What are GPs actually doing right how?

[Darkchocolateandcoffee]

I've just been talking to my 84 yr old mum who can't get a GP appt for love nor money and is worried what she does next as she has a serious condition that she needs to talk to the doc about.

I love 100 miles away from her but I haven't been able to get a doc appointment for my children for months either.

One had such severe hayfever all through the summer and the only appt I could get was with my GP surgery's pharmacist over the phone, who sounded very unengaged and said the only remedies were OTC ones despite me saying we had tried all of them.

I eventually gave up and did a one-off private GP appt and got him prescription meds which worked straightaway. But I wasted weeks beforehand in which he was suffering trying to get the same thing via our usual GP.

Everyone I talk to says the same. The rest of the NHS seems to be firing on all cylinders.

What on EARTH are the GPs doing instead?

It is disgraceful.

I’ve not had a problem throughout the pandemic to be honest; it’s mostly phone calls but they’ll then call you in if needed so it’s a bit more long winded but I can still get same day phone appointments

My elderly dad has the same problem. can’t see a GP at all.

What gets me is that I don’t see an NHS go, haven’t for years, we use a private practice. Me and my children have seen the GP face to face many times (my baby had some issues) right the way through covid, no issues. Seen the practice nurse a few times too.

So if private GPs were business as usual, why aren’t nhs ones?

Apparently it's all lies and nothing has changed. GPs have been working the same all the way through and still are.

Boots will be opening a pay to see a GP at some point I've read. The door will be open to give us the option to pay or wait ages for an appointment.

I am able to do an e-consult and get a phone call or email back. If needed to be seen, we are.
This is the ONLY thing that is working effectively in our entire county, however.

Not sure, but there's about 500,000 identical threads on here you could have read or joined- often with GPs replying with the statistics of huge INCREASE in appointments since 2 years ago. And where it has already been outlined in detail that this is a government and political issue and not the fault of individual GPs.
But don't let me stop you. Let's bully more of them into leaving general practice so that we can complain more.

Great service from our GPs here (London). Same for my parents (Birmingham). In fact, I don’t know a single person in real life that has been complaining about this.

I’ve not had any problems seeing the GP. I have mental health issues and have always had a call back the same day and if I’ve needed to be seen for something physical I’ve been called in. I find it’s working better than pre pandemic.

My GP is amazing. I got an appt in days. She is working 14 hours a day

@gamerchick

Apparently it's all lies and nothing has changed. GPs have been working the same all the way through and still are.

Boots will be opening a pay to see a GP at some point I've read. The door will be open to give us the option to pay or wait ages for an appointment.

It already is, and has been since pre covid. Just like virtual appointments have been available for years. There are so many companies already providing that service. Boots are massively behind the curve on this.

Well I'm working harder than I ever have. I'm speaking to and seeing more patients than ever. The reason you can't get an appointment is because demand has soared exponentially and there aren't enough GPs in the system. I am about to go in for a duty doctor session and I'm already having feelings of panic about it because quite simply the system is not safe.

I feel really sorry for patients...you are getting a really bad deal but to be honest we cannot see an indefinite number of patients in a day.

But what is really getting to every single GP in this country is the lies and misinformation that is being spread about us.

Yes there may be some GPs who are doing nothing but the rest of us are at breaking point.

I can deal with 30 patients a day quite safely but now we are dealing with about 30% more and that's not good for you.

One colleague said most of her surgery the other day was dealing with chasing hospital appointments so that is a really bad use of our time.

I was at a meeting last night ....290 GPs on it listening to our colleagues in the hospitals say there is no extra capacity there either so we have to try not to send patients there. It was really really depressing.

The children's hospital were saying there was a 30% increase in A&E attendances mostly minor coughs and colds which should not have been near a health professional...let alone hospital.

Mental health consultations have soared but there is a shortage of places to refer on to and patients are waiting over a year for psychology. Our favourite psychiatrist is retiring in December and they can't get a replacement.

So that's what's happening.

@ilanois

Not sure, but there's about 500,000 identical threads on here you could have read or joined- often with GPs replying with the statistics of huge INCREASE in appointments since 2 years ago. And where it has already been outlined in detail that this is a government and political issue and not the fault of individual GPs. But don't let me stop you. Let's bully more of them into leaving general practice so that we can complain more.

Thankyou.

@ilanois

Yes I saw that too. But unfortunately that doesn’t meet the MN party line of bash anyone in a profession (see all the Teacher threads last year).

My friend is a GP and it sounds like a very stressful job at the moment. She said basically that lots of people put off seeing their GP during the pandemic and are now booking appointments so they’re overwhelmed. People also going in with things that would have been easily treatable then but are much further progressed now so there is more treatment needed for each patient.
It’s scary how difficult it is to get a GP appointment, mine is currently operating an 8 week wait, but I really don’t think it’s because GPS are ‘doing nothing’

I am able to get a phone call within a week but never a face to face app. My dh has really suffered with his health and gp keeps prescribing pain killers over the phone. We've now applied to be with a new gp as have moved but that was two weeks ago and they still haven't put us on their system.
I rang them and they said we have to wait.

It's all very well supporting the nhs but if you can never even get access to healthcare unfortunately I can't support it anymore. I just want to be able to ring the gp and see someone. Plenty of jobs manage now, I am not understanding the no f2f rule I understand maybe one tel. App. Initially but my dh has had to pay so much money now going private and it's not right that you also pay taxes for a healthcare system you can't access.

I'd happily sit behind a screen or something or have a pcr test for it but to me it's dangerous to pretend people don't need to be seen physically for all appointments.

I don't know about all GPs, but my GP surgery seem to be doing fairly normal things. In the summer I rang up and asked for a face to face appointment and got one without having to justify why it needed to be face to face rather than over the phone (there was no need for it to be face to face except I can't deal with talking on the phone). They offer phone appointments but face to face is very much an option. I went to pick something up the other day and there were a few people sitting in the waiting room.

A lot of them are either emigrating or retiring becuase they are fed up of the working conditions in the UK.
www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/pressures-in-general-practice

I have to say, ours have been pretty good. Had an appointment same day on Monday. Well to be totally honest it was a triage call, GP call, GP video, GP call and then GP face to face. And then seeing the MH nurse today - they called and booked that on Wednesday. Also had medication reviews x2 with a nurse face to face over the months.

However, a GP medication review was likely to be at least 8 weeks plus when I wanted to alter the dose, so saw a private GP for that, via AXA. Given the number of touch points we went through on Monday for a chest infection, I'm not surprised that wait was going to be so long!

But overall, I think it's been a good service.

We have phone appointments initially, and both DH and I had had meds prescribed on the basis of these, but on a couple of occasions have been called in for an examination. I prefer this system, we both work 30 miles away from our surgery and normally struggle to attend an appointment.

@Darkchocolateandcoffee

You are seriously misled if you believe the ‘rest’ of the NHS is coping:
‘Everyone I talk to says the same. The rest of the NHS seems to be firing on all cylinders.
What on EARTH are the GPs doing instead?’

Thank you for explanation from a GP above. Hospitals are full. Decimated community care to discharge to. A&E waiting times through the roof. Etc etc. GPs are not sitting around doing nothing.
Does anyone ask on public forums ‘what on EARTH’ you do all day?

I have no problems getting e-consults, which work well for me.

I understand people’s frustration but I wish they would stop GP-bashing. GPs are doing their best in very difficult circumstances.

I would just like to say that I've had a fantastic service from my GP over the last year, following a series of health issues - some potentially major, some very minor. All of my contact with the GP has been over the phone, though I have been called into the surgery for tests as required. As far as I'm concerned, they have been lovely and extremely thorough, and I don't feel that my care has suffered as a result of being delivered via the phone. I do appreciate this this hasn't been everyone's experience and I am not belittling the very real struggles that people are obviously having to get the care that they need, but I do just want to give a shout out for my own very hardworking GP surgery to say that at least some of them are still doing their very best for patients.

It's the same in my area, you can't even speak to a GP on the phone, only the triage nurse. I don't know anyone in real life who has managed to speak to a doctor for months.
I have been signed off work for several months and they still don't know what my ailment actually is - I just ring up every few weeks and tell the nurse another possible thing I've discovered from constant googling. She will then refer me for the test I've asked for (I've now had several, and been to nearly every hospital in the area), or she will prescribe me the meds I suggest.
I know the GPs are there somewhere, as it's their signature on my sick notes, but I'm not sure what else they're doing.
I do know that I could probably be one myself now as I've been pretty much left to research everything myself!

Ours have been awful the whole way through and just as things seemed to be getting slightly better they are hunkering back down due to rising cases in our area.
We have to do a doctorlink form which I hate with a passion which prolongs getting the right help.

I finally got in to see the nurse on Monday for an overdue smear test but they tried to refuse to see me because I'd had a PCR on the Saturday due to close contact with a positive case, my results were negative no symptoms and a neg LFT on the Monday morning but they cancelled my appointment because I'd been for a test. I had to ring up and navigate the receptionist on the rules and guidance it's a constant battle.

My DD has had several bouts on tonsillitis she's now on her third dose of antibiotics each time it's taking on average 3 days to get them due to filling out forms, phone consultations and then sending in pictures before any treatment is offered.

My mil was being cared for end of life by family in the first lockdown her drs part of the same trust as mine would refuse to come out and see her often opting to just increase the morphine just a total lack of support. When she died they balls up her death certificate too.

GP's seem to vary so differently from area to area in what's being offered and I can't see it changing for a long time yet.