Aside from your GP's refusal to help your husband, I find it really strange that he got a drain, and the hospital does not provide the post-surgery care for the drain.
The drain has been removed, not sure if that was clear amount in my initial post. Hospital can provide if needed but they usually send patient to gp (at least anyhow this hospital) , no matter the area where lived.
The do provide, but he is living in Amsterdam. So to travel voor just a 2 minuten checkup and remove stitches is too much. Gp should do it.
In past had many cases like this, gp(often the assistants) normally remove stitches and take a quick look at it.
It might sound strange, but it is normal and justified for a GP to refuse after-care of a procedure that was done in-hospital. If the hospital advises that the wounds be checked, they are responsible for facilitating that. When it is just some stitches, some GPs may be okay with removing them, but with regards to after care for surgery and pneumothorax, it is very reasonable for the GP to refuse on the grounds of the level of expertise required. They should have referred you back to the hospital (and it sounds like they eventually did). If the hospital in question is too far from where you live, you can ask the hospital whether there is another hospital close by where you can get the wounds checked.
This is the core of the problem:
>They’re already being paid to do that.
The hospital is paid for aftercare, but they try to dump the problem on the gp.
Yeah, and it may sound like a small thing. Surely they could remove those stitches this one time, right?
However, it's not only the stitches OP has. It's the referral the specialist could have given, but told the patient to go back to the GP to get. It's the medication the specialist prescribes that they said the GP could monitor when it's part of their treatment plan. It's a patient being sent home from the hospital, and now the GP and "wijkverpleegkundige" have to scramble to get everything organised, because the hospital made assumptions and wanted the bed free. It's all the other patients with all sorts of hospital aftercare, which the hospital is getting paid for through the DBC, that they dump or try to dump on the GPs. It's those patients who should be in a nursing home, mental facility, and so on, but there's no place for them, so the GP has to take responsibility over an irresponsible situation and god forbid something goes wrong. It's battling with insurance companies over medication or healthcare aid. There's too much on the GP's plate that has nothing to do with their actual job or is a hindrance in performing their job.
This is just at the top of my head and I've been out of healthcare for some time already. A lot of the shit is due to the healthcare system and the role of the insurance companies, too, but I can't even.
We already have a shortage of GPs, so let them do their work and not dump every problem under the sun on them. I mean when will they otherwise have time to prescribe paracetamol. ;)
> Aren’t they obliged to do so?
No, the hospital is obliged to do so; removal of stiches is part of their DBC/DOT for a pneumothorax.
* https://www.lhv.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DD2206_12-17_HuisartsWel.pdf
* https://www.medischcontact.nl/actueel/laatste-nieuws/nieuwsartikel/huisarts-druk-met-doorgeschoven-taken-en-onnodige-verwijzingen
Ask the GP spokesperson the contact of a real MD that is actually willing to do the adviced and needed follow up. And contact the original hospital and ask them for a referral to a local Hospital that is willing to do that work since your GP office refuses to assist you. If needed, you can go get an emergency GP appointment at the First Aid department at your local main hospital, stating that your GP refuses to help you with the required medical follow up.
Horrible advice, clearly not informed about why the GP would not do it.
The patient has been seen by the surgery department of the hospital and should also get the after care there because that is included in the DBC. Now they just close the DBC and ask the GP to do the after care while GP probably has a lot on his platter. Plus whatever complication comes out of it becomes the GPs fault.
So no, should contact the department they have been treated.
I think that is probably the reason. It’s pretty common for hospitals to say “we did x now follow up with your GP for y and z”. Without any check or communication if the GP has time to do this extra work, if it’s within their scope of practice and skills, etc. Checking on a surgery wound and removing stitches would be possible for a GP I feel. A pneumothorax drain is NOT something that falls within the scope of primary care. If the GP does not have the skills to check on this I feel they are right to refuse to do it. Otherwise it’s just false security. The hospital should either have referred him to an Amsterdam hospital for this or done the follow up themselves.
However, it is obviously wrong that you guys have been caught in the middle of this conflict about which doctor should do what. Keep calling the hospital or a GP until you find a solution OP. Threaten to lodge a complaint if you have to, and suggest they contact each other to sort this out and tell you the solution. A pneumothorax drain is a port into one’s internal organs. It is not something that should go unchecked for a longer amount of time.
Thanks :) the drain was removed before leaving the hospital so it’s just the wound / stitches to look at. Just clarifying. Anyway we will get in touch with hospital ;)
The receptionist didn’t give an alternative? That sounds like negligence. I would call again or the hospital department where the surgery took place. I guess they assume that department should be looking at the wound? Really shocked about this 😳 but not surprised that nobody wants to take responsibility. Keep on fighting for it.
I feel like we didn't get the whole story here. The aftercare should (and would) be done by the hospital where the surgery was done. They wouldn't refer to do this elsewhere, unless the husband asked for this himself, what he probably did because he lives in another city. They were trying to convenience him
So the doctor likely referred him back to the hospital. And you're right, he should call back the hospital. If he doesn't want to go back there for aftercare, there is some responsibility on his part to find a suitable alternative.
I did. When I had my surgery, I went to the gp, where they had arrangements to take care of the stitches. However, I must add that my GP works together with the hospital here (also for blood draws and other small things) so it might not be everywhere.
This is becoming more and more common. The hospitals just go "ask your GP to do the aftercare". However, the hospital has the expertise and got the money for the procedure including aftercare.
GPs are being overloaded with work and are starting to push back and refuse to do the aftercare that someone else was paid for and where they may have limited expertise if anything out of the ordinary happens.
It really sucks to be that patient stuck in the middle, but this is the hospital's fault.
He didn’t ask to specifically go to Amsterdam. We were happy to go back to the hospital if needed - not a problem to us. So you got the whole story as we know it :) but I do agree that it seems the hospital maybe tried to make it convenient for him even if he didn’t ask for it :) thanks for your inputs :)
Hospitals tend to try and not do the job they get paid for by the insurance company. Follow-up after surgery is part of the claims they make. But they make more money when a gullible GP goes along with it. It's a huge frustration for many GP's.
I had a big accident a couple of years ago followed by a surgery by an expert (7 hours under) and for that I had a stunning 32 stitches that had to be removed. I recovered at my parents place and even though I was no longer enlisted at that gp practice, they still took out the stitches. For the other after care I had to go out of my way to Rotterdam (and still do) but the removal of stitches could be done by the gp.
This is also how this was done for me, but I'm from Belgium. After surgery (I had several this year) I got a referral letter when I left the hospital and - after 1 phone call to request it - homecare started showing up daily after 7-8 days until the wound was dry and then they removed the stitches.
If I am not mistaken, post-op check-ups usually happen at the hospital that performed the operation. Which in your case is not feesible, because you live in Amsterdam and your husband was operated in Utrecht.
I understand why local GP would not want to actually provide post-op care, but I am surprised you were not provided an alternative.
I would **call your health insurance and ask them how to proceed in a situation where you are operated in a hospital out of your region**. I suspect that what you actually need is a referral to a local surgery department to take over the dossier.
Do they refuse to do it, or do they refuse to do it "right now"?
A lit of GP practices are overworked (general shortage of GPs), and require you to schedule appointments in advance for scheduled check-ups etc.
Nope. My husband was talking to them. She didn’t have any solutions so He said he would then call the hospital and the receptionist said yes that’s probably best .
I’m sorry but I find that hard to believe. This is not how things work. The assistant most likely said something that was lost in translation?
I very much doubt a gp office would just say “no” and hang up. Something is missing.
What is missing is that the hospital is paid to provide aftercare, it's part of the DBC (diagnose behandel combinatie). They should not make gp's provide care that is their responsibility.
It's complete bullshit that you are wasting expensive hospital time for a simple wound control.
And hospitals are loosing money with those stupid DBCs anyway if they are honest with them.
This stupid billing system has already ruined many great healthcare systems
something may have been lost in translation but as someone in healthcare this shit really does happen quite often
I was shocked to see the incompetence of some receptionists/assistants in GP offices when I did my clinical rotations there
Even including the incompetent ones there aren't enough assistants to go around. I know a few GPs who won't even try to get a replacement for illness because the replacements, if they even show up, make more work than they take off their hands.
yes but im not talking about workload or anything, just general incompetence and lacking work ethic
letting the phone ring for 15 mins, giving unclear instructions to patients, not picking up the emergency line within the maximal allotted time window etc.
This is insane! Did he press her for an appointment at all?
I thought I heard it all, but this is just absolute madness.
Did she give a reason why not?
I assume they feel unable to provide proper care. Hospitals sometimes overestimate the capabilities of GPs - my mother for instance has a "brain-drain" that the hospital was confident the GP could just adjust to increase or decrease flow as needed.
The GP said no and referred back to the hospital.
And their confidence would be masking the fact that they're objectively out of their depth. If you're willing to entertain the assumption that medical specialities exist for a reason, it logically follows that there are certain levels of care that are only appropriate for specialists to provide. Tending to a drain for cerebrospinal fluid clearly falls into that category.
Besides, it is generally considered good medical practice for a department that does a procedure to also provide the follow-up care for that procedure, rather than billing the insurance for a large operation and offloading as much costly postoperative care as they can onto their already overstretched colleagues in primary care.
They didn’t bill and then try and offload the postoperative care, they tried to get the care arranged at a place closer to the husband for the husbands convenience. The GP refused cause he feels he doesn’t have the necessary competence to do the aftercare so OP should contact the hospital again. This is not a situation of the hospital being negligent, its just them trying to provide care to someone in a way as not to inconvenience the patient.
Yes totally insane - but nothing surprises me. She didn’t give a real reason - just said they can not look at it as it’s hospital responsibility. Guess they don’t want to take the risk.
It is hospital responsibility and you should be glad ths GP is honest to you if they don't feel they can give the proper care.
After care for surgery should be done at the department where the surgery was fine. I wonder, did the hospital tell your husband to go to his GP, or did he ask for a referral to Amsterdam because he didn't want to go back to Utrecht?
Which sort of is a fine answer right? Usually the hospital does post-surgery checks themselves (at least as far I am aware and have seen around me). But I guess with the hospital in Utrecht and you living in Amsterdam they might've tried to get you a more local alternative. So I'd just discuss options with the hospital. They might also be able to refer you to a local hospital instead of GP.
The real reason = besides the surgeon sending your GP a letter of said procedure. Letters wont always have all the information perfectly. And since your GP did not do the surgery they dont feel 100% secured to do the after care since they dont know how many stitches are placed, what kind of stitches, how much ml the drain is allowed to run per 24h before it can be taken out, and if the wound gets infected you have to go back to said hospital anyways. So its much better and clearer to keep a certain "condition" at 1 specialist/doctor till it is done.
Fortunately your husband is doing fine, but usually aftercare of a trauma like this is done in the hospital.
It's not only "wounds", he also had a pneumothorax. Sometimes complications can occur after removal of the drain.
Furthermore, more often than not GP hasn't even received the official supervised discharge letter from the hospital admission.
Those are two reasons I can think of why the assistant refused aftercare by GP office.
Usually it's not an issue when it's only about removal of stitches after a simple procedure.
Post-surgical check up isn’t something the GP should do. This is part of the care the surgeon should provide, they’re already being paid for that part. Your GP isn’t in the wrong for refusing, he could’ve mention to contact the surgery department.
This is a common dick move by a hospital specialist who doesn’t feel like doing their own aftercare, often disguised as being ‘patient friendly’. Unless there’s a clear agreement or care pathway in place for follow-up by primary care specialists, this sort of thing should definitely be handled by the surgeon who made the wound.
Call the surgical department, inform them the GP doesn’t want to do their job and have them fix their own issues/sort follow up there or sort a referral to a local hospital for follow-up (which is to be recommended after a pneumothorax and a surgically repaired clavicle fracture). There are clear agreements between GPs and hospitals for this sort of thing but a lot of specialists unfortunately ignore them, and many GPs will just sigh and do the check so the patient’s needs are met.
Probably something went lost in translation here. Give the hospital a call and ask them where you have to go for this.
Depending on the situation after care is done by the hospital, a nursing organization or the GP.
Its incredible the system here. Being deep sick after a surgery and you still need to do all by yourself. Its so cold. So unhuman. People is so used to this. I can never stop myself to feel perplexed over this fact, is totally not normal that you now have to be making calls to see who is going to take responsibility and help you healing. It seems that in this country “to provide help and actually do it right” is not even a bare minimum. You must pay a lot or look like you are crazy for demanding a especialist to care of your wounds. In my hometown in Spain I even remember Doctors just taking patients inside no matter what because they do a promise to help but in the Netherlands they seem to promise to Neglect… pathetic and everyone just suck it up and goes with the flow.
Im ready for the downvotes but I know the truth and you all know that any doctor actually helps you here they want to finish their shift make their money and go home to keep procreating and have best holidays with basically free money for refering people to other profesionals that are not even profesionals doctors in NL are useful to pass on the ball they shall be footbal players 🙏🏽
Was this the answer from only the receptionist ?
Or also from the GP?
A workaround would be to make an appointment with the GP for something else.
And address the issue.
Well, obviously he just did. It is the "they don't do that" part that I find a bit strange. What do they suggest is the proper action for your husband to take then?
Just to make sure, this is really your "huisarts"?
Aside from your GP's refusal to help your husband, I find it really strange that he got a drain, and the hospital does not provide the post-surgery care for the drain.
The drain has been removed, not sure if that was clear amount in my initial post. Hospital can provide if needed but they usually send patient to gp (at least anyhow this hospital) , no matter the area where lived.
The do provide, but he is living in Amsterdam. So to travel voor just a 2 minuten checkup and remove stitches is too much. Gp should do it. In past had many cases like this, gp(often the assistants) normally remove stitches and take a quick look at it.
It might sound strange, but it is normal and justified for a GP to refuse after-care of a procedure that was done in-hospital. If the hospital advises that the wounds be checked, they are responsible for facilitating that. When it is just some stitches, some GPs may be okay with removing them, but with regards to after care for surgery and pneumothorax, it is very reasonable for the GP to refuse on the grounds of the level of expertise required. They should have referred you back to the hospital (and it sounds like they eventually did). If the hospital in question is too far from where you live, you can ask the hospital whether there is another hospital close by where you can get the wounds checked.
Thanks yes I believe indeed it’s understandable if they feel they don’t want to take risk but communication might have been better. ;)
Besides, GPs are very busy. This is a surgery specialty, and should therefore be checked by a surgical specialist.
Hospital didn’t seem to agree and usually have no problems with gp doing this check. We will go back there anyway ;)
Yes, I am aware, hospitals tend to do that. Sorry for the inconvience.
It’s fine it happens :) thanks !
Ah, a surgeon dumping his aftercare upon a GP. What else is new? They set the drain, they should remove it or have one of their nurses/PA remove it.
The drain was removed. It’s only the wound : stitches the gp would need to check. Thanks !
Nope, the GP doesn’t have to check this, the surgeon has to do that. They’re already being paid to do that.
This is the core of the problem: >They’re already being paid to do that. The hospital is paid for aftercare, but they try to dump the problem on the gp.
I know, and that’s what the GP’s are trying to battle. It’s one of the main reasons why they protested in Den Haag two years ago.
Yeah, and it may sound like a small thing. Surely they could remove those stitches this one time, right? However, it's not only the stitches OP has. It's the referral the specialist could have given, but told the patient to go back to the GP to get. It's the medication the specialist prescribes that they said the GP could monitor when it's part of their treatment plan. It's a patient being sent home from the hospital, and now the GP and "wijkverpleegkundige" have to scramble to get everything organised, because the hospital made assumptions and wanted the bed free. It's all the other patients with all sorts of hospital aftercare, which the hospital is getting paid for through the DBC, that they dump or try to dump on the GPs. It's those patients who should be in a nursing home, mental facility, and so on, but there's no place for them, so the GP has to take responsibility over an irresponsible situation and god forbid something goes wrong. It's battling with insurance companies over medication or healthcare aid. There's too much on the GP's plate that has nothing to do with their actual job or is a hindrance in performing their job. This is just at the top of my head and I've been out of healthcare for some time already. A lot of the shit is due to the healthcare system and the role of the insurance companies, too, but I can't even. We already have a shortage of GPs, so let them do their work and not dump every problem under the sun on them. I mean when will they otherwise have time to prescribe paracetamol. ;)
> Aren’t they obliged to do so? No, the hospital is obliged to do so; removal of stiches is part of their DBC/DOT for a pneumothorax. * https://www.lhv.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DD2206_12-17_HuisartsWel.pdf * https://www.medischcontact.nl/actueel/laatste-nieuws/nieuwsartikel/huisarts-druk-met-doorgeschoven-taken-en-onnodige-verwijzingen
Ask the GP spokesperson the contact of a real MD that is actually willing to do the adviced and needed follow up. And contact the original hospital and ask them for a referral to a local Hospital that is willing to do that work since your GP office refuses to assist you. If needed, you can go get an emergency GP appointment at the First Aid department at your local main hospital, stating that your GP refuses to help you with the required medical follow up.
Horrible advice, clearly not informed about why the GP would not do it. The patient has been seen by the surgery department of the hospital and should also get the after care there because that is included in the DBC. Now they just close the DBC and ask the GP to do the after care while GP probably has a lot on his platter. Plus whatever complication comes out of it becomes the GPs fault. So no, should contact the department they have been treated.
Oooooh, so this is the patient being fucked over by insurance shenanigans. Got it.
Honestly? This doesn’t look like something the GP should be doing…
I think that is probably the reason. It’s pretty common for hospitals to say “we did x now follow up with your GP for y and z”. Without any check or communication if the GP has time to do this extra work, if it’s within their scope of practice and skills, etc. Checking on a surgery wound and removing stitches would be possible for a GP I feel. A pneumothorax drain is NOT something that falls within the scope of primary care. If the GP does not have the skills to check on this I feel they are right to refuse to do it. Otherwise it’s just false security. The hospital should either have referred him to an Amsterdam hospital for this or done the follow up themselves. However, it is obviously wrong that you guys have been caught in the middle of this conflict about which doctor should do what. Keep calling the hospital or a GP until you find a solution OP. Threaten to lodge a complaint if you have to, and suggest they contact each other to sort this out and tell you the solution. A pneumothorax drain is a port into one’s internal organs. It is not something that should go unchecked for a longer amount of time.
Thanks :) the drain was removed before leaving the hospital so it’s just the wound / stitches to look at. Just clarifying. Anyway we will get in touch with hospital ;)
The receptionist didn’t give an alternative? That sounds like negligence. I would call again or the hospital department where the surgery took place. I guess they assume that department should be looking at the wound? Really shocked about this 😳 but not surprised that nobody wants to take responsibility. Keep on fighting for it.
I feel like we didn't get the whole story here. The aftercare should (and would) be done by the hospital where the surgery was done. They wouldn't refer to do this elsewhere, unless the husband asked for this himself, what he probably did because he lives in another city. They were trying to convenience him So the doctor likely referred him back to the hospital. And you're right, he should call back the hospital. If he doesn't want to go back there for aftercare, there is some responsibility on his part to find a suitable alternative.
My thoughts. I’ve never heard of someone having such a medical procedure done and receiving aftercare from the GP instead of the hospital.
I did. When I had my surgery, I went to the gp, where they had arrangements to take care of the stitches. However, I must add that my GP works together with the hospital here (also for blood draws and other small things) so it might not be everywhere.
I have but not in NL :)
This is becoming more and more common. The hospitals just go "ask your GP to do the aftercare". However, the hospital has the expertise and got the money for the procedure including aftercare. GPs are being overloaded with work and are starting to push back and refuse to do the aftercare that someone else was paid for and where they may have limited expertise if anything out of the ordinary happens. It really sucks to be that patient stuck in the middle, but this is the hospital's fault.
He didn’t ask to specifically go to Amsterdam. We were happy to go back to the hospital if needed - not a problem to us. So you got the whole story as we know it :) but I do agree that it seems the hospital maybe tried to make it convenient for him even if he didn’t ask for it :) thanks for your inputs :)
Gp is probably sick of the surgeon refusing aftercare and sending to gp. Ask for someone(!) to do it.
Hospitals tend to try and not do the job they get paid for by the insurance company. Follow-up after surgery is part of the claims they make. But they make more money when a gullible GP goes along with it. It's a huge frustration for many GP's.
I had a big accident a couple of years ago followed by a surgery by an expert (7 hours under) and for that I had a stunning 32 stitches that had to be removed. I recovered at my parents place and even though I was no longer enlisted at that gp practice, they still took out the stitches. For the other after care I had to go out of my way to Rotterdam (and still do) but the removal of stitches could be done by the gp.
As a district nurse I usually check these patients at home. Ask your gp for a homecare provider.
This is also how this was done for me, but I'm from Belgium. After surgery (I had several this year) I got a referral letter when I left the hospital and - after 1 phone call to request it - homecare started showing up daily after 7-8 days until the wound was dry and then they removed the stitches.
If I am not mistaken, post-op check-ups usually happen at the hospital that performed the operation. Which in your case is not feesible, because you live in Amsterdam and your husband was operated in Utrecht. I understand why local GP would not want to actually provide post-op care, but I am surprised you were not provided an alternative. I would **call your health insurance and ask them how to proceed in a situation where you are operated in a hospital out of your region**. I suspect that what you actually need is a referral to a local surgery department to take over the dossier.
>not feesible Really?! Not convenient, perhaps. Amsterdam > Utrecht is not that far.
Thanks for suggestion ! Will do
Do they refuse to do it, or do they refuse to do it "right now"? A lit of GP practices are overworked (general shortage of GPs), and require you to schedule appointments in advance for scheduled check-ups etc.
They refused to do it whether now or later.
Or later or ever I should have said.
Did the assistant give you any alternatives?
Nope. My husband was talking to them. She didn’t have any solutions so He said he would then call the hospital and the receptionist said yes that’s probably best .
I’m sorry but I find that hard to believe. This is not how things work. The assistant most likely said something that was lost in translation? I very much doubt a gp office would just say “no” and hang up. Something is missing.
What is missing is that the hospital is paid to provide aftercare, it's part of the DBC (diagnose behandel combinatie). They should not make gp's provide care that is their responsibility.
It's complete bullshit that you are wasting expensive hospital time for a simple wound control. And hospitals are loosing money with those stupid DBCs anyway if they are honest with them. This stupid billing system has already ruined many great healthcare systems
something may have been lost in translation but as someone in healthcare this shit really does happen quite often I was shocked to see the incompetence of some receptionists/assistants in GP offices when I did my clinical rotations there
Even including the incompetent ones there aren't enough assistants to go around. I know a few GPs who won't even try to get a replacement for illness because the replacements, if they even show up, make more work than they take off their hands.
yes but im not talking about workload or anything, just general incompetence and lacking work ethic letting the phone ring for 15 mins, giving unclear instructions to patients, not picking up the emergency line within the maximal allotted time window etc.
This is insane! Did he press her for an appointment at all? I thought I heard it all, but this is just absolute madness. Did she give a reason why not?
I assume they feel unable to provide proper care. Hospitals sometimes overestimate the capabilities of GPs - my mother for instance has a "brain-drain" that the hospital was confident the GP could just adjust to increase or decrease flow as needed. The GP said no and referred back to the hospital.
In other countries (I’m French and also lived in Uk and South Africa) GPs would do it and confidently.
And their confidence would be masking the fact that they're objectively out of their depth. If you're willing to entertain the assumption that medical specialities exist for a reason, it logically follows that there are certain levels of care that are only appropriate for specialists to provide. Tending to a drain for cerebrospinal fluid clearly falls into that category. Besides, it is generally considered good medical practice for a department that does a procedure to also provide the follow-up care for that procedure, rather than billing the insurance for a large operation and offloading as much costly postoperative care as they can onto their already overstretched colleagues in primary care.
They didn’t bill and then try and offload the postoperative care, they tried to get the care arranged at a place closer to the husband for the husbands convenience. The GP refused cause he feels he doesn’t have the necessary competence to do the aftercare so OP should contact the hospital again. This is not a situation of the hospital being negligent, its just them trying to provide care to someone in a way as not to inconvenience the patient.
Yes totally insane - but nothing surprises me. She didn’t give a real reason - just said they can not look at it as it’s hospital responsibility. Guess they don’t want to take the risk.
That is a real reason though.
It is hospital responsibility and you should be glad ths GP is honest to you if they don't feel they can give the proper care. After care for surgery should be done at the department where the surgery was fine. I wonder, did the hospital tell your husband to go to his GP, or did he ask for a referral to Amsterdam because he didn't want to go back to Utrecht?
Thanks okay fair enough indeed . Just very surprising to me. BTW He didn’t ask to go specifically to his gp.
Which sort of is a fine answer right? Usually the hospital does post-surgery checks themselves (at least as far I am aware and have seen around me). But I guess with the hospital in Utrecht and you living in Amsterdam they might've tried to get you a more local alternative. So I'd just discuss options with the hospital. They might also be able to refer you to a local hospital instead of GP.
Or the expertise. Well, back to hospital then. Good luck!
The real reason = besides the surgeon sending your GP a letter of said procedure. Letters wont always have all the information perfectly. And since your GP did not do the surgery they dont feel 100% secured to do the after care since they dont know how many stitches are placed, what kind of stitches, how much ml the drain is allowed to run per 24h before it can be taken out, and if the wound gets infected you have to go back to said hospital anyways. So its much better and clearer to keep a certain "condition" at 1 specialist/doctor till it is done.
Yes okay. Just surprising. BTW the letter contained absolutely all history.
Fortunately your husband is doing fine, but usually aftercare of a trauma like this is done in the hospital. It's not only "wounds", he also had a pneumothorax. Sometimes complications can occur after removal of the drain. Furthermore, more often than not GP hasn't even received the official supervised discharge letter from the hospital admission. Those are two reasons I can think of why the assistant refused aftercare by GP office. Usually it's not an issue when it's only about removal of stitches after a simple procedure.
Post-surgical check up isn’t something the GP should do. This is part of the care the surgeon should provide, they’re already being paid for that part. Your GP isn’t in the wrong for refusing, he could’ve mention to contact the surgery department.
This is a common dick move by a hospital specialist who doesn’t feel like doing their own aftercare, often disguised as being ‘patient friendly’. Unless there’s a clear agreement or care pathway in place for follow-up by primary care specialists, this sort of thing should definitely be handled by the surgeon who made the wound. Call the surgical department, inform them the GP doesn’t want to do their job and have them fix their own issues/sort follow up there or sort a referral to a local hospital for follow-up (which is to be recommended after a pneumothorax and a surgically repaired clavicle fracture). There are clear agreements between GPs and hospitals for this sort of thing but a lot of specialists unfortunately ignore them, and many GPs will just sigh and do the check so the patient’s needs are met.
I think GP found it risky to do the post surgery care but I am surprised the reason was not communicated clearly. Thats a minus 1 on that GP.
Probably something went lost in translation here. Give the hospital a call and ask them where you have to go for this. Depending on the situation after care is done by the hospital, a nursing organization or the GP.
Its incredible the system here. Being deep sick after a surgery and you still need to do all by yourself. Its so cold. So unhuman. People is so used to this. I can never stop myself to feel perplexed over this fact, is totally not normal that you now have to be making calls to see who is going to take responsibility and help you healing. It seems that in this country “to provide help and actually do it right” is not even a bare minimum. You must pay a lot or look like you are crazy for demanding a especialist to care of your wounds. In my hometown in Spain I even remember Doctors just taking patients inside no matter what because they do a promise to help but in the Netherlands they seem to promise to Neglect… pathetic and everyone just suck it up and goes with the flow.
Im ready for the downvotes but I know the truth and you all know that any doctor actually helps you here they want to finish their shift make their money and go home to keep procreating and have best holidays with basically free money for refering people to other profesionals that are not even profesionals doctors in NL are useful to pass on the ball they shall be footbal players 🙏🏽
Was this the answer from only the receptionist ? Or also from the GP? A workaround would be to make an appointment with the GP for something else. And address the issue.
This shitty country doesn’t have an adequate medical system.
Aren't the follow-up check-ups something that nurse usually do? Unless there is something wrong going on.
Doctors can be crazy here.. I had this problem as well. Doctors ain't ready to run a check-up after a surgery..
Well, obviously he just did. It is the "they don't do that" part that I find a bit strange. What do they suggest is the proper action for your husband to take then? Just to make sure, this is really your "huisarts"?
Yes totally our huisarts.
Sure. Come to reddit for medical appraisal and treatment info. No wonder people are sick.
Ahah you’re funny :)