To be fucked off with the doctors situation

[StopFancyingPeople]

I’m so sick of the fight to get a doctors appointment. It never used to be so difficult and now it’s near on impossible.

I rang at 8am on Monday like you’re meant to. Automated message .... press 1 for appointments ... I press 1. I then get a long automated lecture about Coronovirus and then get told to press 1 again if I still want an appointment and have no symptoms of CV. I press 1. Automated message telling me the lines are very busy and press 1 for a call back. I press 1 and head off to work. They ring back at 9:30 when I’m upto my eyes in it at work and can’t answer the phone.

I try again Tuesday. Same kerfuffle with the automated messages. I request a call back and head off to work. Get a call back at 11am by which point there are no appointments left.

I try again yesterday. Same old shit. No appointments left by the time they ring me back. I lost my shit a little as I feel so Ill. I need to see a fucking doctor. It shouldn’t be this difficult!!! They sympathise and offer me an appointment ... for the end of March!!!!

I’m barely functioning. I’m incredibly fatigued, constant headache, nausea, anxious mess and not sleeping. Yesterday I could barely stay awake whilst driving home. Last night I went to bed do fucking tired that I woke up in a pool of my own piss. I didn’t even wake up for a wee. 2nd night in a row that I’ve wet the bed.

AIBU to call dr again today, make up some shit just to get an emergency same day appointment?! I don’t even feel that I should need to make shit up, I think I genuinely need to see a Dr today.

The annoying thing is, when you do by some miracle of god get to see a GP they then decide you need a blood test. Now god forbid the GP do this test there and then ... noooo .... you’ll have to make another appointment for a nurse to do it and good luck getting that within the next month or so.

It’s ridiculous. The system is fucking failing.

Also, as a nurse I see this from other people’s points of view too. A woman made up an excuse to come to my clinic last week. When she got there she asked me to diagnose something she had as she’d been trying to get a dr appointment for 3 weeks and has all the ducking symptoms of cancer. I could not help her, she needed to see a GP 3 weeks ago.

YANBU OP. Everything at my tow local surgeries is designed to make it impossible to actually get an appointment.

I find it all very uncomfortable when people talk about others having gone to GPs with "minor ailments". I've had many GP appointments plus ultrasound plus blood tests plus an emergency trip all related to one issue, that I kept being told was various things, mostly minor... Eventually by being really persistent for over a year getting through to consultants and CT scan then treatment plans, because it isn't any of the "minor ailments" that I can just take peppermint for / watch my diet etc etc etc. It's a total waste of resources, particularly given that I raised in every single appointment what it could be...which it is. It isn't actually me that's wasted the resources though and I did need treatment, it's GPs following a pathway of trying the cheapest fix first and then working their way up only when the patient pushes and pushes to explain that severe pain = severe pain and should be diagnosed then treated. If you look at the records for all but the last appointments though, the reason for me attending would be written down as something minor that a pharmacist could have treated / unnecessary scans etc, it was just the wrong diagnosis each time.

Yanbu
You are not going to fight the current system though so try some other options:
NHS111 sometimes book appointments at patient's surgeries, some do not have that option but they can arrange an OOH apt after a telephone assessment.
Ask for a GP/nurse practitioner to call you back for a telephone consultation rather than a face to face appointment. When they call back, tell them your systems and ask them to sign a blood test form and you will collect from surgery. Contact your local blood testing directly or book a private one, send it off yourself.
Go to a walk in centre, let them rule out a few symptoms and then arrange a non urgent appointment via your online booking system at your GP if you have one.
The sad thing is, the majority of us are capable human beings with capacity to make decisions, despite perhaps feeling vulnerable when unwell. What I find the cruelest is being elderly, having a disability that impedes communication etc and having to sit on hold and follow this dreadful system.

No wonder people keep consulting Dr Google!..

I believe the current advice is to wait until you drop dead, or go private.

The Tories campaigns have worked very well. Years ago on MN you rarely heard 'just' 'go private' now it's usually the second post on every health thread, as if everyone has the money to do this.

We have the online systmonline thing. You can't book appointments with it though, all it really allows you to do is order repeat prescriptions. We have a crappy walk in system, where you have to turn up at 8am, and queue. Occasionally an appointment is booked when the doctor needs you to come back at a certain date. It's a crappy system.

Nurse appointments are bookable on the phone. Last week I managed to get a smear test booked for April, no available appointments before that.

I called my surgery at 0830 today for an emergency appointment and was seen at 0950.this is typical for my surgery. Not all others in my area are the same. Do you know of any better surgeries locally you could switch to, OP?

I’ve just downloaded the NHS app - including having to record a video of myself as part of the registration process

Waiting to hear back if they’ve accepted me. Don’t even know if my surgery is part of it, it says 95 percent of UK surgeries are...

Our surgery used to be great and in some ways is definitely not as bad as others. You can get a same day appointment for under 5s, you get given a two hour time frame to attend and you will be seen by a dr within that period so no actual appointment time. For adults you used to be able to get an appointment that week until 1000 new homes were built in the area with no thoughts to the existing infrastructure. As a result schools are at their breaking point and it takes over two weeks to get an appointment. My current symptoms are not an emergency so I dont want to go to out of hours but I do need to see a dr and have an appointment in over two weeks time.

YANBU
I have to make regular appointments for my DS, he has health issues. I shouldn't need to, but his named GP- who we have met once in 3 years of being patients- refuses to allow his medication, prescribed by an actual expert consultant in his field, to be actioned unless I drag him to the GP. Not only is this impractical and a waste of an appointment, it also means I am leaving him open to catching even worse viruses whilst we wait for up to 45 minutes over his appointment time.
It's the mismanagement too, we sent in forms from his consultant for a CAHMs referral. After a year of handing to the GPs secretary, his consultant was moaning at me that we hadn't heard anything, despite there being a 5 year wait.
I rang, and rang and left messages and rang some more, over 2 months. When I finally managed to speak to someone, they said they had never heard of him. Never received his forms, no idea. GP surgery tried to blame me until I told them what date I had given them in- previous morons have meant I always make a note of date time and person on my phone calendar. They then apologised. We are now 18 months behind.
It's already hard enough when you are I'll or carering for someone with ongoing illness, without having to beg and plead for any form of care at all when needed. And I say this as someone who barely bothers unless he is really in need as I have gotten so used to how appalling it is I bare it myself and got on with it. The idea of Covid-19 fills me with horror. I know full well the NHS in my area if not others won't and can't cope. I am petrified he can get it and will be very, very ill, other people who have died have had his lung conditions.

”The UK should.look to Australia and copy its system."

So no - Australia is no longer anything to aspire too in health terms.

Third point of view - the Australian system is great in comparison to the NHS. However, you are not comparing like for like. There are parts of country NSW that are more remote than the outer Hebrides and that does affect medical services. (Although that doesn’t sound like what ThumbWitchAbroad is describing).

A smear test is free if you go to a doctor that ‘bulk bills’. Not all doctors do. For example, in my area (urban) there are two GP practices within walking distance (3mins and 5mins) that do not bulk bill. The closest bulk billers are a 4, 5, or 6 minute drive). Again - I am in an urban area with a population of less than half a million.

In the last two weeks, I have had one half hour appointment and one 15 minute follow up appointment with the same doctor (my choice of doctor both times). I called on a Thursday at 4.30pm and asked for an appointment. I could have seen any doctor on Friday or Saturday, or my choice of doctor on Monday. I have paid a total of $60 for those appointments (£30.54 according to FXConversion). I’ve also had one phone call and one text message from the doctor with test results during that time. It was thirty quid well spent but if I had driven a little further it would have been free.

The Australian system may not be perfect but it is significantly better than the NHS.

Getting a doctor's appointment is like competing in the Olympics.
I've had similar issues, never press for call back , stay on the line, at it worst it has taken almost an hour , which is hard if you need to get to work, take kids to school but thats what you need to do even if everyone is then late, at our surgery if you go and start queuing before they open they will give you an appointment on the day . If If I unsuccessfullly try and get an appointment for 3 consequetive days then I would have no qualms about saying it's an emergency. It sounds like you should be home tucked up in bed. Good luck

UK has fewest doctors per 1,000 patients in EU

That's the real problem causing all this - and hospital beds etc

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp-topics/employment/uk-has-fewest-doctors-per-1000-patients-in-eu-finds-think-tank/20036765.article

I've worked mostly in Germany since 1987 and I've always been able to get same day GP appointment - even when I've phoned up mid day

I can also usually choose my specialist by Google research, instead of going via GP

• I did this for my eye specialist and found a local "conservative" practice whereas someone else might have wanted one that is knife happy favours surgery more

It's not because German doctors are cleverer, more efficient or more hardworking

It's because taxes are higher in Germany to pay for it and also to pay for better public services, level of benefits etc

All the major German parties from right to left agree on a decent level of public services and taxing to pay for it,
so there is no stop-go, like in Britain, of alternatively cuts / increased spending

(yes, I know we're no longer in the EU, but statistics won't have changed much since that article)

We sit up till midnight and book online.
It's terrible really , as it's not a level playing field for people without the internet but it's the only way to see your GP now and it wasn't like this 14 years ago when I moved here! If you need a blood test they will book that in at the desk for you but there's a wait.

I have seen a queue round the block in the early morning for an appointment and ringing them takes an hour. My Dads care home had to phone up about his prescription mix up and she said she was on there hour and ten. The phone charges are another factor for people too or just the time factor : who can sit on there for an hour ? Many older people dont have mobiles or internet.
Mind you, our GPS are good once you do get to see one.
It's definitely got much worse and there are new homes going up all over. No new doctor surgeries or hospitals or even walk in clinics are being built!

Private GP appointment in our area is around £65. 30 minutes of undivided attention, and great for things that need treating there and then. I had cellulitis from an insect bite last year, and tried for 3 days to see our GP. Rang the Winfield and saw someone at 7pm that evening, and came away with steroid cream and antibiotics. I'm T2 diabetic and they told me off for leaving it so long

Well, my details were accepted by the NHS app and I logged in - just thought I’d try the “book appointment” option and it says none available - ring the surgery for further advice.

OP sorry you’ve been having such a hard time lately.

I’m based in NI and while I am very happy with the quality of care at my surgery the booking system is atrocious. There is no queuing system on the phone or an online system so if you want to speak to a doctor to get an emergency appointment you need to start ringing at 8.30 in the morning where you will inevitably get an engaged tone. About 30 attempts later you finally get through to reception. A terrible setup for working people.

We also have no 111 system in NI so our only options are GP, out of hours GP and A&E. The last time I went to A&E in the summer after a large burn I had to wait 7 hours to see a doctor. The system is really struggling right now.

It's ok if you can pay privately but many can't and how long before this is the norm as people can't wait for days on end ?
I'd happily pay to see my doctor , but for many it's just not affordable.
I can see it coming in though. It'll start the same as dentist charges used to be then just escalate gradually. I know many that have paid for private ops just to be pain free and these are not rich people at all. Unheard of years ago!

Excited0803 but that's not a case of minor ailments. It's a case of misdiagnosis. If you were having ultrasound tests, I wouldn't call that checking for minor issues.

There are always going to be cases like yours because they can't send everyone to the consultant. So they have to make a judgement that some people have to have treatment for the most likely minor issue first. They will at times get that judgement wrong.

However, that is not an argument that everyone with a minor issue should visit the GP just in case without trying to resolve it themselves or via the pharmacist. If more people did that there would be more time for GPs and consultants to spend on people like you.

Sounds like we need to take a leaf out of the German system book!

I'm a HCA at a GP practice, our lists for bloods, ecg, baby check, etc are filled about 4 weeks in advance. I am paid from 9 am but get into work at 08:30 to set up, calibrate check equipment, etc. I'm not paid 1-2 but often am still working and my list restarts at 2pm. We get 7mins to call a patient, take blood and Bp, generate form on dart, and walk them from waiting room. no gaps/ breaks in our lists. I usually see about 50 patients per day for a variety of things. plus dealing with dropped off samples. stock ordering etc - We couldn't work any harder for our just above minimum wage pay packet!
When I looked yesterday mid April was being booked! so no you probably won't get an immediate blood test.
I also wouldn't want to be a Gp or a receptionistor a dispenser - people are so abusive to them.

LangSpartacusCleg - yes, we have lost bulkbilling in all our local GP surgeries for most things, except medical necessity stuff (e.g. I can still get a free x ray for a suspected broken bone, but would have to pay for an ultrasound for a suspected ovarian cyst/gynae problem up to and including cancer.

All our local GP services have closed their books as well - I have no idea how people moving into the area are supposed to access medical services! Our nearest bulkbiller is, I believe, a 30 minute drive away.

We aren't in the properly rural region either - we live along the M1 in NSW.

BUT - I can get an appt a lot quicker than in the UK, so there's that. And I can get an x-ray and a blood test a lot quicker too.

I totally get this. My GP surgery has no routine appointments until mid April with any doctor. So everyone is calling at 8am for an emergency one for anything. So it is almost impossible to get through. If you do then the GP is supposed to call you back, last week I didn't get a call until 2.30pm and the GP admitted that there were no spots left. I had a bad chest infection, am immune suppressed and have asthma and his suggestion was to call back tomorrow or go to A&E. The problem is, all of our GP surgeries are the same, receptionists told me they cannot cope with amount of patients. Another GP closed because all three GPs were retiring and they couldn't recruit anyone.

Oh and I am also supposed to have blood tests at a certain time but nurses don't do them anymore here and we have to wait for the phlebotomy slots which are once a month. I am seeing my consultant next week and he is going to go mad as I am meant to have one now but my appt is June. You can't book more than 2 months in advance and when I called, they were full