I often get referred experiences from women like:
- “I went many times to my GP because I was having pain, but he/she always told me was nothing and never did an exam”
- “I asked my GP if PCOS relates to depression considering I was not okay at all and my GP gave me a straight no, 100% sure. Years later I found out my GP was wrong”
- “I tried to be visited, but the admin always considered my condition not urgent”
- “I was told that was only stress and anxiety due to my lifestyle at the moment”
And the testimonials can go on. I won’t say that men do not have the same experiences, but we can definitely admit that because we are often considered “more emotional” compared to our male colleagues, too often our state is considered driven by feelings instead of objective facts. And this is bad not only because this is connected to weakness because “we are too soft” for this world, but because too many times our personal considerations are questioned. Instead, as they say even on the court, my state should be accepted as true until proven otherwise.
No one can’t take from us our emotions, feelings, and everything that happens in our bodies.
And healthcare workers need to take care of you and help you to understand the source of your discomfort together. In fact, the General Medical Practice states “31- you must listen to patients, take account their views and respond honestly to their questions.” In another occasion, a woman commented “I actually didn’t know what to do, where to go, who to ask”. And that struck me because your GP should be your health point of reference and when it seems he is not there to help you, you feel lost. And every time I hear these stories it gives me mixed emotions because on one side I am ashamed and angry at my colleague’s behaviour; but on the other hand, I know that often doctors are considered almost as some level of gods, perfect with the knowledge of every aspect of medicine.
SO WRONG! We are humans and as humans we have limits, we usually specialize in fields that can incorporate others but still, we have limits. We do make mistakes but something that many do not know is that medicine can be a very competitive and toxic environment, instead to admit that we do not know something, we prefer to avoid or lie bluntly as in the case of depression and PCOS. I am not protecting or justifying anyone, but I wanted to say this to make you understand another point of view. But all this made me think, what someone can do if you feel you are not taken care of efficiently by your GP?
1 – Do you remember what you did before signing up with your GP? You check for that one. Well, check for another one. It is not an everlasting contract, you always have the choice to change when trust is not there anymore.
2- If you feel very bad and still your GP is not considering your symptoms, do not wait too long to go to the hospital: you definitely make the right choice to go to your GP, but if you go back home and again you feel bad, just go to the hospital!
3- Report: it is sad to say but there is a lot of malpractice, and you can always escalate your case to the manager of the hospital or even to the medical professional organization. But always be sure that you have evidence because in that case, it would be a case of defamation
4- Private insurance: even this makes me bad to say, but it is an option that more and more people are taking for granted. At least you are paying to be sure you are going to be assisted.
Remember: You are at the center of our work; healthcare workers should work in order to give the best care to the patient and respect even the patient’s will. Saying that I hope the new generations of GP will do better. Actually, I am pretty sure considering even the increasing awareness nowadays. But we will never get tired of saying: if something is not going well you should speak up, it is never too late!
The Feminist Health CIC 