AIBU to wonder why it has become so impossible to get a Doctor's appointment?

[Bluebananas01]

I remember when I was a child in the 80's, if you were ill you could always get to see the Doctor the same day. I even remember the Doctor doing a home visit when I had the measles. I called up this week to try and get a Doctor appointment and it is a three-week wait (South East).
Everybody seems to talk about there being no Doctors appointments but what is the real reason? Is it just down to underfunding? Are people not turning up for appointments? A sicker population?

Even when I get to see a Doctor it is as if they are trying to get me out of the surgery asap and heaven forbid if you need a referral. Two years ago I went to the Doctors with joint pain, shooting pains, weight gain etc. I told him that autoimmune disease runs in my family and it felt AI as it came in waves (like flare-ups). He pretty much told me I was a hypochondriac. Asked if I exercise (because of the weight gain) and when I told him 6 days a week he told me to take up yoga and sent me packing.

Fast forward to this year when I was going overseas with my husband to his place of birth where it is super cheap to see consultants and have blood tests done. My symptoms had been progressing so I have blood tests etc and saw a Doctor there and discovered that it wasn't all my mind as suggested by the Doctor and that I actually had:-

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (Autoimmune underactive thyroid)
Pernicious Anaemia
Severe Vitamin D deficiency.

How the hell did my Doctor miss so many warning flags about my health? I only ever go to the Doctors for smears and pregnancy so hardly one to visit the Doctor for the slightest sniffle.

It makes me wonder how many other people are being fobbed off and are living with a poor quality of life because their Doctor just can't be bothered to give a proper consultation.

[Missingstreetlife]

Not too many people, those younger immigrants are paying taxes to fund your pension, as we funded them for our parents generation.
Not enough rescources, how much is brexit costing, or all those wars and royal weddings? Too much waste and neccessary testing, whilst missing the bleeding obvious like your thyroid problem.
My practice will not let you see a gp urgently, it is a problem. You can book in advance (2 weeks) but get a 'health professional' for sooner. Very nice and fine for routine things but not so good for complex problem

[sar302]

At our GPS, you can either have a booked appointment in three weeks time, or turn up and queue outside the surgery at 7.45 to be booked in later that day. Always fun with a sick baby!

The NHS is massively underfunded.
Healthcare has not expanded to meet population growth.
People STILL use the doctors for coughs, colds and minor ailments.
The population are living longer and require input for longer.
People are unhealthier - appointments need for type 2 diabetes, blood pressure monitoring etc
People are able to live longer, whilst chronically ill, which is good (ie living longer with cancer, HIV etc) but adds to appointments.

It's not hard to see why it's difficult to get a GP appointment. But it is very irritating! Quality of care obviously differs from person to person, but all the financial pressures also mean that appointments are shorter and referrals take longer, which means things unfortunately get missed.

[alreadytaken]

Yes YABU - YABVU if you voted for the Tories.

The NHS is underfunded and has a minister who consistently undervalues the work of his staff. Doctors regularly stay late because they feel unable to walk out on patients in need of care but there are now so few staff in relation to the need that the workload is not sustainable. Doctors are leaving - going overseas where they are more valued or just doing something other than medicine. When you were a child the NHS was better funded, doctors were respected and felt valued. Your doctor has to get you through the surgery and out rapidly because they have a lot of other patients besides you.

Doctors are human beings and they make mistakes. They make more mistakes when over-worked. Your doctor made a mistake if they took no blood tests - I'm afraid I find it virtually impossible to believe you because of that claim. You made a mistake in not going back and not insisting on blood tests, if this is anything other than another sloppy journalist post. But if you had a blood test your thyroid levels would quite possibly not have been treatable under central guidelines now, gps had more discretion when you were a child. That is a separate issue.

In future there will be even less gps and you are going to see nurses or other health professionals far more often. You may even be required to put your symptoms, which could have been caused by many things, into a computer programme that will decide if you are allowed to see anyone. It should order a blood test before it sends you away.

If you want someone who has time to listen you'll need to be prepared to pay for it.

[viques]

Why? So many reasons, we have access to better health care for a wider range of disease than our parents ever did which in itself quite rightly makes more demand on the system, but in addition, there is a perfect storm of other issues that are breaking the back of primary care.

Not enough GPs being trained to replace the ones retiring, giving up.

A population that doesn't take care of its own health very well, is overweight, eats poor food, doesn't exercise, smokes,drinks, takes recreational drugs.

A population that self diagnoses and takes up appointments unnecessarily with minor illnesses that could be treated at home (see also A and E)

An ageing population who have the illnesses that come with old age.

A younger population that has not been taught to take some responsibility for its own health , and the health of their children, andexpects quick fixes for everything from the common cold to obesity.


A population that believes that the small payment in real terms that they make to the NHS actually covers the cost, and a series of governments who are so desperate to stay in power that they do not challenge the nations perception of the true cost of the NHS and bring in additional funding streams as they do in other European countries.


A population that believes that if it is "free" it's ok to abuse the system.

[SinkGirl]

Thanks OP. I’ve even been considering self medicating, I’m so desperate but it’s the last thing I want to do. Also considering paying to see a private GP who specialises in functional / integrative medicine but they’re often very woo and I don’t believe in all that. I’ve found one that would treat my thyroid with the results I have, but then I worry they’re only doing it for the money and it wouldn’t be in my best interests / that’s not the problem. I just want to know what’s wrong and find a way to feel better. People have no idea how soul destroying it is to feel so unwell for so long, unable to work etc and not know why and for doctors to just not be interested. It’s hideous. Have spoken to so many people who think that if you’re that unwell then surely you’d be under a specialist and having investigations until they suss it out... if only.

I’m glad you got some answers and I’m sorry it was so hard to get them.

[SinkGirl]

A population that self diagnoses

Well that’s hardly bloody surprising is it, when patients are so frequently fobbed off.

[Stiffasaboard]

OP lots of interesting discussion on here but you don’t want to talk about GP provision- you want to talk about your own medical symptoms.

GP couldn’t be bothered
Fobbed off
Should have worked harder and become a surgeon
Lowly GP
Don’t know what they are doing

Just a few snippets from this thread

Oh and the comment that it’s because the GPs in her surgery are part time that the poster can’t get an appointment. - just to respond to this the surgery will aim for a total number of GP sessions it can afford to staff- doesn’t matter if that’s covered by 3 GPs or 6, the appointment number is the same- please don’t criticise GPs for not working 10 sessions a week (a session being a half day in theory)- almost none do because it is literally not possible- the workload that accompanies a single 3-4 hour surgery is more like 6-7 hours once you factor in admin plus then there is all the management work that goes with running a practice, the courses and training to keep up to date with the complexity of numerous areas (GPs have to know about every speciality).

No wonder GPs are leaving.
The public perception and very vocal rhetoric is of work shy,useless and failed doctors. Of course some aren’t as good as others- that’s life - but the vast vast majority are conscientious hard working and have vast amounts of knowledge equipping them to manage any condition that walks through the door from cradle to grave. Think of the depth and scope of knowledge that GPs have to have in an arena if increasing complexity and the number of long term conditions now managed successfully in the community.

Accusing them of being failed consultants is rude and shows ignorance of the speciality in its own right.

IMHO many of the public are now getting a service they deserve- they are wasteful fo the resource and bash GPs at every opportunity.
Many don’t and have wonderful relationships with their family doctors but the over riding feeling these days is that GPs are ripe to be hated and consequently very few want to do it anymore. Who can blame them?

[GrandmaSharksDentures]

I'm sure no one will be surprised at this but it's interesting none the less.

I am a nurse practitioner & I work in A&E / Urgent Care Centre. On average I see approx 14-16 patients per shift. In the last few months approximately half of those will have been young adults (20-30 age range) who have sore throat, runny nose and feeling unwell. Diagnosis - viral cold.

I know it's difficult to get a GP appt but going to A&E with a cold....? They all seem genuinely surprised that I can't give them a cure

[viques]

sinkgirl I mean people who go to their GP with handouts from Dr Google about rare tropical diseases despite not travelling to places where rare tropical diseases occur, that turn out to be heat rash because they sat on the beach all day.

[user1480880826]

@mellongoose the rate of spending has increased at the slowest rate in years. The government don’t even seem to be trying to keep up with the increased demand for services. The skeptic in me would say it’s a deliberate plan to make privatization the only option.

You’ve got to love a Tory government.

[Bluebananas01]

minesasaugagesupper Sat 20-Apr-19 08:31:01
There's a thread on here somewhere about women being fobbed off by doctors and not taken seriously. There are so many incidents of men being treated differently. Definitely worth a read but unfortunately I don't know how to find the thread. Maybe someone can link it

This happened in my own family.
My brother went to the Doctors this year with symptoms and was immediately referred and diagnosed with Graves Disease (Auto immune overactive thyroid). I have the opposite to him, Hashimotos (Autoimmune underactive thyroid) and was treated and pretty much told that all my symptoms were just because I was a woman over 40.
It was his diagnosis that got me wondering whether my problems were thyroid related which pointed me in the right direction and got me a diagnosis.

[PookieDo]

I run an out of hours service and we actually have some empty appointments on Monday but we use 111 to fill some of them.

We did a satisfaction survey and our area is doing much better now but fact is you can’t see your own GP anymore, times are changing and you probably don’t know the doctor you do see - but you do get seen!

You need to ask your GP surgeries about ‘extended access’ because all GP surgeries are obliged to be offering these hub appointments evenings and weekends

[givemesteel]

I've said this before but I think that GPs should be trained seperately from other medical students.

The issue is that not enough medical students at the end of training choose to be a gp. If the training scheme you signed up to was GP training and was non transferable then those students would know what they were signing up to. It may be a quicker course as well as it means they're not placed in every single specialism first.

Over population is the elephant in the room, however positively immigration/immigrants contribute to society/the economy.

They may pay taxes (although the vast majority of people generally are not net contributers to the tax system) but if a third of a million people come into the country every year the UK can't train enough GPs to cope with that sort of increase every year if training a doctor takes ~6 years, you're always going to be at least 6 years behind demand. We really need to be training twice as many GPs anyway to account for so many going part time.

[Oblomov19]

Completely disagree with WellErrr.
Op Told one GP and was totally dismissed and then later saw a GP in another country and found she had all these health conditions. that is poor. Fact.

and how many others of us have been to doctors and been totally dismissed? many!!

[PookieDo]

@GrandmaSharksDentures

The problem with this demographic is access
GP surgeries are usually set up for people inside their own working hours so you are screwed if want to see a GP but 0 hours contract and can’t leave work as won’t get paid and all GP surgeries close at 5 or 6
People still don’t seem to realise pharmacists can help you either!

[HostessTrolley]

My daughter contacted several gp surgeries last year, local but out of our ‘catchment’ area for confidentiality reasons, asking about volunteering or work experience. She wanted to see/learn about the running of a gp surgery as she was applying for medical school. Was either completely ignored, told she’d get a call but didn’t, or a straight ‘no we don’t do that ’

It makes me feel quite meh when GPS say they’re understaffed and too busy to give patients their time and attention when they can’t be arsed to interact with or encourage future doctors. I was a midwife, working with students was an accepted part of my job.

My d has multiple med school offers, but is less than positive about the idea of being a GP now. Maybe if she’d had the opportunity to see and learn a bit about it, she wouldn’t feel that way. Who knows?

[TroysMammy]

It seems that the same people get appointments.

GP's are snowed under with paperwork from outside agencies like ESA & UC which are on top of referrals. One of our GP's is in work at 7am until 6.30pm 4 days a week. Sometimes he comes in on his day off to do taxi and HGV medicals and the backlog of joint injections.

People should self care and not come to the surgery when they have had one bout of vomiting, diarrhoea or the sniffles. They should make more use of common sense and the Pharmacy which will free up more time for the GP to see people who need more in depth care.

Our surgery has a paramedic who goes to the housebound who have chest infections, urine infections and itchy skin for example. Will carry out obs and report back to the GP. More often than not it can be managed with a prescription or in some cases everything is fine.

[justarandomtricycle]

REDACTED

I for one, welcome the inability to get a doctor's appointment!

[Bluebananas01]

alreadytaken
I am not being unreasonable to ask the question why it is difficult to get an appointment.
I am not a journalist and my story is true, I presented with these symptoms and no blood test was taken.
I got tested overseas, which I paid for and my TSH score was 8.5
both my FT4 and FT3 were well under range. I was also tested for thyroid antibodies which were well over range and resulted in me receiving my diagnosis of Hashimoto's. Under NICE guidelines, if you have high thyroid antibodies you should be medicated (SEE THYROID UK) even if over normal range yet below the guideline of TSH 10.0.

I had a Vitamin B12 score of 60 had tests for intrinsic factor which I don't have hence Pernicious anaemia. I've had loading doses and now self injecting every two months.

What part of my story don't you believe? This is 100% the truth.
No, I don't and never have voted Tory nor will I ever.

How thoroughly patronising you are?

[DeloresJaneUmbridge]

You are absolutely NOT unreasonable to ask the question. It’s frustrating at times.

[YellowSock]

It's a location issue I think, our do tors and the local ones friends are registered with always seem to have same day appts. It's harder to get once in advance which means you don't bother going with non-urgent issues; for example, my joints in my fingers have hurt for about 18 months, like they need oiling but as I don't want to stop someone ill on the day having an appt I haven't gone to see my doctor

[Raspberry10]

My town had a population of 10,000 in the 80s, with two Dr surgeries. The population is now 27,000. Guess what? Still two Dr surgeries with similar amount of GP’s.

In the meantime we’ve lost a maternity hospital and a general hospital. Population has almost tripled will less resources.

My GP now you can’t phone unless it’s an emergency (or you don’t have computer access) you have to go online, leave a note as to what’s wrong and they’ll either call back if it’s important or email back with advice.

[Bluebananas01]

alreadytaken

The surgery was in Reading, Berkshire. A very heavily populated part of the South East where they are building new homes at a rate of knots but there are no additional doctors (or schools for that matter) to meet demand.
Feel like bloody well naming the Doctor for not being believed. Flipping well name the surgery as well.

[ViennaLinz]

My daughter contacted several gp surgeries last year, local but out of our ‘catchment’ area for confidentiality reasons, asking about volunteering or work experience. She wanted to see/learn about the running of a gp surgery as she was applying for medical school. Was either completely ignored, told she’d get a call but didn’t, or a straight ‘no we don’t do that ’

I’m a GP. We don’t take work experience students.

There’s no way they could ever observe appointments - would you want a random 16 year old in the room during your GP appointment - so they’d just have to mill around in reception and make cups of coffee.

It’s not like a hospital where they can spend time on a ward. In a GP surgery, all the medical stuff happens behind closed doors, and a work experience student cannot be behind that door.