Family gp appointments

[footpainhell]

I really wish gps could offer family appointments... every few months something will come up with my family... right now on the list are:
-husband needs a vasectomy, needs a referral
-daughter has a rash (been to pharmacist and they say may need cream now, it’s been there a while and nothing is shifting it)

• I need to face facts... I’m fast becoming deaf, my hearing is in decline need to sort.

-I have a sore foot from running injury that won’t heal after months. Need a physio maybe? -I need a smear, got letter last week -I have a white lump on eyelid that won’t go -I think husband is due a health check

We also have 2 ongoing paediatric appointments... that were obviously processed through gp

My idea is of “family appointments” I reckon it will save nhs loads. Instead of this one appointment=one problem nonsense. None of my stuff is urgent and doesn’t require same day appointment. Waiting lists will be shorter. I reckon a decent gp can sort out all those problems in 20-30 minutes? All the referrals, prescriptions, and a quick smear test.

I don’t want to make several appointments. It’s silly! I want to kill two birds with one stone!

Aibu to think this is one way to make nhs more efficient? Obviously there will still be same day acute appointments for urgent things.

Lol shockingly what’s most convenient for you does not align with what’s actually best for the NHS - which, let’s be honest, is more important. The world doesn’t revolve around your schedule and nothing you have posted shows a benefit to the NHS.

I don’t see why you’ve been ‘banking’ health issues collectively as a family - that’s weird. GPs hate when you bring them several problems in one appointment, let alone several problems each per family member! You all should have not delayed getting help individually earlier ie with referrals or for long standing issues, or made use of made use of nurses/pharmacies/private health care etc. It’s so weird that you’re creating lists rather than, you know, actually being an adult and dealing with things? Be more proactive and stop putting things off perhaps.

You want the GP to take a relevant history for seven different issues, do the necessary examinations, come up with a conclusion/diagnosis for each one, decide on a management plan and explain it to you, then write the necessary referrals, order any investigations that are needed and (very importantly) document all of this, all in 20-30 minutes?

I appreciate that it can be very difficult to schedule appointments together for different family members, especially if you're phoning to book on the day.
However, I think it's unreasonable to expect all those things to be dealt with at once in 20-30 minutes.
Some of those problems will require quite a lot of paperwork.
Family members would have to be traipsing in and out for different parts of the consultation eg the vasectomy counselling questions and presumably the smear.
The GP would have to take time between each family member to write up notes, as it's unreasonable to expect him/her to retain all the information to make thorough and accurate records at the end.

Tbh I do think that GP appointment systems are a bit clunky when you have an issue that will not take an entire appointment slot or a few small issues that dont need multiple appointments but your GP has a 1 appt per issue policy.

It's one thing if you have two big things that will need the entire 20 minutes, but for example I need to see my doctor for a follow up after a consultant referral and I also want them to have a look at a rash on my skin (I'm 80% sure it's nothing but I have a skin condition and I just want them to use their medical opinion to say "yep that is normal for you" or "No that's not right, even for you"). I have had to book a double appointment but I know, from previous experience, that I will barely need one appointment time, never mind the entire 20 minutes, but they would rather have the extra time than risk running over one appointment by a minute or two.

I think the only thing to do in that case is to book a double appointment - one for you and one for your child - and use the 20 minutes to cover what you can since all of your issues are relatively minor. Your DH is responsible for his own medical needs and so should be making his own appointment tbh.

OP are you sure your foot problem is not a stress fracture? Get it checked out, that can get really nasty if left undiagnosed.

“Running over one appointment by a minute or two”

Those minutes all add up. Also, your GP can’t just go straight from seeing you to seeing the next person - they have to write up notes and put things into the system. Those two extra minutes eat into other people’s time and mean that they have to sit around waiting for their appointments. It doesn’t hurt anyone to ask for a double appointment if you have more than one thing. If you don’t use “your” full 20 minutes then that’s great for everyone involved.

@Radicalfern

I am aware of this, hence why my post said "they would rather have the extra time than risk running over one appointment by a minute or two"

melj

I am so sorry! I read your sentence in the wrong tone and thought you were going for a scathing tone rather than an explanatory one! Fell like a tit now. V sorry...

You can book a double appointment but healthcare is meant to be confidential, your dc should not be there for the "adult" problems

Practice nurse here. As with many procedures, a smear test may seem 'quick' to the patient but it isn't always straightforward, and the documentation and paperwork afterwards takes almost as long. Waste of a GP's time too. They also dont do them often enough to be up to date.
See Specsavers for your hearing. You often don't need a GP referral for physio either. Ask the receptionist re self referral.

YABU

Your DH needs to sort his own appointment. Either one of you needs to sort child’s appointmemt. You need to use appropriate services (specsavers, boots, etc so hearing tests. Nurse not gp for smear).

Stop saving all your minor ailments and just go as and when the need arises! The NHS certainly doesn’t need to change its entire way of working because you’re too disorganised to book individual appointments

Hmm, so I struggle to see how this works unless all families save up all their health issues until they have enough to go en masse to one of your proposed family appointments... But is your point that it's so difficult to get a GP appointment that by default people are ending up with a stack of unaddressed health issues?

Because a better solution to that would be increasing access to GP appointments and making them easier to book... But that's a slightly trickier problem....

He literally just needs to refer him.

Not necessarily. Our local hospital has a direct access protocol for GPs to refer for vasectomy, which involves the GP counselling the patient about the pros, cons etc, then filling in a form.

I don’t think you realise how long it would take to sort out all of these issues in one appointment. And as an HCP, it’s not great when while families all pile into one room at the same time. I’ve seen too many families all talking over each other, kids behaving badly, and couples arguing, all during appointments. Not saying your family would do this, but trust me, many do unfortunately!

*whole

Can I suggest that you talk to your GP about the fatty deposit on your eyelid, that was the way my high cholesterol presented. A simple blood test should give you the answer.