"Had I not been persistent it may have been a different story"

I have just sent a glowing report on my stay in the Accute Emergency Unit In between Christmas and new year, I was treated and was made well, all staff were amazing and because of this I decided to overlook the poor treatment I had revived from your emergency GP service. I did have concerns about not reporting the GP who examined me, my immediate thoughts were what if I had been the mother of a young child, I would have taken her assessment and left. Hearing the tragic story of the toddler William Mead this morning I felt it my duty to report what happened to me.

I first attended your emergency GP on the 25th December, I am not someone who frequents Drs surgery so so as you can imagine I was feeling very ill to have turned up on Christmas day. I was attended to by a female Dr, I do not have her name, she was very through asking what I had been taking, I told her that I had been self administering paracetamol and ibuprofen every two hours, . She concluded in that case my temperature was not as high as it would have been..She told me I had been a bit too brave and had left it a bit too long and that I had crackles in my right lung and less so in my left. She prescribed antibiotics and told me not to expect to feel well within two days but if I felt any worse to come straight back to the hospital not my GP-I thanked her and left.

I returned home and unfortunately my condition became worse so as instructed by the Dr I returned to the emergency GP at the hospital. It was the morning of the 27th of December, at this point I had the original symptoms along with severe headache, projectile vomiting and I was confused, not well at all. I was seen by a different GP who told me I had a slight temperature, she could not detect anything from my chest, I had slightly raised blood pressure but this was most likely because I hadn't slept the night before. My blood pressure which is normally 120/90 was 188/100, this did not concern the GP, I omitted to tell them I was taking the paracetamol and ibuprofen (as instructed by the previous GP). I was so unwell, I could barely remember my name. The GP dismissed my concerns and told me to just continue with the antibiotics.

I think that if I had been the mother of a young child I would have been reassured by this and left. I urged that the GP had not understood how ill I was and basically insisted on seeing someone else. Then they called the EAU ward, asked if they were busy because they had a patient who had a slightly raised blood pressure and they thought there was an outside risk of them having a bloodclot. The person at the AEU ward replied the blood pressure reading was high and I should come to be checked out. when I arrived I was examined and shown to a bed immediately, I was diagnosed with a bad pneumonia and remained there for four days.

I now know that I presented with classic complications of pneumonia, the vomiting, headaches and confusion when put alongside the original diagnoses made on the 25th December by the previous GP I think this should have signalled that all was not well. I have never been as ill in my life and am still recovering. I felt as though it took all of my strength (and I am a very actively fit person), to recover and understood how some patients with pneumonia do not pull through.

Had I not been persistent and forced the GP's hand into getting a second opinion it may have been a different story. More importantly thr GPs failure to recognise what I would regard as classic symptoms and take the stance that I was basically over egging my condition.

But, I am extremely grateful for the treatment I recived once I managed to get passed the GP,

I'm not one to complain but reading the tragic case in the press last year and what his poor parents have been through I felt it was only right that I draw this to your attention.

Thank you.