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

I drove her there. On arrival, they recognised how serious the situation was and immediately took her through. The ENT consultant saw her right away and he knew straight away it was a reaction to Ramipril. His timely diagnosis and treatment saved her life. The NHS at its best.

Forgive me for picking out your comment as I'm sure it was an emotional situation. But I don't understand why so many people in the UK have been brainwashed into blindly praising the NHS when they perform a medical service that is absolutely to be expected in a developed country. If someone shows up to a hospital in anaphylactic shock, it's to be expected that they get the correct treatment which will save their life. It is not to be expected that the person will be misdiagnosed and left to die in the waiting room. However the UK has been reduced to people babbling about how incredible the NHS is just because they received the actual correct treatment.

For every person whose life does get saved, there are many others who needlessly suffer due to an overstretched and breaking system. It's almost become a game of lottery bragging rights for people to claim they received "amazing treatment from the fantastic NHS" as a counterargument to all those who complain about waiting times. Yes if you're incredibly lucky, you get cancer treatment for free. But it doesn't change the fact that a huge number of people do not and the UK has one of the most dire survival rates in the developed world. Hospitals in Europe are all able to treat their patients faster and (overall) with more lives saved however there's no cultural norm of blindly praising their medical system almost like a religion or cult. People expect good healthcare to be an inherent part of the infrastructure for which they pay their taxes and social insurance for.

That’s awful your poor child. I think it really depends on the drs surgery too because I’ve been able to get same day appts every time I call at 8:30am, but my Grandma at a different surgery has a nightmare getting an appt.

Our GP surgery will at least see children same day but you can't get in as an adult. Plus, they have a list of things they won't treat eg burns, bangs, stitches etc and we have no minor injuries and pharmacies can't prescribe here. The sign in the surgery says you must see A&E for any treatment needs.

DH needed to see a GP a few weeks ago and we tried for 4 days, certain he needed antibiotics. 45 minutes to get through, no appointments. On day 5 we called a paramedic out and he was transferred to hospital and stayed there for 8 days. He was seriously unwell and will take a long time to recover.

I had similar recently. I called 111 and they made my GP see me.

It's always really shocking to hear how bad it is in some areas. But there is no doubt that some GPs nor local health systems, are not run well. All GP's should now be using e-consult. Locally we can get appointments and medication on the day, when triaged. I have never seen anyone in the waiting rooms, so most are being remote called. There are two local pharmacies who do Pharmacy first consults, with a booking system and private rooms. We have a couple of walk ins, one with x-ray, although you need a car for both, 10 mile's either way. The local hospital does walk in bloods and x-rays.

We are obviously very lucky, but it does seem like our local system has got it's shit sorted out, and I'm assuming with the same equitable funding as everywhere else.

All the messages in the media about cancer and how you must see your GP...how many people are being missed ? Surely this is a huge ticking time bomb with the UK storing up massive health problems and inequalities?

This. We are basically back to the two tier postcode lottery system which existed before the NHS was set up and which the NHS was created to prevent

GP surgeries are very underfunded and no longer functional in many areas. Funding hasn't remotely kept up with inflation. I say this as a GP.

Many GP partners are thinking about giving back contracts, so the situation will only get worse. I guess we'll have more of the big, private corporations swoop in to buy them. Then they will staff them with mostly non-doctors because that's cheaper. People with money will go private.

I'm lucky to work in a surgery that employs enough doctors so our patients can usually get seen on the day, but many don't have the funds to or can't recruit.

I'm with you. Three times this week I've tried to get a GP appointment. Eventually got one and given px. Was told that I might need a different one and to go back in two days if no change. Two days later and GP on holiday. Receptionist gatekeeper won't let me see a different GP for an ongoing condition. Explain it's not ongoing it's acute. Ring 111 who say see GP. Eventually speak to a different receptionist and say if I can't see a different GP I'm going to A&E and I'll be making a complaint about you. And voila I get an appointment and the correct additional treatment. GP even said come back tomorrow if there's no improvement as there's more we can do.

Our GP surgery has a voicemail at 9am now saying no appointments left and go to A and E. And if you have already seen a GP about something and he says .."come back to me if this doesnt work"... you have to start again by calling at 8.00.
It's awful. Surely there must be a better way of triaging sick kids with relatively minor ailments but who NEED a GP?
All the messages in the media about cancer and how you must see your GP...how many people are being missed ? Surely this is a huge ticking time bomb with the UK storing up massive health problems and inequalities?
Even accessing private GP means the prescription is usually private which can be so much more expensive ...
Where will this end ?

This country is being run by billionaires and millionaires who most probably have never used the NHS in any capacity, and they never will. They are running it into the ground, breaking it up, chunk by chunk, so that it can be entirely privatised. We will then have a medical health care system like in the USA where people are pulling out their teeth with pliers and going bankrupt over having to pay for an emergency operation for a burst appendix or whatever.

Anyone, absolutely any other political party will be better for this country, for the NHS, than the Tory’s. They are literally turning are society into a dystopian vision of the Hunger Games!! Please don’t vote Tory!!

THIS X 1000000

I’ve resorted to paying private GP on Babylon app or gogodoc.com. It’s worth the £50 to be seen within 30 mins.

Yes correct is a political choice to import 1.4 m immigrants to a country that cannot afford to support them, house them or have any existing infrastructure for them. Hence why I'm becoming one of those leaving and moving to a country that has a proper immigration system for which you have to be able to contribute significantly to live there

Must vary across the country.

I phoned up 3 weeks ago with a sinus infection, seen by GP about an hour later.

Apparently there are more F2F appointments than pre pandemic but our district hospital is in special measures, AE wait times 24 hours, dozens of ambulances waiting to discharge, corridors turned into wards.... council just approved a new 1600 housing estate.... with just 39 houses for affordable rent, so these properties will be sold to people moving into the area.

Do people have options to change practice? I feel like phoning mine up and singing their praises

Mine wouldn’t see an asthmatic child that had a wheeze and needed steroids. I know the drill, we’ve had asthma many years. I called a few times in the hope someone had cancelled. I was begging, said I know she’s at the stage steroids can help but if she doesn’t get them soon we will end up being admitted. Just said go to a&e, we can’t help. In the end I found a walk in centre 45 mins from home. They asked if we were staying in the area, when I said we had driven to avoid a&e as the GP wouldn’t see her she was mortified. Other surgery in the area no better and also not taking on new patients.

In Birmingham- a massive city with a population of over a million there is one walk in centre left.
the others have either closed or you have to call 111 to get an appointment.
Surprise surprise, it’s nearly impossible to get a gp appointment and a&es are overrun because 111 or gp receptionists tell you to go there.

The NHS needs an efficiency overhaul.

I seem to be the only person in the U.K. who is not having these problems.

Last year I had an issue on a Sunday evening, emailed gp on Monday morning, was seen Tuesday afternoon. ABs and when that didn't clear the issue, a 6 month wait for an ultrasound. That found a cyst where there shouldn't be one. Referred to gynae, appt in Dec, second ultrasound in Dec, Gynae call to agree op to remove it. Op in March. So 15 months, not fast but well communicated.

The last time ds needed help - large chunk out of knee, grit in the wound, our practice nurse saw him in about 10 minutes. But we turned up bleeding on a quiet afternoon.

Because the whole point of the OP's post is that she can't get a GP appointment! Sheesh, talk about missing the point....

This absolutely.

Or one who is doing.it on the side lol

And every private GP is a GP who will never return to NHS

Completely agree. We were at a&e last Saturday night. There were signs everywhere saying, do you need to be here, can you GP help. I said to DH at the time, all good and well the signs but it’s pretty much impossible to see the GP these days.

i am surprised a drs surgery won't fit in a child in pain with puss coming out of their ears until may tbh. My drs would definitely fit that in even if it was a Dr call back and they were completely full. I would change drs surgeries they sound particularly terrible.

Working in a busy, city centre GP practice, I genuinely feel for a lot of our patients.

Sadly, despite protestations that people can’t get appointments, I see the same faces over and over again. Patients who know exactly how to game the system, say the relevant trigger words and swallow up huge amounts of resources. I’d say at least 40-50% of GP appointments are taken up by these people.

I am also gobsmacked on a daily basis by how little certain patients are prepared to self-treat. They won’t/can’t take their child’s temperature. They refuse to go to a pharmacist, despite the free of charge Common Ailments scheme in Wales. There are plenty of people who are unwilling to hear basic medical advice from a nurse/pharmacist/physiotherapist and insist on it coming from a GP.

How is it unhelpful

Pus is always a gp appointment?