Dr's phone calls when you work

I don’t think you can compare taking part in activities as an actual job!

I'm a GP who does phone triage. Teachers etc leave their break and lunch time details and we call then

The system does not work for retired people either. Most of us fill our time with activities and volunteering which means we cannot necessarily take calls at random times.
And as for telephone frailty assessments........why is the NHS wasting money on them? I refused mine on the grounds that they would learn more if they actually saw the patient.

Last time I did an econsult I got a text saying I was probably fine and if symptoms hadn’t resolved in six months to call again.

so at least I didn’t have to be available for a phone call 🤦‍♀️

I did once get a phone call from an econsult and I walked out of a lesson to take the call. I got away with it because it was a sixth form lesson and they are very well behaved. Since the alternative is taking a full day off school I refuse to feel guilty. Many schools however wouldn’t allow the teacher to have their phone in the room, I’m lucky that mine does.

Why do so many on this thread assume that everyone's GP practice works in the same way as theirs? There is no facility to do what you suggest, on my surgery's triage form

@HelenWheels Are you lacking in comprehension?

You made a comment about teachers. I commented back that it wouldn't work, then you asked if the thread was only for teachers. Clearly it isn't.

Really not that easy for many.

the op is a teacher

YANBU. It's def not set up for anyone who works.

No but your comment was just about teachers 🙄.

obviously i am not a teacher, is this thread for teachers only, @MultiplaLight
many many people work, not all of us are teachers

My GP just gives you a morning or afternoon window and you can be called anytime in that four hours.

I work in a public facing roll with no privacy. If I have no customers talking to me, I'm able to take the call but sometimes my colleagues can hear all my health business.

If I was given say a 30 min window for the call, my boss would be happy for me to organise my dinner then and sit in the car to take the call.

Last time I complained, I was told "GP's are very busy people". So am I, trying to juggle work, family and all the rest of it.

That would be found to be completely unacceptable in my school. That would be for something like your partner being rushed to hospital or your house on fire. And any way, I'd not be able to leave the class to take the call regardless, as noone could cover me at short notice. It's not appropriate to have that call in the classroom with children present.

Tell me you don't work as a teacher without telling me.

Often sencos have a reduced timetable so are more available. Doctors won't wait the 15 mins it takes to get me to the phone.

I'm lucky our practise treat phone appointments like normal appointments. They give you an actual time the doctor will call & although they do warn you the doctor might be running late they never are. They call within 5/10 mins either side of your allocated time. I dont know why that's not the default system for phone calls.

I’m a GP and my patients can request calls after a certain time, if they can’t take calls at work.
If it’s any consolation, I struggle to take calls at work too, unless they happen to come between patients.

those who teach, cant you give the number of the school and the receptionist will come and find you?
i sometimes have to call, usually sencos, and this is what they do

My practice is a bit better. It uses an app, which opens for messages from 6am daily, so most people can register a query. The app has lots of free text areas, so you can note your availability. I've had a few issues solved with an exchange of messages checked in breaks, not needing a telephone appointment at all.

At our practice the 8 am appointments are emergency appointments for more serious things so really if you were at work you don’t need these day of appointments.
Then you fill out a form for a response within 2 days for more of a routine appointment.

yes put it on the econsult that you are at work and can take the call after 4 pm, good idea

I'm in education too and just can't see a GP. I see them for immediate illness where I am ill enough to be off sick anyway. That is always in person, because I am always so ill they want to physically see me, so that's easy. That is all. I am not allowed time off from work for non emergency medical appointments.

I have a problematic chest (not quite asthmatic levels, but lung damage and very, very recurant chest infections) that I am meant to be on inhalers for and have reviewed. I no longer use the inhalers, as I cannot get an appointment to have a review, because I cannot access my GP for routine appointments. All my local GPs use the same system, so no point swapping. It's very annoying.

If you work, you just pay for other people to use the NHS and have to pay privately when you need healthcare. See also, surgery. If you need (e.g. a hysterectomy) within the next two years so that you can actually carry on working, you’ll need to stump up privately. I speak from bitter experience.

Put on the econsult that you are a teacher and need a phone call after 4.00 or in your lunch hour.