Advice over gps lack of care in my pregnancy

sexykitten7258

Hi there i'm just looking for advice following a miscarriage I had 2 weeks ago. I have had excellent care from the hospital but very poor care from my g.p.
I found out I was pregnant on February 1st and worked out I would have been 8 weeks. I rang the g.p. the next day and made an appointment. I explaned this was my second pregnancy as I had a miscarriage in 2008. A nurse took a blood test and then we went to reception. I asked the receptionist about free pre-natal care for expectant mothers and she said id have to apply for it and gave me a form then charged me for the visit.
I accepted this then rang the hospital and asked them about getting an early scan. I was given the date for two weeks later and on the day of the scan they discovered the baby had stopped developing 5 weeks before hand.
In my opinion the GP who received my blood tests should have known my hcg levels were too low to match the 8 weeks I was sure I was and brought me in sooner for a scan. Do you think I should make a formal complaint and if so where do I do it. I have not heard from my gp since the blood tests which were given over the phone by the receptionist and today I receive a text message from the doctors office informing me I now have free gp visits. Sorry this is so long

qwertytlk

i'm sorry about your miscarriage. I had one myself a few years ago so know how bad it is and how hard. I think the care you have received doesnt sound great but making a complaint is your own choice. Personally i probably would. In regard to the blood test you got, should the doc have rang you regarding your hgc levels, is that standard practice? I presume it is , so if thats correct that would suggest negligence to me, but again thats just my opinion. I'm so sorry you have had to deal with this added stress on top of everything else . I hope your feeling a little better soon. Remember - take it one day at a time:-) P.S i would probably consider changing doctors if i were you. Take care.

January

I think the doctor would only know that your pregnancy was not progressing if you were getting blood tests every two days to see if your HCG levels were rising as normal. Everyones count is different, that alone would not have indicated to him that something was wrong, he'd have needed to monitor if the levels were doubling every two days or not to see if the pregnancy was progressing properly.

I'm sorry that you have had to go through such a traumatic time, but I do not think your doctor was being negligent with your care. My doctor didn't even do a blood test on my first pregnancy, just a standard pregnancy test, which came out negative and he sent me on my merry way, turns out I was actually pregnant but he never bothered to fill out forms with me etc after that.

About the phone call, if you didn't let your doctor know that your pregnancy had ended then they were not to know not to ring you about your free care, a lady here got a letter from her doctor recently asking her to go for the flu vaccine because she was pregnant, she had also miscarried but never informed the doctor, so that's why the letter was sent.

Skadi

OP, sorry for your loss.

Are you sure that your GP tested for HcG levels? The bloods my GP took for pregnancy were standard ones such as iron, thyroid, blood count and immunity against things like rubella and chicken pox.

I lost my last pregnancy and on this one I actually informed one of the midwifes at the hospital first and had my first antenatal visit there before I even went to my GP.