Poor GP performance

I too had problems at my GPs. When I went for my mot, I asked what my PSA was and was told 4 to which I replied that it had changed as it was normally 2 The nurse insisted that it was not a problem as it was still within limits. I was not happy and had a doctors' appointment and a repeat PSA read 4.8. A rectal examination revealed a prostate that was hard on one  side. I got an appointment with a urologists in seven day where I was referred for a biopsy. The biopsy revealed a Gleason score of 9. The usual bone scan and mri scan followed and I was relieved to find the tumor was still within the prostate. Had I followed the advice of the nurse I would have been walking around with this tumor for a further year before another PSA check. What would the the result then have been? As an aside, I take Finasteride following a previous diagnosis of an enlarged prostate which meant that my reading of 4.8 should have been read as 9.6. My doctor didn't know this.

I had a PSA test along with some other tests , it was not until three years later that it was discovered that the reading was 6.9. I still wonder how much better my outcome would have been if the prostate removal had been done three years earlier.

Thanks Chris

My GP basically talked me out of having a PSA blood test a couple of years ago......http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif

It was only when I went back to see him earlier  this year and asked for an 'MOT' that a raised PSA level was found..... all the other blood results  were normal....

It was purely by chance that I decided ask for the MOT as my original visit was for an arthritic knee that was troubling me...

So no thanks to him that my PCa was detected at that time.....

Needless to say I lost all confidence in him and have changed to another GP now....

My GP suggested whilst taking blood for another problem that it was PSA tested - only wish he had suggested this previously.

There is an article in today's Daily Mail that highlights figures showing that cancer survival rates for some cancers are getting worse and that even where there is an improvement (as for Prostate Cancer), England is still well behind France, Germany and Scandinavia in it's survival rates. This has been partly blamed on GPs missing warning signs and patients not making an appointment when they first experience symptoms. For Prostate Cancer the best survival rates were in Austria and Finland. (Wasn't it in part of Austria a few years back there was a PSA screening that all men of a certain age were expected to have as an experiment? Maybe this has led to more men being screened over time there).

It was said that over the summer, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt pledged to name and shame GPs who miss cancer (by listing them) on the NHS Choices web-site. He wants surgeries which don't send patients urgently for scans to be flagged up quickly. This sounds good but wasn't it not so long ago that GPs were being discouraged from sending so many patients for scans due to cost and overloading medical facilities?

9

Roy

It's been since the start of CCG'S (Clinical Commissioning Groups) Roy.

I never got offered a PSA test with my GP until he did a DRE to check something else out and I suspect he felt something. He then deliberated when it returned a score of 22 thinking the DRE a week earlier had caused it. I took action and went for another PSA and saw another GP who referred me.

Having said all that I have a good relationship with my GP. The one who deliberated has since told me I probably know more about PCa than he does. They also prescribe what I need eg cialis, pump etc with no hesitation

Bri

Edited by member 01 Nov 2014 at 13:52  | Reason: Not specified

From collective experience here we know that quite a number of GPs don't give sufficient consideration to patients. Whist not attempting to excuse GPs, I would point out that the number of patients per doctor in the UK is far more than in countries such as France, Germany and Italy for example, so the workload here is much greater than in those countries and likely explains why the service is not as good as it should be and perhaps deters people from becoming GPs. For sure it's not GPs pay as they they do well nowadays, so much so that foreign doctors come here on temporary assignments to make some extra money.

This bears out the relative shortage of doctors in the UK :- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10550335/UK-has-fewer-doctors-per-person-than-Bulgaria-and-Estonia.html

Edited by member 01 Nov 2014 at 18:03  | Reason: Not specified

I agree with Lyn regarding what successive governments are responsible for.

My gripe has always been with the individual GP's. But as in any industry you will get good and bad.

Yes Lyn we do come across similar problems particularly with attendance at CPA meetings. One thing I have noticed over the last year or so though is that GP's are getting better at making safeguarding referrals....although some way to go yet :(

Bri