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?

I think given the pressures of underfunding a hybrid model will be the best thing going forward, often a telephone or videocall appointment would be the most appropriate.

That said, the local GPs that are planning this way of delivering services would benefit from looking at how the new wave or remote GPs are working and see what they can do to make their remote appointments workable for working people otherwise they will lose that population to the new start ups and be left with the older and more expensive to treat patients and they will go under.

We've seen hundreds and hundreds of people face to face all the way through, on a need not want basis.
Due to limited people allowed in the surgery, if everyone who wanted face to face were allowed to book at will, you'd currently be waiting until Xmas!!

I don't know why people keep telling OP about her own surgery.

I work for a hospital, we wear appropriate PPE which isn't the whole kit. My GP surgery seen people appropriately throughout. My mums GP surgery will not see people, they just won't. And the comment about who is making the referrals? It's her GP who have made a variety of referrals for other people to see mum face to face but literally will not offer to see anyone face to face. It is happening. And she's desperate to change surgery but everywhere else is full.

Our GP is doing telephone and seeing face to face if the deem it necessary, after a telephone call.

I’ve found it easier to get an appointment. But do think they’re going to miss somethings and also the lack of appointment can make it difficult.

I don't think we should say all GPs are not accessible, my gp practice is better than it was - triage then phone or face to face but appointments are a lot sooner. My family have been seen in practice all the way through.
However the hospitals in my area are not as great - children's hospital finally going to give us a face to face appointment in next few months, 1 had surgery but no follow-up available for outcomes,
-adult hospital A had regular phone appointments but each time consultant says hopefully will be able to see in person in summer and you'll be a priority for face to face,

• adult hospital B not had consultation since January 2019 just get letters saying your case has been reviewed and you remain on our caseload, been waiting for surgery for 22 months and they still haven't started any surgery that isn't an emergency (large multi site teaching hospital last four months no more than 16 patients in with covid).

Don't even get me started on the mental health care. At the moment individual providers seem to be making their own decisions that in some cases are detrimental to their patients. Don't label all GPs as the same they are not, the same goes for secondary care too.

FFS don't put off having a skin condition dealt with.

I work with a GP who is a skin specialist. She has dealt with loads of patients during the pandemic, all by telephone and photo, with v happy results. She does find it odd that she's seen all of their skin but not their faces though.

GPs are busier than ever. TBH most of what I used to see the GP for didn't need face to face, some of it not even a phone call. As a result they are dealing with far more patients than they ever used to.

My GP surgery feels pretty locked down. They don’t answer their phones, you can’t make an online appointment and aren’t allowed to just walk in. Have been trying to get repeat prescriptions issues for DD and I for the last week with no success.

Our GP hasn’t seen patients face to face since last March. My DD has had an ongoing health issue which has needed to be seen and they’ve refused point blank to do so, she instead was given an appointment with a specialist service in hospital who decided they would do a follow up examination given the GP wouldn’t do it. She’s been treated with anti biotics on and off over the past year for a problem that actually requires surgery, which is finally being arranged. The issue could have been caught much earlier if her GP had taken the time to physically look at her rather than simply reissuing medication.

Phone appointments have been hopeless, they say they’ll call, give no idea when that might be, phone from an unidentifiable number and don’t leave a message so I only find out I’ve missed an appointment when I phone to chase up, and then I’m at the back of the queue again. I don’t mind phone appointments in many cases but we’re a year down the line and their process still doesn’t work.

It’s a mixed bag for me. Sometimes phone appointments are preferable - if you need, say, a blood test referral then hanging around a GP surgery for over an hour on a weekday is an unholy waste of time. It should always have been by phone. But there are some people/issues where it’s really inappropriate, and I’m not sure the current system serves those people well. I imagine we’ll soon see a torrent of missed cancer diagnoses etc.

The whole system is just not thought through, round my way at least - if I need an annual blood test for a chronic issue, why can’t that be requested online or just automated to send me along every May? Why does my GP need to be the sacred gatekeeper of the blood test form, when a nurse or even the phlebotomist likely has enough medical training to assess that need?

Likewise a minor recent experience with DD - she had a rash, so we had a telephone consultation the outcome of which was to send a picture of the rash to the GP (no shit Sherlock), and book a second appointment in a further two weeks. Why is there no facility to request/send photos ahead of the consultation? On what planet would a skin rash on a toddler not need to be seen visually?

With my prescriptions I often just order them privately now - I can go onto a website, answer questions about my weight, height, medical history, and access my medications. I think I’m doing that appropriately - ie I wouldn’t do it for new medication or something that hasn’t been reviewed in a while - but often the choice is pay or go without chronic meds for two weeks until an appointment comes up.

It just doesn’t work, imo. And you still have loads of stressed and burnt out GPs and HCPs, so it’s not like this system is the sunlit uplands for them.

@AnnaMagnani

FFS don't put off having a skin condition dealt with.

I work with a GP who is a skin specialist. She has dealt with loads of patients during the pandemic, all by telephone and photo, with v happy results. She does find it odd that she's seen all of their skin but not their faces though.

GPs are busier than ever. TBH most of what I used to see the GP for didn't need face to face, some of it not even a phone call. As a result they are dealing with far more patients than they ever used to.

My next step is dermatology at the hospital. I've been told it's still closed

@FrancesFlute

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.

Yes totally agree. I'm completely back to back with face to face appts. With a few tel consultations for various things dotted in. I'll be now hiding this thread like all the other endless threads about Gp surgeries.

From what I can gather it varies hugely. I’m disappointed too OP because I’m a very anxious person and need that face to face contact to be able to discuss things openly and honestly, and even then it’s a struggle. I’ve received no help whatsoever, just been told it’s closed for other than telephone consultations. I know people who have been seen throughout (surgery, cancer scares etc) but for the majority of the patients it’s like Fort Knox.
I have never thought they’re not working hard, but I do think the system needs to be reviewed now the majority of us have had at least one jab.

A friend of nesrly 80 had phone consultations with her doctor every other day a couple of weeks ago, various suggestions were made.she became worse and was told a doctor would visit.No one appeared, in desperation her husband rang 111 who made an emergency appointment at a local medical centre where they immediately sent her to hospital where she was kept in with a massive infection and subsequent heart problems.Now she’s waiting for a cardiologist to ring.

What a waste of NHS resources when if she’d actually seen a doctor she could have been on antibiotics a week earlier; not to mention the short and longer term health implications.

Mine is doing face to face after telephone or email triage. The email route can be done at any time day or night and my gp actually got back to me at 9pm with a prescription (she knew what I needed as I knew what it was that was wrong)

@Greyspots12 wish there was a like button for your post. I have a family member working in GP surgery and appreciate how hard you are all working.

I have no complaints. In the last 12 months I have had 1 f2f GP appt, 2 lump referrals to hospital (all ok), DS has had 2 minor procedures and various family prescriptions. We use E consult and works well.

I do appreciate some don’t have good experiences but my family member feels very demoralised by the bashing. And people are being unbelievably rude to her. Not sure I could take that daily & then see it on news, and sites like this.

I tell her to put her health first but invariably she doesn’t and works late to help others.

This is depressing. It’s not ok for NHS staff to be totally not understanding of the pressures on other staff/clinicians.

NHSE have tasked GPS to remote triage with face to face reserved for those triaged in. They need to wear appropriate PPE and should and it’s a good thing that surgeries are providing this and making sure it’s worn.

GP surgeries are overwhelmed. Practices in England delivered around 784,000 more appointments in a 10-week period at the start of 2021 and over 5.5m more items of clinical admin work - such as referrals, prescriptions and messages to patients - compared with the same period last year. Not their fault that the system needs more investment.

I hope people are more understanding about the challenges and limitations in the area you work in.

This thread reminds me of all the teacher/school bashing threads there have been right throughout Covid.
Some people are clearly having a poor experience with their surgery/school and come on here to vent, rightly or wrongly, which comes across badly to those GPs/teachers who are doing everything they can to give good provision.
Few of us really know the ins and outs of someone else's working conditions and it's too easy to judge from afar without seeing the whole picture.

I think the vast difference in people’s experiences is what is pissing me off the most. This isn’t a recent thing either.

Precovid your experience of NHS services depending a lot on where you live. This became really apparent to me during both my pregnancies.

However, now it appears that every GP surgery seem to make up there own rules who/ if they will see people. I have no idea why or if this is even the case. However, that is how it appears to me.

I never thought that GPs where sat hiding behind closed doors twiddling their thumbs. I recognise that Covid has been tough for all in many different ways.

However, I think there should be some kind of consistency across the whole of the NHS.

I don’t believe that GPs should throw open their doors and allow everyone in. However, I also don’t see why ‘some’ GPs are still refusing to even answer the phone/ emails/ web enquiries.

I know this is not ‘all’ GPs, but that is my point. Some are more open than others.

@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.

That's just your GP they're not all like that. The level of GP bashing on here is ridiculous.

Ours is still "locked down" ... as in, the doors are physically locked. You can't get in to speak to a receptionist, you can only phone. Absolute nightmare when needing to drop of a urine sample or something as you have to knock on the door and hope the receptionist can get of the off the phone ASAP to unlock the door and take sample from you. Have to ring at 8am for an appointment ... typically have to do that for quite a few days in a row before you actually manage to get an appointment and get through. Lots of usual routine tests seem to be delayed - e.g. Sister has been attempting to book routine smear for 11 months. Our Gp surgery is - in normal times - also a walk in out of hours clinic in evenings and weekends and it was incredibly useful for the whole community. Obviously they don't offer this now and our nearest A&E is absolutely overrun as a result.

Ours isn't locked down. I've been in for blood tests, and for appointments for the DC. Anything that can be dealt with over the phone, should be.

This thread comes up repeatedly. Generalisations are unhelpful on both sides; if these situations weren’t happening then people wouldn’t be complaining , but equally it is not true that all GPs are closed.

My own GPs practice has been great really helpful, in fact I would say fabulous. Practical, and very very solution based.

My mothers is not so good . It is no good insisting that someone who is profoundly deaf must have a telephone appointment, it simply does not work. Four sets of antibiotics later and we are no further forward , has anyone tried lip reading on Zoom it isn’t easy especially for someone in their eighties who isn’t brilliant technology wise. She did however manage to write an email setting out her symptoms in case that worked better. But 14 days later we are still waiting for a reply .

Another local surgery has yellow hazard tape still across the door and let’s people in around the back with someone wearing plastic gloves, a mask , a visor, plastic apron and plastic hat and shoe covers and that’s just the receptionist .

I think it's quite insulting to come on repeatedly on these threads to dismiss people's actual experiences with their GP and say it's just not true. There might be some that are doing as they should but there seem to be an alarming amount of GP surgeries who are still locked down and people are allowed to be frustrated with that. Not be told they're full of shit

Where I work we are open, and have been all along - we still do f2f for all bloods etc, GP appts are a phone call first from a GP who will then book f2f where required, except for breast lumps etc which are booked just as f2f. We do ask patients to provide a photo of any rash/mole etc prior to the phone call. The problem is that we are trying to do more & more f2f but we have to keep social distancing in the reception & waiting room, and ours aren’t very large. We’ve been trying to get people to wait outside, but a lot of patients are refusing.

A relative has been suffering with a non urgent condition for over a year. She had a scan last March (2020) but seen no one since to get any follow up info from the scan. She's muddled through since then, but the condition is worsening. The hospital department have now admitted they lost the scan and have booked her in for a new one in 3 months.

Relative is now struggling but "doesn't want to make a fuss". We persuaded her to at least go to her GP to seek help. GP's phone lines have been down for weeks. No online appointments or advice available. Message on website says to call 111 which she won't do. We resorted to dropping a note through the surgery door to ask for someone to phone. They did so, 4 days later.

Since they realised how bad the condition had got, they've been wonderful. Faultless.
But I'm so angry at the inaccessibility for people who are of the 'no fuss' mentality, but would trust their GP if only they could get to talk to them.