SouthDoc in Cork, your opinions?

run_Forrest_run

Hi All,
We have used SouthDoc (the after hours doctor service in the Cork area) a few times for our 7 month old and I am becoming more frustrated with them. Everytime we go there they usually do a half hearted check on our daughter and then say there is nothing wrong with her and then they suggest we visit our own GP at the next possible time!

Now I know all babies are different and it may be hard for a doctor who has never seen a baby before to immediately diagnose and treat a baby but surely if they are charging us full doctor's rates (50 euro per trip) they should be able to do something more substantial instead of just (from what I see) looking for a cop out and telling us to go to our own GP!

has anyone else had similar experiences or am I being picky etc?

Owen

Southdoc is a farce. The amount of times I've taken my SO there, or family members. They prescribe aspirin/penicillin and recommend a GP visit. Waste of money.

run_Forrest_run

thank god it's not just me then! Thanks for your reply Ned78...yes I agree with you, they are a farce alright..and the doc we had on Sunday last was as lazy as anything.

I am considering writing a letter of complaint, do you think it would be a waste of my time (and paper & ink!)??

fobs

I have used them on 3 occasions and was happy with the service on 2 although I found that I had to push for an appropriate diagnosis on the first occasion when my son was 7 months old with an exceptionally high temperature (104) and the doc was trying to fob me off with nurofen (which I had used) He changed his tune on seeing the child as was alarmed with his temp and even rang the next day to enquire after him. On the 2 other occasions visited a lady doctor in Mallow and the service was good. Feel it would be useless for an emergency situation. We live accross the road from our family doctor and would run to him in an emergency!

Femelade

went to south doc in cork with my daughter about a year ago, He said she had tonsilitis....i didnt think she did, went to my own doc the next day. I was right, south doc was wrong. But i do think its handy, when all i need is motilium for her or something to get through the night.

beer enigma

I've always found South Doc very good to be honest - fortunately I've only had occasion to go there twice with my children, but both times they have been spot on - both times they saw my kids the minute we went in & on one occasion organised an ambulance immmediately.

Maybe I've just been lucky

professore

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Hi All,
We have used SouthDoc (the after hours doctor service in the Cork area) a few times for our 7 month old and I am becoming more frustrated with them. Everytime we go there they usually do a half hearted check on our daughter and then say there is nothing wrong with her and then they suggest we visit our own GP at the next possible time!

Now I know all babies are different and it may be hard for a doctor who has never seen a baby before to immediately diagnose and treat a baby but surely if they are charging us full doctor's rates (50 euro per trip) they should be able to do something more substantial instead of just (from what I see) looking for a cop out and telling us to go to our own GP!

has anyone else had similar experiences or am I being picky etc?

So what was wrong with your 7 month old in the end?

run_Forrest_run

professore wrote: »

So what was wrong with your 7 month old in the end?

let me cast my mind back 15 months, I believe it was bouts of bronchiolitis and ear infections...fairly obvious things really but pity it wasn't detected until we saw our regular GP.

Thankfully all is well lately.

nesf

I think it's fine for out-of-hours stuff. It's it's a standard thing like an ear infection you're better off making an appointment with your GP etc (I know this is very hard to do with a sick baby, we brought our guy out once for what was bluntly just a bad cold when he was around seven months and we did overreact but that's the norm for most first time parents really).

bored and tired

i had experienc of south doc when my ds was teething, she seemed to get 5 ear infections for every tooth,
they were great for her, checked her over asked what antibiotic she was on last, told me which ear the infection was in, so that if it came back or swapped sides i would be able to tell gp. However i went in for myself over a bank holiday weekend with a bad chest infection, i could barely talk but i was sent home and told to buy benelin, had to go back to gp 2 days later, and at that stage the cough was so bad i had bruised my ribs, was wheezing and unable to talk, my own GP put me on anti biotics and signed off work for few days, but not before making a complaint on my behalf about the service i had got at southdoc, and of course charging me as well.

corax

Another side effect of our hopeless health service. Southdoc is basically equivalent to Medicins Sans Frontiers or other third world medi-aid agencies. They can only offer the very basics. They will either tell you: that you're dead; you should go to hospital immediately; or that you should see your GP tomorrow! I only wanted a vaccination, but they told me they don't dispense vaccinations. I don't blame them - they are only a small aid agency battling against the odds, so they can only look after the most critical patients.
But this isn't the third world!
Now, as we all know, finding a GP who is available outside business hours, is nigh on impossible. And we've been asked not to go to the A&E unless we're brought their involuntarily and we're almost dead. So, where the hell are we supposed to go when we are genuinely ill, but not dead yet? GPs only open their surgeries for about 4 hours during the day, Monday to Friday - when most people are beyond harm's way, behind a desk in a cosy office somewhere, and can't afford to take the day off to sit in a doctors waiting room.
I have questions for Mary Harney - why is there is very little information on GP services? Why is it so extremely rare for GPs to form clinics or co-ops? Why do GPs operate behind a cloak of secrecy and evasiveness? Why is there so little information on the internet regarding GPs opening hours and locations? Why don't doctors have websites? Why doesn't the government distribute more information on health, and on preventitive measures? Why must we pay outlandish fees to doctors to prescribe us medicines that we already know we need? Why on earth are some medicines like an ointment for your bum only available on prescription anyway? Or we assumed to be so stupid that we would buy the stuff off the shelves and spread it on our bread?

I'm emigrating...

finbarrk

Totally agree with you there corax.

Kerz

Just to make things clear that SouthDoc is an out-of-hours Gp service and if an emergency is required an individual should dial 999 and request an ambulance. On the other hand SouthDoc provide Gp's in Cork City and County and also in the Kerry area. Each Gp has a different technique on how they assess patients and each judgement is respected. In the case of blaming SouthDoc for the mis-dianosis that you feel was made, it is the responsibility of the Gp and not SouthDoc to diagnose. As you may be aware there are many Gp's that work for SouthDoc and you'r own Gp may cover a shift. As you are stating that SouthDoc is a farce you are then criticising your own Gp.
I think that many people take this reliable and efficient service for granted.

run_Forrest_run

Kerz wrote: »

Just to make things clear that SouthDoc is an out-of-hours Gp service and if an emergency is required an individual should dial 999 and request an ambulance. On the other hand SouthDoc provide Gp's in Cork City and County and also in the Kerry area. Each Gp has a different technique on how they assess patients and each judgement is respected. In the case of blaming SouthDoc for the mis-dianosis that you feel was made, it is the responsibility of the Gp and not SouthDoc to diagnose. As you may be aware there are many Gp's that work for SouthDoc and you'r own Gp may cover a shift. As you are stating that SouthDoc is a farce you are then criticising your own Gp.
I think that many people take this reliable and efficient service for granted.

you're first post and you resurrect a thread that is nearly 2 years old!

I am not saying my GP is a farce, I am saying that the collection of doctors operating under the umberella of SouthDoc is a farce!

And believe you me, I pay a lot for my medical service so I certainly don't take it for granted. Perhaps the system is taking the private paying patients for granted.

Anyway, I'm happy to say I've not beeded SouthDoc since then..phew.

goat2

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

you're first post and you resurrect a thread that is nearly 2 years old!

I am not saying my GP is a farce, I am saying that the collection of doctors operating under the umberella of SouthDoc is a farce!

And believe you me, I pay a lot for my medical service so I certainly don't take it for granted. Perhaps the system is taking the private paying patients for granted.

Anyway, I'm happy to say I've not beeded SouthDoc since then..phew.

was there a problem for some few patients in kerry with the southdoc out of hours services, one was a pregnant woman who was rushed to cork in labour

nesf

Don't drag up ancient threads please.