Need advice please, new member.

@Zoe7 @Molliex here you go, since you wanted me to tag you both xx

I think making a complaint is totally up to you but maybe you and your psychaitrist could work on that together. I personally would go through with it with all you have described @Former-Member She is certainly not acting professionally nor following through with her duty of care towards you. You are right that nothing may come of it but standing your ground and asserting your rights for appropriate treatment (and respect) from your GP is just as importsnt as the outcome. We all deserve to be heard, respected and validated with our experiences, feelings and needs and this GP seems to be fsiling at all of those. It is great you are seeing someone new and I hope they are more present for you, listen and take your needs seriously.

Thanks @Zoe7 , I agree with you and I'm glad you think the same.

How would my Psychiatrist and I work on that? I've told him everything, he's written stuff down (not sure what he's written down exactly), and he said thanks for explaining it to him. He did think that the letter from her to him was weird and full of lies too.

You could work on the wording and structure of a letter outlining your grievances against this GP with your psychiatrist @Former-Member - even write it and run it by him before you send it to whoever you need to send it to.

Good idea, thanks @Zoe7 . I see my Psychiatrist on Skype (Telehealth) because he's in Sydney and I'm in Victoria, plus it's through this company. So it's a 6 hour drive, I'm not sure if he sees any patients in person.

I guess I could try next time. When I see this new GP on March 2, I'll explain the situation and why I'm seeing her, and ask if I can keep seeing her if she's good, and ask if my Psychiatrist can send the reports to her, if yes then I'll contact the company with the new details of her and they'll let him know.

Could you email the letter to him before your next Skype session so he could look over it beforehand @Former-Member ?

I think being upfront with this new GP is a good idea - it allows you to explain what you need from her and why you need to change GPs. Hopefully then she can be more accommodating to your needs. It should not be a problem communicating with your psychiatrist - that should be part of any care plan with all your supports and it is unethical for your present GP to refuse to do that. I hope this new GP is on your side and gives you that support.

I don't have an email, mobile number or office number for my Psychiatrist unfortunately, I have to pass on stuff to the company and they pass it onto him.

I'm too scared to ask him if I can have an email or something for him because I don't want to invade his privacy, and I understand that there's certain rules and boundaries like that. Plus I wouldn't bother him anyway only contact him if it was urgent or I had a question about meds or something.

Thank you though. My parents did suggest that I try to ask him if I can see him more than once a month and if I can somehow contact him via email or something, but as I said I don't want to sound pushy and demanding and make things uncomfortable for him and I, mostly him. Plus I respect his privacy, work schedule and personal life.

Yeah I hope the new GP understands too. From the reviews, she sounds great and helpful, same with the clinic itself - it's bigger and has more Doctors, a few of which specialise in mental health, so the website says. So maybe if she doesn't work I can try another one there. She only sees patients under 21, I'll be 21 in November so that's fine for now. Otherwise when I turn 21 if the clinic is good then I can change. She runs a child and adoloscent clinic anyway.

Thanks for your help either way. Any suggestions on how I could politely but not forcefully ask my Psychiatrist if I can contact him between sessions only for urgent things or questions?

The prescription I got in the mail for meds I'm no longer taking, has a number on it which starts with 9. However I did a Mindspot course and they tried to contact him with that number but they told me it's disconnected so I don't know, not sure if it's an old prescription pad or anything. And I sent him a Christmas Card to the company and they passed it onto him and a thank you letter to the address on the prescription but he never mentioned if he got them and I don't want to ask and make him uncomfortable about that also.

Thanks again xx

I understand your concerns about asking your psych for more than you are currently receiving @Former-Member It is hard to do thst when our experiences have been less than helpful with some of our health professionals. You could let him know you have written a letter of complaint about your GP and if he would be open to reading it before you send it. If he says yes then you could then ask if he has a direct email address you could send it through. The worst that could happen is that he says that is not appropriate ...and in that s respect nothing actually changes in your contct with him.

As for asking to have more regular contact - I think that is probably a good idea to ask as well - at least until you see this new GP adn find out if she is a good fit for you. That extra support right now would help with any settling in period with this new GP or finding another one at the same practice.

Thanks again @Zoe7 , I'll take those suggestions on board.

I appreciate you replying to me and the advice, thanks so much.

I see him again on March 30, earliest I could get. I wrote down some stuff to discuss with him but I forgot some of it, some of which wasn't important though such as I purchased the book but haven't read it yet that he told me to get (Beating The Blues).

As for the complaint, I've been looking at websites such as the HCC, MHCC and AMA. I complained to the HCC before about the local Headspace Centre because of the manager and she lost her job so who knows, and this stuff with the GP is more traumatic and a more serious issue that needs to be addressed more than the Headspace stuff.

Thanks again. Also feel free to tag me in anything else in these forums, I'm still struggling finding out how to use them!

Tayla xx

I think you are doing a great job already navigating your way around the forums @Former-Member I have seen you post in several threads and connect with a few other members. The weekends are usually much quieter so if you have not had replies as yet then that is generally because people are just not online. I am sure they will reply when they can.