My daughter was taken ill on saturday evening with severe stomach pains i rang the nhs direct up to be told she should see a doctor that night just to rule out anything serious , i rang my doctors up to get the on call doctors number to find they hadnt left the voicemail on for this said number, so i googled it and thought the troubles were over little did i expect to wait 30 mins on hold in a que for no one to answer!!!!!!!!!! so at nearly one am i rang up nhs direct up and said my daughter was now asleep with paracetamol medication given by me and i would see how she was the day after, seriously unhappy with this service a complaint will be logged. Thankfully the pains went off sunday but a real let down and a wake up call not to get ill at weekends.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Oh dear! Yes I think we were saying only recently Melissa that the weekend was not the time to get ill, not recommended at all. The thing is this weekend phenomenon is probably going to get worse not better in the coming years. The days when Dr Finlay came out to you with his little black bag appear to be over for ever...more's the pity. But Im glad your daughter seems okay today but probably best to have her checked over anyway.
Im really sorry your daughter was unwell Melissa , the out of hours service we all get from our GPs has declined ever since the new GP contract came in serveral years ago .
If I ring my surgery out side of the usual working hours it transfers automatically to the On call service , but a 30 minute wait in a queue is not that unusual , the demand for the service at nights and at weekends was greatly underestimated when the new provisions for cover where set up . Good luck with your complaint , if we all report deficencies then just maybe things might begin to improve
I do hope your little girl is feeling better and if she is still unwell you can talk to someone today to get her seen and sorted as soon as possible.
Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
Sorry to hear your litle one was unwell, always a worrying time but glad all ok now.
Are these the same GP's that are going to run our NHS?
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
must have been frightening mel, glad that your ittle gir is o.k. but you should now follow up with a strong complaint.
Not wanting to take away at all from the position Mel and her family where in , but the system fault initially lies with the construction of the GP contract , which was set up and agreed by the previous government ( I need to make it clear I have no political allegencies ) and the people who are still running the NHS at present ,
But that is of absolutley no comfort to a little girl in pain and a worried mother , we are all potentially on the recieving end of this problem
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,886
I am glad the little girl is ok.
This situation partly explains why so many go straight to A&E at hospitals when they are worried.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
Mel, so sorry to hear that your little girl was taken poorly and very pleased to hear that she has now recovered. I remember those worrying times, in the early hours, when one of my little girls were poorly but that was quite a few years back now when we were still very fortunate to have doctors on house calls in the evenings and weekends.
Good luck with your complaint, as Sarah P says we should all report these deficencies. Maybe then, we might just have a glimmer of hope that things will improve in the future.
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Sorry to hear about your awful experience Mel. As Jan says it explains why so many people go to A&E rather than trying to call out the doctor. Glad to hear your daughter is doing ok now.