Sorry … rant!

Just back from the GP (well… have been preparing dinner since) and am just totally baffled really… and losing faith in the medical system here. :o

First of all, appointment was at 4:30pm and I didn’t get seen until 5pm. Same happened on Monday at my dentist. So why do practices insist on giving you appointments if THEY cannot keep them? But BEWARE if YOU are not on time … a dark look is the minimum you get!!!

At the dentist I was then told after 5 mins of checking fillings and gums that I should come back for another appointment where we do the X-Ray of my broken front tooth (which had a small chip in it again). Little me was thinking that would put me back about 2 weeks … but NO! The first appointment they gave me was 24th of MARCH!!!! What is WRONG in this picture????

But I digress …

Today’s GP appointment was for my left wrist … painful for about 1.5 weeks now. With my own knowledge I ruled out broken bones or dislocations and it kinda came down to tendonitis (bare in mind that as a Sports Therapist I am not allowed to diagnose - “educated guess” is allowed, but no diagnosis).

Went to my GP, explained situation, where the pain is etc. GP then prods around my carpals (in layman’s terms: the small bones in your wrist, all 8 of them). Found the spots of pain, and ruled out necrosis of the bones. Then she said “You probably have tendonitis. Take some anti-inflammatories and if it’s still painful in a couple of weeks come back and we get a scan done.”

Now  … I had to bite my tongue there … I “probably” have tendonitis???? And why do GPs only check the bones? How about doing special tests for the muscles/tendons? I mean … I would have expected full checking of ulnar & radial deviation (that’s the movement of your hand at the wrist to the left or the right as far as it goes) and the prayer test (put your hands together as if you’re praying and then move your arms downwards in front of your chest) or the reverse prayer test (backs of hands together instead of palms).

But NO! Nothing of that! The GP has effectively done an educated guess on the tendonitis issue!!! GEEESH!!!!

I AM REALLY NOT AMUSED!!!!

After our situation at EFREC I am really more and more losing my faith (and respect!!) in the British medical professions!