One appointment, one issue

I don't think the policy is deeply harmful or even slightly harmful, unless you happen to see an incompetent muppet instead of someone who knows what they are doing. You were unlucky and clearly saw an incompetent muppet. I have no medical training and a fair idea that all the symptoms you mentioned could be linked, the fact that your supposed medical practitioner didn't is a problem with her woeful lack of knowledge she needs for her job.

The policy is to stop you bringing your ingrowing toe nail into today's appointment, which is fair enough.

Its a massive issue, dangerous, inefficient, costly and harmful

Its part of how backward the NHS is and how disjointed and disconnected health care is in this country.

Did he actually say you were "shit" at breathing?!!!

You’re absolutely right.

I had constipation and then a lumo
formed in my abdomen.

They wouldn’t treat them as seperate and kept saying IBS and faceal impaction.

ignored other symptoms.

Grudgingly eventually sent me for an ultrasound still stating feacal impaction suspected.

Found a huge 8cm complex cyst probably on my ovary which couldn’t be seen due to the mass and within 13 days I’ve just an MRI under the cancer pathway.

If they’d listened to me months ago instead of constantly saying buy laxative OTC it may have been caught earlier.

The only bright side is the cyst has a much higher chance of being benign - but we have a family history of ovarian linked or ovarian cancers.

I think the poster was saying the opposite, not sure how you read it as that? She was surely saying that she wants as much information as possible - so much so that she was willing to listen to 29 symptoms in one appointment...

Yes, that's how they've done it in the past, but it doesn't seem to be so this year (unless it was because I ignored the text telling me to book when it first came in.)
I am back tomorrow to talk blood test results, so I will ask if they can do it then as well, which will then free up an appointment for someone else, if they agree.

The trouble is they look really cross if you “help them out” with a diagnosis gleaned from Dr Google.

I guess GPs are swamped with the worried well, but it does mean they are inclined to fob off the genuine cases. I was told I had indigestion, and then indigestion again (ozemaprole) until I was 7 stone and ended up with a ruptured gallbladder. I suppose that 99 out of 100 people do just have indigestion, and they can’t assume everyone is really ill.

if I have a issue I do a load of research and look what I think it might be and if it is what tests/ referrals I need. I then go to the doctors and tell them. Sometimes they agree but I have also been fobbed off. But I never go looking for them to advise anymore.

I totally agree about not joining the dots and some symptoms being related. I saw the GP several times with "anxiety" which was being caused by peri-menopause and they didn't even look on my notes to spot I'd had a hysterectomy 3 years previously. Or that I had attended with repeated UTIs for the same reason.

People are trying to squeeze multiple issues into one appointment because you simply cannot book multiple appointments. Getting a routine appointment means hanging on the phone for 30 minutes while you listen to "you are.... number 26... in the call queue" and then you might if you're lucky get an appointment for 2 weeks time. My GP does no online anything, no email, no video calls, no e-consult.

The whole GP system is falling to bits. We have recently had a private GP open near us, a 30 minute appointment is £95 and they cna usually see you the same day. It is a very popular service.

I k is it’s so annoying as they could all be linked. Book a double appointment next time

We have paramedics at the surgery where I work but they’re for acute problems like ear infections and uti’s - it works great for that and eases the doctors workload bit it sounds like you need a gp for this! I’d go anyway if it’s all they are offering and the paramedic should refer you to a gp

29 things 😮 That’s really quite impressive.

I can’t even imagine how many people come in with lots of unrelated complaints (to make GPs so jumpy). I have ADHD and write down what I want to say as it saves time - sometimes my mind goes blank - and I’ve been told off for that as well.

I really do wonder about the general public!

I agree that is it a very dangerous practice. How would i know which symptoms are relevant? I'm not a doctor, with 5 years of medical training, am I?

That's amazing!

Our GP has moved to filling in an online form to get an appointment (with good things in place for those who can’t) and it has actually helped with the multiple issues thing.

I don’t think they’d have picked up my long term knee issue being the cause of my neck pain (I was walking funny to compensate) had I not been able to put everything down in detail for them to read.

They’d be playing a dangerous game if they did as paramedic is a protected title.

Unlike nurse, which currently isn’t. Which a PA at our surgery definitely happily allowed people to think he was…

I agree, OP. My policy says it has this practice but in reality, the doctors never seem to enforce it and are always happy to address concerns more holistically. I am mindful that they only have 15 mins per slot and try to keep it as succinct as I can, but it depends on the issue really doesn't it?

I had a good one: I had an issue and the GP started banging out a prescription. I tried to expand on the issue and the GP snapped that my appointment included her writing prescription so my time was up. (I had had far less than 10 minutes.)

For anyone with a physical-type problem I would advise going straight to a good physiotherapist. They spend time actually identifying the problem, there is no wait for treatment and they can usually cure it! Hang the expense, it’s worth every penny for a shoulder/knee/foot etc.

I have steroid injections for arthritis, around two a year so far.

For these appointments, I have to ring the surgery, they make a note of my details and where the injection is sited, then I wait for someone to ring me and give me an actual appointment after running it past the doctor to decide whether or not I can have the injection. As I only seem to have two a year, I am within the criteria for having them.

My GP surgery seems to be one of the better ones locally and I am pleased that I can make these appointments by actually phoning and speaking to someone directly (even if I am on hold for a while) rather than struggling with an e-consult form online.

If I get a different health issue though, that might be a lot trickier to get an appointment. 🤔

@PumpkinSeasonIsHere I thought he was joking at first! He’s one of the 2 partners - I saw the other one once and had to do a breathing test and he told me I was ‘shit at breathing’ 😕.
I’ve tried leaving reviews online but they get removed and I got a warning email about leaving negative reviews on care.

I’ve moved house now so it’s a larger surgery and getting an appointment is very difficult!