TO GET THE ROM YOUR GP

you aren’t ocess isn’t Kell, head You could another arly busy winter.” rred to a nless you e. Your GP you to a t to see a rral letter o you will rly if your essment. f you are unhappy with your treatment or care,” says Mr Kell. “Never be put off because you don’t want to make a fuss or get someone into trouble.”

It is probably worth making an informal approach first by raising your concerns with the practice manager before going down the formal complaints route.

Mr Kell adds: “Normally, you should complain within 12 months of the events concerned (or 12 months from the date on which you found out about them).

“If your complaint is older than 12 months your surgery can choose not to deal with it, but it should be flexible – for example, if you had a major injury and it took you a long time to be well enough to complain.”

If you aren’t sure where to start with a more formal complaint, The Patients Association can provide information and advice about how to raise your concerns if you are dissatisfied with the health care you are receiving. The Association has complaint letter templates that can be downloaded from its website.

■ For more information, go to www.patientsassociation.org.uk or call 020 8423 8999. Aches and pains may be obvious but think about changes you’ve noticed – for example, to your appetite, bowel habits, energy levels or mood. Alex Rawlins, 41, lost his father Michael, 66, a conveyancing solicitor from Devon, to prostate cancer in 2012.

My father had been experiencing the frequent need to urinate for some time before he first went to see his GP in November 2008. He was 62 at the time and the doctor said the problem was simply because he was getting older and sent him home without doing any examination or tests.

Dad didn’t question the diagnosis – like many people in his generation, he simply took what the doctor told him at face value. It was another 12 months before he felt the problem was significant enough to return to the surgery and query what had been said.

He was finally referred for tests in December 2009 and quickly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Tragically, by this stage the tumour was already quite advanced and had become inoperable. Despite a course of radiotherapy, within months the cancer was in his lymph nodes and later spread into his back. Ultimately, it was too little, too late. He died in January 2012, aged 66.

I was so angry because when it is caught early, prostate cancer can be treated. I know things get missed, but Dad’s symptoms should have been such an obvious red flag for a man his age. I can’t believe his GP didn’t refer him on and I can’t help feeling that his lack of action ultimately cost my father his life. That wasted year could have made all the difference. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that no one should be embarrassed to ask for a second opinion or to be referred for tests if they don’t think their GP has made the right call. TRAGIC Alex and Michael