Can't find a doctor for home visit about serious medical issue — Scope | Disability forum
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Can't find a doctor for home visit about serious medical issue

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DetestingWP
DetestingWP Community member Posts: 3 Listener
edited February 2019 in Rare, invisible, and undiagnosed conditions
I had a very possible melanoma on my right eyebrow. It's been like an age spot for about a year and then suddenly decided to grow, rise, become two-coloured and include a few dots/spots. I called my doctor for  a home appointment because I am disabled and therefore bedbound. The doctor said it was urgent, this was a Friday, nothing can be done on the weekend but will get a call on Monday to arrange an appointment. Five weeks later and still nothing. It wasn't the first problem I'd had with the surgery - I needed a DWP home-assessment letter from them last September and didn't receive it until this January, when it was too late. I had had enough and had a go at the surgery boss, calling her useless, with both of these and not having a home visit for over a year, so she unregistered me. Since then I've been in touch with 111, assuming that service would take over responsibly, and send a doctor out, but that's not one of their services either.
There is no way I can go. I've been in touch with NHS England, and CCG; who are arranging a new surgery, which took seven weeks last time due to local doctors requiring one must attend the surgery before we are registered - and it took that long to get around that;  as the growth continues to enlarge and change shape dramatically. Nothing has been done by NHS. Is there anything else anybody else can suggest. Leaving the house is impossible, but I can't even find private doctors that would come 'round for a huge fee, which I could borrow, either. Does anybody have any ideas, anybody? Thank you in advance.
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  • Antonia_Alumni
    Antonia_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,780 Pioneering
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    Hi @DetestingWP

    Welcome to the community. How are you doing today?

    I am sorry to hear about this, some of our members may be able to answer your questions soon.

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  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
    edited February 2019
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    Goodness, I'm so sorry to hear this @DetestingWP. What did 111 say when you called and explained the situation?

    Are there any other local surgeries you can register with? You can search for GP surgeries near you here.
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  • Snowbelle
    Snowbelle Community member Posts: 44 Courageous
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    I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through @DetestingWP.  
    It sounds like a really tricky situation as it should get looked at asap, but it would be the responsibility of your GP to do a home visit & even at that they might need a dermatoscope to assess it & I don't think they're very transportable to do a home visit.  
    It might be worth ringing around local GP surgeries yourself to see if you can speed up getting registered with a new GP faster than NHS England & CCG can.  Or getting someoneelse to ring around for you if you're not able.  
    111 don't have any doctors to see people unfortunately - they can only give people home treatment advice or signpost them to the most suitable service e.g. pharmacy, GP or A&E.

    The only other option I can think of is going to A&E if you can get transported there.  I know you said you're bedbound & housebound but I don't think there are any home visit services apart from the GP, which you don't currently have.  Could you manage ambulance transport to hospital?  I know it's not normally an appropriate use of A&E, but it doesn't seem like there is any other option for you & it probably shouldn't wait 6-8 weeks.  The difficulty is that non-urgent ambulance transport to hospital I think would also be normally organised through your GP.  So I'm not sure how you would organise that.  Or is there a local Disability Transport service which might be able to help?

    I'm so sorry you're stuck in this situation.  
    If you end up with a similar situation again of the GP saying they would do something by a certain date & it not happening, then I would follow it up by contacting them asap e.g. I probably would have phoned them just before 5pm on the Monday if haven't heard anything, and then daily as a reminder.  And if you're frequently having to remind then put in a gentle complaint.  (I'm aware that I have no idea how difficult or otherwise it is for you to make a phonecall, if it's difficult I would see if someone else could help you with it if possible).

    I hope you got sorted as know it's a long time now since you're original post.
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