• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Legitimate complaint or not?

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

denissimo

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Around 4 weeks ago, I made an appointment with my GP, because for the previous week to ten days, I was drinking and peeing for England, and I felt really unwell. For the last few days, I had been very nauseous, and had been short of breath. Plus, for the last 6 months or so, I had become very lethargic!

I told my GP about all my symptoms, and that I could quite easily drink over 8 liters of fluids a day and still want more.
Her first reply was " You definatly need to drink less fluids as its not good for you"!

My GP told me to go to the loo at the surgery with a bottle as she needed a uring sample to test.

When she dipped it, she said it was showing high levels of keytones, and she said that she needed to get a blood sample from me straight away as it was really urent. And if I waited in the wating room, she would get it done in 5 mins or so.

I was called into another room to see somebody else, where this woman took a blood sample, and then told me to phone up the surgary in 1-2 weeks to see if the results had come back yet!
I thought this was a bit odd, as the GP said it was urgent!

Over the next 3 days, I got gradually worse!
I was sat in the chair one day, when 2 family members were talking to me, and I just couldnt understand them. I was leaning to one side and just talking jibberish, and then threw up.

My son put me in his car and took me straight to A&E where I was properly examined and had numerous blood tests including a blood sugar test.

The doctor came back and said that my blood sugar levels were so high, it was beyond the limits of the maching.

The doctor hooked me straight up to an insulin drip and said he was admitting me.
He told me that it was a good job that my son brought me into A&E when he did, otherwise I could have been in a coma that night, and as I was spending the night alone in the house, it could have been much worse!
The diabetic nurse who came to see me in hospital 2 days later, also told me the same thing, and that I was lucky that I went to A&E when I did.

I have since been diagnosed with having type 1 diabetes.

I have since discovered, that if patients show keytones in their urine at their GP's surgery, they are sent straight to hospital without delay!

I am seriously thinking of getting in touch with a solicitor and making a claim against my GP's surgery for medical negligence!

Does anybody know how I stand with a claim such as this?

Cheers
Den
 
No it isn't a legitimate complaint and I don't see what you would hope to achieve with legal action.
 
Last edited:
No it isn't a legitimate complaint and I don't see what you would hope to achieve with legal action.

Maybe not through a court maybe, but someone has to be held responsible for this surely - which is probably what is meant? I would feel exactly the same - how absolutely awful for you. You should never have been sent home from the surgery.

I am not sure of the correct complaint route, but just wanted to say I am glad you got to A&E when you did, and are now receiving the correct treatment. I am sure you will now start to feel much better soon.

I would complain - although it may not seem it now, you were the lucky one to get to A&E - someone else may not be so lucky unless you complain and they are forced to look at their processes.🙂
 
I'd check out your GP practise web-site first as they should have details on it how you can take up a complaint with them.

If not I'd suggest a letter to the practise manager so they can tighten up their processes at the very least.

Glad you got to A & E when you did; hope you are feeling more like your old self now.

Take care
 
Complain to the GP directly, if not satisfied with reply, then the practice manager.
Suggest that GP has training in detecting diabetes and management plus invest in a finger test blood sugar meter as this would have saved you being so ill and the PCT a lot of money for the cost of A&E plus the hospital admittance.
Then PCT. then GMC.
Taking legal action wont get you anywhere because you haven't gone through the proper actions first.
Also suspect there is certain criteria you ned to meet for it to be succesful even if you went down this root.

Glad you are up and about though and hope you are coping ok with your new way of life.
 
Depends what you want to achieve. A letter to GP concerned and practice manager will probably make a more immediate impression on the people involved. Legal action takes lots of time and money from everyone - time and money which can usually be better spent on improving care.

In order to succeed in a legal case, it would have to be proved that the doctor acted outside what would be considered reasonable by other doctors.

Posssibly better to concentrate on adapting to your new life?
 
I agree, it depends on what's motivating you. I would always complain in a situation like this, because I'd want to make sure the system was changed so this never happened again to someone else - and the only way to do that is to flag it.

I'd ask the surgery what their complaints procedure is, and follow that. If that doesn't get a satisfactory response, Google the name of your PCT and "complaints" that generally brings up your PCT complaints procedure, and as the PCT pay for the GP services they are the next step in the chain for escalating your complaint.

When you're writing your complaint letter, set out the facts as you've done above and ask them to investigate - no need to get over emotional or threatening, just stick to what happened and why that was unacceptable.
 
I would concur with the others; certainly there was a lack of communication between various surgery staff members here. Because you were showing at least two danger signs (drinking of fluids in dangerous amounts (try looking up "water intoxication" someday, it's not pretty) plus ketones in the urine), to my mind the doctor should have rang for an ambulance (so it could be on its way whilst the blood tests were being done) or else impressed upon the other person (the practice nurse?) the urgency and importance of this.

It's very tempting to leap straight to the most drastic action straight away, but it would make more sense to go through the procedure. You can always take legal action if nothing else resolves the problem.

Incidentally, the shortness of breath was almost certainly a symptom of incipient water intoxication; I've never heard of it being a diabetes symptom. You most definitely should have been sent to A&E.
 
Last edited:
Incidentally, the shortness of breath was almost certainly a symptom of incipient water intoxication; I've never heard of it being a diabetes symptom. You most definitely should have been sent to A&E

An abnormal breathing pattern is a DKA symptom. It's the one that sent me to the doctor.
breathing is first rapid and shallow[1] but as acidosis worsens, breathing gradually becomes deep, labored and gasping. It is this latter type of breathing pattern that is referred to as Kussmaul breathing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kussmaul_breathing

Another important sign of an emergency
 
The communication at your GP's surgery is really bad 😡
Yr GP was obviously starting to think that it could be serious, but not to pass that on to the nurse was very poor. The nurse obviously thought it was a routine blood test. You'll certainly do them a favour if you complain, they need to sharpen up their practice. Glad you were properly diagnosed before it got any worse, what a horrible start! But hopefully now you'll be feeling better. Welcome to the site, lots of knowledgeable people on here.
 
This exact same thing happened to my wifes 10 yr old sister (same symptoms as you) in February 1964. She was taken to the family doctor who said it wasnt serious and sent home (I dont like to bring this up in front of my wife). Her sister died two days later on my wifes 13th birthday. Her sister died in her sleep.
 
Hi Denissimo,

My son was diagnosed at 10 (now 14) and we had a dreadful 13 days before anyone realised he was Type 1 diabetic - despite saying all the right things to the GP he still didnt know what it was - if I hadnt taken him to the 'walk-in-centre' I dread to think what would have happened.😱 I think he was hours away from coma - so I do understand how you must feel. I would absolutely be complaining - not for any compensation as such - but you were lucky - you are still here - others - maybe children might not have made it (sadly like the previous reply) and we owe it to others who are facing this condition to get the GP''s doing things in an efficient and timely manner. All the clues were there - but no-one could join the dots up - absolute idiots.

Your GP and his team need to know what they did wrong so they can use this information to put a system in place that works. If the worst had happened your family might have been suing them for negligence so making a formal complaint is the least they should expect.🙂Bev
 
An abnormal breathing pattern is a DKA symptom. It's the one that sent me to the doctor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kussmaul_breathing

Another important sign of an emergency

Oh well, I'm a Type 2, what do I know? 🙄

The point I was making is, breathing difficulties are also a symptom of water intoxication. In this specific case, it could have been a mixture of both.
 
Oh well, I'm a Type 2, what do I know? 🙄

The point I was making is, breathing difficulties are also a symptom of water intoxication. In this specific case, it could have been a mixture of both.

Hadn't thought if it in that respect Robert. In my case, the DKA meant I couldn't keep even the slightest sip of water down, so certainly not over consumption of water, but certainly had shortness of breath. A tricky set of symptoms, but clearly very serious I would have thought, in light of the other symptoms.
 
I still can't believe he wants to start a law suit I can't believe he woild even consider it.
 
Robert, I 'm sorry I upset you.
I was just saying that it was a possible symptom of DKA . There may be someone with similar symptoms reading the thread.
 
Well perhaps it's easy to get over emotional about things Paul when you've recently nearly died?

But you answered that immediately in your first reply - making it perfectly clear to the OP. Others have since told him the right things to do in his circs.

Sometimes Denissimo, you just have to divorce yourself from the anger you are feeling personally and turn it towards helping other people in the future - how can I turn my horrid experience into a positive? - by improving the situation for the future so nobody else should have to endure such a chapter of idiocy is how.

Does your GP even know what happened after you left his surgery that day? God knows how long it will take the hospital to tell him, if they ever do in fact (I don't know) and you do have to go back there anyway to get your meds on repeat and to get the form filled in so you get free prescriptions - plus get all your annual checks in fiture, referral to retinopathy screening service etc - so go and see him and tell him and say you are going to make a written complaint - because the surgery needs to take proper formal steps to ensure it never happens again.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top