Just a rant, really

[Parkland]

DH had a chat with next door, whose daughter has recently qualified as a GP. She told DH that the daughter is annoyed about having to put up with all these patients who come in with minor things and how it's a waste of her time.

I hear this all the time from the other side - how people are afraid to go to the GP because they worry about being a time-waster and let important things get much worse. People don't know whether something is serious or not - they're not doctors.

I thought the daughter was being grandiose - does she imagine that a newly-qualified GP (or any GP) sees only complex, fascinating cases?!

Outcomes can be influenced by patient communication style. I worked in the NHS in what seems like the dark ages now as almost 40 years ago. Some patients really struggle because of fear, embarrassment, denial.

MN overall has a better standard of educational attainment, having frequented other forums it’s obvious. Around 16% of the population are classed as illiterate. Let that sink in. It’s means people lack confidence and it can make them very defensive and aggressive.

I have never had an issue with obtaining services. The wait can be irritating but I have never been dismissed or patronised. That GP will most definitely have had to deal with people who are unpleasant or as my Mother used to call them The Great Unwashed.

I had this experience too with my eldest. The problem is that 80 per cent of eczema does just heal up and most night coughs are just toddler nasal drip.
For the rest of us, we know something is wrong. But we feel ignored.
It was actually fascinating how different I was treated with my second atopic child (both my kids carry epinpens). As soon as I spoke to the GP when she was a baby for an allergy referral they treated me as the expert in my child. So different from the first time round.

I'm about as articulate and confident as they come..each time looking back I had clearly explained the issues and the information that could have led to a diagnosis were right there for the taking

While I agree that communication abilities almost certainly affect outcomes, it isn't the whole story

I think part of the issue is that doctors assume people (particularly women) are going to be time wasting, and they start the appointment with that mindset

Assuming the conversations are reported accurately, perhaps the GP isn't as psychologically astute as some. A large proportion of appointments "for minor things" are about people being lonely, or anxious, or whatever. Good GPs often spot that.

She's probably right! The amount of people who see their doctor for the slightest thing. Most things actually don't need a GP appointment but can be sorted at the chemist!

Perhaps the receptionist team direct the more minor ailments towards her due to her being recently qualified .

They give more complex cases to her more experienced colleagues.

But did you try to treat it yourself at home first or did you take them to the Drs at the very first sniffle?
That's the difference between time wasters and people who need to see a GP

There are a lot of things that can be treated by a pharmacist. They would also advise if you should be seeing a doctor instead.
Honestly, when I worked in pharmacy, we received so many prescriptions for things that they could have got a lot quicker if they had just come straight to the pharmacy. Headlice treatment, thrush medication, olive oil for ear wax...

Just because you think that you are doesn't actually mean that you are. And in those 5 minute appointments when you're naturally more stressed because you're at the Drs then it's probably even more likely that you were less articulate than you think you were!

Thats a fascinating viewpoint. It's literally my job to be a skilled and precise communicator. If the doctor can't get the information they need from someone like me then I doubt they can get it from anyone and they are probably in the wrong profession entirely.

And my point wasn't that doctors are terrible. It is that many doctors will think they have dismissed a patient with a "trivial" complaint when in fact they have missed something important.

I guess it depends what the definition is 'minor things and how it's waste of her time'. I have a colleague who goes to the GP if she's still got a cold on day 5 for symptoms of blocked nose, headache - not even for breathlessness, and yet she's managed to work throughout.

Sounds like she fits in with the rest of them.

I get that some people do waste appointments that someone else who hasn't gone to the drs in years and has finally decided to be seen could need but that's really not the attitude to have in a front line job. You don't make patients feel like they're a waste of time even if they are.

I've encountered GPs who have spoken down to me, dismissed my issues or made me feel stupid when I had a genuine issue. I had to go to 5 different GPs to get a referral and even then the deeper issue was not diagnosed.
All that after you hang on the phone for 40 minutes after ringing dead on 8am to be told there's no appointments but not only that there's no GPs so you get a nurse. And you have to try again the next day, then you get treated like a time waster even if the last time you went to the drs was 3 years ago. I've got no sympathy.

My first thought was wow, she learns fast doesn't she? You would think that she would have been concentrating on her practice and not be making judgments already against patients for all the reasons you mentioned OP.

My first thought was, I bet all the daughter said was something like "sometimes I can't believe people come in with a cold and want Lemsip on prescription" which has morphed into what was told to OP's husband.

My mum sees the GP about once a week . She is old and frail but she honestly treats it as an outing .

She told DH that the daughter is annoyed about having to put up with all these patients who come in with minor things and how it's a waste of her time

Not sure GPs ever have to see anyone with minor things these days given that receptionists do their best to put the time-wasters (and non-time wasters!) off and if a surgery uses online triage they'll soon filter out the people with a bad cold who just need to take paracetamol and go to bed for a day.

So it sounds like a load of nonsense to me.

Maybe before covid but not any more. There's no way you'd get an appointment for a cold unless you said you had a chest infection - either deliberately to get attention or because you didn't know the difference between a chest infection and a sore chest from coughing a lot from a cold.

That isn't the case anymore as the NHS doesn't issue prescriptions for things like that. Again, before covid, that might have meant people went to the doctor because they got something free on prescription rather than paying for it. I am glad the NHS has seen sense on that.

Although sometimes you still need a prescription - eg a relative of mine gets paracetamol on prescription because she can get a much larger amount, and in a form that she can swallow easily. So there are still some exceptions.