"Poor care from Family GPs"

Where do I start? Things were going okay until the start of March 2020 when the headaches my father already has were becoming markedly worse. At the same time, he received a letter from his GP saying he was due for a routine MRI scan. Due to the headaches, we try to have things done either in the morning or early afternoon as the longer the day goes on the worse they get. This was going fine until the hospital said they weren't doing this anymore and were only doing hospital patients between 9-00am and 4-00pm. The last one was done at the weekend which was fine.

I wrote back to the GP to say my father would have the MRI and that his headaches were getting worse and the medication he was on was not helping and could he change it. Two months later I had heard nothing. I tend to write rather than ring as I don't use the phone - previous bad experience at another Surgery. 

Having heard nothing I got in touch with NHS England who helped me to put in a Formal Complaint. As I suspected might happen, they found nothing wrong.

So I involved the CQC who also found nothing wrong. They didn't really speak to me so I didn't feel my side was fully considered.  The CCG did the same.

These investigations had just concluded when my father had what was thought to have been a stroke and ended up in hospital, who thankfully took more care of him than his own GP.

My father had an MRI at the hospital before he was discharged and then a follow-up CT Scan about a month later and that concluded that he had had a Brain Haemorrhage. The headaches may have been a precursor to this, and had the GP actually checked my father out things may not have turned out the way they did.

Once discharged the GP only came out to see my father after they were asked to do so by the Occupational Therapist, who was surprised when I said I had been trying to get the GP to look at my father since March - in the five page (all separate sheets) conclusion of the investigation the GP wrote that they had told us they could do nothing more - they had not. 

This GP turned up at our house unannounced (this while the pandemic was still raging - my father is in his 80's) in scrubs and asked to see my father.

As he left, I apologised for the tone of my letter, but I wish they would appreciate the strain that a full-time carer is under - they seem to have no idea what people like myself deal with on a daily basis and there is no respite as I wouldn't leave my father with anyone else as he is unique. The strain is enormous and I didn't feel that I was getting help or support from the GP.

A letter was written to me saying that as I had made a lot of complaints and had said I had no confidence in this GP (this was not even my own GP) that I was being de-registered and by association my father would have to leave also.

So I tried to re-register at the nearest Surgery to us, I had left in 2014 (through no fault of my own) but they would not take me back. Unfortunately somewhere between the two Surgeries I was left in limbo and had no medication for four months - I needed this medication and should not have had it blocked - no matter who was to blame.

Was kept being told to go to 111 but they do not like handing out emergency scripts repeatedly so I went through terrible withdrawal for a week because I came straight off one lot of medication, yet the GP practices took no responsibility. Eventually have found a really nice practice to take us on but it's miles from our home it takes me 25 mins by bike when I am well.

I have since gone to the PHSO and have spent the past 10 months waiting to see if they were going to take any action against the other Surgery or Old Fletton. Having waited 6 months was told firstly that they would be taking no action against the first surgery. This is despite the fact that I was left with no access to my medication for 4 months.

As for Old Fletton, the caseworker cleared them of all wrongdoing so I asked for a Manager to look at the case and in the end they settled on giving this Practice a warning and asking them to write me an apology as they had broken GMC Guidelines. The apology arrived, and quite frankly if I could take this any further I would. The letter also referred to me as Ms and not Miss, a pet hate of mine that I have made them aware of previously.

Cannot believe that despite all this, the PHSO only asked for an apology from one of these practices. Had the Practice stuck to the guidelines I should only have been issued with a warning (despite doing nothing wrong - I was well within my rights to say I had no confidence in the GP) and my father and I would still be at the practice.

We now have to go twice as far and if my father isn't well enough to drive, we have to go by taxi each way and we both have regular blood tests. The PHSO asked them to pay compensation for this, but the Practice refused.

The GP still hasn't apologised for their actions in all of this. 

An apology from this Practice and a warning would have cleared this up in a matter of days. Instead I have had to have my medication increased due to the weeks of missed medication. My father is getting worse and we no longer trust the NHS - he collapsed again last year and I didn't call the doctor, fortunately after a couple of hours he was fine. But this Practice has a lot to answer for.