Why are GP surgery’s still locked down?

[Itwasoverwhen]

I work in an acute hospital which is fully open (in and out patient). A&E is open. Minor injuries is open. Urgent treatment centre is open.

Tried to get a very rare GP appointment only to be told they are doing face to face, I need to wait for the next block of telephone appointments to be released on Monday (for the following week) and then ring and try to get one of them. They’ve suspended the online appointment booking facility and you have to sit in a queue on the phone hoping you get a phone appointment for the NEXT week?!

Are they ever just going to open up again?

*aren’t doing face to face

Ours has a new AskmyGP system which is online. You submit your issue online and then they get back to you with the next steps e.g. with dd it was erratic periods and hiccuping and she had to go for blood tests and then got prescribed folic acid for low folate after the results. She's also been given the option of getting the pill to make her periods more predictable. All done without a face to face GP appointment.

@dementedpixie

Ours has a new AskmyGP system which is online. You submit your issue online and then they get back to you with the next steps e.g. with dd it was erratic periods and hiccuping and she had to go for blood tests and then got prescribed folic acid for low folate after the results. She's also been given the option of getting the pill to make her periods more predictable. All done without a face to face GP appointment.

They did call her at one point to discuss her issues

Our GP surgery is open. They still triage via a phone call with a GP first to decide if you need to be examined in person or if a phone call etc will do but they do provide all services and the surgery doors are open and you can walk in and talk to reception.

They aren’t locked down and have never been.
They are busier than ever and have been throughout the pandemic.
They are using virtual and telephone appointments to triage and to enable more appointments.
There is very little likelihood of ever going back to entirely face to face. Many people prefer e-consult and a call.
Face to face isn’t often essential. Even many 2ww referral problems don’t benefit from a face to face appointments, but do benefit from GPs having sufficient time to make that urgent referral in a timely way.

I find this crazy and unethical. Things will have been missed, misdiagnosed or patients put off trying to get an appointment as it's such a bloody rigmarole. Surely if masks etc are worn, hands are sanitised and everything wiped down then the risk is low, especially with so many people now being vaccinated.

I have a feeling that this system will be here to stay.

They're not locked down. All surgeries are doing different things. Please don't make sweeping generalised statements. Surely if you work in the NHS yourself you realise that's not right.
Suggest you move to a surgery with better online access.
All the GPs I know (my husband and friends) are working unbelievably hard under a big increase of demand. They are having to cover for colleagues on long term sick or who are burnt out from stress. It spills over into their personal life. My husband told me he felt like just giving up last week as he was so exhausted from from pressure.

But they don't diagnose things over the phone that requite an exam. You go in face to face for that so I don't see how there's a bigger chance of missing things.

One thing I feel is lacking is the GP being able to get an overall impression of the patient but I would hope that in cases of doubt they are called in.

I also think that it can be more difficult for some people to manage phone appointments if they have certain mental health issues but again, I'd hope that those requirements would be taken into account.

It all depends on how good the triage process is, I think.

It’s fucking barmy. Don’t tell me GPs aren’t locked down when the place is like Fort Knox guarded by a receptionist wearing more PPE than the doctors in the hospital wear. Temp check, new mask, hand sanitizer just to stand at the door whilst they fling a prescription at you.

Our gp surgeries here are open for face to face and have been throughout as well as telephone consults if requested. They have employed a second practice nurse at my practice too.

We do pay for our gp appointments here though £50 an appointment….

Our GPs seem to be sticking with the system which seemed ok at first, but my elderly mother can't cope at all. She ended up with all sorts of issues. Two of my friends who needed treatment have been misdiagnosed and one ended up in hospital with serious cellulitis. Another had to write a massive email of all the failings her DH had suffered for the last 12 months so she could get an appointment which resulted in an urgent referral.
It's all stuff that if it had been identified sooner would require less treatment. Its disappointing as our GP surgery is generally very good.

My GP seems ok - all prescriptions are being sent direct to a pharmacy which is very helpful, I got a telephone appointment same day and got a prescription based on my symptoms. The only issue is they aren't making smear test appointments more than a few days in advance and you have to call on a Monday so my smear is well out of date as I keep forgetting. I don't get why they are doing that, they said they don't know which nurse will be available to do them in advance but that makes no sense to me, surely they can do the rota just as they did before covid

@Itwasoverwhen

It’s fucking barmy. Don’t tell me GPs aren’t locked down when the place is like Fort Knox guarded by a receptionist wearing more PPE than the doctors in the hospital wear. Temp check, new mask, hand sanitizer just to stand at the door whilst they fling a prescription at you.

Lockdown means shut though. They are open, albeit with procedures in place to protect their patients and staff

This is rather irresponsible of you, OP. The surgeries have been open throughout. The way of working has changed, as you’ve found out when you phoned for your prescription and went to collect it.

Why do you find surgeries following PPE advice “barmy”? You say you work in a hospital. Are staff being “barmy” as well?

I'd be interested to know if (presuming you are in the UK) staff at your hospital are wearing PPE or are somehow exempt?

No they are all wearing PPE as they have throughout the whole pandemic.

Appropriate PPE.

My GP still has keep out signs, a message in big letters on their website to keep away, and an automated message telling you to stay away when you call up.

They feel pretty locked down to me.

At least they actually answer the phone at my surgery. My sisters surgery has all of the above but they don’t answer the phone. Ever. They take days to answer emails.

I was quite amazed when I walked past another surgery to see their door wide open and people just walking in and out.

I have no idea why people were in and out, but just seeing the door open and not shut with keep out signs all over was surprising enough.

Needless to say I haven’t been anywhere near my GP despite a number of occasions where in the past I would have probably got something checked out by the GP.

However because I don’t feel very welcomed there I have just left it to wait and see how they play out.

If it’s nothing it (hopefully) clears itself up. On the few occasions it hasn’t we have just gone through 111 instead.

I really can’t be bothered to go through all the hassle of trying to convince my GP that we need to see them.

At least with 111 we actually feel welcomed.

Don’t assume they’re shut because of threads like this. Ring your GP surgery or email them or whatever measures they’ve put in place. They are open and seeing patients. They use PPE. These GP bashing threads on MN are regular as clockwork.

@LadyWithLapdog

This is rather irresponsible of you, OP. The surgeries have been open throughout. The way of working has changed, as you’ve found out when you phoned for your prescription and went to collect it.

Why do you find surgeries following PPE advice “barmy”? You say you work in a hospital. Are staff being “barmy” as well?

This exactly.

Who is referring those patients into the Outpatient department that is open?

How, if you work in a hospital are you so ill-informed?

"Because of covid"

Is what mine keep spouting out.

@MonsterMash2210

My GP still has keep out signs, a message in big letters on their website to keep away, and an automated message telling you to stay away when you call up.

They feel pretty locked down to me.

At least they actually answer the phone at my surgery. My sisters surgery has all of the above but they don’t answer the phone. Ever. They take days to answer emails.

I was quite amazed when I walked past another surgery to see their door wide open and people just walking in and out.

I have no idea why people were in and out, but just seeing the door open and not shut with keep out signs all over was surprising enough.

Needless to say I haven’t been anywhere near my GP despite a number of occasions where in the past I would have probably got something checked out by the GP.

However because I don’t feel very welcomed there I have just left it to wait and see how they play out.

If it’s nothing it (hopefully) clears itself up. On the few occasions it hasn’t we have just gone through 111 instead.

I really can’t be bothered to go through all the hassle of trying to convince my GP that we need to see them.

At least with 111 we actually feel welcomed.

It is frustrating how differently places are doing things.

However, please try and make an appointment (however that may look!) if you have stuff to discuss with a GP. Your health is more important than feeling 'welcomed' (they're not hotels ).

I've put off getting a skin condition looked at for 18 months to "ease the pressure on the nhs" I want to be seen now. I will not be fobbed off.

They are open OP. They are busier than ever and are trying to enable more patient contacts by triaging those that need to be seen most urgently.
I’m a junior doctor. Worked both in a GP surgery and on an acute medical ward during the last 12 months. I am busier at the GP surgery than I was in hospital. My day consists of telephone appointments, web consults and face to face. The majority of outpatient letters I am getting are still from telephone appointments- some of which are asking me to bring the patient in to examine myself as they aren’t doing face to face appointments.

The senior GPs at the practice are often still calling patients or responding to consults at 7pm- then are doing all their admin late into the night.
We can’t have the normal number of patients in the waiting room as usual as we have to maintain social distancing so even if I wanted all my appointments to be f2f- We don’t have the clinical space to do it.

It is very demoralising to be told you are hiding away, not working when it couldn’t be further from the truth. I expect it from the daily fail but I’d expect someone actually working in the NHS to know better. Not all practices are perfect but the majority of practices are working hard to keep patients safe and deal with the increase demand.

My GP will only issue me a repeat prescription for one month's supply of HRT instead of the usual 6 months because I need an HRT check. But I can't have an HRT check because they won't see me face to face.

So for the last year I have had to spend hours on hold trying to get a telephone appointment every month. I've been issued (and paid) for 12 separate monthly prescriptions plus taken up 12 appointment slots. And had the same outcome as if I'd been issued 2 x 6 month's supply.

It's madness. Plus, the surgery is locked. I have to ring the bell and the receptionist shoves the prescription through the letter box, wearing gloves