Health practitioner attitudes can really suck!

I had the dubious pleasure of a visit to NDHB's base hospital in Whangarei today. I was referred by my GP for a small matter and as I understood it, that was the appropriate place to go. The doctor I saw looked at the problem and said, why are you here? You shouldn't be here, you should be ... While that might be the case, surely the correct target for that complaint was not I, the patient who had just travelled two hours to attend the appointment, but the system in general or my GP in particular? To be so condescending and rude to a patient is bad form in my opinion. How do I, a lay person, know how to determine whether or not I should have gone to that appointment with that practitioner? They did what I needed to have done but I'm really annoyed about the attitude and the almost-argument to secure treatment.

With the delightful exception of a tiny handful of people, I have found Whangarei Hospital's practitioners to be generally rude, careless and unpleasant and I try and avoid going there whenever possible! Before these experiences of the last couple of years, I wouldn't hear a bad word about our health system and its ability to respond quickly and well to illness or accident. Lately my faith has been considerably shaken

Reading between the lines on StephClark's attempts to find a GP in Whangarei makes me think either they are overworked and therefore stressed, in the wrong profession and therefore stressed, or just plain mean.

and the probs continue!..long story short.. hubby needed a vitamin B shot, so we had to sign up to gp..first off, she didn't wash her hands nor did she bother to clean the injection site :sick: ..then I had to ring to get a prescript filled.. I have an open letter from a Auckland specialist for a rare condition I have asking the gp to refill scrips.. she absolutely refuzsed to do it and then said she didn't think she was a good enough doctor to do this for me!..
so the search continues...

I did have a referral to whangarei hosp for another reason, and found them more than helpful and a delight

I avoid doctors and hospitals as far as possible, particularly since a close friend died in the prime of her life due to medical misadventure

Have you read this BOOK , eat like your grandparents did and you won't go far wrong!

I had a similar encounter with a triage nurse - GP referred me for urgent tests and she said it was disgraceful that I was there for a blood test that could be done at the lab. It was Friday night, lab was closed, and tests proved I was significantly ill. Waiting until Monday morning when the lab opened could have been very serious indeed. I made a formal complaint about that one, and was taken very seriously, which was good.

And by the way, even our grandparents got sick, despite eating a healthy (meat and potato) diet. Doctors sometimes save lives. They saved my dad's life, probably saved mine too.

I wrote a letter to the doctor concerned, but the complaints people have taken over the process, saying that's an appropriate route. We shall see what happens. I don't (as most people tend not to) wish to make a big fuss, but I would prefer not to have to deal with that sort of attitude again, nor is it appropriate as a general approach to patients. We've all paid for the provision of care and we all put our trust in it and are generally quite disempowered in the process. Many health professionals appear to forget about those dynamics.

I also have a complaint re common hospital practices. I tried to get to the GP for 4 days after a spot on my skin grew rapidly and then burst. I was of the opinion that it was likely or having a great possibility of Melanoma which I have had several in the past. I could only get appointment with GP 3 weeks away so after the 3rd days urgent call, I was taken to the hospital A&E.
They looked at the large open wound and agreed with my suggestion re likely Melanoma, then covered it up and said, "Go see your normal GP".
I said "Hang on a minute" & asked for a tissue sample to be taken & immediately sent to lab for confirmation and the A&E Dr said that it had to be done through the GP. This was at the Chch hospital
Talk about Gate Keepers! Even the nurse applying the bandage agreed it was "Gate keeping" and disapproved of the recommended instruction.
I sure as hell agree with the book that is about the industry, that's set up over cancer.

I ended up, again trying a common garden milk weed which gets stuck into any possible cancer spots on the skin, kills off the nasty cells and make for a healed skin really quickly. All PAINLESSLY!
The idea /wisdom came to me from an old Maori lady.
It did the trick and now, (some 2 weeks later), I don't even have a bandage on the wound.

But getting back to the A&E..... The Dr organised a double dose of Antibiotics to start the healing process with. She gave those 4 tablets at the same time as the nurse was covering it.
There was NO inflammation or infection when I was given the antibiotics but it was an open wound, of about the size of an old 50 cent coin. It sure didnt LOOK good.
Everything seems based on Risk Management and damb chemical companies products.

On the back of our home's WC door, is a sign found on the Net. "Your bodies ability to heal, is greater than anyone has permitted you to believe"
HOW TRUE THAT IS !

Kiwitussock wrote

is greater than anyone has permitted to you believe"

Shouldn't that read "permitted you to believe?"

Quite correct. Thanks Stikkibeek. I'll correct it with the Edit button

Hrrrmmm...
Last year I got a nifty affliction, Ludwig's Angina.Look it up, it's terrifying.
I saw an emergency dentist on a Sunday morning to have an abscessed tooth removed, he gave antibiotics and a list of warning signs to act on promptly.
By nighttime my face and chin were swelling, I went to A & E first thing in the morning, by which time I could barely move my mouth or swallow.
Explained all this to the triage nurse, pretty sure all she heard was 'abscess'. Was left waiting for three hours, passed out in A & E, came 'to' on the floor, went back to triage nurse, who said 'dental cases are not urgent'. Again I explained the problem despite barely being able to speak. She finally agreed to 'get someone to look'. In ten minutes I was in treatment with IV antibiotics and the head of the ENT department standing reading my notes, quickly followed by the head of the dental department. The latter agreed it was Ludwig's Angina and best dealt with as an ENT case. I spent the remainder of the day in the short stay unit on the IV. On being discharged I was told to go to the hospital dental dept for followup...and got much the same triage treatment again DESPITE the ENT referral until the charge dentist overheard me interacting with the nurse and exclaimed "Oh! The Ludwig's!" and came running.
There ensued much merry banter between the heads of department regarding how they hardly ever saw 'these' over the top of yours truly ensconced underneath them in the examination chair. I'm glad they were so interested, as apparently it is rare for hospitals to see a case of Ludwig's (I was just lucky I guess) in spite of many of their clients being people who can't / don't ever see a dentist. Amongst which I am am NOT numbered...I go twice a year and always have done.

I was very unimpressed with the triage treatment I received as I was very close to choking and dying, and it seemed that the very people who should know what might happen, could not be bothered to listen. They seem to think all their clients were plain idiots.

Stuck in a bed in palmy hospital at the mo
Fifth time I have been in for the same thing. Fortunately first time here as they seem to actually want to find out what is wrong rather than just getting me well enough to kick me out

Lucky you. If you give us a list of symptoms, would you like us all to guess at a diagnosis?

Geba, having read this on Wiki,

The life-threatening nature of this condition generally necessitates surgical management with involvement of critical care physicians such as those found in an intensive care unit

it's pretty slack that alarm bells didn't ring sooner with the A&E charged with your care. Hope you sent in a complaint.

Thanks Stikki...actually I (not being a dentist, or an ENT practitioner) didn't realise how serious it was until they plugged the IV in. I was pretty sick by then. It took over three months for my neck & mouth to feel normal again after all the swelling.
And no, I didn't complain, though now you mention it I might...especially since I'm currently compiling a letter about something else entirely