GP surgery waiting rooms always empty

[99redballoonsgobyy]

This has probably been asked and answered on here before but just that really, When ever I take my elderly parent to an appointment or drop a prescription request form into our local surgery the waiting room is always empty maybe 1 or 2 people in on occasion but mostly usually empty. and why do GPs only see 12 patients per day it doesn't seem very many at 10 minutes per patient. What are GPs doing with most of there time these days if not seeing patients??

12 patients a day?! Ours see six an hour so approximately 30 a day over two am and pm clinics. That's planned. Plus walk ins, emergencies, extras the nurse requests help with etc.
That's before paperwork, meetings, home visits. Our waiting room is rammed.

My GP has used telephone triage since before Covid so not new. I've had quite a few GP appointments (about 2 issues) and have all been via phone, which I much prefer. I was able to take one call while travelling to go on holiday. Others have been during my working day (and pretty much when they said they'd call so easy to block out the time in my calendar) or the evening - even better. But all have made referrals for F2F hospital appointments as necessary. For me, telephone appointments are preferable and leave the surgery clear for patients who need them. My only complaint is that I still can't email my surgery and non-urgent issues can take a while to get an appointment for. But that's because we don't have enough GPs.

The slots may be allocated as ten minutes each. The reality is they're usually longer plus they need time after each one to type up your notes.

I called my surgery on Monday about excruciating pain in my shoulder and arm. So bad I couldn’t lie down to sleep, even sitting was terrible. Yes the receptionist initially asked a few questions which can be annoying but once she understood I managed to get an appointment. At the appointment I was seen on time and give a list of symptoms to look out for and when to go back. Yesterday it was worse and I lost some sensation in my hand, this was on my list so I called at 11:00 and was given a telephone appointment for approx 1530. At 1430 they called and after a chat with the doctor was asked to go straight down to the surgery. I’ve been referred and been given some extra medication. For the most part I believe the telephone appointments weed
out those who don’t need face to face and it has had an impact. I have been seen on time and there was always someone different in the waiting room. I think people hear all the awful stories and only see the negative in telephone appointments, these are helpful for certain ailments. The surgery itself makes all the difference. My surgery had phones going off constantly and all their receptionists were answering calls. No one knows what they all do all day and it’s so sad to read so
many disparaging comments about how little they do.

12 a day? Do you live in cloud cuckoo land or are you a daily hate mole? Where do you get your numbers from?

Can we lay off the GPs for a bit, there’s so much actual shit going on, focus on that b

Our surgery only does same day appointments no matter what.
Call at 8, get through, no appointments left. It's pathetic

DH and I only really need to speak to a GP once a year for medication reviews. Rather than sitting in the waiting room now we have a phone call. It's so much more efficient and I prefer it.

If we need face to face they book us in, but plenty can be done over the phone now saving unnecessary journeys.

Ours brought in E consult which was useful I'm sorry they've dumped it. Now you phone, E mail and someone will get back to you. I've been seen twice f2f following phone call by a GP and had bloods taken by nurses. Last month the surgery had an outbreak of covid in every department they had to close. Our pharmacy is in the same building you're allowed back inside now which is great if the weather is bad

I had a long awaited face to face appointment for a suspected melanoma today. Or should I say it was scheduled, until I had a phonecall this morning saying the GP was now working from home. Pushed to next week now.

I'm now well out of the two week wait window for suspected cancer. How can a GP work from home if they had booked face to face appointments!!

In answer to your question OP. The people that should be in the waiting room are at home getting more unwell.

If you go to a pharmacy you’ll see the majority of patients are there instead getting advice from a pharmacist because they are fed up of not being seen face to face by a GP. I nearly had a patient cry to me yesterday because she was so happy I came out and spoke to her about her medication. She hasn’t seen her GP for 2 years and all consultations are over the phone. So that’s probably why.

@ElizaJones sorry didn’t meant to quote your comment!

I imagine it's because they are ill. That's what happens in the practice I work in - when a GP has for example Covid, they will work from home rather than calling in sick. We don't tell the patients that though.

It depends where you are, GPs and GP surgeries aren't one blob that operate the same. The one here is amazing. Face to face same day appointments if needed even throughout covid, had blood tests, pill check, toddler imms, smear, amongst other things without issue. All staff are lovely. Its a large catchment so they're busy but manage it well, a lot comes down to the practice manager and partners imo