of order there. And I think you are absolutely right considering legal steps.
I don't think the problem here is registering with a doctor, it's the practice's attitude to emergencies. In your case - with no money for fuel and probably public transport being what it is - you could have called an ambulance, and having worked in A&E, everyone would have been sympathetic to your plight (the amount of people that get seen because they can't get to see the GP they are registered with is tremendous).
I agree that medical records should be centralised - and I know that I have signed a consent form to that effect down here in Kent, but I am not sure this is just a trust thing or if it's supposed to go nationwide.
I have no money in my pocket, so I can relate to your fuel/food (or rent?) problem totally.
Please do kick up a bigger fuss than you have!
(See, knowing all the details makes all the difference 
)
That sounds Hopeful (!) thanks.
I totally agree that records should be centralised. This would also help to marry up cases of child abuse etc.
Yes, A and E is an option but even then, the local hospital could be a long way away. You could consider asking your local pharmacist if in doubt but I agree with Hopeful, you need to question your GP practice's attitiude towards emergencies and find out about the procedure to register as a temporary patient. Sadly, it takes something really worrying such as what happened to your daughter, to highlight these things.
Hope your daughter is well now.By the way I have removed details of your location as we ask for anonymity
Ha, Louise, it wasnt my daughter, it was matt2013. I would not have the same problem here, as I have a lovely minor injury unit about five minutes walk from my house. I am very fortunate though. ;-)
I agree.
How does your practice feel about this? Have you contacted the MP to get his/her view point?