General Practitioner experiences

Sykk

My latest experience with a new doctor I wanted to try out was Thursday.

I went to get my ear syringed as apparently I have a natural buildup of ear-wax that I can't clean myself. I had to get this done before. The doctor insisted "Take these drops, have a shower and sher it'll come out itself".

Here I sit, four days later with a massive ear ache, headache and deaf in my right ear.

My sister got her bloods taken by another GP closer to home, he bagged the blood, handed it to her and told her to drop it into Mullingar hospital whenever she was driving by :pac:

I have so many stories of neglect from these money making scammers it's just unreal. I've never been seriously ill, thank God. But I hope hospital doctors are better than these other people.

I'm sure there are some that actually care about their patients but I'm yet to meet one. My experiences so far have been that they're too busy making €60 a pop that they want you out as soon as you've walked in so they can move onto the next person.

smash

usual answer:

"It's a viral infection, can't do anything for it. That's €60 please..."

Wibbs

Like any profession you get good and bad, though generally speaking I've found the service pretty good over the years. However the patient has to do some of the legwork too, not just expect it all to come from the other side of the desk.

chin_grin

Did you ever think the problem is not them....it's you? :pac:

snubbleste

I've never had a bad experience.
Did you tell the doctor that you needed your ear syringed or was it a meek suggestion on your behalf?
I don't think GPs get paid/HSE does not cover to deliver samples for testing therefore the patient does it. It is one of those cutbacks.

seamus

I don't recall any bad experiences, but then I don't go to the doctor much. I've been to a GP three times in the last 15 years. Two of them were for sick notes.

Pushtrak

Sykk wrote: »

My latest experience with a new doctor I wanted to try out was Thursday.

I went to get my ear syringed as apparently I have a natural buildup of ear-wax that I can't clean myself. I had to get this done before. The doctor insisted "Take these drops, have a shower and sher it'll come out itself".

Ouch, paying for a GP visit for that. Could have gotten the drops in a pharmacy without having to pay a GP visit. Maybe I was just lucky. I saw a place doing a free hearing test as my right ear was fecked. Ear buds weren't fixing the problem and couldn't hear anything. Was told to get ear drops, did, sorted right away. Only cost a few euros.

Only time I've actually gone to the GP in recent years was because I would wake up around 2 or 3 am with a horrible feeling like I had to throw up. It's an ulcer, and it can come back to bite me if I were to eat spicy foods, for instance. Long times can go between me getting it act up, luckily. The bad thing about it is how much the prescription costs.

Sykk

snubbleste wrote: »

Did you tell the doctor that you needed your ear syringed or was it a meek suggestion on your behalf?

I told her than I had gotten this done before, and that I think it would be best if she done it again. She insisted against it :mad:

Rabies

I've mixed experiences in Ireland.
Untreated ulcer for years even though I seen a few different doctors I told them I think I have an ulcer.
Fractured my thumb, two doctors said I didn't need an x-ray or any treatment. Wasn't happy got it checked at a hospital and was put in a splint.
Here in NZ everything is checked, even small blips on the radar with bloods is re checked again until its safe. Ulcer was treated here and cured, great doctors and hospital in Auckland.

mikemac1

Nothing but good things to say about my GP

Though for €53 a go, I'd expect him to be good

FatherLen

the doctor in the village i used to live in was useless. no matter what your ailment was he would jam those stupid wooden sticks down your throat then send you on your merry way 60 quid lighter and with a prescription for cough syrup.

Splendour

Sykk wrote: »

My latest experience with a new doctor I wanted to try out was Thursday.

I went to get my ear syringed as apparently I have a natural buildup of ear-wax that I can't clean myself. I had to get this done before. The doctor insisted "Take these drops, have a shower and sher it'll come out itself".

Here I sit, four days later with a massive ear ache, headache and deaf in my right ear.

My sister got her bloods taken by another GP closer to home, he bagged the blood, handed it to her and told her to drop it into Mullingar hospital whenever she was driving by :pac:

I have so many stories of neglect from these money making scammers it's just unreal. I've never been seriously ill, thank God. But I hope hospital doctors are better than these other people.

I'm sure there are some that actually care about their patients but I'm yet to meet one. My experiences so far have been that they're too busy making €60 a pop that they want you out as soon as you've walked in so they can move onto the next person.

As someone who is sick for years with no specific diagnoses I have found GP's specialist's to be some of the most uncaring and uninterested people. I have yet to meet one that will actually follow up tests etc without me pushing them (which is very difficult to do when not in the whole of health). If you are lucky enough to have a 'known' illness then I think Docs fine but if you're sick with something unspecific they really don't want to know or assume it's all in your head. (Or God forbid should you get upset in the surgery they'll mark you down as being depressed!)

I asked my GP to send me for a head scan a couple of years ago (when desperate one will try any kind of test) but she told me if there was anything wrong in my head I wouldn't be still here (been attending her surgery for years). Anyhow, I decided to have the scan done privately and there was lesions found on my brain-not necessarily life threatening but something going on.

My experience is Doctors don't always listen to the patient and therefore I've had to research and push for most of the tests I've had done-and am still battling away...

...and the medical profession wonder why patients try alternative medicine...

Sky King

Me: I think I have meningitis
Doc: Ah no I'd say it's just the flu
Me: But I have the rash!
Doc: Ah it's a flu rash
Me: But I did the tumbler test like on the ad! Look!
Doc: But Some of them are dissapearing

I am normally not one to push these matters but I was genuinely concerned

Me: It can't be the flu, i have never felt this bad before. I was full on hallucinating last night in bed
Doc: Maybe take some paracetamol to lower your temp
Me: Would you mind asking another doctor just to be safe?
Doc: (sighs and gets one of the other doctors in)
Other doc (after a 30 second examination): Jesus Christ! Get him up to casualty!

So I went up to casualty and was unconscious within an hour. Would have been dead within another 12 or so. Probably. Or potentially blind / deaf / without limbs. Still have tinnitus but it was a small price to pay in fairness.

humbert

Unless I've a very good idea what's wrong and I'm willing to be quite insistent I just get fobbed off.

To be a good GP requires a lot of dedication and commitment which very very few of them have.

I hate the fact that they are the gatekeepers to proper doctors.

hooradiation

Sykk wrote: »

I have so many stories of neglect from these money making scammers it's just unreal. I've never been seriously ill, thank God. But I hope hospital doctors are better than these other people.

This is because nobody ever starts a story with the phrase "I went to the GP and let me tell you, I had an unremarkable and effective experience"

It happens all the damn time, but it doesn't make for a good whinge...

humbert

hooradiation wrote: »

This is because nobody ever starts a story with the phrase "I went to the GP and let me tell you, I had an unremarkable and effective experience"

It happens all the damn time, but it doesn't make for a good whinge...

Even if all the other experiences are "unremarkable and effective" it doesn't excuse the instances of neglect and incompetence.

hooradiation

humbert wrote: »

Even if all the other experiences are "unremarkable and effective" it doesn't excuse the instances of neglect and incompetence.

Nobody ever said it did, the whole point was that people only gab about the extraordinary, which is why the OP has "[heard] so many stories of neglect from these money making scammers"

Basic reading comprehension. Try it sometime.

It's strange, I've been let down by every doctor I've ever seen bar one. GPs, dentists, psychiatrists, all let me down at a hefty price, both health wise and financially.

Then I get to college, visit the free doctor, and she's great! The service is great, the staff are great (not just the doctors but the reception staff and nurses) and everyone's happy.

I honestly dread what's going to happen when I graduate and have no where to get as good a service.

generally have an ok experience with docs
got one young fella once though, i was very run down and completely lost my appetite etc etc ( i think it was stress) and he kept asking was i sure i wasnt pregnant

doc i go to in the WWC is the best ever though

Dave!

smash wrote: »

usual answer:

"It's a viral infection, can't do anything for it. That's €60 please..."

Better that they give out antibiotics to make the patients feel like they're getting their money's worth, even though they don't work against viral infections. My mother works for a GP, and he listens to that sh*t all day.

Sauve

It's like any profession, there are good and bad, and it's up to everybody as a fee-paying consumer to pick the best one you can find.
You wouldn't tolerate a half-assed plumber working on your home, yet you continue to pay good money to a doctor who's doing a half-assed job.
Shop around until you find one that's thorough and does what you're paying him/her for.

Also, for those with medical cards, it's possible to change your doctor if you're not happy. You just need to approach to your local health board and they'll change you over to a new one.

humbert

Sauve wrote: »

It's like any profession, there are good and bad, and it's up to everybody as a fee-paying consumer to pick the best one you can find.
You wouldn't tolerate a half-assed plumber working on your home, yet you continue to pay good money to a doctor who's doing a half-assed job.
Shop around until you find one that's thorough and does what you're paying him/her for.

Oddly, my sister (who doesn't have a medical card) who's had no end of medical problems tried to change her GP in our home town after some pretty appalling treatment and other GPs flatly refused to take another doctors patient/client.

I'm sure she could have gotten around this if she'd tried more GPs or perhaps been more insistent but it's still an infuriating situation.

King George VI

Doctor lady i go to is kinda hot. One day she was examining my willy and I got a boner, while it was in her hand. Needless to say I was mortified but giggled like a child.

Sauve

humbert wrote: »

Oddly, my sister (who doesn't have a medical card) who's had no end of medical problems tried to change her GP in our home town after some pretty appalling treatment and other GPs flatly refused to take another doctors patient/client.

I'm sure she could have gotten around this if she'd tried more GPs or perhaps been more insistent but it's still an infuriating situation.

That is annoying, but understandably, surgeries have a maximum amount of clients they can take on.
It could well be a case that this doctor was so bad that all of his patients were trying to move to another practice.

humbert

Sauve wrote: »

That is annoying, but understandably, surgeries have a maximum amount of clients they can take on.
It could well be a case that this doctor was so bad that all of his patients were trying to move to another practice.

It would have made more sense to say they were simply full but they were actually quite specific, they didn't take patients from other GPs.

The particular GP has a thriving practice but the bulk of patients either just want a sympathetic ear or a prescription.

People with medical cards should have to pay some nominal fee for a visit (maybe they do but seeing how frequently they go it's hard to imagine).

Chucken

humbert wrote: »

People with medical cards should have to pay some nominal fee for a visit (maybe they do but seeing how frequently they go it's hard to imagine).

Where did you get the piece of information from?

How could you possibly know who has or hasn't a medical card?

LoYL

As you diagnosed the problem and the identified the correct procedure you have two things left to do: syringe your own ear and go into practice.

cruais

St. Jimmy wrote: »

Doctor lady i go to is kinda hot. One day she was examining my willy and I got a boner, while it was in her hand. Needless to say I was mortified but giggled like a child.

I doubt that.

tayto lover

The last time I attended the doctor I had an appointment for 2pm. Five other people in the waiting room had an appointment for the same time. I saw the doctor at 2.50pm. Now that's taking the pee, especially when i had to take time off work to see him.

seantorious

Chucken wrote: »

Where did you get the piece of information from?

How could you possibly know who has or hasn't a medical card?

He's right 80% of GP visits are from medical card holders, but on the other hand isn't it supposed to be like that. These are people who have medical, social or financial conditions. Shouldn't their attendance be higher. Although some people I've seen with a medical card take the piss.

Smidge

I have zero faith in the majority of medical practitioners in this country.