Does anyone feel like when you see a GP their job is to disprove anything is wrong rather than investigate what is happening? I just wonder if this is the case in other health services?

[Whyjustwhy123]

I’ve not had to see a GP for years, but in the last couple of months has to see them twice. The first time for an injury and the second time for a reaction to medication that was given for the first visit.

Both times I’ve given my symptoms and rather than any tests to investigate what may be causing the issues or blood tests to check something I was just offered strong painkillers.

It very much feels like rather than my symptoms dictating what conversation we had but the GP very early on in the appointment haven decided what the issue is. Then followed up at both appointments, but if this changes go to A&E or call 999. And I’m thinking surely it would make sense to treat me properly at this point and avoid a trip to A&E.

Im not wanting to ‘bash’ GPs and I suspect my experience is the result of the pressures on them. But both times I came away feeling like I had been mistaken in having to see them. And despite this neither issue has been resolved!

@Gwenhwyfar Do you have any thoughts on why GP care is better in Belgium? Is their training better, or is there better funding, or is it the country's demographics for example?

@Greentree1 is that all we have left? If you don’t like it get out? Are we not even allowed to question the current situation to ask ‘have other countries for this right and we haven’t’? Is that not a more sensible option than allowing the Tories to kill the NHS?

What a horrible attitude? Would you say this to everyone who queried the care they had received? A mother with a sick child? An elderly man? A disabled teen? Who is and who is not allowed to say ‘is this it?’

Defensiveness and lack of dialogue is a sure sign of how damaged the system and the people working in it are.

The NHS is in compassion fatigue

Does anyone feel like when you see a GP their job is to disprove anything is wrong rather than investigate what is happening?

No, I've never felt that.

Both of us owe our lives to various GP's at different practices, and their immediate responses of careful attention and investigation.

My GP is i think better than many places. They have seen my in person teen dtr 2x in the last year , so not fobbing everyone off.
My hrt check was a quick 5 mins chat on the phone, however, surely this would have been in person previously?

Elderly parent (at a different practice) was recently prescribed antibiotics based on a phone call. This would definitely been an in person appointment before, with stethoscope etc.

As a pp has said its the non pushy elderly who are suffering, accepting that their health issues are non treatable and a side effect of getting old.

There are more GPs and they are paid per patient. They are not acting as gatekeepers for the health service (or not much anyway) because there isn't the huge funding problem the NHS has.

Not my experience. I will tell my GP what tests I am seeking based on symptoms. I will advocate for myself and ask doctors the basis for not doing something eg what do NICE guidelines say (losing your child at the hands of NHS incompetence does that to you). I rarely visit the GP, but when I do, I make sure I’m armed with info. I would never waste my GP’s time for something trivial, and been lucky I haven’t needed any visits for minor things.

"If you don't like the NHS you can pay for private insurance or go private for a particular treatment if you want."

WTF. She pays tax and national insurance so has a right to adequate care from her GP.

This is nothing new. I've not had anything correctly diagnosed or treated by a GP in the last twelve years, and I've seen various GPs in two different practices, for a variety of things. Nurse practitioners have been excellent though and of course paying for a private diagnosis or treatment has worked every time without being fobbed off with painkillers, antibiotics or a "put up and shut up" attitude.
I'd rather have an appointment with a nurse practitioner any day of the week. They just seem to have better listening skills and a can-do, caring attitude.

You are lucky your GP listens to you. I have frequently gone too requesting specific tests based on my symptoms and get refused. Even something simple like an iron test (GP response ''i'm sure you are not iron deficient, you don't need to eat much iron").

I have also gone with the NICE guidelines but we shouldn't have to resort to such measures and not everyone is capable of researching their condition and advocating for themselves.

You said it was an injury.... So why do you want an xray? What will that achieve?

And still, what do you think will be identified on a blood test for the medication?

Sorry, I should have added to my message that I'm very sorry for the loss of your child. I must admit that I missed that bit when I first read your message. It must have been incredibly difficult losing your child under such circumstances.

Went to Gp with textbook Carple Tunnel and am in a lot of pain. Had blood tests to rule out anything else such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. All fine. Initially told I would then be referred to the hand specialist. Now told that won’t happen and that I should go away.

My old surgery got a bit like this in the end. Not always though. All the partners left and they were left with only locums.
I got a telephone GP appointment.
Told the doctor I felt no better and she said there was nothing more she could do,
Said 'goodbye' and hung up. A few
Months later the Care Quality Commission closed them down. I moved to another practice and the difference was like night and day - the GP i saw took time to understand my problem and kept on coming up with ideas to solve it. Eventually, after a lot of effort, she found someone who knew what the problem was and how to cure it. It turned out to be easy to cure too. New GP is absolutely amazing - always listens and always takes action.

Not my experience but I have learnt that I almost have to go in and say what i want to happen.
So I would say "I'm having some awful menopause symptoms I want to try HRT"
"I feel exhausted all the time with headaches and I want blood tests to investigate further"

No one seems to want to answer my question.
Would I be receiving this treatment in other well renowned health systems?

Because That’s impossible to answer without the identifiable info.

it is not an accident or an emergency! It’s a chronic condition.
An xray wouldn’t make sense, then. (confused)
Does OP mean that OP got an overuse injury, an RSI?

Scoliosis getting worse?
xrays aren't harmless.

I only know the US system, sorry, not what you want to hear about. FWIW, how my elderly parents & their friend’s get treated on Medicare & very nice private insurance, yes things like scans happen more often but scans can take weeks to happen & then weeks more of other options being discussed. If you want to see a dermatologist that means delay of a few weeks (my dad was moaning). Then there might be surgery & most people are happy with surgery but many aren’t & some say “screw it” because they can see that recovery from surgery can be an ordeal. Much medical activity happening that doesn’t definitely make anything get better. People get this scan & that scan & this treatment & that one, and it maybe works or not at all. Just like you can get antibiotics just by asking for them in many countries, as long as you have money to pay for them.

My folks are in a total bubble because they think no one gets dentures any more: they just don't know anyone who can't afford anything better than dentures when teeth have gone.

I.could bore you all for England but I agree with the op.

When I had a broken foot, and very recently diagnosed osteoporosis and had to go to the GP, partly to get bisphosphonates prescribed and partly because 2/3 months in my foot was still painful and swollen, he told me to start running as the best form of exercise for my bones. I couldn't be bothered to say, what as a clumsy dyspraxic on my broken foot when I've got confirmed osteoporosis. It is by no means the worst advice I have ever had.

He's now chair of the CCG so presumably influencing the entire healthcare economy with his sage advice.. My practice needs a sharp kick up the bum.

Have you ever made a complaint? It's always ignored. You have a job to extract the correct complaints procedure from anyone. They're dismissive. Change your complaint to what they think it should be, ignoring what your complaint actually is. Investigate themselves. Find themselves not guilty of the thing you didn't complain about. Then refuse to escalate it. That's why people don't bother making complaints.

I found it similar in A&E, and that is one of the main reasons I switched to Internal Medicine.

You do see a lot of drunks, and where I worked you saw a lot of drug-seekers (who didn’t have the brains or patience to put much effort in - literally “my knee hurts, can I have some Diazepam? I want the 10mg ones not the 2mg ones. No? You fucking bitch, well at least give me a bottle of Oramorph you little cow”). Lots of violent men who’d got in fights. Lots of completely acopic people (one turned up with “ghost poo”, one had her first ever episode of vomiting and didn’t know what it was). A fair few perverts (who again, couldn’t be bothered to hide it - literally “I want a rectal exam from a female doctor please”).

You got so sick of humanity, and so used to taking an adversarial stance against all of your patients, that you found yourself being a massive bitch to the completely normal people too. Horrible - I was never like that before, and never have been since.

If you are getting that vibe from your GP, they are probably burning out. Doesn’t make it ok, but they are almost certainly unhappy about how they are behaving themselves. It was easy for me to switch specialties into internal medicine, it’s not so easy for a 50 yr old GP to do so (so they often either retire early or emigrate).

Re point 4, presumably they have guidelines for limiting referral to specialists because waiting lists are so long? Where I live in the UK, this can be three years.

@Stabee

If they dealt with a problem instead of fobbing off, they'd have loads more appointments, as you wouldn't have to keep coming back for the same thing.

Nail on the head/ I've said that many times.

I lived in the States, I was never offered x-rays for minor injuries (and I play rugby, so there were many). I also wasn’t offered blood tests when I had a reaction to a type of anti-inflammatory, as drug reactions are common, all a blood test would confirm is that you had a reaction if it is done immediately after ingesting the drug, blood tests aren’t able to determine why a drug does not suit you.

What did your GP say when you requested an x-ray and blood tests?

So you started a thread with a faux-innocent question expecting that everyone would agree and blame the evil Tories for undermining the NHS and now that that hasn't worked you've had to break cover and do it yourself. Just to be clear.

This is why I do as much as I can outside the NHS, I would much rather spend some money and actually get treated, than wait weeks to be fobbed off by a GP or told to go to A&E (who then tell you off for being there because your GP should be dealing with it)

The sooner they scrap primary care in its current form and put something functional in place the better