Magic is from Venus

May, 3, 2021 | 4 Comments

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  1. There was a wonderful comment from Mary Hennessey on the current RxISK post – https://rxisk.org/farewell-marchino/ – which conjured up the idea of doctor-splaining – something that women perhaps have better antennae for than men but haven’t been putting into practice in their own case – for their children and parents yes but not for themselves

    D

  2. Snippett from my comment on previous post written by the Ivy Surgery in Derby
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    EXTENSIVE SUPPORT AND HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BEING LARGELY IGNORED

    Mental health has always made up a good proportion of the daily workload of a GP. Sometimes this work can be one of the most rewarding to sort out, but also the most challenging. However during the pandemic, as mentioned in our previous updates, we have seen huge numbers of people whose mental health has been affected during these very difficult times that we are all experiencing at the moment.

    On some days, mental health cases and also cases where mental health is a contributory factor, are taking up to 10-15% or more of the total cases. We are also dealing with cases of significant self-harm, where assessment can take anything from 30 minutes up to an hour for that single patient and where subsequent referrals to secondary care or crisis teams can take a good part of the day to arrange.

    Whilst dealing with serious cases like this is part of bread and butter general practice and we must stress that we do not have a problem at all with helping people when they are at their most vulnerable, we are also finding that many people, especially those with milder illness, are also actively avoiding contact with many of the other services that are available to help them during this crisis.

    Even some who are just needing a bit of advice or reassurance from a mental health professional are actively ignoring the links we have provided to those mental health professionals and choosing to contact us first, again only for us to tell them to get in touch with the correct services directly. This can lead to frustration for both patients and staff alike, and delay access to services.

    There have also been services newly set up in the pandemic to support patients’ mental health and wellbeing but which are being ignored by patients, whose preference it is to contact the GP first before doing anything else.

    As a practice, we have tried to help our patients by collecting all available mental health resources so that they can be easily accessed by anyone, from children, right through to old age. Many of these services are an appropriate first port of call for patients in this situation and we actively encourage you to explore them in order that you may start to get the help that you need.

    Always bear in mind, and this is true not just for mental health services but for most other NHS services in general, if you contact or present yourself to the wrong service, or you have presented yourself to the right service, but subsequent assessment shows that your case needs escalating, you will always be directed to the right service. So for instance, please don’t worry if you have self-referred to counselling, thinking your case might not be appropriate – the service will assess and advise you and can indeed refer you on if needed.

    MEDICAL ADVICE BEING IGNORED

    Again choosing a solicitor as an example, would you ring your solicitor asking for advice on a complex legal matter, and once they had given that advice, then proceed to berate them saying you completely disagreed with it or just completely ignore it? Or, indeed would you approach any other highly qualified professional, asking them for their opinion on something well within their specialist field and then promptly disagree with them?

    Outside of the crucial principle of consent, and just as a side note, it would be interesting to know why medicine seems to be treated differently by everyone, because on the one hand, it is so important that a specialist with their specialist knowledge must be involved, but on the other hand, the opinion of the patient is as equal to or exceeds the importance of that specialist knowledge.

    We have many instances where patients have readily contacted us for our specialist professional advice on a health matter, but who will then promptly choose to dismiss or ignore the advice because they are unhappy with the answer or with what we have said.

    We always try to involve our patients in any decisions regarding their care, however there are some interactions where there must be a definitive response or outcome, such as you do need 999 if you can’t move your arm and have slurred speech from the stroke you have just developed, and you do not refuse to go in because you don’t want to trouble anyone else and you personally don’t think that the crushing chest pain you have could possibly be a heart attack.

    Undue delay resulting from ignoring or dismissing medical advice can give rise to increased risk of complications and harm to patients.

    We always make our decisions on the basis of clinical need and urgency and based on what you have told us, either on the telephone, or within an eConsult and not because we want to be awkward, obstructive or dismissive. Remember it is always in our interests to deal with your problem as effectively as possible so that you can get healthy and well and don’t need to keep coming back to us!

  3. All these years waiting for ‘H’ ..

    Snoopy in Furs

    ‘Instead of a Fairy Tale, we need an anti-Fairy Tale, a Wizard of Oz story, where an average girl persuades average people that they have a heart and a backbone and a brain and that the guy behind the screen manipulating everything is himself a prisoner in need of rescuing.’

    louis appleby @ProfLAppleby

    Superb & beautifully subversive. Went beyond police drama to make wider point about truth, integrity, loyalty & accountability. Corruption disguised as incompetence. #LineofDutyFinale

    Got it in one …

    “I didn’t float up the Lagan in a bubble” – Ted Hastings…

  4. ‘Mother of God!’ ..

    I am a Nomad…

    louis appleby @ProfLAppleby

    #Nomadland
    is as good as they say. Real lives merged with fiction, decent people in hard times, cramped worlds & stunning landscapes. An outstanding film about loss, about grief.

    Nomadland -..available at Disney + Star …

    Giving ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ film reviewer a run…

    “Mother of God” – Ted Hastings…

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