Ambeya
Ambeya had a fairly positive relationship with the family GP when she was younger, but now prefers looking up her symptoms online or going to a natural health shop rather than seeing the doctor.
Ambeya feels that most of her experiences with the GP (local doctor) have been negative, so she tries to avoid seeing a doctor as much as possible’. When she was younger, visiting the GP was a more positive experience. Her local surgery was a walk-in clinic where she didn’t need to make an appointment beforehand. She prefers to wait in the reception’ knowing she is next in queue’ than making an appointment over the phone. Ambeya’s parents and two younger siblings used to have the same GP, which she liked because the doctor was able to get a sense of the family history of health problems.
Ambeya’s mum has mental health issues so her GP would often make appointments for a family assessment’. When Ambeya and her siblings were still at school, the GP used to book appointments to see them at home after school. She liked these family appointments because it felt like the doctor wanted to help’.
Being a carer to her mum, Ambeya would often need to collect her mum’s medication from the pharmacy. As a young carer, this was difficult. The pharmacists would often ask her what the medication was for. She wanted to keep the reasons hidden’ and felt that pharmacists would sometimes force’ it out of her.
Before Ambeya turned 16 she was accompanied by an adult whenever she had an appointment with the GP. Her dad used to take her because her mum’s own health problems meant that she couldn’t. He would make sure he booked the appointments after school because he didn’t want Ambeya to miss any lessons. She often found going to these appointments with her dad awkward’, especially if she needed to speak to the doctor about something girly’. She has occasionally asked her dad to wait outside during the appointment so she could speak to the GP more openly. She has also asked her aunt to go with her to appointments because she found it easier to open up in front of her aunt.
Gender plays a massive role’ in Ambeya’s experiences with GPs and she feels much more comfortable with a female doctor than a male. She also points out that being unable to see a GP alone until the age of 16 is too late’ and that teenagers under 16 can make decisions for themselves they should be allowed to talk to a GP about things they might not want to discuss in front of their parents.
When Ambeya turned 16 she liked seeing the GP by herself, though her views about the surgery changed. She believes that a major reason for this is the fact that she no longer has a GP who is their family doctor. Each time Ambeya makes an appointment it’s always a different doctor’. The rest of her family are also no longer under the care of the same GP, with her parents and siblings all being seen by different doctors. For this reason Ambeya finds it hard to trust doctors and feels that they don’t really understand us. She would like to have a doctor who is permanent’ but feels that this is something that can’t happen anymore’.
The local surgery is no longer a walk-in clinic and it has become more difficult to get an appointment. Ambeya usually has to wait one or two weeks. To get a same-day appointment, she needs to call the receptionist in the morning and ask for an emergency appointment. To get an emergency appointment, Ambeya has to tell the receptionist the reason she needs to see a GP, which she feels breaches confidentiality. She also finds that the doctors tend to rush appointments.
On one occasion Ambeya felt she was forced to go to A&E (Accident and Emergency) because she couldn’t get a same-day appointment with a GP. She spent over seven hours at A&E but felt she had no other choice.
Whenever possible Ambeya prefers to look up her symptoms online or visit a natural health store rather than see a GP. She also likes to speak to her friends if she has any medical issues as they are older, have more experience’, and some of them are studying relevant subjects at university. Ambeya notes that her nearest surgery is quite far, making it difficult to access, so it is easier to speak to friends, find out what might be wrong using the internet, or visit a natural health shop.
Ambeya feels that health professionals started treating her differently once she turned 18. She noticed that they expected her to take more responsibility for her own health and showed less empathy. She would like health professionals to recognise that there is a transition period’ between being a child and becoming an adult and that young people need time to adjust to the system’. Ambeya has also noticed that GPs rarely introduce themselves, and thinks that doctors who take the time to do so and ask patients how they are doing make a big difference’.
Ambeya would like GPs to know that she feels unable to speak to them about mental health issues, only physical health. She would like mental health services to be better advertised to young people so that they would have greater awareness of the range of services available to them. Her message to young people is not to be afraid to express their opinions about healthcare because it is one of the most important things that we need to care about’.