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

Having said that, I spent 5 months going to a male GP who insisted I was imagining my pain or that it was IBS. In the end, he told me I was 'a woman of a certain age seeking attention'. I was 34 😡

A week later I collapsed in A&E and was admitted with a raging abdo infection, sores all up my back and a twisted ovarian dermoid, the size of a grapefruit. I lost an ovary and tube (and the dermoid), had a 5 hour op, a hip to hip scar, 7 days in women's surgical and 6 weeks off work.

I tried to get help, I don't normally make a fuss, am generally healthy but I knew there was something badly wrong, he just wouldn't listen.

Sometimes you just can't win.

Why? High blood pressure is very common. There's nothing they'd be able to see that you can't see on your home blood pressure monitor and they can explain to you how to use the medication on the phone. Why do you want to see them?

If you have a symptom that's worrying you then you need to think about if it's actually worrying and what you can do to help yourself. Most minor ailments can be easily treated at home and will go away with time.

I don't know to be honest 🙁

I suppose my first thought when I see "headlines" like this, is that the government are about to announce more cuts or closing local gp practices for super hubs 🤷
call me a cynic

My GP told me to stop wasting his time when I presented with an infection. I ended up in critical care for 10 days with Sepsis

No but they are trained to triage the patient to the correct department (ie doctor vs nurse)

I would be very interested in knowing what exactly they have decided doesn't need a doctor.

And if they're right, then we done ally need many doctors at surgeries do we?

I'm cynical because I was fobbed off numerous times at the surgery, by doctors and then when they decided I should see a nurse practitioner instead, by the NP.

I became a pain in the arse, and eventually got a.blood test.

Turned out I had ovarian cancer.

So I'm rather dubious when medical professionals say anything like this.

My GP calls it "SLS" (shit life syndrome)
Not much can be done for some people, sadly.
Years of poor mh, poor physical health, abusive relationships, substance abuse etc
Social prescribing was supposed to help people, but its pretty patchy and - again - whilst I admire the sentiment - how do you get a 70 year old man with uncontrolled diabetes and a partial amputation to go to an allotment!?
Lots of elderly people are very lonely (like my mum) but that suggestion - and the suggestion they can do something about it - is usually met with either denial or anger.

And I have demanded antibiotics! Literally had to do a sit in and say I am NOT leaving this room without antibiotics.

Strep throat which kept coming back clean on the swabs. Finally someone rings me up something like 2 months later and says omg you need to get antibiotics. Strep b is really bad.

It’s like I know! I have been dealing with this on and off for 2 months straight. Thankfully the docs just gave in each time and kept me going with short courses and reswabbing until it finally showed up on test.

Culminated in me doing quite a big feet stamp at the end. Managed to get 10 day course for me and 7 day for everyone in the family (including toddler) as I am sure we had a carrier. And they said yes!

Finally no issues since 😅

I genuinely wonder what GPs think they are there for these days.

Of course there are time wasters, there always have been, but if people have a symptom that is worrying them or making them feel unwell why shouldn't they see a doctor?

I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. For my annual medication review I have to take my take my own blood pressure and then get a phone call once a year from some doctor I've never met. Is it really too much to expect to see a doctor once a year, especially to discuss being prescribed a new drug (as happened this year)?

If we had a properly functioning GP service, such as we had 20 or 30 years ago the NHS as a whole would be greatly improved.

No, receptionists shouldn’t be used as minimum wage triage - they are not qualified to do that job. The “training” they get is barely tick box worthy and its entirely unfair to expect them to do triage. Its not an accident that so many negative comments on here related to the misuse of receptionists as medical triage.

My practice also triage patients before allocating appointments. A GP or occasionally their lead NP (who is very experienced and excellent) does the triaging. They find it an effective use of qualified time which also better serves their patients.

I suspect any GP who dismisses 80% of their patients as time wasters is a lousy GP. If on the other hand the point is that many appointments are an unnecessary waste of their and their patients’ time but are required by the bureaucracy to access the next gate then I have a lot of sympathy with them. Ditto the frequency of repeat prescriptions for life time or long term drugs which used to be prescribed for much longer intervals.

There's a lot of people with "health anxiety" about them or their children. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of those appointments are taken up by a small number of repeat offenders.

Every ache and pain is arthritis, bone cancer, blood clots and certain death, every sniffle is monkey pox or ebola. I suppose it's better than rushing to A & E every time you pull a muscle.

I can see the appeal- as in some countries- of charging a nominal fee, like £15 an appointment, but I can also see that this would lead to people not going when in fact there really is a serious issue, which would end up costing a lot of money in the long run when it turns into an urgent serious issue.

Doctors would always rather see a child than not. In the GP surgery or in A&E.

the 80% will mostly be adults who are lonely or alone. Young and old.

Perhaps we need better triage services for them via nurses.

the online booking system at my GP is beyond me tho. So I have no idea how less technically savvy people get an appointment!!!

Until they turn up at A&E either with a much more serious condition that should have been picked up earlier, or to avoid the cost of seeing a GP.

Bloody hell, if the NHS had it's way we'd all die just nice and quietly in our homes and not bother them at all, for anything, ever.

Doing their job seeing patients must be such a terrible burden for them. Don't go to A&E unless you're literally about to expire, but also don't go to your GP either because they'll probably deem you to be a malingerer. Soon it'll be don't go to the chemist because you don't feel well, they're too busy to deal with customers.

I think there are a lot of people who don't know basic nursing and expect a GP to be at their first point of call. Many of us have little contact with our mums or older women who have years of basic nursing experience.

I think that lots of people don't know how to maintain their own immune systems. If people eat processed rubbish or feed it to their children, they will have less resistance to every-day bugs and infections. If they don't get enough sleep, don't look after themselves, they will have less resistance. If they get little exercise or fresh air, they will have less resistance.

We also have the issues of overcrowding, a soaring cost of living, poor air quality in cities, and people being expected to work when they should be in bed, unless they have a sick note.

My ds is in the upper sixth. I cook from scratch every day, ensure we eat a well balanced diet with a wide variety of fresh fruit & veg, and vit D supplements in winter. He gets exercise, and plenty of sleep in a warm properly ventilated room. He's had one day off sick in 7 years.

A lot of little things make a big difference.

Last two times I went were for UTI and tonsillitis
both needed antibiotics and pharmacy can’t treat me

As absolutely this! The GP in the OP is full of shit.

Charge a £10 fee and that will cut the numbers down

My own lived experience in my local area (which, like most areas now is majority older people 65+) is that there are many older people with things like diabetes, copd, smoking or drinking related health issues who totally refuse to take meds/manage their meds/condition/refuse to use mobility aids, refuse to have carers or other support - these are the people I see and hear about at the drs every week and taking up hospital beds for weeks/months at a time. They are the ones "demanding" medications, district nurse visits, meds to be delivered, dr home visits...
There was one lady who lived near mum who had a dr home visit each week and after the dr left (if she had bothered to stay at home of course.. ) she'd be off on her scooter to the hairdressers/getting her nails done.
She used to make appointments at the drs, get there, refuse to wait more than 3 minutes and demand a home visit.
In comparison, when my mum had a stroke, I was told the ambulance would be 8 hours and to take her to the hospital myself 🤷
There are lots of people (not just the elderly) who totally abuse the system, whilst refusing to take responsibility for their health issues.
I've tried to use the pharmacy and even a private online GP, but they are very limited in what they can do/prescribe.
I think the primary care side of the nhs needs a total overhaul.
Its not fit for purpose.

10 years for me, then 2 year wait for surgery
lots of GP visits in between for pain relief

As part of my job I get sent patient summary’s from gp surgeries - I find it fascinating the tiny things people get a doctors appointment for!

For example - and I know I’ll be told these are all essential but I’ve grown up only going to GP when it’s really really bad….

painful tip of thumb
dry skin on calf
feeling sick
mild cough
feet aching
would like to loose weight (normal bmi)

The last two times I have visited the GP has been for antibiotics (infected labial cyst and tonsillitis). Problem is if we want to gatekeep antibiotics then you need to see a doctor if you want some. It’s a societal choice. I’d rather everyone who needs antibiotics saw a doctor then we overuse them.

I don’t know how they are working this out tbh.

Having children now it’s really difficult. There’s times I have ‘wasted their time’; also times when I haven’t gone and should have and subsequently that’s been a dangerous decision.

Currently deliberating past few days whether I should take 7 month old to the docs for inconsable night screaming. Could be nothing. Could be something. No bloody idea!

The GP I saw when I was in a lot of pain walking, who dismissed it as PGP (and told me to put up with it like he had to) would have told you that I didn’t need a GP appt. Yet a different GP took me seriously, referred me, and I was found to have multiple hernias, plus severe adhesions on my c-section scar. Following surgery, I haven’t had any pain since.