To think it's no surprise people rock up to A&E

[Usernumber46463637262]

Obviously I'm not encouraging people to go A&E unless they really have to but you can never get through to me surgery. So it's no surprise people give up and just go to A&E??

I have been trying all day, it's either engaged or I get through and there's 10 callers in front. Last time I had 10 callers in front it took 45 minutes to an hour to speak to someone. My problem is not urgent but what if it was? you expect it in the morning but at this time of day?

my problem cannot resolved with an E consult. Last time I did an E consult I didn't get a reply for 2 weeks. They limit how many E consults they take each day too.

is it just my surgery who is pants at answering the phone?

but weirdly I was in the surgery for a while the other day - queueing for a prescription and the phone didn't ring once!!

"Those statistics" are also made up shite.

ukpublicspending.co.uk/#:~:text=UK%20public%20spending%20includes%20both%20central%20government%20and,total%20public%20spending%20is%20budgeted%20at%20%C2%A31%2C057.4%20billion.

financial year 2022-23 -

Total government spending £1,057.4 billion
Healthcare £210.9 billion. Not 40%, or anywhere near it.

Not that it would be a meaningful statistic even if it were of course. Who's to say what's the "right" proportion of total spending to go to healthcare?

Noone's telling people not to speak up. They're telling people the opposite of that: to absolutely speak up, and blame the people who are actually responsible.

it is an utter shambles. Not seen a doc for years but needed an appt. Receptionist asked if it was urgent or routine. Well it’s neither -like so sn not dying but need to see someone on the next few days. She insisted on knowing my symptoms !!! which I find incredibly intrudive and offered me an appointment in 2weeks (no option of triage or talking to a doc at all.
so booked a private go instead for tomorrow.
Talking to friends seems this is common because GPs are paid so much they choose part time.

It’s shit. It’s shit to work in and it’s shit to be a patient.

I worked 10 hours today (contracted for 8.5) and I’m just a nurse practitioner. The work is relentless and never ending.

My GPs were there when I got in at 0815 and still there with lots more to do when I left at 1815.

Blame the systems not the individuals.

Royal Stoke Hospital are advertising for a GP to work in their A and E department,a day time post,specifically to see patients who should have been seen by a GP in the first place.Don’t know if other hospitals are doing the same.

Our surgery has econsult which luckily is working ok. I did one this week for my son - he was seen in A&E a few weeks ago for an injury and I wasn't sure if the healing was normal. I did the form, which now doesn't allow you to attach pictures, but I got a text within about half an hour with a link to send pictures. I then got a call from a physician's associate that afternoon who had reviewed the A&E discharge notes, was able to tell me it was normal and provide advice. That was all way quicker than it used to be. For that kind of thing it's great but not everyone can do econsult.

I took my daughter to the walk in centre the other day because she had a high temp that wouldn't come down and had woken up in a lot of pain with her ear and was just generally very unwell.
The male nurse that saw us told me off for being there saying that people use the walk in as a gp service and I should've gone to my gp.
Yeh...because it's that easy 🙄
He soon shut up when he looked in her ear and saw that she had an infection that had perforated her entire ear drum.
She was really ill for a few days but thankfully the (extremely strong) antibiotics have fixed her. It'll take around a month for her ear drum to repair itself.

I don't blame the Tories, this is what they do, everyone knows that. We have the health and public services we vote for, if you vote Tory, you have no right to complain because you got what you voted for.

@Allthegoodusernamesareused I agree with you that locums are not interested in long term care. We are constantly weighing up whether we offer more appointments with locums knowing that all they do is see patients but all their work lands on the resident long term GPs to sort out. Continuity of care is far better for patient and GP but it isn't the government agenda. In fact Matt Hancock championed digital GP and there's a massive push still for online consults and remote consulting. I hate it and so do patients.
@JangolinaPitt most GPs contrary to what you read in the daily Mail are not paid massive amounts. They don't work 5 days a week because that would usually mean 50-60 hours a week. Most of our GP trainees are female and then when qualified choose to work 30-40 hours over 3-4 days so they can have some time with their little ones. I cry inwardly when I realise my amazing salaried GPs are going to miss bath and bed at home another night on the run.
@Ladywiddio48 it's great that GPs are in A&E but that does take them away from GP surgeries. In some ways it's easier being a GP in A&E because you can just manage the patient who presents and don't have to worry about long term care. We had a trainee who finished and now works full time in A&E so is now counted as a hospital doctor in the numbers rather than a GP.

And @Sidge please don't describe yourself as 'just a nurse practitioner'. You are invaluable and becoming a rare species. The NHS will collapse without GP surgeries and GP surgeries would collapse without nurses, NPs and the raft of other clinical and non clinical staff. Thank you 😊

I have a Ukrainian staying with me, I'm properly ashamed of the poor standard of healthcare and public services here. At least I can hold my head up, I didn't vote for this for our country.

Probably shouldn’t say it but I will because they aren’t all rubbish.
My surgery is amazing. The staff are great (admins, nurses, doctors, pharmacists etc). Equally I think the patients are very accepting of waiting times and of the staff/other patients.

Oh, and in case anyone didn't know, government have cut med school placments by 25% this year. They obviously think we have too many doctors.

Wow it's so worrying the way things are going. In fairness our Practice doesn't seem too bad. I submitted an econsult on Tuesday morning (couldn't get through on the phone) and had a call back about 3pm for an appointment at 5pm. I ended up waiting almost 2 hours and not able to be seen though so got another appointment for the next day at 9:15am. But they tell you to call up at 8:30 when they open, it is literally impossible as the line is always busy! They seem good with the e-consults though

Ah thanks @chocolatenutcase

It makes me sad really. We give and give and give. Fire fighting and crisis management and constant pushbacks from secondary care. Trying our best for an increasingly elderly, ill, polypathological and polypharmaceutical population. A population also with little common sense, little ability to self care, little resilience or desire to proactively manage their health. Wanting instant resolution for often lifestyle related problems. It’s so tiring. We do so much with so little, and yet it’s never enough.

I am constantly amazed when we have F2s through that want to work in primary care!

Lazy assumption re Daily Mail - anyone who doesn’t agree has to a Daily Mail reader natch.

I wonder if the Tories have deliberately cut med school placments so that when Labour come to power and have been there a bit, so now facing the 2028 election there will be even fewer new doctors coming through and the Tories can then criticise?

Before we end up reading this in the daily fail tomorrow, can I just say

FUCK THE DAILY MAIL

I'm just starting to the think the NHS isn't fit for purpose anymore. I think its time we took on a semi privatised system that most of Europe do. Where the government heavily subsidises and the general public have a little health insurance on top.

No one has to wait to a GP appointment or anything ever. I'd much rather pay a little health insurance and actually receive decent health care. No one wants a system like the US, but our current system is no longer working. But of course, you can't dare say anything negative about the NHS out loud.....

I called mine yesterday. I’m asthmatic and have a chest infection. You have to call at 8.30am or 2pm to get triaged. I called and was 11th in the queue. Spoke to someone after about 5 minutes, no questions asked. Had a call from the Gp an hour later with antibiotics and steroids (as a preventative). Prescription electronically sent to pharmacy.
However, that was a good day. My GP surgery has 15,000 patients.

I wish my GP service was like yours
I have myself and three small DC to try book in too
I have zero confidence
Parts of the UK are broken ( we are in Scotland where everything is supposed to be great and free😆) it’s not , it’s absolutely terrible

You can say what you like about it, but when what you say is inaccurate other people in turn have a right to point that out too.

The fact is that those European countries PAY MORE for healthcare, as a proportion of GDP per capita, than we do. We have absolutely no reason to believe the NHS couldn't function just as well or better than their systems if it were funded to the same level - as indeed it did up until the 1980s when Thatcherism butchered it, and began to again under Blair and Brown before Tory austerity did for it again.

There is simply no evidence that it's systemically unfit for purpose. That's a lie put about by the right for ideological purposes. What it is, is underfunded. A private system underfunded in the same way would perform poorly too.

Of course the reason the Tories want to privatise it is to destroy the egalitarian basis of it, so it can be funded better for the well off, and those who can't afford it can just die. You can say "noone wants a system like the US" but take one look at our government and try and tell us that isn't what we'll get.

@RubyJam It’s not always been like that. It’s only in the past couple of weeks they’ve anctually opened their doors to everyone and the adjoining pharmacy.
Over lockdown I’ve ended up using BUPA (through dhs work perk) as had zero response from my doctors. £500 later.

Agree, I was going to say this.

My mum has lost two stone in a month. She has no appetite and what she does eat goes straight through her. She still can't get a F2F appointment, and has had to wait 12 days for a phone call.