"Nurse practitioner - waste of time!"

On 2 occasions I asked to see Doctor, I was given an appointment with a Nurse Practitioner instead.

First time round the Nurse Practitioner was unable to deal with my son's problem due to 'lack of paediatric expertise' and I was asked to make an appointment with the Doctor, which by then was not available on that day. During that consultation I was told that 'kids just get ill all the time' and I was made felt like I'm wasting time and NHS resources. As soon as we left the practice, my son had a febrile convulsion (fit) and was bluelighted to Children's Hospital with suspected sepsis.

Second time round the consultation was very unpleasant.I was advised by an out of hours doctor to see my GP for MRI referral, that's why I requested an appointment. The Nurse Practitioner was unhelpful and rude. Didn't listen to what my symptoms were. Made me feel like my problem is a waste of time and that 'at my age pretty much everyone suffers with it'. I wonder where this statistic comes from? I personally don't know anyone who suffers with the same problem. I'm not a sick person and very rarely seek medical attention but I have been suffering with this problem for over 3 weeks and being in constant pain is draining. Despite strong painkillers, the pain is so bad it affects my daily activities, work and psychological state. When mentioned that, I was told that that's expected and that 'my mental wellbeing is a discussion for another consultation'. At some point I was also asked to stop talking which was completely out of order. I work for NHS myself and I wouldn't dream speaking to my patient like I have been spoken to today. I'm not the one for complaining but the lack of respect and disgusting attitude of this professional needs to be addressed. I have never been treated like this before. The practitioner also refussed to complete the MRI referral telling me that the waiting times are long (which I expect) and that I don't really need one. I was offered a private MRI on 4 occasions during this consultation. Once again I left the practice shaken, upset and feeling worse than I felt before I went in.