Right I don't want this to be a medical thread, I'm just going to outline the details of what happened and then comment.
About a month ago my father started getting nasty coughing fits and shortness of breath (this is not going to be a swine flu story by the way). At first we thought it was a cold and he'd get over it, but after a few days it wasn't showing any signs of improving so he went to visit his GP.
I've been to this same GP and other GPs like them who have exactly the same arrogant "I've been to medical school for 7 years therefore I'm brilliant" attitude, and this is the kind of cocky **** who will always have already decided what's wrong with you before you've finished listing all of your symptoms. It's as if they're in a hurry or they are having a race with their colleagues to see how many patients they can zip through in a day, trying to get rid of you as soon as possible.
This **** kept interrupting my father, literally cutting him off, telling him there's nothing wrong with him, that it's just hayfever related allergies (despite the fact that he's 54 and never *ever* had coughing from hayfever, EVER, but obviously this GP didn't listen). So she prescribed him some inhaler that made it a little easier for him to breathe (not exactly a cure), and pretty much said he'd have to deal with these problems for the whole summer. Sounded like crappy advice but the GP was more qualified than anyone else in our family, right?
Anyway, the symptoms did not show any signs of going away despite the inhaler; the hard coughing continued for a few weeks until my mother said enough was enough and took my dad to the A&E about 4 hours ago.
It turns out, all this time he's had PNEUMONIA, and just had a chest x-ray which confirmed it. He's now going to be in a hospital bed for the next 4 days being treated for something that should have been diagnosed a month ago.
People can die from pneumonia, and I shudder to think how much worse the situation would have been if my dad wasn't taken to A&E.
A misdiagnosis happens from time to time, and I'm willing to accept that, but FFS, if you are a GP, at least let your patient FINISH HIS ******* SYMPTOM DESCRIPTIONS before you kick him out of the door with a mickey mouse prescription. I mean seriously, how hard is it to listen to 60 extra seconds of patients describing their problems? Perhaps if you did, you'd learn to do your job properly and perhaps save lives.
Is it me or is it impossible to find a decent GP nowadays? I personally have been through 4 different GPs, all Indian, all with exactly the same DISGUSTING arrogant attitude, and all equally useless, one of which no longer practices after misdiagnosing stomach cancer for heartburn, resulting in a death.
At the risk of sounding racist, I do wonder if any of this would have happened if my dad was Indian. I'm sure he would have been treated as if he was "in the club" so to speak, and all of this could have been avoided because the GP actually cares about a "familiar".
It reminds me of a few times sitting in the waiting room, watching an entire indian family of 6 go into the GPs room (pushchairs & all) while everyone else is kept waiting for an extra 30-60mins, and I can hear them being all chummy and laughy and giggly as they are exiting, speaking in Gudgerati or Hindi, as if they were cousins or something. Yet when Mr Whitey walks in, time is suddenly short where a precious 30 seconds could mean a correct/incorrect diagnosis of pneumonia
It makes me feel physically sick and fills me with rage. Sorry about this post but just had to vent
TL;DR version: It seems GPs around here are complete morons with more self-important attitude than genuine caring, with a possibility of racially preferential treatment. They care more about letting their patients know how great they are (by pretending to be amazing at diagnosis) than actually sitting down and taking the time to work out the illness.
About a month ago my father started getting nasty coughing fits and shortness of breath (this is not going to be a swine flu story by the way). At first we thought it was a cold and he'd get over it, but after a few days it wasn't showing any signs of improving so he went to visit his GP.
I've been to this same GP and other GPs like them who have exactly the same arrogant "I've been to medical school for 7 years therefore I'm brilliant" attitude, and this is the kind of cocky **** who will always have already decided what's wrong with you before you've finished listing all of your symptoms. It's as if they're in a hurry or they are having a race with their colleagues to see how many patients they can zip through in a day, trying to get rid of you as soon as possible.
This **** kept interrupting my father, literally cutting him off, telling him there's nothing wrong with him, that it's just hayfever related allergies (despite the fact that he's 54 and never *ever* had coughing from hayfever, EVER, but obviously this GP didn't listen). So she prescribed him some inhaler that made it a little easier for him to breathe (not exactly a cure), and pretty much said he'd have to deal with these problems for the whole summer. Sounded like crappy advice but the GP was more qualified than anyone else in our family, right?
Anyway, the symptoms did not show any signs of going away despite the inhaler; the hard coughing continued for a few weeks until my mother said enough was enough and took my dad to the A&E about 4 hours ago.
It turns out, all this time he's had PNEUMONIA, and just had a chest x-ray which confirmed it. He's now going to be in a hospital bed for the next 4 days being treated for something that should have been diagnosed a month ago.
People can die from pneumonia, and I shudder to think how much worse the situation would have been if my dad wasn't taken to A&E.A misdiagnosis happens from time to time, and I'm willing to accept that, but FFS, if you are a GP, at least let your patient FINISH HIS ******* SYMPTOM DESCRIPTIONS before you kick him out of the door with a mickey mouse prescription. I mean seriously, how hard is it to listen to 60 extra seconds of patients describing their problems? Perhaps if you did, you'd learn to do your job properly and perhaps save lives.
Is it me or is it impossible to find a decent GP nowadays? I personally have been through 4 different GPs, all Indian, all with exactly the same DISGUSTING arrogant attitude, and all equally useless, one of which no longer practices after misdiagnosing stomach cancer for heartburn, resulting in a death.
At the risk of sounding racist, I do wonder if any of this would have happened if my dad was Indian. I'm sure he would have been treated as if he was "in the club" so to speak, and all of this could have been avoided because the GP actually cares about a "familiar".
It reminds me of a few times sitting in the waiting room, watching an entire indian family of 6 go into the GPs room (pushchairs & all) while everyone else is kept waiting for an extra 30-60mins, and I can hear them being all chummy and laughy and giggly as they are exiting, speaking in Gudgerati or Hindi, as if they were cousins or something. Yet when Mr Whitey walks in, time is suddenly short where a precious 30 seconds could mean a correct/incorrect diagnosis of pneumonia
It makes me feel physically sick and fills me with rage. Sorry about this post but just had to vent
TL;DR version: It seems GPs around here are complete morons with more self-important attitude than genuine caring, with a possibility of racially preferential treatment. They care more about letting their patients know how great they are (by pretending to be amazing at diagnosis) than actually sitting down and taking the time to work out the illness.
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I dont think I've ever had a GP who's seen me for longer than a few minutes. 
), you know I've found out more from people who've had the same problem and then checked with another GP/then doctor to find out what I've got.
