I contacted the practice after a visit to the ED department, with extreme pain in the neck and shoulder, this experience was immensely worrying.
The GP practice I was referred to via the ED dept thought that I may have a torn shoulder muscle, and should be referred to the shoulder Doctor, also, that my pain relief should be reassessed.
I called Starlane Medical Centre and asked if the referral could be expedited because of the severe pain, I was told that it would be a 12-week wait, as my symptoms were not severe enough and the vetting process would not allow this, this was frustrating as the pain at that time was unbearable.
I went on to ask about pain relief and what could be done, I'm on 300mg of Gabapentin 3 times a day which wasn't helping, the doctor told me that if that's not helping there's nothing more that can be done.
This was what I found the most surprising and disappointing part of this exchange; there was no advice or help given to control the pain, just nothing more would be tried and no further advice was given, even though I was in so much pain.
Where does that leave me as a patient?
Told that nothing could be done and to wait in pain for weeks, I felt that there was a serious lack of empathy.
I've looked up Gabapentin and found it can take weeks to work, I had only been taking it for 6 days, he could have said maybe wait and see, or offered to start something else.
Because of this, I've had to start experimenting to see which painkillers work, but I am conscious of taking things like codeine for too long
It would be nice to have a professional to talk to regarding this.
"No Empathy"
About: Star Lane Medical Centre Star Lane Medical Centre Canning Town E16 4QH
Posted via nhs.uk
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