To think that we should cut doctors a little slack sometimes...?

[Latitia]

Now I'm not talking about doctors who are outright rude and obstructive. I know they're out there and there will always be people in every profession who don't act in an appropriate manner.

I'm talking more about not shouting and making a fuss when the doc is 30 mins late (could have been dealing with a child who can't tell them what's wrong or an emergency), or because they don't agree with your 'google diagnosis' and refuse to prescribe the medication you think you need etc etc.

I was in the kitchen at work the other afternoon and some colleagues were making comments such as 'what do docs even do in between patients anyway, faff around?' Etc. I just find it all a bit mad. My father is a gp, and whilst he is clearly a very good one, the abuse he receives is heartbreaking. Bricks through his windows for not prescribing tramadol, screamed at because he's running 20 mins late due to an emergency, hate mail because he cancelled his surgery because his car was entirely snowed in and tailbacks of 30 miles. He gets this almost every day.

Do our doctors maybe deserve a little more than this? Or am I being too soft simply because he's my father and I hate to hear of people abusing him...

Hmmm,

I can now see that my surgery is efficient.

jacks11
I don't doubt things come up. I'm not rude to staff or anything.

But if I compare my last 3 drs surgeries:

Surgery 1 - Usually ran to time. Sometimes there were delays. Everyone accepts situations like the one you outlined come up.

Surgery 2 (where the dr cancelled my app when i was in the waiting room because i was 2 mins late and 8 mins left on my app but he was 'too busy') - never on time, routinely late by 2nd appointment, impossible to get appointments (somehow had to be on the day or at some unspecified date), you were 30 seconds late - zero consideration, had to factor in 10 mins ti sign in for appointments until they finally got one touch screen, impossible yo get a call back, almosy impossible to request a repeat prescription because one month they'd want an appointment but then tell you there weren't any and to call up for an emergency appointment which isn't a bloody emergency etc. If you haf an app later in the session 45+ mins was a standard delay. They'd have a massive flashing signs about high % did not attends which never seemed to tally with thr fact I never had a single appointment run to time.
Feedback from patients was poor. Reviews on NHS were poor. Even as a patient you got thr impression that 70% of the staff felt like actually doing their jobs was an inconvenience and then the other 30% I just felt sorry for because they were clearly doing their best in a poorly organised place.
No, I don't believe them endlessly being late was always due to emergencies. I was there for years. So were friends and family. Every element of that place was a completely disorganised mess from booking appointments to being seen to prescriptions. Nightmare. And the lack of give and take from a significant number of staff annoyed a lot of patients (me included). Despite that, I was never an arse.

Surgery 3 - Like surgery 1.

If surgeries 1 and 3 can manage (perfectly reasonable, sometimes delays happen but everyone is doing their best) then the omnishambles of surgery 2 should have been capable.

Ok going to talk from the OZ perspective as that is where I live but reading the above comments it’s really not surprising many UK GP’s are coming over to OZ, it is a completely different system, but nevertheless, if I have to wait, I appreaicate that is because the GP Is thorough enough to be considering every possibility for their patient not just ‘oh here you go, take some panadol’. We pay here, my GP will take a full holistic approach to my problem, he might want me to have bloods, An ultra sound and an MRI, he will give me the referrals for these there and then, I then go and organise them, all done usually within the week (and I have to pay for these tests, my GP visit alone costs $75 a go, worth every single penny, I get appointments on the day without question). A UK GP does not have the autonomy to refer their patients for expensive tests without absolute clear justification, for example, i suspect this patient has cancer...it is a shame, as a UK and OZ dual citizenship, I respect the NHS but I completely respect the OZ system whereby you do have to make a contribution (when I pay my $75 usually get back around $40 within minutes direct to my bank account so ineffect I’m paying $35, the same with all the tests I’ve been referred for although around the corner from where I live there is a free (100% bulkbilling radiography service where I can getMRI’s,ultrasounds, X-rays, etcfor free and dephending on time of day, minimal waiting times, e.g under 10 minutes

Raindrops you’re v irascible when discussing doctors,nhs and hcp staff
Clearly you have ideological & practical contentions with NHS and GPs
It’s clearly evident in your posts.making it hard to have any dialogue
As you’ll likely come straightback with a pithy comment.

How interesting Lipstick that you regard disagreement as anger. All I require of the NHS is that it operates in accordance with standards of excellence and respects those who use it as much as those who work for it. Not one hospital that I could be referred to from my home has a CQC rating of better than "requires improvement". I don't think that can be argued with.

“am I being too soft simply because he's my father and I hate to hear of people abusing him...”

Yes. Nothing wrong with being loyal to your dad.

Are you sure he gets abuse every day? I just don’t see this stuff around me.

... people who left school with 2 GCSEs and an STD...

Regarding being kept waiting, do people realise that the latter the gp runs means less break /later they get to go home?

If you went to the doctor with something that turned out to be complex would you like them to cut you off after the 5/10 minutes allocated to your appointment or would you like them to actually attempt to treat /diagnose /arrange further assistance for you?

I don't think they should apologise for keeping people waiting either, they don't do it on purpose, they are doing their job so why should they apologise? Possibly a thank you for waiting but not an apology, chances are the gp has no idea on time because they've been non stop helping people.

And yes I agree with not dismissing their opinion, I went to docs with what I was convinced was strep throat, I'd had it before and felt exactly the same, maybe worse. They did it was a common throat infection and they wouldn't prescribe antibiotics. I felt better within a few days, it didn't need medication. Because shock horror they were right.

This isn't too claim the hcp are infallible I know they make mistakes etc but most 'moans' are pathetic whereas those with genuine complaints seem to be quieter and go down proper channels.

I have a chronic complex condition. I spend hours liaising between consultants, gp, local pharmacy, hospital pharmacy it's rubbish. But I don't blame the consultant who has to ring me at work to say the drug that could give me hope has been denied heres what we're gong to do. I don't blame the gp who squeezes me in to make sure all the changes the consultant made get on the system as the letter could take over a month. I don't blame the pharmacist who wants to triple check everything before they dispense another new item. I appreciate each and every one of them.

I do blame the government who have systematically broken the NHS down through multiple ideological driven reorganizations and chronic significant underfundung.

I'll admit it's annoying when they are running late especially if you're in a rush, but I don't blame the gp (and use it as a rare chance to read my book in peace!)
I always remind myself I don't know why they are running late.
My dad had a 45 minute appointment with his (wonderful) gp a couple of weeks after his triple bypass. The gp made lots of calls to specialists at the hospital etc, and my dad was admitted. The dr can't just say your 10minutes are up off you go!

They do a difficult job in increasingly difficult circumstances, I couldn't do it.

A bit different but when I had my 20 week scan with DD they found serious abnormalities. The scanner had to get a 2nd opinion, then arrange for us to have another scan at a specialist hospital. All while trying to explain in layman's terms what was happening to me and DH. I have no doubt quite a few scans were delayed that day due to a routine scan going horribly wrong for us.