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

saying things like this put people off going to the doctors. The amount of people dismiss symptoms as they don’t want to be seen as making a fuss and then when they go it’s too late.

i am sure most people who go in don’t need a doctor but until they go in how would they know that?

I went to the GP back in June. He thought I shouldn’t be there. I would be one of those 80% but I was having panic attacks, constantly fearful, severe low mood. My GP just didn’t give a shit. So I think your GP is talking shite.

I agree. Pharmacists do not have medical training. They can be brilliant with managing medication etc but they have no idea about differential diagnosis.

I have a long term neurological condition one of the most common symptoms is migraine. There are certain medications for migraine that I can't take because I have asthma. I remember a GP arguing that because my scan was "normal" (normal for me) I'm imagining the pain and do I want counselling.

I was also told that my vertigo was anxiety. I was fine vertigo wise until I injured my head

Exactly! Just because they answer the phone does not mean they cannot also follow instructions on who needs to be seen today. Chest pain and breathless? A&E, vague on and off arm pain for a few weeks? Come in next Tuesday. Sudden redness, temp and inflammation? Come in today.

Anyone with the most basic of knowledge could triage the many ailments folk ring GPs about.

Must be the world's most boring job for someone who has gone to all the trouble of going to medical school. All those years fo stress and study for a day of sick notes, rashes and aches and pains.

It's one of many symptoms. The vast majority of people with heartburn just have heartburn and need a spoonful of Gaviscon. A doctor can't see every person with heartburn, unless that person is happy to go private and pay £150 for an appointment. Someone needs to filter out the people with actual problems from people who should probably just lay off the red wine and chips.

We now have that option as an email, with a 48hr response time.

Except the home blood pressure monitor won't be calibrated and could easily be giving inaccurate results

That is what I mean. The statistic for not needing to see a GP includes those who have conditions that are not being identified by the GP. It is not ‘80% don’t need a GP appointment’ it is ‘80% of appointments do not result in treatment or a referral’ - which is something quite different.

My Dad had acid reflux and was directed over and over to pharmasist who gave him antacids. Collapsed. Stage 3 oesophageal cancer

mum sent to pharmacist for sore throat over and over. Stage 4 throat cancer

best friend sent to pharmasist for mouth thrust. Stage 4 oral cancer. Live changing treatment - can no longer talk, tube fed for rest of her life

me - sent for otc pain relief. 10 days in hospital with pancreatitis.

sorry but I strongly think you need to see a gp not these phone calls

When you want a GP appointment in Spain you can phone the health centre, but you can also log in to the health system website (with your digital ID) and click on "I want an appointment to see a medical professional". Then it says "Will a nurse do? Nurses are awfully good for minor stuff. Please consider coming in to see the nurse". But you can click "No, actually, I really do want a doctor" and it will let you book a GP appointment.

I assume that a lot of people probably let themselves get nudged into seeing the nurse, who of course can escalate you to a doctor if your condition is beyond her training. Depending a bit on where you live you can often get a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning if you ask on Monday - perhaps because lots of people are just seeing the nurse and not taking up the doctor's time.

I don't think it's very clear who you should see for what, at the GP-and-Pharmacy end of healthcare.

My GP practice has a form you can fill in online where you tell them what the problem is, and they direct you to the help you need. They respond by text, offering a call from a nurse or GP if appropriate, or a face to face with the right one if not. That call or appointment could be same day, or next day, or in two weeks, depending on the urgency. Sometimes you can get a prompt to go to the linked pharmacist and they'll help me.

It's amazing. I don't sit in the call of doom at 8am, and I know I will be seen at exactly the right time by exactly the right service. The form allows me to structure my thoughts, you can attach photos... It's ace.

My practice also makes really good use of its nurses.

I voted YABU and actually quite dangerous.

The people who are so self absorbed that they go for every little thing won't take this to heart and will still go.

The carry on regardless type people who put off going when they need to because they don't want to bother the Doctor or be a burden or aren't sure if it's something or nothing, but actually are seriously in need of a Dr who might have cancer or other malady for which early treatment improves survival rates are even less likely to go after reading posts like this. I'm sure we all know at least one person who died needlessly because they didn't go to the GP in time or their GP was dismissive.

Most GPs are good, some are excellent, some as pointed out on this thread are crap and miss things prompting repeat visits. All are human and can miss things the first time.

Confirmation bias could be at play prompting your GP friend to subconsciously inflate figures. He could be counting people who rightly attended with suspicious symptoms that then turned out to be a false alarm.

That was just an example. What I’m trying to say is that sometimes something that seems like a minor issue can actually be a sign of something more serious. People are much more health-conscious these days for instance, persistent heartburn could be an early sign of oesophageal cancer. It shouldn’t be up to the reception staff to turn people away. By all means, triage patients to ensure they see the most appropriate person, but don’t dismiss them or tell them to “just Google it” (like I was once told). It’s not their role to decide who gets seen and who doesn’t.
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When you were growing up you would have got.a same day appointment. Now if you make your appointment on the first day of your illness you would be lucky to be seen in three weeks time..

@Hiptothisjive my surgery used to offer several telephone appointments a week but for some reason even though they have same number of GPs still, they’ve removed that particular appointment type which I can’t get my head around. Many times I just need to describe something which there would be no visible symptoms for anyway so the phone appts were perfect, faster and more convenient for everyone.

They shouldn’t be triaging though as they are not medically trained. I called about a headache that I had had for two weeks. The receptionist asked if I had tried painkillers… no the first thing I thought of was to call the GP and waste both our time! My blood pressure was high. I had pneumonia and the receptionist told me it was just a cold and to rest…I was hospitalised. I was told if I’d had antibiotics when I called the GP I would have avoided hospital. They should not be diagnosing people!

I now have a pain where my right ovary lives and would rather just accept it than see a Dr as no doubt I’ll be told it’s muscular or some other shit.

Another whose parent was fobbed off for months before they realised they had terminal cancer. There’s a pretty huge chance according to the hospice doctor theta they could have been saved. The gp came to the funeral looking shook. I don’t blame him but it does make you think- putting your faith in this one person …

What else was I supposed to do?

I had chronic infections. Antibiotics needed every time, or I’d end up with fevers of 40°, in A&E. The pharmacy would always send me back to the GP because they couldn’t help, because it was a chronic condition. Maybe if GPs listened to their patients more, this wouldn’t be an issue.

If the patient just has a simple cold, how did they end up in a GP appt? Who triaged them?

The antibiotics thing has gone so far the other way where I have personal experience of quite obviously NEEDING them and the GP fobbing me off. I walked out of that appointment visibly upset, and I assume that this prompted her to rethink as she rang me and left a voicemail saying "on reflection" and "upon reviewing my notes" she changed her mind and a prescription for amoxicillin has been sent to the pharmacy. I predictably immediately started improving once on them. I will never forget how she refused to listen and how she clearly thought I was a mindless idiot demanding antibiotics just because of my stupidity - she even gave me a lecture on antibiotic resistance. Never mind I have a PhD on the thing but whatever, she had no reason to know that, I get it. I still see her name in my local surgery and immediately get the rage.

Yet all those appointments are probably included in the 80% who ‘don’t need a GP appointment’….

Well I think there’s been a shift in general. When I was growing up it was generally accepted that you’d stay home and be ill for around 3 days before seeking gp ( ie if sickness/ear ache/sore throat/temperature type things) and treat symptoms at home.

now it’s as little Johnny gets a temp rush to take them down ( for an antibiotic prescription that doesn’t work)

I think we’ve shifted from a wait and see if it worsens culture to a demand based must fix now.

plus there are things that you could just go to. Pharmacy etc for and not need gp at all

It’s really a problem with life and human beings as much as with the medical and social service provided by GPs.

in the same way, it’s recognised in business that 80% marketing budgets completely wasted. The difficulty is knowing or working out the 20% which is effective.

First line treatment for a chronic cough is antibiotics. But a chronic cough could also be indicative of lung cancer or asthma - both fatal conditions.

I think it goes both ways. I had a chronic condition and it took EIGHT YEARS to get a referral. I was told it was all down to my weight (entirely unrelated, btw, the consultant confirmed it). I had an op and it’s cleared. If someone had made that referral 8 years earlier it would have saved 10+ GP appointments a year with the same issue