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Hello
I am unhappy about the way I was treated at a Doctors surgery and wondered if anyone may have any thoughts or advice on the matter please.
It was my first appointment as a newly registered patient at a local GP practice. The appointment was with a Nurse for my ear syringing (which was explained to the Receptionist at the time of making the appointment).
The Nurse asked me some questions including whether I was born with a Cleft Palate, I said yes.
The Nurse then summoned the lead Nurse who advised that they would not syringe my ears because it's Practice Policy not to do this for people born with Cleft Palates.
I explained that I have had my ears syringed all of my life and have never been refused before nor experienced any problems as a result of the treatment.
The Nurse made me an appointment with a Doctor to discuss.
The Doctor agreed that it should be on a case by case basis and that as I have had it done before he was happy for me to have it done and so went off to speak to the Nurse.
The Doctor returned and told me that he had to 'put his foot down' as having spoken again with the Nurse they had agreed to refuse the treatment as they did not have my medical records yet as I was a new patient and therefore could not verify that I had indeed had the treatment before.
I asked them to telephone my old surgery who could confirm that I have and that I am not a liar.
The Doctor advised that it was unlikely he would get confirmation now as the Nurse was going for her lunch in 15 minutes!
I had been held at the surgery going back and forth with this palava for 2 hours at this point (when I was supposed to be at work) and they were basically saying that they didn't want to try and resolve it now as it was lunch time!
I argued that I felt discriminated against and asked who wrote the 'practice policy' and on what grounds the policy not to syringe Cleft Palate people was based.
The Doctor advised it was National Policy to which I disagreed as many other practices will perform the treatment.
The Doctor asked if I would like a consent form, I said yes.
The form had a bullet point list of circumstances under which syringing should not be done and at the bottom a statement that the patient understood and the risks had been explained and then a signature and date line.
I read and began to sign the consent form when the Doctor stopped me and advised that I had misunderstood, he was merely showing me the form which proved that they could not perform the treatment on Cleft Palate patients and the intention was not for me to sign it.
I said that surely the form was designed for the patient to sign and agree to treatment despite the supposed risks, thus removing liability from the Doctor/Nurse/Practice.
The Doctor disagreed and I left feeling very stressed, upset, still hard of hearing and a bit discriminated against.
The Receptionist should have mentioned this policy on the telephone when I booked the appointment.
I don't understand why the Nurse made me an appointment to see a Doctor who said he was happy for her to go ahead for her to then over rule him anyway?
I also wasn't offered any alternative treatment. I have since used an ear candle from Holland & Barrett which has done the trick!
Does anyone have any knowledge about this sort of thing? Can the Practice do this? Do I have any rights that supersede them 'putting their foot down?' Can anyone suggest what course of action I should take about the way I was treated as I don't want anyone else to go through it, it was very upsetting and I really did hate the feeling that because of the way I was born I had this stressful encounter, I honestly wished I had never declared the information!
Many thanks for your time.
I am unhappy about the way I was treated at a Doctors surgery and wondered if anyone may have any thoughts or advice on the matter please.
It was my first appointment as a newly registered patient at a local GP practice. The appointment was with a Nurse for my ear syringing (which was explained to the Receptionist at the time of making the appointment).
The Nurse asked me some questions including whether I was born with a Cleft Palate, I said yes.
The Nurse then summoned the lead Nurse who advised that they would not syringe my ears because it's Practice Policy not to do this for people born with Cleft Palates.
I explained that I have had my ears syringed all of my life and have never been refused before nor experienced any problems as a result of the treatment.
The Nurse made me an appointment with a Doctor to discuss.
The Doctor agreed that it should be on a case by case basis and that as I have had it done before he was happy for me to have it done and so went off to speak to the Nurse.
The Doctor returned and told me that he had to 'put his foot down' as having spoken again with the Nurse they had agreed to refuse the treatment as they did not have my medical records yet as I was a new patient and therefore could not verify that I had indeed had the treatment before.
I asked them to telephone my old surgery who could confirm that I have and that I am not a liar.
The Doctor advised that it was unlikely he would get confirmation now as the Nurse was going for her lunch in 15 minutes!
I had been held at the surgery going back and forth with this palava for 2 hours at this point (when I was supposed to be at work) and they were basically saying that they didn't want to try and resolve it now as it was lunch time!
I argued that I felt discriminated against and asked who wrote the 'practice policy' and on what grounds the policy not to syringe Cleft Palate people was based.
The Doctor advised it was National Policy to which I disagreed as many other practices will perform the treatment.
The Doctor asked if I would like a consent form, I said yes.
The form had a bullet point list of circumstances under which syringing should not be done and at the bottom a statement that the patient understood and the risks had been explained and then a signature and date line.
I read and began to sign the consent form when the Doctor stopped me and advised that I had misunderstood, he was merely showing me the form which proved that they could not perform the treatment on Cleft Palate patients and the intention was not for me to sign it.
I said that surely the form was designed for the patient to sign and agree to treatment despite the supposed risks, thus removing liability from the Doctor/Nurse/Practice.
The Doctor disagreed and I left feeling very stressed, upset, still hard of hearing and a bit discriminated against.
The Receptionist should have mentioned this policy on the telephone when I booked the appointment.
I don't understand why the Nurse made me an appointment to see a Doctor who said he was happy for her to go ahead for her to then over rule him anyway?
I also wasn't offered any alternative treatment. I have since used an ear candle from Holland & Barrett which has done the trick!
Does anyone have any knowledge about this sort of thing? Can the Practice do this? Do I have any rights that supersede them 'putting their foot down?' Can anyone suggest what course of action I should take about the way I was treated as I don't want anyone else to go through it, it was very upsetting and I really did hate the feeling that because of the way I was born I had this stressful encounter, I honestly wished I had never declared the information!
Many thanks for your time.
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