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Original poster

GP surgery ridiculousness?

34 replies

fatgirlswims · 10/02/2025 22:02

I rarely use the GPs. I had an appointment to review some medication I started on 4 weeks ago for a chronic pain condition. I stopped the old medication as it was ineffective and pain was increasing and started on this one. The GP gave me a four week supply. He said if it not enough it's the wrong thing so just see how you go come back and we can review it. Fine. He was good.

I had just enough to eke out. I'm in immense pain and cannot sleep. I feel better after I mobilise. I have good days and bad days.

The appointment was cancelled as the the GP was sick. Fine I get it. I got a message at 8.03. I could not get though to the surgery and I'm going away on Wednesday.

I drive to the branch surgery in the village. Lovely receptionist makes me an appointment for the nurse practitioner who can't prescribe the medication as it's not in her competencies she would need to see me f2f. There are no GP appointment but I can see the physio or the pharmacist. The physio can now prescribe with in his competency but not keen as found they just offer paracetamol and ibuprofen. I opt for the pharmacist as they can prescribe anything. I feel utterly fobbed off. And "gatekeeper". There are no GP appointments and the GP can't see me for 4 weeks.

Now here is the crazy bit.

In desperation I call 111 who make me an appointment at my GP surgery with one of the GPs. They call at 4pm. I get enough strong painkillers to tide me over over until I can have a review in 4 weeks. I'm fine either way that I get it.

How on earth does this make any sense. It took me all day to sort out and I was really upset too.

OP posts:

jellyfishperiwinkle · 11/02/2025 10:49

Quoolington · 11/02/2025 04:27

I was worried because I woke up breathless. I tried to call the GP and couldn’t even get through. I called 111 who said I needed to be seen. She couldn’t give me a GP appointment, she said I needed to keep trying to get a GP appointment. I got into the car and drove down to the surgery. The receptionist said there weren’t any GP appointments left. I told him what 111 had said and he said he would get a nurse to call me. Finally at 3.15 pm a nurse called me.

The nurse said I needed to be seen. By this point I was giving up the will to live. Anyway, the nurse decided the best place for me was A & E, so my DH took me. The receptionist took one look at me and said, aren’t the GPs working today? Bloody cheek!

I was triaged and told to sit and wait. At 8pm I was diagnosed with bilateral blood clots on both lungs. I was admitted at 1am and I was taken across town in an ambulance to another hospital. I was finally given a bed at 2am.

It’s rubbish currently @fatgirlswims , it’s not just where you are.

Reading that it's hardly surprising that people just go to A&E, sometimes when it is not warranted.

SapphireOpal · 11/02/2025 10:50

fatgirlswims · 11/02/2025 10:44

It says all this in my OP though?

Show quote history

Sorry, I had no idea you'd actually gone to the nurse practitioner appointment from what you said in your OP.

tilligan · 11/02/2025 10:52

111 has always been a 24/7 service, as was it's predecessor, NHS Direct.
Plenty of people use it as their first port of call.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health

Octavia64 · 11/02/2025 10:53

My pharmacist once did a medication review with me.

It was actually really funny.

I said - well actually this med isn't working well for me, could we change it slightly? He looked at all my diagnoses and said that he'd need to get a GP to review that as I had a number of risk factors that meant I was non standard.

Then he asked if I would consider stopping my painkillers and after I told him no, and that if he wanted to interfere with what a consultant was prescribing me I could go and see my consultant again and get him to write explicitly authorising my medication AGAIN.

He then asked me to read around the risk factors of the medication I'm on as it has a risk of kidney failure. I'm a maths teacher and I keep up to date with the medical literature about my condition and frankly I was seriously offended at being told to educate myself after he'd tried to fuck with the plan my consultant had.

jellyfishperiwinkle · 11/02/2025 10:57

tilligan · 11/02/2025 10:52

111 has always been a 24/7 service, as was it's predecessor, NHS Direct.
Plenty of people use it as their first port of call.

There is a reason GPs are described as Primary Care though. It's not unreasonable to try there first, unless it's an obvious emergency.

And I trust my GP far more than a minimally trained operator on the end of a phone line, or a random healthcare practitioner who doesn't know me.

FeralNun · 11/02/2025 11:01

RatedDoingMagic · 11/02/2025 07:56

111 is not just for out of hours, it is operating 24 hours a day for any circumstance where you need help accessing the right care in a timely manner. Why would staff be paid to answer the phones during weekday office hours if you aren't supposed to call then?

You should call NHS 111 when you need urgent medical help but it's not a life-threatening emergency. You can call 111 for:

Symptoms or injuries - triage to assess whether something is serious enough for A&E
Mental health
Dental help if you can't access a dentist
Prescriptions - information or urgent needs (eg if you lose your medications while away from home without access to your GP or run out and can't get a GP appointment in time)
Existing medical conditions where you need help
COVID-19 symptoms
Health information or reassurance
End-of-life care
Child protection (reporting concerns)
Vulnerable adults (reporting concerns)

You can call 111 24 hours a day. You can also use the NHS 111 online service. You should call 999 or go to A&E if you have a life or limb threatening emergency.

There is loads that 111 can do and vast amounts of NHS resource could be better used if people dialled 111 more rather than goong to a GP or A&E for something that 111 could deal with - because they deal with all the easy stuff directly and refer on to GPs or A&E if it's something (as in your case) that needs that.

Complete news to me. I’ve pretty much given up trying to access my GP tbh. This is useful info, thank you.

Flexilexy · 11/02/2025 18:13

fatgirlswims · 11/02/2025 04:04

I had no idea that you can book your own GP appointments through 111.

111 is for out of hours or when your own surgery can't help. I assumed it be sent to the urgent care centre at the hospital, not to my own GP

Why on earth do they reserve appointments for 111 patients. Why can't you book them direct?

The pharmacist appointment this evening which is too late and now cancelled.

I obviously need to get better at working this awful system.

Why do they keep appointments for 111? Because they don’t have a crystal ball to see who will need their services on a daily basis. 111 is there to keep people out of A&E when they don’t need to be there.
Plenty of people will call with medical issues that don’t require emergency help, but do require very prompt treatment. That’s where the GP will come in.
You got what you needed so…

Gloriainextremis · 11/02/2025 18:19

Don't worry OP - there are always loads of people coming up with excuses and reasons why GP surgeries have to behave like this, and how the ridiculouness is not ridiculous at all.

Ignore them. I agree with you - the system is ridiculous.

Original poster

fatgirlswims · 11/02/2025 21:55

@Flexilexy I still do not understand why people can ring 111 instead of the surgery when it is open.

I thought it was for out of hours and when the GP was at capacity and acted as a one of overflow and you would be sent to a walk in centre or such like.

Instead of A and E.

I must be deluded or living in 2005. When did 111 begin?

OP posts:

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