Patient experiences
"My GP has been very supportive but admits that it is not his field of expertise."
- Anonymous
As part of our Action for Brain Injury Week campaign, Headway is running a survey to gather people's experiences of care from their GP.
We are looking for positive and negative experiences to help us understand the information and support that is being given, and target our campaign.
From the early results, it is clear that many people are receiving excellent care from their GP, but others have found their GP to be less helpful in supporting them. Some of the comments from our service users are summarised below.
If you would like to complete the survey, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CareFromYourGP.
Lindsay's story
Lindsay Lapham, from Cambridge, visited her GP 28 times over a four-year period between 2005 and 2009 complaining of dizziness, headaches, blurred vision and muscle weakness.
Lindsay was eventually diagnosed with a brain tumour, which by April 2009 had grown to the size of an egg, putting significant pressure on the soft brain tissue surrounding it.
Selected comments from Headway's GP survey
"My GP is so supportive. I would not be where I am today had it not been for her."
- Lee
"Two GPs dismissed my head pain as migraine then I suffered a subarrachnoid haemorrhage."
- Yvonne
"My GP has been excellent. He has referred me to anyone I have asked to be referred to and he tries to help as much as he can, although he has admitted he is a little out of his depth."
- Anonymous
"It has been like a living nightmare they do not listen to what I'm telling them."
- Samuel
"Our experience with our GP and whole practice is very positive. He is very supportive and understanding."
- Pat
"Follow-on visits to the GP have been a waste of time. [My son] will get better but support and rehabilitation have been very lacking."
- Anonymous
"It took two years to get referred to a specialist and it was a GP covering for my GP that did the referral. I have had no support from my GP to date. They are not interested in anything that is not black or white."
- Kate
