To think the GP surgeries should be open today?

[Sparklingbrook]

Why are they shut? And Monday for that matter? We have 4 days of being at the mercy of OOH now.

[Theas18]

You don't begrudge gps holidays but theyshould be open good Friday and Easter Monday?

Sorry that's totally contradictory!

I'm with yellowdinasaur doctors are not a 24 hrs pizza delivery service, Thoth many people treat ooh and walk in centre like this-feel free to use those but don't expect the same service you get from"your"gp.

Btw even gp was open the support infra structure is not, so unless you put £££ in to make sure the hospitals were fully open (blood tests need transporting and processing, x rays doing etc) and the community services running properly (district nurse,OT Physio) etc etc you'd end up with a service that was only able to tell you to come back next week any way!

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes Good Friday is odd. There are threads today asking if banks are open/post offices are open. I Imagine it's Sunday opening hours but don't know?

[ImagineJL]

The vast majority of hospital staff will be off. They will be operating an on-call service, so no routine outpatients clinics or operations, just emergencies. The staff on duty will be doing it as part of their on-call rota.

GPs did the same until a few years ago. They took turns to be on duty for bank holidays. Then the government decided that they would get a cheaper but equally good service from paramedics and locum doctors, hence the evolution of Out-of-Hours as we now know it.

[JudithOfThePascha]

Exactly what yellow dinosaur said.

Especially the bit about you not giving any reasonable argument as to why GPs should be working today.

[Sparklingbrook]

Wishing they were open doesn't equate to begrudging them holiday Theas. Well that's not what I meant anyway. I have said that.

[Sparklingbrook]

I didn't want an argument. But that's AIBU for you.

[weegiemum]

In some areas (my dh is a rural GP), its the local doctors on a rota providing ooh, hence my dh doing Sunday/Monday but off today and tomorrow. He didn't do either Christmas or New Year, it's his turn.

[YellowDinosaur]

Cross posted...

I wouldn't use the gp as an emergency service because that would be a bit bonkers

So actually you want your gp to run a normal regular surgery where they have to pay staff enhanced pay on 2 bank holidays. Why? Ooh and a&e are there. The gp surgery will just be full of normal regular non emergency /urgent patients who booked for regular appointments Weeks ago because it was more convenient for them being off work. So you'd still have to use a&e if you needed an urgent appointment as your gp wouldn't have any.

So what is the actual point of this thread?

[myBOYSareBONKERS]

I personally think they should be open. They are there to deliver a service and by being shut they are not fulfilling that. Even if they only open for short hours.

I also think they should have longer surgery times during the week to take into account those that work.

We all have had to "move with the times" in regards to changes in our own jobs so they should too.

Also out-of hours GP can be completely swamped and the over spill then hits A&E.

I am a Nurse and have had many changes with my own terms and conditions of work but ultimately we knew what we were getting into when we joined this profession - its not like the hours are not well documented!!

[Sparklingbrook]

I expect OOH varies greatly. I have never seen a GP I know out of hours. I don't know why that is, but I think the area covered is quite wide. The OOH clinic is at the County Hospital.

[iliketea]

District nurses do work as normal on bank holidays (it tends to be quieter though as many other community services are not working / run a reduced service, so not so many referrals as a normal working week).

[JudithOfThePascha]

Why are people asking if banks are open today? Today is a bank holiday.

Good Friday is not odd. It is a Christian festival that, in this country (and others) is marked by a bank holiday. Like Christmas, it is actually a festival celebrated my many who are not Christian, but it is no more odd than Christmas.

Perhaps you should google Good Friday so you are a bit less ignorant about it?

[YellowDinosaur]

I don't want an argument either. I'm disagreeing with you. Which i'm allowed to do. If you can't cope with people disagreeing with you then this is probably the wrong place for your post.

[Sparklingbrook]

I didn't mean Good Friday was odd Judith. I meant the opening/not opening stuff was odd. I am not ignorant about Good Friday. Blimey.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I feel sorry for our bin men. They are working both Friday and Monday. I dont understand why they arent entitled to the same rights as many of us. Do you think they are allowed time off to go to a Good Friday service if they are Christian?

[dreamingbohemian]

I see what you're saying OP.

Really it's more the question of: if important services like GPs have the days off, why do so many other people have to work?

Where I live in France decent sized town of 300K nearly everything is shut on bank holidays.

It seems less weird because nearly everything is shut on Sundays anyways.

[XBenedict]

Today (and Xmas day) is a public holiday - recognised as a holiday long before bank holidays were introduced.

It's not just the gps that would be working though is it? It's the receptionists, nurses, HCAs, office staff etc etc. They are not an emergency service, there is emergency service available. I don't see the issue.

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes, our bin men are working today too.

[Sparklingbrook]

Thanks dreaming that's what I meant although maybe adding the OOH thing makes it sound like I am very angry.

Why is some stuff open and some not? Why not close everything?

[XBenedict]

Yes the French have a very different approach to holiday and Sundays - I quite admire them for it. We used to years ago but we've moved into this 7 day a week consumerism time.

[FigSolution]

MyBoysarebonkers, if you want primary health care health services available 24/7 and 365 days a year then you are going to have to pay for it. Tax increases... OK good luck with that

Or

Why not go and see a private GP? The private GPs here will charge you about £100 + vat for a standard consultation. Double or treble that for a bank holiday.

[Bunbaker]

"I don't understand the split of what is open and what isn't."

Because when I was a child bank holidays were sacrosanct and nothing was open on Good Friday or Easter Monday - or on Sundays either. Greedy Commercial enterprises have seen an opportunity and trading laws have changed so they don't miss and opportunity to make money these days.

When I first moved to Yorkshire in 1980 I was horrified to be asked to work on Good Friday because down south no-one did.

[Sparklingbrook]

Re the bin men it's not even country wide then? Some are some aren't?

[CabbageLeaves]

Shops open by 'choice' because they want the business. Non essential services that can shut down would be mad to pay overtime rates to cover BHs

I work in the NHS. Dept fully shut down as we are not part of emergency cover.

As I see it, workers are at work for financial or organisational need.