Dr Naomi Craft

Dr Naomi Craft 2015-09-23 Person 1 5 0

I have been a patient at the Cavendish Health Center for close to 10 years. in March this year I went to my GP complaining of back pain. I explained to the GP that I had scoliosis and that I had seen a specialist 14 years ago who said I didnt need an operation but I thought the scoliosis had worsened over this time due to the pain I was in and I wanted a referral to get it re-looked at. I explained I had private insurance and was happy to continue this privately. The GP was very reluctant to refer me privately and wanted me to wait over 7 days for a NHS call back to get referred to a back clinic who would then refer me to a specialist. I explained I was in horrendous pain and could not wait that period of time and insisted on a private referral. I had a list of doctors that I asked to be referred to. The doctor reluctantly agreed to write a referral. The specialist I saw instantly said that I would need surgery as soon as possible. Naturally I wanted a second opinion. I did not go back to my GP surgery as I already had the necessary referral for my private insurance and thought another GP trip would be a waste of NHS resources (which we know are stretched). The second specialist I saw gave the same diagnosis, however I preferred his manner and approach and decided to have the operation with him. I scheduled the operation for the middle of August 2015. The operation (spinal fusion) was covered by my private medical insurance as was the 11 day stay I had in hospital. Upon my release from hospital I was given pain medication for a week and a form to give to my GP to get a repeat prescription. I was in a severe amount of pain and the medication I was prescribed was opiates, consequently I was only able to get a week's worth of meds at a time. At the end of the week I contacted my GP to get the prescription refilled, I was informed that it would take 48 hours and I did not have that amount of time before my pills would run out. The hospital kindly refilled my meds that week and gave me a new form for my GP and explained that they would not be able to refill my prescription again because I am now an outpatient. The following week my mother took my prescription to the GP to get filled. She explained to them that I had very few pills left and was in a lot of pain and needed it done that day. They promised to get it filled by 5pm and sent directly to my pharmacist. At 5pm I went to the pharmacy to pick up the pills and was told that the GP had a problem with the script and needed to contact me. I phoned the GP and it took over an hour for a call back, despite explaining the situation to the receptionist and that the pharmacy would be closing in an hour and it was the start of the weekend and I did not have enough pills to see me through. Eventually I spoke to Dr Craft who explained that because they did not refer me to the specific doctor who did the operation they would not write my prescription. She did not care that I had I was in severe pain, reliant on the pills for pain relief having had major surgery only a few weeks prior. I was told I could go to A&E; however I explained that I am unable to travel in a car due to the surgery and cannot walk as far as the hospital, nor am I able to sit or stand for more than 20min in total. Therefore A&E is not a viable option. She said I was not her responsibility but rather the hospitals. Dr Craft said she would write the prescription if I could get her written details of the surgery. I spent the weekend in a lot of pain, limiting my drug intake to get me through the time and resorting to one of the pills I had been prescribed that I had had a bad reaction to. On Monday morning my mother went back to the GP with full details of my surgery and my medication history. Dr Craft informed her that she still would not write the prescription as due to not doing the initial referral I was not her responsibility. Dr Craft would have sworn to the hippocratic oath, that a doctor should do no harm. She knowingly caused sever harm to me. She left me in severe pain over the weekend, knowing that it would set back my rehabilitation as I had to spend the weekend in bed in severe pain (I was unable to walk as per my physio's instructions). I was able to prove my prescription and my operation and she had known about my pain and had referred me for the same problem to a different specialist. The only reason for her not to prescribe the medication I needed was that the medication was expensive and would have been a cost to her practise. The entire process was stressful and the outcome unsatisfactory. It distresses me that doctors can be so uncaring and unhelpful, particularly at a time when one of their patients is at their most vulnerable.

Dr Naomi Craft 2014-12-10 Person 5 5 0

Was kind and caring and v efficient at the same time. She inspired confidence and I would recommend her.