To think a 6 week wait for a GP appointment is totally ridiculous

[fussychica]

Just tried to book an appointment at our local surgery to get something checked out. Not been for ages and I was expecting a 2 - 3 week wait but apparently there are no face to face appointments before the 4th Jan and they are not releasing any appointments beyond that date until the end of next week. There are also no 5 minute telephone consultations available until after 21 Dec. Apparently there is no doctor shortage at the surgery.
I am really shocked and not quite sure what to do apart from go private. It's not an emergency at the moment but at the same time I'm not happy to wait 6 weeks to sort it.
Have written to my MP advising him of the situation, for all the good it's likely to do.

So is this the norm now or are the people of this town alone in receiving such a sub standard service?

"How about ALL doctors are made to work in General Practice for 3 yrs before they scoot off to Aus/USA/Canada or take the private work job?" I could get on board with that.

"I love the GPs I work with and I'm proud to work with such amazing selfless people who work their backsides off."

However on a thread about refusal to remove mirena there are some truly shocking examples of GP's ignoring patients, denying them true consent medically, denying them their bodily autonomy, only discussing certain matters if their husband/partner is present, denying their husbands/partners vasectomies unless both partners present and pretty insistent and outright LYING on their medical records in order to obtain financial gain for having given advice the patient neither asked for nor needed! (Which I'm fairly certain must be fraudulent!), further convinces me GP's aren't being as well supervised/overseen as they should be.

"How about ALL doctors are made to work in General Practice for 3 yrs before they scoot off to Aus/USA/Canada or take the private work job?"

Errrr...Because you have to train for 5 years post medical school before you can become a GP. Add to that your proposed compulsory 3 years for everyone as a GP, and anyone who doesn't want to be a GP is 8 years out of med school (so probably about 32), before you can start 7-8 years hospital training to be come a consultant. Yep, I can see that going down well with would be doctors. And what about the specialities......are we just going to have 3 years where nobody trains as a hospital specialist?
And most importantly of all being a GP isn't suited to everyone (just like being a plastic surgeon or a gynaecologist isn't suited to everyone). IMHO, as a non GP dr, its the hardest job in medicine to do well and it takes a certain type of saintly person to be a GP. I never wanted to be one and if someone had said that I'd have to do 3 years in GP land I'd probably never have done medicine.

Wow. Here in Ireland most people have to pay for GP visits, and it is usually no problem to get one for the following day. It used to be quite easy to get a same day appointment until free GP care was introduced for under 6s. Now a lot of doctors complain that appointment times are being taken up by parents who bring little Johnny to the surgery every time he sniffles.

It seems that when something is free it's just abused by selfish people, in this case people taking up appointment times they don't need while those who are genuinely ill or in need of medical advice have to wait weeks.

Graphista
You don't appear to live in the real world.
Long in depth consultations mean other patients wait even longer, blood test, x rays, MRI/CT Scans take lots of money, require specialists to diagnose accurately.
We don't have these scanners, the hospitals nor the specialists or as said the GP's.

New qualified doc's made to work in GP, mean they won't be working on wards etc.
As they pay for their studies/living costs, forcing them to work in the NHS is a ridiculous idea, the vast majority do already, if only to get the experience before leaving the NHS.

When the UK vote for Swedish levels of taxation, then they can expect Swedish levels of primary care.

So, how abut people start taking responsibility for their own health? People take no exercise, eat and drink until they are obese/diabetic and then expecting the NHS to fix up them up?

On the contrary I think it's GP's aren't living in the real world (and there's a prime example on another thread of one wanting to declare themselves bankrupt rather than pay their utility bills or give up nights out, expensive hairdressers & manicures!)

There's largely no need for long in depth consultations, there IS a need clearly for GP's to know how to take a history properly and NOT to dismiss what the patient says when giving that history. If THAT happened fewer patients would need to be making repeated appointments for the SAME condition just to get a Dx & treatment. If patients weren't needing to book multiple appointments UNNECESSARILY because GP's aren't getting it right, then there'd be more available.

This is NOT even Swedish levels of primary care, this is levels of primary care we used to get and should still be able to get in the nhs.

As for "people start taking responsibility for their own health"

Endometriosis isn't caused by poor self care.

OCD isn't caused by poor self care

Asthma isn't caused by poor self care.

Allergies including to medications aren't caused by poor self care

Not all cancers are caused by poor self care many are in patients with a genetic predisposition

Ovarian torsion isn't caused by poor self care

Pcos isn't caused by poor self care

Type 1 diabetes not caused by poor self care.

And actually even conditions where self care is a FACTOR it isn't the whole story, if it were then EVERYONE who is overweight, smokes, drinks too much, doesn't exercise regularly would get them and they don't. There's other factors.

In addition a GP's in fact any HCP's job is NOT to judge but to treat the patient WITHOUT prejudice.

And frankly given the number of GP's I've seen who are far more overweight than I AND I can smell and see signs that they are heavy smokers & drinkers too, it's hypocritical!

According to bmi I'm overweight, which I'm repeatedly bagged about by GP's even though I've lost a significant amount and continue to lose which they don't notice even though I'm weighed regularly in relation to one of my medications. I'm also on 2 medications known to slow metabolism & increase appetite so I'm constantly resisting the urges caused by this. AND my bp, pulse, cholesterol etc are all well within healthy range, on the low side if anything. I'm vegetarian, try to cook healthily from scratch DESPITE a pain condition and severe MH issues, I'm teetotal as one of my meds you can't drink on as it massively increases the "drunk" effect, not that I've ever been a big drinker anyway I've been drunk twice in my entire life! And one of those was a dick mickeying my drink! I don't like the sensation and I've an alcoholic father has made me very wary.

I've never smoked a cigarette not even tried (asthma since childhood, vehemently anti smoking) never tried a street drug.

Until I was mid 30's and had a serious car accident I was a runner exercising 3-4 times a week. I was max size 8 until then too except when I was pregnant.

Out of my friends & family the people who mostly Go to the gp have genetic or work related conditions.

Type 1 diabetes, genetic cancers, asbestosis, back problems from not being provided the right training/equipment at work, endo, pcos, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's, genetic heart conditions.

I never wanted to be one and if someone had said that I'd have to do 3 years in GP land I'd probably never have done medicine

Therein lies the problem.
Who would want to be a GP? No one wants to be one anymore and we wonder why we have a national shortage...

As for "people start taking responsibility for their own health"

I think there's too much emphasis by GPs on lifestyle factors. So much that if someone sat in front of them doesn't have poor lifestyle, they just assume you're a time waster and don't bother listening to your symptoms etc.

That's certainly what happened to my father and OH - but who had very healthy lifestyles, plenty of exercise, non smokers, not overweight, light drinkers, etc - multiple GP appointments needed before they were taken seriously despite presenting with clear indicators of cancer which were simply ignored by a succession of GPs . We can only assume that because there were no risk factors pointing towards cancer, the GPs discounted it and basically patted them on their heads and told them to go away. After the event, and in the light of diagnoses, the symptoms were clear indicators of cancers which are known not to be caused by lifestyle choices.

The fact is that 60% of cancers aren't caused by lifestyle factors, so it's wrong for GPs to look at you and discount it because you have a healthy lifestyle.

With all the emphasis on poor lifestyles, I think GPs are too preoccupied with it and aren't giving proper consideration to those preventing with healthy lifestyles.