To wonder if the threads on here and the attitudes about time wasters in general (NHS)

[Sallystyle]

Have contributed towards less (fewer?) people getting the medical help they need because they are worried they will be seen as time wasters?

I just read a thread which triggered this question and I have seen a lot of threads in the last few months where posters were questioning whether they should go get medical help because they were scared of being a time waster etc. Most people who post who don't really need to go to A&E often get a torn to pieces.

I see it in real life too people being worried about going to see a gp incase they are wasting their time.

With all the awareness about time wasting are we in trouble of going too far the other way?

No, I don't think it's gone anywhere near enough the other way to be honest.

Just ask anyone who works in A&E.

No, we aren't in danger of going too far the other way. I don't think much has changed, people who are reluctant to seek medical help for whatever reason have always been like that, as have the people that think they need appointments and referrals for next to nothing.

I don't think there is a lot of talk of time wasting tbh, anything I have seen from the NHS on the subject has been a bout educating people about what services to use and when, which is a good thing.

The farce that is 111 directing every non event to call an ambulance or go to A&E doesn't help though.

Trust me the vast majority pitch up at A&E without a care in the world that they are time wasters.
Do people really struggle to decide if they are ill enough to see a doctor or just suffering from a cold.

As an NHS worker the time wasters IMO are the ones who make an appointment and don't keep it.

We have 20 minute appointments, if a patient is 10 minutes late we have the decision whether or not to treat.

I 99.99% see latecomers (provided they aren't serial late comers, in which case I'd give them to option to wait till I'm ready)

There will be the inevitable "Well I'm always kept waiting"

But I always tell them about the 10 minute guide and many of my collegues won't see them (so I'm a soft touch)

It means a wasted appointment and high blood pressure for me, waiting . Because if I go to do something else, they'll arrive, late

Ok, I am being unreasonable it seems

While I am here, I would like to ask any HCP what they think of people (like me) with health anxiety who see their gp often because they are scared? I often wonder what my gp thinks of me. I don't go all the time, I haven't been since Xmas and sometimes I won't go for over 6 months but I have times where I might go in once every few weeks when I haven't been able to control my anxiety very well.

I never demand tests and I admit upfront I am anxious and my gp knows I am working on it, but I wonder if other people think it is time wasting to go to a gp when you have health anxiety. For me, it can be difficult to tell the difference between a mole that needs checking and one that doesn't when I am in anxiety mode.

Can you clarify health anxiety U2?

Do you mean having a headache and worrying that it is a tumour, indigestion and worrying that it is heart problems?

I expect that your GP knows you well enough to assess whether a 10 minute appointment to reassure you is better than having you worry yourself into a mental health problem/early grave. Stress is a massive health risk in itself so allaying your fears would be better than letting you ruin your health through worry.

Yeah, that is exactly what I mean :)

I would have hoped too that my gp doesn't mind seeing me. He doesn't seem to mind but it does worry me at times.

I will always see small children who turn up late because it is not their fault that their parent(s) cannot get to an appointment on time but otherwise, unless patients have rung ahead to warn of lateness or give an astoundingly good reason why they have tried to book in more than 10 minutes past their allotted slot, then unlucky. Rebook, please.

only conscientious people and they wouldn't take the piss anyway. I had to be half dragged into A&E last year and I was like 'pfft they are going to send me away' so they sent me through to majors and I was one of the first seen...

Telling selfish people "you're spoiling the NHS" won't have any effect because they're selfish. Do these campaigns actually show improvements? From what I heard A&E attendance is up and up every year (though that's more to do with other closures than anything else) so I doubt it

Disagree there are still lots of time wasters.

I chat to lots of nurses, they have some patients that just book themselves in every month regardless of whether or not they actually need treatment.

These patients have chronic conditions / so needed to be seen regularly initially. But they still come in every month even when the contrition is well managed.

I personally think some elderly patients are quite isolated and going to the GPs is the closest they get to a day out

My DH refused to see the GP even though he was desperately ill with influenza because he didn't want to be seen as a time waster.

It was only once he was admitted to hospital after I found him unconscious on the floor with a stupidly high temperature that he admitted this was the reason why he hadn't seen his GP.

It had been all over the news for weeks about high numbers of 'time wasters' with colds filling up the A&E departments and he genuinely didn't want to be considered 'one of those' people. His Doctor said he was very lucky not to have had more complications. Because of the state he was in it took him around 8 months to recover properly. He finds it much harder to fight off colds and infections now though.

I also overheard a conversation recently between 2 ladies. I would say they were in their 40's and they were discussing what the letters A&E actually meant. Neither of them said it meant Accident and Emergency. I do think that if it was referred to by the media as Accident and Emergency and not A&E maybe more people would think about those words before choosing to visit as their first port of call rather than the local GP surgery.

There was a GP on Woman's Hour this morning who said that she'd recently seen a 24 year old who had suffered from a sore throat for a couple of days. So, no I don't think it's gone too far.

We need a massive campaign pushing people to seek help from the pharmacy first, partly because pharmacists should ask the right questions about seemingly 'normal' illnesses which would flag up if someone would be better off at a GP.