To think the NHS makes it difficult to avoid A&E

PumpkinPie2016, apparently one GP to 3000 patients, that's a lot of 10 minute slots!!

So do i, Exeter, N.Devon, Torbay and Derriford have all been in special measures recently.
Derriford still is, 23 ambulances queuing to discharge patients on Friday.

To the pp idiot who laughed at the idea lack of social care isn't a primary cause of late patient discharges....
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/the-decline-of-publicly-funded-social-care-for-older-adults#:~:text=A%20lack%20of%20sufficient%20social,rehabilitation%20in%20a%20community%20hospital.

System is broken and it's very scarey because there is a chance that when you need help there isn't any. Had very mixed experiences with NHS over the last 12 months. Brilliant when they thought I may have cancer, the two week pathway thing worked and the staff were amazing. But no one ever seems to be able to get a GP appointment and that's very very worrying.

This. Absolutely.

My GP surgery has brought in an online only booking system for appointments, but I have friends and neighbours (age 75+)who don’t have smartphones or internet access and have to ask for help to book an appointment. They would then have to tell the helper what their symptoms are which they don’t necessarily want to do.

I tried to book myself an appointment last week and didn’t find it easy to even access the appointment booking system. When I finally found the right page I couldn’t book because you can only access the booking form between 8 and 10 or 12 til 2.

This sounds exactly what it went wrong in the first place. The NHS is not, and should be run like, a business. It is a public service.

Never had an issue with 111, yes you have to pick the symptom that is causing you the most concern but have always received a GP callback within the time frame given 🤷 if you can't pick the worst symptom then they will call a clinical team member to advise them the pathway to pick.

Siri tell me again why most of the country laughed at the idea of a Citizens Army.

We used to be able to keep this stuff out of A&E.

Things where I am are diabolical.

We used to have a minor injuries section to our GP practice who did stitches, wound dressing etc. Same building, different service. It kept minor stuff out of A&E. Probably because we don't have any minor injuries provision or anything else between GP and A&E. But the CCG closed it down and now we have an A&E in special measures, average wait of 12 hours and ambulances queuing all night every night.

Moved from SE England to Scotland and absolutely can't compare the NHS. Scotland is so so much better. Same number of GP's for 22,000 less people We've had a couple of broken limbs since we got here. In, x rayed, plastered and out in 2 hours. SEN provision, on the other hand...well, that hardly exists.

Totally agree with you. My Son-in-law tried to get an appointment with his GP for suspected kidney stones,was told nothing available for 2 weeks and to go to A and E if it was that bad. He went to A and E and then got told off for not going to his GP first!

I'm so sorry for your loss

@ArchesOfsunflowers the waste and bad management is criminal. Basic IT that works, enough qualified staff on wards and enough GPs per head of population would be a start. We can afford it, we just need to stop paying for so many overpaid and unaccountable managers (see Lucy Letby case - not one person has been prosecuted for not listening to the doctors, who were made to apologise to Letby). Some are excellent but some seem to have no grasp on what actually goes on in their hospitals and seem to think doctors are the enemy. Stupid, passive aggressive notices telling doctors they can't sit here or leave their water bottle on that table.
The NHS can work, it always had done up until 12 years ago. It can again if we demand as a population that it does. It's our money paying for it. Pay doctors and nurses enough and more will stay, less need for expensive locums (guess who owns the agencies that profit from bank staff !), and overall lower wage costs. V simple. But less profit for some.

Ive posted on here before about how dd has an ear plug stuck in her ear. A&E x2 with a referral to rapid access ENT which was meant to be the following friday/monday. Ha! Waited over a month for the appointment where they said it would have to be done under anaesthetic the following week. I havent heard anything since. Its in absolute shambles!

My dp had a message from his familys doctor a couple of weeks ago as it's become apparent that there is a hereditary blood clotting problem. A simple blood test will find whether my dp has this condition. He was sent a prescription for an inhaler and no blood test. He has hot patches in his legs occasionally but until he actually has symptoms for a blood clot, he can't get a blood test or indeed medication, should any test results come back positive. But he can't have a blood test.
Outrageous

The cuts have gone too far.
People are suffering, struggling and dying because of them.
Nye Bevan is probably spinning in his grave.

And here we can see why GPs are leaving. The work-shy lazy over paid wasters. They'll be replaced by PAs as government don't want you to see a doctor - unless you pay.

Yes, all doctors hate their patients and don't want to do any work. That's what the press tell us after all. So it must be true.

Or maybe they are just so over worked that the system is broken. Used to be 2,000 patients per doctor, but in some places it's now 30,000.

I saw the hate for Davina McCall from a few GPs on Twitter after one of her menopause programmes because it would mean providing more appointments.

Clearly missed the point of the OP. She couldn’t get a GP appointment. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Our GP practice is exactly like this, a disgrace. You phone at 8 am in the morning, are in a queue and after 40 min (if you're lucky to get through) you are told that they're no appointments left.

I once got a text from the surgery to book a followup GP appointment for an x-ray done for my infant daughter.

I went into the surgery at 8 am in the morning to book the appointment in person. I got a bollocking from the rude receptionist, because you're only supposed to call to book appointments.

When I was in Istanbul last year and developed a water infection, I had such a positive experience.

I went to a walk in surgery.

I got seen by a doctor within 15 minutes. It took another 15 minutes to get to analyse my urine sample in the adjacent lab. I then got a prescription for antibiotics, which I was able to pick up from the pharmacy across the road.

It's all the being batted about between services that annoys me as it wastes more time and resources and you end up more ill.

The week before Easter, I took my son to the pharmacy with something I thought was fairly minor. They told me to take him to the GP. I put in an e-consult, recieved a text response (despite the fact I'd asked for a phone call) telling me to take him to the pharmacy. So then I had to ring, was held in queue for 40mins to tell them I'd already seen the pharmacist who'd told me to contact the GP...the situation then deteriorated fairly rapidly and my child ended up being blue lighted to a&e. Discharged with antibiotics. He got worse and worse. I rang 111 bank holiday Monday, spoke to 3 people, the last of whom rang me back after 9 hours and told me to take him to the GP on Tuesday. I put in an e-consult and rang on Tuesday because I was so concerned how poorly he was...to be told they couldn't guarantee anyone would call me back that day and...to ring 111. At which point I seriously considered just going back to A&E.

When you get through at 8am and are told there are no appointments could you not insist on an emergency appt? I was told no appts left so I said I would need to represent at A and E and explain my GP couldn't see me, funnily enough they were able to see me after I said this.

All GP's had a deadline of end of March for digitisation, although if MN is indicative, not all have managed that