TV Review: Can You Trust Your Doctor?

It was like a scene from Carry On Doctor.

The start of the Dispatches documentary about the medical competence of our GPs went off with a bang as Dr Inayatullah advised a man with all the vital signs of bowel cancer to “get some mangoes.”

Unlike Carry On Doctor, it wasn’t even slightly amusing.

GPs are among the most trusted and respected of all professionals with 800,000 people visiting surgeries every day. Granted, there’s a proportion of those who rush to the doctors over the slightest snivel, but given that we fund the NHS, it’s their job to make sure we’re ok.

His diagnosis? “Pears.” He then proceeded to draw him a picture of a pear just in case the patient hadn’t heard him.

In this particular documentary, hidden cameras were set up in specific surgeries and actors were trained to create fake medical scenarios for the GPs.

It was a bit like a mystery shop; only the outcome proved to be more crucial than whether Argos is complying to their returns policy or not. Added to this, the GP subjects featured were no random targets. They all had a sketchy history of malpractice which, as the programme revealed, hadn’t been followed up adequately enough, if at all.

Dispatches With John Snow

The programme became even more shocking as case study after case study revealed a system in need of urgent resuscitation. One of which was the case of Kris Hallenga, whose breast cancer at the age of 24 had gone undiagnosed for two years, by two separate doctors.

“My GP told me I was much too young to have anything seriously wrong with me,” she told the programme. After going for a second opinion six months later another GP told her: “I don’t need to examine you because you were examined six months ago.”

Kris had breast cancer as well as a tumour on her spine which has since spread to her liver. Like most of us, she believed that booking an appointment with her GP was a fail-safe way of protecting her own health.

 “You want to believe them” she said, “then you want to get out of there (the surgery) and get on with your life.”

Men in particular are statistically more prone to being doctor-shy. Therefore every appointment is precious time. Following the mango diagnosis, the first actor revisited Dr Inayatullah a few weeks later to say his symptoms hadn’t changed. It was at this point it became clear that Dr Inayatullah was in fact a market trader disguised as a healthcare professional.

His second diagnosis? “Pears.”

He then proceeded to draw him a picture of a pear just in case the patient hadn’t heard him right the first time. Sadly he had.  

Many of the testimonies in the documentary came from medical professionals themselves, including GP and journalist Phil Hammond and Professor Aneez Esmail – a leading expert on general practice. They reported that 60 per cent of negligence claims are due to misdiagnosis. They also highlighted how confusing the system of complaints can be for patients.

Professor Esmail said: “If something goes wrong with a patient, the first thing they have to do is make a complaint to the GP and the practice. We still haven’t got a complaints system that addresses the needs of the patients.”

Of course the most alarming case of GP malpractice in recorded history is that of Harold Shipman, also known as Dr Death because of his 220+ victims over 23 years.

His trial and the following inquiry took place over a decade ago but as the documentary pointed out, not enough has changed in the way of monitoring doctors.

Harold Shipman

GPs can still go an entire career without their competence being tested. Astonishing really when my dad – a Corgi registered gas engineer – has to take regular examinations to entrust him to fit boilers into people’s houses.

Unlike Shipman, thankfully most doctors don’t murder their patients. That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty of room for improvement where the General Medical Council (GMC) is concerned.

The Dispatches programme was an eye opener after a recent weak offering about drugs and football, and with cuts left, right and centre it didn’t bode well for our diminshing faith in the NHS, as one of my doctor friends quite rightly pointed out.

Having watched the entire documentary, I went to bed and dreamt that I had died. It was obviously a subconscious result of all the damning case studies featured in the programme. They do say you shouldn't watch horror movies before bed. Especially when they're real.

A follow up programme featuring more from the GMC and what steps they are taking to crack down on malpractice after Dispatches’ findings would be the solution for all anxious patients and GPs who were watching. It’s important to remember the vast majority of us (doctors and patients alike) are after the same thing - good health and a healthcare system that works.

The GMC website reportedly crashed immediately after the programme was aired. Presumably, everyone was frantically checking up on their GPs.

Or looking to see if they sold mangoes.

Follow Lynda on Twitter @lyndamoyo