Too old for treatment?

That was very disapointing! Giving good services to people should not be based on their age or what.

valeriej43. Your doctor was talking rubbish, a friend of mine was put on the priority list for a liver transplant when he was 70 and was 71 when a liver became available. Sadly he died as a result of problems with the surgery, but that can happen after a transplant at any age.

He was told age was not a factor but his physical health, and as he was still a fit and active man with a busy life and no mental frailty he was a good prospect for a transplant

Watermeadow - you need to see a different GP. I took my 97 yr old mother to the GP on Friday with a rash on her legs. The GP examined her legs and prescribed a cream. Then he discussed her general health with her, reviewed her prescriptions and took her blood pressure as well as ordering blood tests to check on kidney and liver functioning. We all worked a long time and paid a lot of money in income tax and national insurance so make sure you get what you are entitled to. ie decent medical care from your primary provider.

I have a joke with my friends that if you are going to the GP or the out patients and want good service, you must dress well to make it look like you are worth while saving.

vickya I agree that not everyone can afford private care and I wouldn't have had to go down that route if the GP had been on the ball at my follow up appointment! As you say emergency services and A&E are fantastic and they certainly saved my life in the first instance

My godmother tells me she recently went to her GP for a check up. After he'd examined her he told her she was remarkably healthy and could probably live to be 110! I don't know how old she is but my mother would have been 100 this year and there can't be more than a year or two between them. She certainly still seems to be looked after by her doctor.

These mixed replies show that treatment is totally a post code lottery.
The doctor I saw is new at our critically-understaffed surgery. They change all the time and I never see the same one twice. I’ll know to avoid this one in future but waiting times are up to three weeks. I should have been suspicious when offered an appointment with Dr Useless in only a fortnight!

My DM is 72 and a regular visitor to her GP. She is given the same consideration as every other patient, and a little bit extra, I think. She had a very serious condition diagnosed at age 71 which was treated without delay. I think it's time for you to see another GP. Don't let anyone make you feel unworthy of medical treatment.

OLDMEG the only reason you got same day app is because nobody else will tolerate that sort of behaviour. You're as entitled to treatment as the next bod....everybody who's Ill is sure to get treated in this country. I don't care if they've never paid in a penny to the system....our country surely is about compassion if nothing else. Seems your doctor is jaded and certainly run out of compassion!

When I went for my flu jab last year the doctor who saw me said I should have the pnuemonia jab as well. I thought oh well , why not!? So after giving me my jabs, one in each arm, he said that the pnuemonia jab would last 30 years and I wouldn't need another as I'm 68. I looked him full in the eye and said my gran lived to 98 my mum lived to 92..... so I would see him in 30 years. He burst out laughing and said its hat attitude he "no doubt would". I bet he's retired when I return for my next pnuemonia jab!!!

I dont think there should be any upper age limit for treatment

I know an 84 year old man who has just had a knee replacement and waiting for the other one to be done

I have never felt that my age has made any difference to the service I have received - indeed they are wanting to do a second gastroscopy on me even though I had one in October last year. So they are not holding back, though I rather wish they would! Goodness knows what they think might have changed in that short time.

My own Dr is brilliant, and doesnt rush you out either, but one lady Dr had a patient who was complaining of bad pains in his back,[actually a friend of mines brother in law] she didnt even examine him gave him some painkillers, he died the next day of a coronary,it was symptom of heart problems,
She was prosecuted but still practices,i will never go ton her,she should have taken his blood pressure too, but did nothing

Lollee you're actually spot-on about doctors not touching patients. My dd is a medical student. They learn to make a diagnosis from the history the patient gives them, plus any tests. 90% of the diagnosis is arrived at from those things.

Physical examination isn't often very useful e.g. looking at swollen ankles will not reveal what has caused the swelling. An examination may merely confirm the diagnosis the doctor has arrived at from the patient history.

Watermeadow's doctor is well out of order, though, and another opinion needs to be sought.

I have had fantastic treatment by the NHS in the past year and I am 72. I did have trouble getting referred to a consultant but after I had made a bit of a nuisance of myself with a GP, I was sent for a CT scan and then all hell broke loose! A year later and I am hopefully on the mend.

Totally agree with Kittylester Change your Doctor.
We used to see a bad doctor until I realised that doctors could be bad! He never examined anyone including my 16yr old when she had repeated awful throat infections. He didn't even look at her throat!!

You must go to a proper doctor.

I get very angry about bad doctors. They get paid a lot. They have a responsibility not just to their patients but to their colleagues and the profession. I have seen some pretty awful things in my work and it upsets me a lot. There are so many wonderful doctors, working so hard.

My dear Mum has recently had surgery for bowel cancer. She’s doing great!

It really does appear to be a postcode lottery. Its easy to say change your doctor, demand whatever... not so easy in practice. Unfortunately many of us just have to resign ourselves to what we get and use the internet. Last week my doctor said I can do your blood test this afternoon and I said I'll come in the morning. That would be a fasting test That would be better wouldn't it? And he said yes I suppose it would. I ask you!

Last week I visited my doctor because my skin had become very itchy, leaving welts behind. After checking side effects on my tablets that are fairly new that said itching can be a side effect. She told me all old people get dry itchy skin and to put more cream on. She didn't take her eyes off the computer screen for one second of my visit, until I walked out hurriedly and slammed the door behind me. I was so angry She was the only doctor available that day, n
ot that I was in a hurry. But I see now why she didn't have a queue waiting. Urgghh.

Thank you so much hallgreenmiss! I was feeling quite embarrassed!

Sue162 your messages only appear highlighted on your own page

Before I reversed D2 I went to doctor with pain and pins and needles in toes, especially biggest. They say seek medical help immediately with feet when you have D2. Doc just looked down at feet and said there was nothing wrong and I left feeling I had wasted my time.
I don't go more than 2 or 3 times a year but worry that I can't remember the last time a doctor actually touched me. Felt glands, took pulse, listened to chest with stethoscope etc. I have blood pressure done but last time even had to put the cuff on myself. Which of course I don't mind but is there some sort of new movement to non touch doctoring these days?

Must have more then one doctor at your practice go back, that’not good enough. Mine started to swell up a few years ago my doctor did a test and I had high cholesterol so take a statin now.

It's harder than you think to change GP. We moved to our current home about a year ago and real problems finding any GP to take us on. All their lists were full.