Dorothy: Speaking with health professionals – Changing doctors
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Dorothy
Female
Age at interview: 88
Number of medicines: 11
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
Dorothy was treated by a female GP following an accident when her usual GP was on leave. She was initially reluctant to change doctors permanently but she actually found that this was not a problem for the practice or for the doctors involved.
Looking back, I think it was because I had post-traumatic thingummy [post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD] and the male doctor was sailing in the Whitsundays, so [a new doctor] came and she just drew up a chair and talked to me and I thought, ‘Oh, this is so nice!’ So I said to her, ‘Will it create any problems if I switch doctors?’ and she said, ‘Of course not!’ He was good about it, because he came back a week or so later and came in and said, ‘I know you're on [another doctor’s] list, but I just wanted to see how you are.’ I mean, I go to him for skin burning off things and we're quite good friends. I mean, it didn't matter in the slightest, but I felt I could chat to her and that she was there and if I really needed her in a hurry, she'd come, or she'd make an arrangement.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.