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.

[YellowDinosaur]

MyBOYS I think most gp surgeries are open some evenings and sat now actually. They certainly are where I live....

You are right that times and work hours are changing. And that the overspill adversely affects a&e. But along with this I also think a big problem is the growing sense of entitlement by the general public that they should be seen right now and won't take any inconvenience to themselves to accommodate that.

So if you have a routine medical problem book your convenient (evening /weekend) appointment early and don't bluster and fuss when you can't get one which you've known you needed ages ago with 2 days notice. And if it's an emergency don't complain that the timing of the appointment isn't perfect and you might have to take an hour or 2 off work / wake the baby a bit early / bring all your children in with you etc. It can't really be an emergency if you're not prepared to make any adaptations yourself to be seen quickly can it?

Sorry i'm probably derailing the thread a bit now but honestly some of the things patients think are emergencies are frankly ridiculous. Most memorably the postman who came to a&e 2 nights running with a flea bite on his finger. And some of the reasons why people can't attend appointments that have been arranged to accommodate their need to get in urgently are just as bad (the lady who came in to the surgical emergency ward with her possible appendicitis 24 hours late because she couldn't miss work then complained at waiting 2 hours to be seen anyone?). Don't get me started on people who don't bother to let you know they're not turning up then have a strop when they have to be rereferred by their gp.

So op i'm sorry if you feel got at but your op 'i want the gp to be open in case I need them - how dare they be off when others have to work' just smacked a bit of this overly demanding 'it's my right' mentality. I suspect you weren't meaning it to.

[dreamingbohemian]

I have to admit, when we first moved here, it took a while to get used to -- not just everything being closed on Sunday, but shops generally close earlier in the evening, they close for lunch, etc. We moved here from London where we had three 24 hour shops within a 5 minute walk, so quite a change!

But I do really like it. It's not really any hardship for consumers, and as a long-time former waitress myself, I think it's nice for restaurant and shop workers and binmen to be just as entitled to their Sundays and holidays as everyone else.

[auforfoulkesake]

well I was a teen in 1980 and our local newsagent was open which was down south

I think the shops make up their own rules today.
easter has been over run by eggs, chocolate, and xmas by presents.

[aftermay]

Maybe we should just be a secular country and not give a fig about Easter or Xmas. Problem solved. Everyone can work like a dog and that minor ailment can be seen on Easter Friday too. I'll tell you why: because that's when you don't work and can take your DC to the surgery without having to take time off work.

[YellowDinosaur]

Excellent post cabbage leaves

[HotCrossWeaselInSinisterBonnet]

I think my GP would like to go back to opening mornings. They used to do so on Bank Holidays and Saturday Mornings, with a reduced staff.

Then some bright spark decided to stop that and have th all work 8am to 7pm instead. That was 3 years ago and they are still muttering darkly.

My Libary opens Sunday afternoons

[Sparklingbrook]

I can see why you thought that Yellow. Having re read my OP.

I knew someone who accompanied Doctors on OOH home visits. One bloke had a blister on his foot.

Did appendicitis lady actually turn out to have appendicitis?

[dreamingbohemian]

"Shops open by choice because they want the business"

But do their workers have any choice whether to work?

As I understand, this is the driver of the French rules. Workers shouldn't be forced to work on traditional days off.

[Wishfulmakeupping]

Yanbu they should be open today at least

[YellowDinosaur]

And everythingbeachy you are spot on about doctors pay. Except that those working today and Monday won't get extra pay but will get time of in lieu. So if you don't want to work a bank holiday you can usually find someone who is happy to swap. Sat and sun just a normal weekend though and when Christmas falls on a weekend you wouldn't get time off in lieu for working it, just for the bh that followed the week after in place of it.

[Sparklingbrook]

I am a bit loathe to ask about the Library thing after all this. But Sunday is a day lots of people can get to the library, schoolchildren etc. They are moaning that people aren't using the libraries, but it would be lovely on a Sunday.

Apologies to Librarians.

[aftermay]

No, libraries are open evenings and Saturdays. There's plenty of time to fit in a visit to the Library. Just drop the ballet and drama and essential swimming and you'll find time for the library. Anything else?

[ChookKeeper]

GP surgeries are contracted 8am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday except for bank holidays. Other services are paid to provide cover outside of these hours. Some GPs have signed up to provide extended hours e.g early morning/evenings/Saturdays for an additional payment but the dept of health halved that amount a couple of years ago and put the money into a different service that's been scrapped from 1st April. So where I work we open until 8pm 4 nights a week for £10k a year less than in 2010/11. This is a choice the partners made because they know how much patients value evening appointments. Anything over and above that will have to be paid for properly and as a country we just don't have the money.

[YellowDinosaur]

Sparklingbrook appendicitis lady did not have appendicitis. So if I was feeling charitable I could conclude she didn't feel she needed to come in urgently as she didn't feel that unwell. And didn't realise that a bed was being kept for her that could have been used for someone else. Although given how demanding she was on the ward I think it most likely that she didn't really care about inconveniencing everyone else because she was only going to come when it suited her.

[Sparklingbrook]

No ballet, drama or swimming here. Boy stuff. Football.

I meant me escaping the football for a cuppa and a read in the tranquility of the library on a Sunday. Using the facilities they want us to use.

[aftermay]

Did you lobby for those libraries to be kept open? Or did you agree that a read and a cuppa can be provided by willing do-gooders so libraries can well have their funding cut. After all, they're only there as a glorified bus shelter.

[Flisspaps]

Our bin men are out today. I, like many of my neighbours, assumed they'd be off so haven't taken the recycling out for collection.

[Sparklingbrook]

It wouldn't bother me if everything shut today Bruised. I would have done my food shopping yesterday. Probably do it tomorrow now anyway.

Yellow, I dread to think about the nonsense you have to put up with.

[sashh]

the hospital staff don't get time off with family unless they have booked it I assume.

Actually a lot will be off. All the admin people, some of the departments, all clinics will not take place.

[Sparklingbrook]

They have just built a new Library. It has a gold roof. Here it is. I could go today if it wasn't shut.

[aftermay]

I did a home visit for someone who really truly couldn't attend surgery. Only to find her DH was at home (so could have driven her in) but he was engaged in decorating their new home and couldn't work around the paint drying.

[Sparklingbrook]

after. Are you allowed to say anything?

[aftermay]

Sorry, that library looks hideous. But then you'd be inside and not have to look at it.

[aftermay]

Sparkling, I hope that's annonymous enough :) I made a few noises but at the end of the day you just want to get out if there and go to the next visit. Next time I insisted on a surgery appointment with the same patient (young, fit). TBH they'd just moved to the area so maybe still testing things.