Have you given up on NHS GP and switched to private?

[LaSourciereEfrontee]

We used to have an amazing GP surgery. We knew the two GP’s running our village practice, could easily get in touch for information or an appointment, just before she retired one amazing GP spotted early sepsis in my baby son, and maybe saved his life.

Fast forward five years. All the staff have changed. It’s mostly staffed by locums and it is impossible to make contact. All appointments now are via limited daily online triage slots, which means waiting about all day for a call back (tricky when you are meeting your own clients all day.) And more often than not, after a brief phone call, but sometimes not even that it’s either a prescription left at the front desk, or an initial nurse appointment (the nurses are great, but not if you want to see your doctor.) All the other services, like routine screenings are still good, it’s just GP access that is impossible.

A private GP practice has just opened up about twenty minutes away and the difference in service is like night and day. We can make an online appointment for a face to face visit on the same day, and it’s so calm and friendly. The GP’s are great (one worked at our old practice) and have time to really listen.

Luckily, we are in pretty good health so only need a few visits a year. Despite the cost (and I do know how lucky we are to afford it), we’ve decided to move across to the private practice and it feels like a such a relief knowing that there is one time and and admin can rule out of my life. And we probably won’t be any worse off as I can choose appointment times and not have to cancel my own (freelance) work.

Anyone else made the switch? What have been your experiences?

I’d give anything for a GP - an actual doctor not something else - that would listen.

The last person I saw I was trying to explain the background for a health condition that’s seriously impacting my life (I’ve had to have some private treatment) just interrupted and said “What’s your question? What do you want ?”

And later suggested if I wanted better service I should go private.

And mostly I do - but if something that needs a NHS prescription (Ie the prescription is expensive privately or it’s long term) I still use my nhs GP.

Cheesecakecookie I agree. I just want a doctor who has the time and mental space to listen.

When I’ve needed ongoing prescriptions (HRT), our local surgery has been able to put it on repeat following a prescription from a private GP.

I can't as don't have the money but wish I could. I have a few issues and my quality of life would be muchly improved.

Its really sad. I used to work in a doctors surgery like you described when I first graduated. And until covid our surgery here was similar.

I'm scared it's going to be a 2 tier system. Proper service for those who pay and snatches of appointments if urgent once you've done forms and waited 5 weeks for the rest of us

Its one of the things that truly makes me wish I could earn more.

I used a private Dr from menopause related things. I also used HCA recently for a full body MOT. They have picked up fibroids and breast lumps that the NHS didn't. I'm now waiting for a hysterectomy and have a scan tomorrow to determine what the breast lumps are. If you can afford it it's worth it in my opinion

I have ongoing nhs prescriptions that mean I'm reluctant to switch to private - my inhalers alone are very expensive.

But I've found it hard to get appointments for stuff like antibiotics for ear infections and have wound up at minor injuries.

If there was one round near me I'd use it for non-ongoing stuff,

You don't need to tell your doctor, just keep getting your prescriptions on repeat from them.

How much does a private GP appointment cost? @LaSourciereEfrontee

We pay £90 for a 15-minute consultation. The cost of prescriptions and tests are in addition to that (but very easy to organise)

I’m considering it. I rarely see a GP but have really struggled getting th at convenient times for dc.

The last time I saw my GP it took weeks and when I googled a private GP it was the same one who worked at my NHS surgery only the private appointment cost £95 and was available within a couple of days.

My main issue with the NHS GP (other than inability to get an appointment) is that when you get a prescription you have to nominate a pharmacy to collect it. If that pharmacy doesn’t have it you have to go back to the GP to have another pharmacy do it so you then have to get another prescription written and sent to the pharmacy which can take another week.

My surgery used to be good with doctors who’d been there for years and knew their stuff. Now it’s a completely new staff and tbh they’re pretty clueless unless it’s a really obvious issue. I use them to get a referral now if necessary or to get meds if needed. We also have private healthcare which isn’t cheap but not taking risk - plus we have access to private GP online and have used that in a pinch.
It is already a two-tier system imho.
Near where I live there’s a health hub type place where therapists and osteopaths work from and it now has a private GP service as well. The demand must be growing.

I have dr care anywhere which is included with my Axa health insurance. It's been brilliant. It's not face to face but video call. I'd hate to be without it.

If it’s something that can be dealt with over the phone then we’ll use our Bupa membership to book a room phone call. Although I’ve noticed that they are increasingly pushing you to talk to a nurse or physio instead of a doctor.

If something that I think needs to be seen in person, then our GP surgery is amazing. It’s a faff getting through on the phone, but if it’s for the children then they tend to give an appointment straight away. If it’s for me then I usually get a callback then see a nurse, however if the nurse is unsure she’ll call a GP into the room.

My husband gets a private in-person GP through his work. Although I envy him the situation at our GPs isnt bad enough for me to justify the cost.

I use an online private GP service for evenings, weekends and when I can’t get in with my normal GP. This is through my private medical insurance.

my actual GP surgery are very good, just busy, and after a certain time you won’t get an appointment. So an example of when I needed the private service was when I had a UTI present at 11am on a Friday. I needed antibiotics and it was best to go through them than 111 as my GP surgery had no appointments left.

To some extent. I mix use private and NHS depending on the circumstances.

I also get all my medication via private prescription as the absolutely nonsense faced when trying to get a simple repeat prescription isn’t worth it. I did a calculation that it’s cheaper to get it privately than it is to spend the time trying to get it via NHS plus paying the NHS prescription cost.

i also use a private dentist, I decided that morally I could pay and leave the NHS for someone who couldn’t afford private.

I think most private insurers offer an online GP service. I guess for me the advantage of a private GP practice is being able to see the same person and face to face. Simply what we had in our. Village practice five years ago, but sadly not available now. That’s especially nice for DS who has a language disorder and struggles to get his thoughts out in new situations. Our private GP knows this and can give the time he needs.

£90 is probably more than I'd be willing to pay. Somewhere around £50 is what I'd expected tbh. So probably not a viable option for me. Sat typing this whilst on hold to the GP for the third morning as I haven't managed to get an appointment before they've all gone the twice I've tried before! 🙈

That's so bad. I have a chronic health condition and am going through a relapse. I go to my NHS GP regularly for a chat. Last time I saw her she told me to come back in 4-6 weeks so I know she is happy for me to be there.I'll be going back in 4 weeks. I find it helpful to see her.

I have been seeing one for a year, initial appt was 30mins so I could go into all the issues that I felt were interrelated, and he could actually listen and understand without my feeling overly rushed. Follow ups are 20mins.

I don't think that is the case with the prescriptions. I had one recently that my pharmacy didn't have and they offered to print out tbe prescription and put it back on the 'spine' . They said I could use either the paper prescription or the electronic one to collect my prescription elsewhere (and indeed i did)

I have gone to a private GP for certain things that I knew she’d be better for, like mastitis, but I stick with my NHS GP for the rest.

Like you, I’m v healthy and very rarely ill, but when I had skin cancer the NHS (GP/referral/surgery) moved at the speed of light. Don’t do anything silly like deregistering, just choose which you go to, and for what.

Always keep your NHS doctor as private GPs cannot refer to the NHS. It’s hard to believe but in an emergency situation or for highly specialised treatment, the NHS is where you want / need to be.

I have a private GP and an NHS one. I do have private healthcare though so most things stay in the private sector. A few years ago though I had a very rare medical emergency, picked up by a private MRI. Whisked to A&E following (they called an ambulance), and had major surgery a few days later. Only one of the neurosurgeons at my NHS hospital actually worked privately and it was a four week wait.

I did, however, need to go back to private for things like physio afterwards as the NHS offering was a phone call where they then sent me text message links to exercises to do online……….

I've seen three GP's recently for fairly mundane issues - two were fantastic, but the third was rude and made me feel about two inches tall. He wanted me to re-book a review with him but I point blank refused and asked reception if I could see someone else - I got the feeling that I wasn't the first one to ask 😬

Our ANP's are excellent though - I'm currently being investigated for early perimenopause and they listen and really make you feel heard. I'd now recommend seeing them if you don't necessarily need a doctor for things.

You can be treated at a pharmacy for UTI now, they can issue antibiotics for this if a straightforward UTI with no complications