Changing Consultant

Living with Parkinson's Daily life
1
Hi I am trying to change my consultant to a different hospital and am not sure if this is my right or if the consultant can refuse. I asked my GP if Icould do this and he said it must go via my old consultant so when I had my appointment with the consultant I informed him I would like to change and gave him the name of the hospital. He said he would remove me from his list. I received an appointment with the new hospital which was in 7 months time which I have just attended but the new consultant said he had been asked for a second oppinion which he completed but added he would not take me on. My question is have I any rights in changing my consultant? At the present time I am without a consultant wondering where to go from here. Any info would be appreciated. Regards Sugarplum
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Hi Sugarplum,

I'm sorry to hear you have had trouble changing to a different hospital and consultant. You do not say why you wanted to change? If you had a good reason, then you have a right to do so.

I recently did just that. I was unhappy with the mistakes & indifferent manner, of my previous neurologist & PD nurse, so I asked my GP if I could change to a different hospital. She arranged it all for me and I got an appointment at a new hospital 2 months later. I did not have to go through my old neurologist. The new neurologist spent an hour asking about my history with PD and noted my walking, posture, reactions etc. He took notes and prescribed Levodopa. Five months later, I had an appointment with my new PD nurse, (a male), who couldn't have been more helpful. What a completely different experience from my last hospital. I'm so glad I made the change.

My advice to you, would be to go back to your GP and explain what's happened. You have a right to change hospitals and consultants, if you are dissatisfied with your care. Don't be fobbed off......you have to sometimes fight for your rights. You need specialist care when you have Parkinson's and no-one should be denying you that.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Twinks.

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Hello Twinks Thanks for the info and support,I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow see what he has to say I really dont feel up to another 6 months wait before I get a response, but it always seems to be that way Thanks again Sugarplum