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

Well I expect a certain percentage don’t need a GP just like a percentage don’t need to go to A and E or call an ambulance. How to sift those struggling with health anxiety or time wasters from the genuine people who do need medical attention is the hard part. 80% seems high but yes if they are needed just for a referral then you could argue they do need an appointment as the system is set up so everything goes through the GP. If 80% are going just because they have a virus then that should be addressed. I would like to see them charging for missed appointments too.

Unpopular opinion but this is why most countries, even ones with universal healthcare like France and Portugal, have some form of copay for appointments.

If an appointment costs £30 then 80% of people with a rash or hurty finger will go to the pharmacist first.

I get called into the gp when i'm just after a referral, a waste of both our time

I agree! Bring it on!

This ⬆️. Exactly.
My GP practice has a triage system to work out priorities. Last time my GP rang me at an agreed time, a couple of days later. That was all that was needed.

I get a six month prescription which the pharmacist holds. I do have to collect them every month but since it is just down the road it isn’t an issue. At the end of 6 months I get a phone medication review, usually from a pharmacist attached to the practice. Twice a year seems reasonable to me. Sometimes I am asked to do a blood test, forms are left at the reception and again a phone call is offered for results.

My daughter had sudden sensorineural hearing loss in one ear and when I googled it everything said "this is an emergency go to A&E immediately". We went and the triage nurse said we didn't need to be there, but she grudgingly let us see the doctor.

The doctor said it was absolutely the right thing to go there, she got the needed immediate steroids and she got her hearing back. What if we'd been fobbed off by that triage nurse? Triage doesn't always get things right. We could have taken days getting a GP appointment.

Did they mean don't need to go through a GP at all or just don't actually need to speak to one/go into the surgery? I had a problem with an infected toe nail last year - I filled out the form, sent a photo and an hour later got an email to say a prescription had gone to the pharmacy, same when my youngest got conjunctivitis (below the she you can get it otc)... form, photo, email saying prescription with pharmacy. I didn't need to see/speak to a GP but I did need them to do something iyswim.

DH went to the GP about 10 times before one referred him for a scan where he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was told more than once that 'we all get a bit tired sometimes' and he should get over it. Not one GP thought it was unusual for a gym going healthy young man to feel extremely tired which was one of his symptoms.

Maybe they need to get better with their triage system. Appointments are made online with my GP and the form includes lots of questions that cover all the symptoms and history. It covers anything that would be said in an appointment so they should be able to use that to decide if a GP appointment is needed or if the person needs to be signposted elsewhere. If a medical professional can't appropriately triage and say if a GP appointment is needed how can we expect the general public to know if one is needed?

This might be stating the obvious, but how can non-medical people be expected to diagnose whether what's wrong with them needs a GP appointment?

My GP practice will now only prescribe, even LIFELONG medication like thyroxine (I have no thyroid gland), every two months. Such a waste of time and money.

My GP told me it was new NHS practice to not give prescriptions for more than two months

Sounds believable to me. I think we have an incredibly anxiety prone society now. I would imagine it’s often the same people who go again and again too.

Well I was probably included in that 80% of time wasters as I went to the GP numerous times with agonising pelvic pain. One insinuated I had health anxiety.

One day I took myself to A&E and was on an operating table a couple of hours later. I had a huge ruptured dermoid cyst.

My ex is a GP and I used to hear about a lot of misconducts that would go on.

Most people would rather not take time off work to book a gp appointment unless necessary.

Most of my appointments have been to see a nurse and I'm happy with that. I think there are some people who insist on seeing a GP when it's not necessary though.

With my last appointment for a dressing change, the nurse called in the GP who sent me urgently to hospital. I've been here for 10 days now and will be here for another week. I think it's a good system.

My doctors surgery has now implemented an online system where you put in all the details of what is wrong with you, which they then triage and deal with your issue appropriately. So if you only need to see a nurse that will be the outcome. I once had an inhaler that did not work and simply logged in and raised a call in the system and a new inhaler was ready for me in 30 mins. For me, so far it has been excellent. When I did need to see a Dr I got an appt that morning. This is a practice that was once voted the worst GP practice in the UK as well.

Probably needs information as to why they think they are wasted / not required

i recall one doctor saying that lonely old people took too many appointments as they could talk to someone

that’s quite different from people expecting miracle cure because they can’t afford to take days off sick

or someone wanting a diagnosis for a child they dont know how to parent

abd that’s quite different from people not knowing they can’t afford talk to a pharmacist

or they should socialise with friends or just get on a lose weight and exercise more themselves - there is an element of taking personal responsibility and improving social interactions. Years ago no one understood why the residents of pit villages didn’t want to move - they didn’t understand the value of the local community supporting you,listening and we have lost a lot of that in our insular lives - you see it on here - don’t get involved , don’t answer the door, don’t go if you don’t want to - in building isolation we remove mental and emotional support

so lots of possible reasons all with different solutions

Yeah, it works until it doesn’t. For example, let’s say I call in and mention that I’ve had abdominal pain and diarrhoea for the past few days. Without actually seeing someone, how can the receptionist or anyone else for that matter know whether it’s just a mild food issue or something more serious? That’s where my concern lies. I don’t mind explaining my symptoms, but some things can point to a range of possible conditions. Sometimes you need a more in-depth discussion about what’s happening, when it started, and how it’s progressed to really get to the bottom of it and to decide whether further tests might be needed, that’s where doctor is needed…

The medicine wastage issue is valid, both as an expense and ecological pov. And of course it matters if there are drug shortages. Which apply to some medications but not others and can vary over time.

The solution is monthly dispensing which is different from monthly prescribing. Your GP can prescribe 3 months and it can be dispensed every month. Dispensing a months supply to three people is better than three months supply to one person who might not use it and then bins it or returns it (and it has to be binned).

General practice exists to manage the health of their patients. Not everyone needs the attention of a doctor for their health needs or condition. But the safest and quickest person to assess who needs to be seen by who is a GP. They are very very good at it and how they do it saves a lot of money.

Given that people pay for health care directly or indirectly via taxes or in person it is better that we have a system that gatekeeps and signposts people effectively. Which our system does when it is funded properly. In countries where people refer themselves into specialists, time, expertise and money is wasted and the cost of healthcare tends to be astronomical.

They're trained to take information and task doctors to look at it. However our GP is e consult now.

Just how often do you need to be referred to a consultant? 😮

How many people lie to the receptionists, or see right red flag terms, to ensure they get a GP appointment though? It’s often encouraged on here. Just have a look at the threads complaining about GP receptionists. They refuse to divulge their reason for calling to an untrained, jumped up desk jockey. They can’t win!

Exactly. Not quite the same but I once turned up to minor injuries and said I wasn't sure if I should be here, A&E or something else. I was told when I should attend minors and when it's A&E. Was asked a few questions and then sent on my way with advice

(I fell and injured my head. I wasn't sure because other than one grazed knee and a small bump to my head I felt ok)

I need a repeat depo (contraceptive) injection in the next two weeks, the GP have a new "triage system" online, AND on the phone, I filled it in online and was given only ONE appointment option in 3 weeks time, which is outside the contraception window and just happens to be when I'd be on holiday.

Tried calling, all day the phone lines are not accepting calls to the queue, drove past on way to work and people are queuing out the door that's why!!

Called in at other branch and she made me an appointment for next week, as it is a nurse I need it doesn't need triage, apparently because the receptionists have to now ALSO fill in this online triage system for every patient that rings or turns up wanting an appointment, each call is taking about 10-20 minutes, instead of people scanning through a list of ailments and saying none of the above on the online system.. the receptionists have to ask if they have every single one.. and read EVERY SINGLE THING that comes up on the screen.

Anyone trying to ring for simple quick things can no longer get through!!

I've used the e-consult system before and now this triage system and it goes so far round the houses to things that aren't actually applicable to your issue, pages and pages of irrelevance, before narrowing down what your problem actually is, that it isn't fit for purpose IMO.

Common sense has just gone!

How many of those visits could be avoided with better system efficiency? People aren’t always time wasters. They are just as annoyed at having their own time wasted with a trip to the GP that could have been an email, a brief chat with the nurse, or a direct referral to a specialist.