Out of hours GP

[abrahamlincolnsghost]

I have rang out of hours GP as feel unwell, achey, sore muscles and a swollen jaw that is really sore to open. I take an immunosupressant medication and have been told by GP to seek medical Advice promptly for these symptoms.

The call handler told me three times that the call back time is eight hours and "Do I really want her to log the call?"

AIBU to feel annoyed at being made feel guilty for using the service. I feel I am a genuine case. AIBU to also think that people who are genuinely ill (vunerable people) will say "Don't log the call"'and that its all about the service meeting its targets?

have you got Lupus or similar OP? Go to casualty.

Yanbu, some people have no knowledge of how serious even a minor infection can be on immunosuppresants especially telephone workers who are usually not medically trained.
I am also on immunosuppressants and currently sat in the out of hours gp waiting area because i have had a sore throat for a few days. In most healthy people yes that wouldnt warrant a trip to the OOH GP but you cant be too careful when youre on these meds. Can you ring back and ask to speak to someone else? X

Don't wait for a call back. Go to A&E - if they have an ooh gp service attached they'll just redirect you there if needs be. But tbh I'd see you and get bloods done asap
Rather than faff about given your drug history.

I have known of cases where little old ladies have been asked if they really wanted to go to hospital by paramedics after a fall. It's really shocking.

Thanks, I was expecting a flaming for even ringing.

I take Azathioprine so I am usually OK with an antibiotic. I have an emergency antibiotic in the cupboard but I am not supposed to take without speaking to GP first. I have never had an infected jaw before though and I don't know what anti-b would be the right one.

A&E would be more than 8 hours I am sure.

I really feel for elderly people who might feel intimidated to not push ahead for a call.

See I don't think it would 8 hrs. You should be triaged fairly quickly and hopefully bloods taken at or around that time and then maybe a couple of hours for results (during which you may or may not see a doc).

Tbh I think that most GPs, especially OOH ones, who don't know you or have access to your medical records would err on the side of caution and send you in anyway.

Same here ,really bad experience. At Xmas I had flu and it turns out tonsillitis, but it was my ds I was calling for , he was 10 mo . He was very poorly and I rang 111, all they did was ask me ebola related questions - repeatedly , and then I got the 8 hour call back thing. I said no this is unacceptable I will have to take him to a and e if you won't help. Then a Dr rang me back, she was short tempered with me seemingly because my voice was so croaky she found it hard to understand me. She shouted at me 'I'm trying to help you!'. I explained I had flu and my dp had just got out of hospital , he has a chronic bowel disease. She agreed to come out , wow brilliant at last.
Someone else called back and said sorry your call went through to the wrong county there is no doctor for you!

I was in tears at this point and ds getting more ill, I said I will ask my mil to take him to the walk in clinic as me and dp too poorly to go. In the process of getting hold of my mil , leaving a voice mail and her calling back I had about 5 missed calls from these people leaving messages of the like 'we are concerned you are not making sure your baby is getting treatment'. I was furious and so upset, unfortunately I was rather tearful as I was ill and I so wish I had been able to deal with these people properly.

Anyhow mil took ds to the walk in clinic who were fantastic and diagnosed tonsillitis, gave him antibiotics and he was fine.

Not a very merry Christmas lol but I will never use 111 again.

I just got call back. They are faxing a prescription for me to pick up tomorrow for antibiotics.

I will go to my GP on Monday to get my bloods checked but the duty Dr didn't even ask if they were OK (although maybe they can see them on computer.)

I am too tired to care at this stage anyway but I will go to A&E tomorrow if I am any worse.

Just in case this is useful info for anyone, I have on two occasions in this situation (on Azathioprine - become unwell) phoned NHS Direct/111. Both times, they directly made me an appointment with the nearest OOH. It was all done with no hassle and with an appointment within about 3 hours. One of these was in central London and one in rural NE England.

Tomorrow? Really? azathioprine can cause a low white cell count, so anyone who takes it with your symptoms needs to be seen, at the very least for a full blood count. A prescription for tomorrow for antibiotics doesn't really cut the mustard.

I had to phone our local OOH yesterday evening. I was called back by a doctor within an hour and they generated a prescription for me (I'm not on immunosuppressants and had a clear infection which I'd had before, so in my case, it was appropriate), although on occasion I've had to get my daughter seen, we have been seen within 3 hours of my original phone call). When I got there, I was worried about getting to Boots before it shut, so the GP gave me the actual tablets - so OOH isn't rubbish everywhere.

Please go to A and E and get your bloods checked OP

I'd go and get checked out tbh. I work in a surgery and we've had 3 cases of mumps this week

I had a rotten time with ooh yesterday my son has chickenpox and some of his spots are looking nasty we had an appointment at 11.48 we were seen after 2pm they say when running behind cases are prioritised and seen on a medical need basis fair enough but they knew he was contagious still and had him in a room with pregnant women they did not prioritise them or him nor would they allow us to wait elsewhere as we needed to be close to hear our names called i was literally with the doctor for two minutes honestly the prescrition took longer to print than the consultation i was just so at the risk they were happy to take

feel better soon op

After a truly horrendous experience with DH last October with 111 and out of hours service, (he nearly died), I would say go to A&E if you know it's serious. A friend who used to be a GP's receptionist said if you phone 999 or 111 always ask for the call reference number. It's quicker if you phone again (ask for that call ref. number too), and if you need to make a complaint you'll need direct links to the chain of events. We didn't and when we complained, the call logs had mysteriously disappeared!!!!!