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When they start by complaining about their previous doctor or doctors office.While I was filling in for our nurse one day, a new patient came in. After taking vitals, I asked what we were seeing her for. Her answer? “Well the previous doc i went to was such a b****. Her and her nurse…just big b****es.” I tried to ascertain if she needed refills or just wanted to go over medical history. Every answer was b**** related. That tells me, most likely, the patient is impossible to please. Just wants to complain.Every patient leaves a doctor for a reason. And sometimes the bedside manner plays a role; other times it's the staff. But if a patient just wants to complain, that's how they're labeled. A complainer.

First and foremost: it's ok. No physician in their right mind would ever demonize you for something like this.Just be honest about it. If it were me, I'd probably say something along these lines:Hey doc, I just wanted to come clean about something I've kept from you for a while. I first started seeing you when I moved to this area about 3 years ago, right? Well...I moved here because I got diagnosed with depression about 5 years ago, and I figured a new place might help me start fresh. I know I should've just told you my full history from the start, but it's not a subject I like talking about, so I just kept my mouth shut and hoped it wouldn't be an issue. I can't really keep it under wraps anymore though--I'm running out of the pills that help me sleep, and I'm scared my life might fall apart again. I'm sorry to put this on you all of a sudden, but I need help, and I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. Could you refer me to a specialist? Is there anyone you know that might be taking new patients and could see me soon?I understand that to you, this is a big deal, because it feels like you breached your doctor's trust. But I guarantee that any physician worth their salt will see it as you placing the additional trust in them. They will not hold your initial silence against you. It's actually hard to get mad at patients for withholding information about mental health issues, because they're viewed with such negative stigma by society. While this is definitely something that needs to change in the future, any good physician now understands that no one wants to risk being judged as "unbalanced", and that it's all too common for people not to speak up, even when they want to.Be brave, OP. The chat will probably go a lot smoother than you're imagining right now. Go and get the help you need, because you deserve it.

Good timing with this question. I’ve been having some serious neurological issues for a couple of months now. They landed me in the ER two times. When I saw my primary care VA doc she recommended a bunch of tests from specialists. That’s a good thing because we need to get to the bottom of the problem.Here’s where it gets bad. I was told that the VA Neurologists and ENT specialists were all booked up for months and I’d have to use the community care program. Sounds good on the surface, right? Not so much.From the time my doctor requested the consultation until I heard from community care to schedule the appointment it took SIX WEEKS. That didn’t actually schedule the appointment, that just gave me the name of a medical practice that agreed to take VA patients. I’m supposed to wait another week to hear from them so I can schedule an appointment. It’s been almost a week, and I haven’t heard from them yet.When I finally do make contact with the community care neurologist, I will then get to schedule the appointment. The holidays are coming up and I’m a new patient, so it could take months more to be seen. Even when I am eventually seen it is as a new patient and they will have to start with ground zero looking at my medical condition. No medical records or past history or anything.These might not be the best neurologists in the world either. They are operating out of a strip mall in a shady part of town.These delays are not acceptable. Remember how a couple of years back there were news reports about how VA patients died while waiting for care? That is going to start happening again.On the surface, it is a good idea, but the execution isn’t working as it should.