Depressing GP - what can I do ?

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dtriggs

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
After being T1 for 48 years Ive seen a lot - but the attitude of my GP is just shocking. The surgery has spent the last few years sending monthly a letter stating I had just been diagnosed ! I managed to get them to stop. The GP then has replied year on year on my Hba1C with such negativity its so depressing - my consultant and speciality nurses are very pleased with my control / progress. The GP just texts that its dire and followed up by the ways i am likely to suffer and die - its just defies belief. My son also gets the same texts. His control is improving but was up at too high - so it seems all diabetics get the same messages.
Finally after years of this I have complained and goit this changed. But i just received the latest version which says my blood sugars have been out of control for 20 years.....my Hba1C is at 58 where it was 61 a year ago. Yes still nothing positive. Just we need it below 52 or you are 'dire'.

The point here is - it is hard enough living a normal life with diabetes worrying every minute of every day where yr sugars are - without a Doctor constantly telling you how terrible you are - its unnecessary and downright unpleasant. What is the best thing to do ? Is there a general body I can complain to ?
 
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Wow! That is absolutely shocking!
When I read your first sentence I was thinking this doesn't make sense, because you say your GP is amazing.... so you may want to change that to "shocking" or "appalling" as it took me several reads, before I could make sense of it you using amazing as meaning amazingly bad rather than good.
Managing diabetes is quite hard enough! Do they really think that beating you with a big stick for doing your best is going to motivate you to do better?? I would ask what they are able to offer you to improve things? How they feel you could do better?
I wonder if the diabetic lead for the NHS in England, Professor Partha Kar would be the person to get in touch with, since you have clearly tried to deal with it by complaining yourself. I know he has got involved with individual cases where GPs were refusing to prescribe Libre and I think he at least needs to be made aware of this sort of situation as he personally is all about positive encouragement. Generally us Type 1s get more supportive treatment from Health Care Professionals but we often read of Type 2s being victim to this sort of attitude but none of us should be exposed to ignorant and arrogant behaviour like this. It is in effect bullying behaviour and should have no place in the NHS. Those are my views. .
 
dtriggs said:
Finally after years of this I have complained and goit this changed. But i just received the latest version which says my blood sugars have been out of control for 20 years.....my Hba1C is at 58 where it was 61 a year ago. Yes still nothing positive. Just we need it below 52 or you are 'dire'.
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I wonder if it's a semi-automated message being sent to all people with diabetes? 58 is (if I understand correctly) better than most people with Type 1, hence the excitement when the cutoff for HCL was made at 58 because that qualifies most people with Type 1.

(They're not wrong about it being better to be under 52 than at 58, but some appreciation for how hard that can be and that getting to 58 is pretty good wouldn't hurt.)
 
Bruce Stephens said:
I wonder if it's a semi-automated message being sent to all people with diabetes?
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Even if it is an automated message intended to target people with Type 2 instead of Type 1 and I suspect that you are correct, it is still totally unacceptable and they need to stop trying to make people feel guilty and to blame when their results are not as good as they would like.

Is there anything in the message which offers help and support to lower this supposedly unacceptable result?
 
dtriggs said:
After being T1 for 48 years Ive seen a lot - but the attitude of my GP is just shocking. The surgery has spent the last few years sending monthly a letter stating I had just been diagnosed ! I managed to get them to stop. The GP then has replied year on year on my Hba1C with such negativity its so depressing - my consultant and speciality nurses are very pleased with my control / progress. The GP just texts that its dire and followed up by the ways i am likely to suffer and die - its just defies belief. My son also gets the same texts. His control is improving but was up at too high - so it seems all diabetics get the same messages.
Finally after years of this I have complained and goit this changed. But i just received the latest version which says my blood sugars have been out of control for 20 years.....my Hba1C is at 58 where it was 61 a year ago. Yes still nothing positive. Just we need it below 52 or you are 'dire'.

The point here is - it is hard enough living a normal life with diabetes worrying every minute of every day where yr sugars are - without a Doctor constantly telling you how terrible you are - its unnecessary and downright unpleasant. What is the best thing to do ? Is there a general body I can complain to ?
Click to expand...

Tbh in your position I wouldn't be bothered what some gp thinks about your diabetes control as your consultant & dsn are both happy with it.

From own experience what some gp's know about managing type 1 you could write it all down on a back of a stamp.
 
nonethewiser said:
From own experience what some gp's know about managing type 1 you could write it all down on a back of a stamp.
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I second this. I am not sure if the DSN at my GP surgery can spell "Type 1" with some of the in appropriate things she has said to me in the past.
And the "automated" messages I receive are definitely aimed at type 2. For example my HBA1C test results tell me I am "at risk of diabetes".
 
helli said:
For example my HBA1C test results tell me I am "at risk of diabetes".
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The printed ones from the labs say something like that but that's because they really are automated. They're just showing the normal ranges, not the ranges that might be normal for the individual patients.
 
rebrascora said:
Even if it is an automated message intended to target people with Type 2 instead of Type 1 and I suspect that you are correct, it is still totally unacceptable and they need to stop trying to make people feel guilty and to blame when their results are not as good as they would like.
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No, of course it's stupid. I don't remember ever having such a silly message from my GP surgery.
 
I got a letter from my GP surgery last year, obviously generically printed and sent to all diabetics, to tell me I was at x% of having a heart attack in 5/10/15 years if I didn’t start taking statins! I was livid, firstly because it was scaremongering and quite frankly could have upset a lot of patients and made them even more anxious about our condition, and secondly because they obviously hadn’t read my file as I MUST not take statins as they are contraindicated with another med I have to take to help my liver to deal with the fact I don’t actually have a pancreas! I was absolutely livid, not just on my behalf but on everyone else who received one. I emailed the surgery manager straight away gave them it with both barrels. I told them they were insensitive and at the very least they should reword it immediately. I mentioned that this letter should not have been sent to me and if they’d consulted my records they would know the reason why. I might also have mentioned big pharma and it all about being ticking boxes and taking the cash. I was rather angry at the time. I got a return email back almost straight away with an apology and they would investigate who had sent it to me and promised they would look into it. Goodness knows if they actually took any notice but I felt better getting it off my chest!
 
eggyg said:
I got a letter from my GP surgery last year, obviously generically printed and sent to all diabetics, to tell me I was at x% of having a heart attack in 5/10/15 years if I didn’t start taking statins! I was livid, firstly because it was scaremongering and quite frankly could have upset a lot of patients and made them even more anxious about our condition, and secondly because they obviously hadn’t read my file as I MUST not take statins as they are contraindicated with another med I have to take to help my liver to deal with the fact I don’t actually have a pancreas! I was absolutely livid, not just on my behalf but on everyone else who received one. I emailed the surgery manager straight away gave them it with both barrels. I told them they were insensitive and at the very least they should reword it immediately. I mentioned that this letter should not have been sent to me and if they’d consulted my records they would know the reason why. I might also have mentioned big pharma and it all about being ticking boxes and taking the cash. I was rather angry at the time. I got a return email back almost straight away with an apology and they would investigate who had sent it to me and promised they would look into it. Goodness knows if they actually took any notice but I felt better getting it off my chest!
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I would have replied to their reply asking to be informed of their findings. If they say they'll do something they should evidence that they have.
 
Sorry to hear you’ve had some negative and unhelpful comments from your GP @dtriggs :(

If you’ve tried contacting the Practice Manager and don’t feel your concerns are being effectively expressed, you might consider contacting PALS to share your concerns?

www.nhs.uk

What is PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)?

Find out more about the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), which offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters.
www.nhs.uk www.nhs.uk
 
I was shocked to read your post @dtriggs
seems someone at your survey just doesn’t understand your condition
unfortunately I think this is the modern world where GP’s are so busy they substitute their work to others who don’t see the full picture
 
That is absolutely disgraceful from your gp , i think tbh i would not bother complaining i dont really rate Pals they have no real power of teeth in my opinion . of course other people might disagree , i think its a bit like ofwat , ofgem etc and all the rest of these so called regulators they are all part of a corrupt bent sytem
 
Thanks all - glad the community sees it the same ! But it does highlight a real issue in how Diabetes is considered - and the mental anguish really is not even concerned with. Its something I'm quite passionate about having now a son with T1 and also my nephew and both see this and find it horribly depressing. I would like to take this to a higher level and publicise my concerns.
 
Glad to see you want to try and do something about it. It's easy to complain but much harder to try and change things for the good of others.

My interpretation of events is that it might be another example of a reasonable idea that has been badly executed. It is a reasonable idea that people who are not taking their diabetes seriously should be periodically reminded of the consequences of their actions and it is a reasonable idea that some sort of automated system could be used to send those reminders out. The bad execution seems to be that they are sending it out to anybody with "diabetes" in their record without any regard for the individual circumstances and probably doing more harm than good because of it.

What you need to find out is whether this is an initiative from your surgery acting on its own volition. Examination of the letter might give you some clues. If so, a stern e-mail to the practice manager with a copy to the local NHS trust is the best place to start and might be about all you can do. If it turns out that it is a wider initiative then their reply should give you clues about where to go next.

An alternative is to e-mail your MP and ask him to investigate - he will hand it to a gopher who might be able to stir things up.

I'd probably do both and refuse to accept whatever they initially come back with. Be polite, point out anything that is said which is not accurate and be persistent.

Good luck, chances of getting this letter stopped are good and there is a small chance you might get somebody to think about the whole system. Go for it and let us know how you get on.
 
dtriggs said:
After being T1 for 48 years Ive seen a lot - but the attitude of my GP is just shocking. The surgery has spent the last few years sending monthly a letter stating I had just been diagnosed ! I managed to get them to stop. The GP then has replied year on year on my Hba1C with such negativity its so depressing - my consultant and speciality nurses are very pleased with my control / progress. The GP just texts that its dire and followed up by the ways i am likely to suffer and die - its just defies belief. My son also gets the same texts. His control is improving but was up at too high - so it seems all diabetics get the same messages.
Finally after years of this I have complained and goit this changed. But i just received the latest version which says my blood sugars have been out of control for 20 years.....my Hba1C is at 58 where it was 61 a year ago. Yes still nothing positive. Just we need it below 52 or you are 'dire'.

The point here is - it is hard enough living a normal life with diabetes worrying every minute of every day where yr sugars are - without a Doctor constantly telling you how terrible you are - its unnecessary and downright unpleasant. What is the best thing to do ? Is there a general body I can complain to ?
Click to expand...
My God.. your GP sounds a really disrespectful person.But then you not the only one with a bad GP..my sister and brother both go to the same surgery and while my brother has an excellent GP my sisters GP just couldn't give a damm about her..she's absolutely terrible.
 
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