Tasks and Tickboxes: a broken care system.

Last year was a roller coaster of a year and it made me reflect on how i can be more intentional with what i consume all round and not just food but also digitally. I focused alot on my health, getting relevant checks and follow- ups as well as my mental health. As someone with a long term health condition and getting on in age, i needed to stay on top of things. My cholesterol levels have been high for awhile but not of much concern as my good cholesterol was higher than the bad, so that bought me sometime in terms of cardiovascular disease risk.

This has been the healthiest eating combined with fasting that i have done in a long while. I was also conscious of how perimenopause was playing havoc with my body and hormones and no matter what i did, i could not shake the belly fat and the creeping weight gain. Anyhow, i ploughed on and even got joking with the family about how my Doctor will tell me my cholesterol levels have gone up despite all my healthy habits! Come the new year, i had my half yearly check and bloods and was very confident that even though my weight was still on the high side, my cholesterol levels would at best decrease or at worst stay the same.

I get the call from my consultant and everything is fine except the bloody cholesterol and the levels mean that a recommendation will be made to my GP to consider starting me on statins after having a discussion. I am not a fan of statins or regular medication especially if other options are available, so while i waited for an appointment from my GP to discuss my options,as had been suggested by my consultant, i drew up a list of questions and concerns i had.

A week and a half later i get a call from the GP surgery and it is the pharmacist calling to discuss my high cholesterol levels, if the hospital had given me any statins and if not then which ones she could prescribe. she then asked a series of questions about my activity levels and diet with the offer to send me a link to healthy eating. She checked which pharmacy i collect my medication from, informed me that i would experience some side effects when i started the prescribed statins but not to worry. I was then to have repeat blood tests in 6-8 weeks and did i have any questions? To say i was stunned into silence would be an understatement.

I was mad and disappointed, not at her but at the system that is broken and has been reduced to a task based and tickbox service where the whole sum of the person and their circumstances and views are not taken into account or made space for, when their care is being decided. I know the days of having a meaningful face to face conversation with your GP who had all your records at hand and had known you for years are over, but i had at least expected to have a face to face appointment to discuss this life changing event and explore other options available. That i would be given the chance to make an informed decision instead of the decision being made for me.

So for now i have a prescription waiting for me that i am not keen on picking up any time soon. Meanwhile i am intent on pursuing those alternative methods like exercise and diet and see what results i get when i next have my blood test. What is it they say? You are more likely to look after your health if you are involved in the decisions about it and are invested in it. Please talk to and with patients and not at them. When patients feel they have a say in their health and care they are more likely to be receptive to suggestions made and not balk at them.