You are ok, even you are dying

 Hi ... west London ( Ealing )

Since we moved to the UK and I am very disappointed from the NHS.
GP do nothing except you are fine ... why you are here ? ... you can walk so it is not urgent !
is this normal to get this answer even you are dying, my wife and my daughter went their several times for serious problem and every time she came back, they told me I am ok, kid is ok even she has a fever (39.5).
After one year in the country we realized there is RED BOOK for the kid ... ohhhh I can not believe it no one told us about it even they did not write any vaccination in it so we do not know what we done. now they debate about it, you did not do this or this, this is ridiculous.
what if I want to compliant about this service, anyone can guide me.
we feel that we are not human being we can get good treatment even for the kid.

 

Hi mazm,

Sorry to hear your NHS experiences have not been good.

There are details on the NHS website about how to complain:

http://www.library.nhs.uk/healthManagement/ViewResource.aspx?resID=27804

You could also contact the British Medical Association ("BMA") if you feel you have been the victim of medical malpractice.

Also, you do have the right to change GP if you are not happy with the one you have:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1088.aspx

If you want urgent medical advice, I'd recommend calling NHS Direct who connect you to a nurse or doctor who will discuss the symptoms and advise you the best course of action (eg, hospital, GP etc)

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

Hope this is helpful to you.

Yeap, definitely not a fan of the NHS either...

Britwife gave you some good suggestions.  Hopefully you can find a solution, I've been trying to explore a lot of these options as well. 

Good luck

Britwife thanks a lot for your quick reply.
but what for change GP ... I think all are the same in my area, I heard the same thing from my friends around.
but I will give it a try .... hope it will be better ( trying to be positive )

friend of mine told me you go for A&E .... she went there yesterday but they told her this for emergency .... go back to your GP 

I wish this is not everywhere .... if anyone can share with us her/his experience, this will be great.

cheers

I have had only good things from the NHS. I was born 3 months premature. They saved my life. When I got a detached retina, I had surgery 10 days later. When I had a blood infection, I was admitted 1 hour later (at the weekend) for 24 hours of IV antibiotics. When I fell off my motorcycle they put my nose and jaw back together. They are doing great with my varicose veins. They fixed my 6 year old daughter's deafness (glue ear).  None of this cost a penny. (Yeah, yeah, I know about the taxes).

My hubby and I have had wonderful NHS care.

He had a stroke - 7 weeks in Hospital, excellent care the entire time, good physio therapy and follow up care.
He has diabetes.  Excellent care at the diabetic clinic, close watch by GP.
He had knee replacement - excellent care and recovery.  Infection developed and the care was prompt and efficient.

I have had several A&E experiences, burns and cuts.  Prompt, excellent care and follow up treatment.
I have a skin disorder (psoriasis) and get wonderful care at the Dermatology dept of our local hospital.
I have back problems and had a serious flare up last year.  Took a bit longer than I hoped to get to see the specialist but the care was excellent once I got there.
I was very ill with tummy problems last year I saw my GP at the office.  I felt worse the next day and my GP came here to my flat to examine me.  Follow up treatment was excellent.

Mammograms, colonoscopy, diabetic foot care, blood pressure screening - all received and no complaints at any point.  
I do not have even one complaint about our NHS care.  

NHS Dentists- now that's a different story entirely!

NHS Dentists- now that's a different story entirely!

I have been with the James Hull chain of dental clinics as an NHS patient for 5 years and they have been fine. I had a £1000 course of treatment (implants and bridgework) and as an NHS patient my cost was capped at £350, the NHS paid the rest. Done professionally and hassle-free.

http://www.jameshull.co.uk/

I had a miscarriage at 19 weeks about 2 weeks ago, NHS was and continue to be fabulous. I receive calls from the bereavement midwife at least once a week, she is wonderful.

My advice is please try to change GP's, also, you may have to ask for more things that you are used to asking for in the US. I find being a bit more assertive with my GP helps me to get what I want. My family have had only wonderful experiences with the NHS, however if you aren't getting what you want, complain and try to find a new GP. Good luck!

mazm, if you search this forum, you'll find good and bad stories- all you can do is try and figure out the best care you can get... 

I'm of the "not such a good experience with the NHS".  Still waiting for my urgent hospital referall from several months ago...  Though my GP sure knows me, because I see him every week trying to move things along!!

All depends on what you have wrong, unfortunately.   I'm a medical enigma and they did all the "speedy, I'm dying tests" already and and since I'm not dying, they don't want to speed things along... Doesn't make the pain go away though!

Well, I have had pretty good experiences so far. Not to be graphic, but hey, we are talking health issues here, so here goes:
I have had several infections in one of my breasts over the last year. The NHS was great, have done ultrasounds and all sorts of things. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a solution to the problem, other than surgery, which would mean losing all sensation in my breast forever, and which I am not willing to resort to yet. They think if I quit smoking it might help, so I am giving that a try. I have a consultation to help me decide how and when to quit next week.
I have psoriasis, and have been given even better medication here for that problem than I ever received in the US, and it has cost a tiny fraction of the price. In the States, I was paying up to $300 for two tubes of medication, here I paid £7. I also had several problems with my feet that 2 different dermatologists in the States said was due to my psoriasis, but my GP here actually ran some tests and discovered it was most likely due to an unsanitary pedicure ages ago. I was given medication and that has completely cleared up - no more pain! I had laryngitis last week and was given some antibiotics and they seemed to work just fine.
That is pretty much all of my experience with the NHS to date. I think a lot maybe depends on the problem, and whether it is very common or not. For example, my skin troubles are very common, so no problem at all. However, show them recurring breast infections from a woman who has never been pregnant, and it's a different situation altogether. At any rate, all they ever did in the US was give me antibiotics, so at least I have had some ultrasounds and things here.  I can't complain. I could go for the surgery if I wanted to, so at least I have that option.

In the States, I was paying up to $300 for two tubes of medication

(hijack)
Were you uninsured in the US?

(hijack)
Were you uninsured in the US?

There were times I didn't have insurance, but at other times, I was insured under a few different companies - Blue Cross BS, Humana, etc. The price I listed was the uninsured price (though a few companies I had insurance with over the years didn't cover the medication at all, so that was the price either way) and the best deal I ever received with insurance was paying about $127 for the medications. Less than half price, which was great, but still extortion for something you have to use every day.  With insurance, I sometimes received a few extras at the dermatologist's office, though, like cortisone shots or UV treatments. I don't think the HMOs consider psoriasis a very serious ailment, and most of the time it isn't, but if I don't use any sort of medicine for a few weeks, it becomes a very serious problem.

There were times I didn't have insurance, but at other times, I was insured under a few different companies - Blue Cross BS, Humana, etc. The price I listed was the uninsured price (though a few companies I had insurance with over the years didn't cover the medication at all, so that was the price either way) and the best deal I ever received with insurance was paying about $127 for the medications. Less than half price, which was great, but still extortion for something you have to use every day.  With insurance, I sometimes received a few extras at the dermatologist's office, though, like cortisone shots or UV treatments. I don't think the HMOs consider psoriasis a very serious ailment, and most of the time it isn't, but if I don't use any sort of medicine for a few weeks, it becomes a very serious problem.

Exactly.  Even with insurance, not all treatments are covered.  My friend from home has pretty severe psoriasis, and when he has a bad flare up, the ONLY thing that will work is Soriatane (sp?) which his insurance at the time would not cover.  It was $800, so he ended up ordering it from Canada for a fraction of the proce.

There were times I didn't have insurance, but at other times, I was insured under a few different companies - Blue Cross BS, Humana, etc. The price I listed was the uninsured price (though a few companies I had insurance with over the years didn't cover the medication at all, so that was the price either way) and the best deal I ever received with insurance was paying about $127 for the medications.

Wow! I was always insured, but I never paid that for my psoriasis cream ... and I'm assuming we use the same stuff (I could be wrong, but probably not).

(no more hijack! I promise!)

Wow! I was always insured, but I never paid that for my psoriasis cream ... and I'm assuming we use the same stuff (I could be wrong, but probably not).

(no more hijack! I promise!)

I've always used Dovonex and Clobetasol, until I moved here and they just gave me Dovobet, which is sort of a combination of the two. The Dovonex was the really expensive one, the Clobetasol a little less so. I just remember that the two medications together cost about $280-300, though. I was excited to say the least, when I realized after 15 years of scraping up money to get the medicine, it would only cost £7 from now on.