My GP has told me that 80% of their appointments don't need a GP appointment.

I used to be a GP receptionist (I was a nice one!) and yes lots of people come to the Dr when 2 paracetamol and a good nights sleep would have sorted their issue. But you see it on here all the time ‘should I go to A&E?’ And loads of people saying yes just to be sure.

But the NHS is massively inefficient and could help itself with a good dose of common sense, and removal of not needed appointments (like pp have described).

I’ll defend him and say I think he’s a good doctor. He’s very happy to refer people on and critical of others who don’t, he always says if he’s not 100% sure of something then someone deserves to be seen someone who has expertise in that area.
In the practice he was in there were a lot of patients who wanted a weekly standing appointment so they had it just in case they felt unwell. So they could pop in on their shopping day for a chat.
I know he’s been in other practices where it’s been different so it’s not all surgeries. He’s was in one in a wealthy area which he said had the fittest patients he’d ever seen, said it was a bit dull.

My SIL goes to the doctor every time she has a cold to ask for antibiotics as they make her feel better? Her own parents were GPs so you’d think she’d know better than that (she doesn’t get them). She would also take her children with colds and splinters in their fingers etc to ‘just check’

I disagree on this.

I do wish people had more understanding of viral infections and the fact that there's very little anyone can do except wait.

But I also have taken my child to the walk in for things like a badly bumped head that I was 99% sure was ok (impressive black eye though) but wanted a professional opinion - I may be overly paranoid but also wanted to get it checked to cover my back incase he did later develop concussion symptoms and I faced questions about why I didn't bring him straight in

I've currently got two moles I want checking but because its not urgent I feel like I'm wasting time as its likely fine - however doctors are trained professionals and a lot of the general public are relatively uneducated about disease so I feel like reassurance and peace of mind is actually part of their role.

My brothers pneumonia was missed by GPs when he was young and dismissed as just flu or something- it was only because my mum was a nurse and insisted on a chest xray that it was picked up.

Under resourced system, coupled with breakdown in community support

I can’t fathom why monthly prescriptions are only issued in the UK in some cases. In Ireland prescriptions can be issued up to 12 months in advance for repeat ones so say for eg the contraceptive pill. They can only be dispensed monthly and most people leave on file in the chemist and then ring or go online every month and order as required. How does it make any sense to tie up a GP every 28 days for this. That’s 12 times a year a GP potentially has to issue a prescription in the UK vs 1 for the same medication for a patient in Ireland. When I read on threads like this about people waiting potentially weeks for an appointment with a GP it suddenly starts to make sense

But presumably the mother was worried it was broken or maybe he had an infected nail?

My dh was fobbed off by his gp, told to take otc medicine, an and e said the same.

He had stage 4 cancer and died 6 weeks later.

my mum was told similar, told to get gaviscon from the chemist over and over again, told her to change her diet, gp wouldn’t see her until my mum kicked off.

also had stage 4 stomach cancer.

i don’t doubt some people are timewasters but they don’t seem to be catching the people who truly need the gp to take their symptoms seriously

But feeling "a bit off" literally IS the first indicator that something is wrong for nearly all health issues!

I agree with some of the previous comments = 80% of patients ending the appointment without medication or a referral doesn't mean all of those appointments weren't needed.

I have to go to Dr's at least once a year for repeat prescriptions for a) the pill b) excema cream. Both of which I've been taking for 20 years so why can't they just be reissued? Its wasting my time as much as theirs.

It makes no sense to me to say that 80% of GP appointments are not needed. What can you actually see a GP for?
When I had digestive problems, it was three months before I could see a GP, who immediately referred me to hospital. When I have had cellulitis, I have had to go to Urgent Care or A&E, as no GP appointments and pharmacists will not prescribe for it.

👏👏👏👏👏

That bothers me a lot less than when I know I shouldn't need to see a GP but the system defaults to that process.

So, the medical system in this country is basically only for emergencies now? Not everything is a 999 case. Like I’ve said, I had chronic health issues and they weren’t emergency but needed to be seen, to get me a referral. Are people supposed to wait until they’re on death’s door to be seen?

The real issue is that we set up the system to put everything through the GP and new we are slow to readjust. I have to get certain prescriptions filled by a GP (chronic condition that is intermittent) so there should be a process that doesn’t require the GP personally involved. I have had a few infections recently and was able to make cleat to the receptionist that a nurse practitioner (some other name now) could do it, that worked fine.

The reality is that there are lots of deliberate processes that the system in the UK funnels people in the wrong direction. For example the pharmacy restrictions are excessive. There are medications that are over the counter in Europe that we make prescription only. We make limited use of nurses. Getting a referral requires a doctor, when we should be able to request and have a dr review a batch and ask to see someone if they are unsure.

The idea is that a doctor may see from history more than a less qualified person. The reality is that we could have AI review medical histories and then flag to a GP a patient that may need to have their history reviewed. I normally know what my issue is, but the process tries to funnel towards a GP. When I need to see a GP I would rather they weren’t taken up with people like me who would be happy with an alternative.

Inefficiency is built into the system.

Yep. After seeing the amount of parents on here who want to take their child to the gp after only being mildly ill for a few days it doesn't surprise me!

Nail on the head.

Its just another way to blame the general public for the failings within the nhs. If doctors actually listened first time a lot of appointments could be avoided.

And lots of people, like my MIL, end up in A&E as their condition worsens because the GPs couldn't be arsed to diagnose and provide proper treatments.

Just a day before my MIL was blue lighted to hospital with double pneumonia, we took her to the GP, who listened to her chest and decreed it was clear and there was no need for antibiotics nor other treatment for her very obvious severe chest pains and breathing/coughing problems. In A&E they immediately put her on an AB drip after checking her chest and confirming it was completely blocked in both lungs! No way on Earth was her chest clear the day before!

I knew someone who would take her child to the Dr for every single illness. Every cold, every temperature etc. She would panic at him being even slightly unwell and didn't trust her judgement. I very gently suggested care at home was all that was needed, calpol and cuddles. But she'd go to the gp anyway. It baffled me.

My gp has an econsult and it works wonders. My non urgent appointment was given to me the same day I enquired a few weeks away. When my daughters finger swelled up dramatically they called back in ten minutes and had antibiotics ready right away despite it being half an hour before closing.

I hear you all, I do. But how many of those "time wasters" have a serious medical condition? We don't know and the attitude endanger public health.

Surely at that point she was one of the most housebound ill patients.

I had the same. Too unwell to safely leave the house, couldn't walk straight, struggled to even use the phone, dismissed by receptionist. When I was well enough to read NHS advise it was call an ambulance 🙄. Chronic condition still ongoing and medicated 30 years later. Faster diagnosis and treatment could have improved outcome.

I agree.

So true, my DH could have written that. It's classic NHS "fob off" mentality. My husband is regularly pinged between his oncologist and GP surgery, neither of whom are remotely interested in dealing with all the side effects and other conditions related to his cancer. Oncologist only cares about a specific blood test marker. GP regards literally everything as being "due to cancer" so fobs him off back to the oncologist. It's horrendous.

GPs don't see people because they are time wasters. If someone is that poorly they can call 111, or 999, or even go to a pharmacist or even go to a GP. If a GP isn't seeing you, there's usually a reason - more urgent cases.

GPs and A&E should only see people who are actually ill. Not someone with a sniffle, or an achy finger.

I'm under a hospital more than 2 hours away by public transport for a very rare condition. My NHS trust does not employ any consultants in this speciality.

In order for my bloods to be done vaguely near my house (at my own doctors surgery) rather than me needing an entire day trip, and for these results be added to my nhs record so my consultant can see them, requires me to book (and waste) an entire GP appointment.

(Most of my appointments with the consultant are over the telephone so it's not like I am there anyway)

The A&E issue arises because GPs won’t see people and leave them to get worse until they feel that it’s their only option. Yes you get some egregious cases like you’ve mentioned but you also get a lot of poorly people who have nowhere else to go.