Why offer Mentoring consultations?
The UK NHS System Is No Longer Fit for Purpose.
NHS staff in the UK are working within a massively overloaded system that is no longer fit for purpose.
They are using outdated computer systems that should be consigned to the bin, whilst also dealing with a population that demands more and more from it.
Communication between departments is negligible to say the least, which means that the patient has to advocate for themself.
The public expects to receive the newest drugs, to be given scans for everything possible and to be seen by the best healthcare professionals there are - and all for free.
Research & Guidelines are Constantly Evolving
In addition, it is very challenging for our Healthcare professionals to keep up with ever-changing guidelines, within this beleaguered healthcare system.
We cannot ask nor expect, every HCP to be totally up to speed with every guideline for every condition -
it’s just not humanly possible.
It’s not as if they have heaps of free time to read every single piece of research about every single healthcare condition…..
“Doctors are not Gods. Nor should we expect them to be”
From The Patient Perspective
I do understand, from personal experience, how challenging it can be to navigate the healthcare system - especially when we are very unwell.
I’ve experienced a severe gastrointestinal issue that lasted 2 years, and which confounded the NHS.
After 9 months of nonsense which included numerous blood tests, scans and invasive procedures, I paid to see a ‘specialist’ in diarrhoeal diseases. I was so sure that he would be able to help…..
After more invasive procedures I was given a prescription for amitriptyline (an antidepressant used for chronic pain and insomnia) because, wait for it…. “well you do look a bit down”.
“So would you be”, I thought, “if you’d gone from 9 to 6 stone 12
(126 to 96lbs) in 4 months and I’d really rather NOT sleep through having the shits”.
“If it’s all the same to you”.
Those blogs will be live soon
Entering the perimeno-hell-opause phase of my life was even more ‘fun’ as the perimenopause ‘gifted’ me SCAD heart attacks, microvascular angina and coronary artery spasm - challenging to anyone but even more so when the medics have never heard of any of them.
Medical professionals have historically been given no training in menopause.
SCAD heart attacks were only thought of as a possibility during pregnancy - if at all.
And no cardiologist, in a male dominated department, has ever entertained the idea that sex hormones may actually effect the heart.
(By the way, cardiac symptoms of perimenopause have been known about and noted since circa 1971)
From the Healthcare Professional’s Perspective
Not only are they ludicrously overworked, healthcare guidelines can change at a fantastic rate!
Take Utrogestan for example- a progesterone in tablet form:
This medication was only added to the prescribing list in Edinburgh and the Lothians in July 2023 - thanks to a huge amount of work by myself and many others like me. We needed it and it is currently the gold standard in progesterone medication
(it was available in other areas of the UK, but not where I live)
Then, dosage guidelines were changed again, in April 2024
Thanks to the internet and reputable healthcare professionals taking the time (for free) to publish any changes within their field of work, the general public can find out about changes to guidelines much more quickly than healthcare professionals can - often with a click or a swipe.
Sometimes within the hour of that change happening.
I’ll say it again, GPs do not have the time to keep abreast of ever changing guidelines.
But, if a new guideline applies to the patient, you can be sure that they’ll be able to find out about it on the internet.
All Of This Means That
We have to help healthcare professionals.
We have to be prepared for our appointments.
They cannae just look at us and tell us what’s wrong!
A little bit of humility from the medical professionals wouldn’t go amiss either.
Changes in attitudes and behaviours,
from both the patient and the medical profession
are going to become ever more important,
if we want the NHS to survive.
In my professional life, I have taken 1000’s of consultations over the past 25+ years.
The number of people who “don’t really know” what their medication is for, or even if it’s working would surprise you!
Sometimes, the combination of drugs taken are leading to the reason why the patient has come to see me.
Sometimes, the medication that they are taking has lost its’ effectiveness, and the patient ends up in my treatment room asking for help.
Sometimes, the patient may need medication rather than treatment from me.
Ethically, I feel duty bound to make the patient aware of this - and will send them to their GP for medical advice.
In my personal life, having had to work extremely hard at advocating for myself, working out my own symptom patterns and gathering the relevant information from reputable websites, I know how tough it is to be listened to and treated correctly.
So the consultation part of my Clinic treatments became Mentoring Consultations, where we discuss how the patient can best approach their GP to review their medication - and, occasionally, to find out what it’s meant to be doing!
Combining my 30+ years of clinical background and my vast experience of
advocating for myself, resulted in Medical Mentoring consultations.
Overcoming medical misogyny, especially within cardiology is a particular interest.
Read more about my Cardiac Campaigning work
here
“Awareness is the greatest agent for change”
If you need help in advocating for yourself, if you’re struggling to be heard, or maybe you don’t know where to start in looking up guidelines that relate to your situation, then maybe I can help?
* Jill is a Clinical Massage Therapist, practising Sports and Rehab therapy, clinical massage, general massage and craniosacral therapy.
* She is unable to offer specific advice on any medications.
* She is on the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) register, the independent UK regulator for complementary healthcare practitioners.
* She is insured to offer; massage, sports therapy & rehabilitation, craniosacral therapy, exercise instruction.
* She has spent 25+ years working within the health & fitness industry both as a teacher and physical therapist.