Utterly frustrated at not being able to see a GP?

[ismiseeire]

My health is detiorating! Sorry, in pain, so not a long explanatory post.

@Masterblasterjammin

I’m a Nurse Practitioner in a London A&E and it’s getting so frustrating. I’m very lucky, and I have an excellent GP practice but I realise that this is far from the norm.

We are getting patients sent to our already crowded A&E by GPs who haven’t even laid an eye on them. And unless it really is an emergency, we are so limited in what we can do. If it’s something that needs sorting urgently (as in today), we can refer to a specialty. And we can do 2week wait referrals. But that is it, we aren’t commissioned to do any more than that. A&E is great for accidents and emergencies (funny that), but for anything else, anything that needs proper investigations and long term management, our hands are tied. Specialties will decline our referrals, and the patient will be left nowhere. The GP is meant to be the guardian of a patients care, the person coordinating and overseeing.

We even have patients coming for daily dressings now, something that was a practice nurses bread and butter, because their GPs are telling them to.

I am such a staunch defender of the NHS, but it really is getting ridiculous now. At least 2/3s of our patients are people who couldn’t get GP appointments and were just so frustrated that they had no where else to turn.

Where I am that wouldn't happen as our a&e is now strictly triage before you leave home and given an appointment, only exception if you ring 999. They won't open the door if you just go there. If you don't "qualify" you don't get seen. It doesn't stop the surgeries referring people though. Same goes for pharmacy which is now over run with patients sent there by GP to see if they need to see a dr, when they barely can do their actual job of giving out prescriptions.

*ring 999 and qualify for ambulance (sorry lost rest of my sentence there!!)

bloodywhitecat 💐💐💐

Where I am that wouldn't happen as our a&e is now strictly triage before you leave home and given an appointment, only exception if you ring 999. They won't open the door if you just go there. If you don't "qualify" you don't get seen.

Ok, I'm going to name and 'shame' a hospital where the SECURITY STAFF are triaging patients at the doors to A&E. It's North Middlesex University Hospital London. I have watched a man trying to gain entry and these two burly officers kept asking him why he wanted to go in and they kept asking him why. He kept saying 'I need to see a doctor'. They kept repeating 'we're triaging you'. A doctor then popped out of a door into a small office at the entrance and said 'you need to listen to them'. I scuttled in as quick as I could. I was a patient and had gone out for a cigarette.
I shit you not. Security guards are now triaging patients into A&E.

I managed to get a GP appointment by calling 111, I told them I couldn’t get through on the phone.
You shouldn’t have to pay for treatment but that may be the best option for you right now if you can afford it.

they’re just trying to solve an impossible riddle of an appointment book.

Well insisting on telephone appointments before seeing people means they are wasting time so they could try cutting that out for a start.

Schools have returned because it has been accepted that the harm done by keeping schools closed outweighs the risk to teachers and community spread at this stage of the pandemic. I utterly fail to understand why the same isn’t true of GP surgeries.

My sister ended up in A&E before anyone (midwives or GP) would see her, despite her very obvious and severe post natal depression. Appalling ‘care’ imo.

Also why can’t they test people on the door? With rapid tests and vaccinated staff there is no need to turn anyone away

I don't know whether he was a homeless man or something? Maybe he was and the security staff were familiar with him. I don't know. I do know what I witnessed however!

@ismiseeire I won't name mine as its very outing but they don't even do that here. The door is kept locked with the number to ring to be tiaged on the door. God knows who does the triage. You aren't given a name and the appointment can be anywhere.

It's terrifying. I can literally access nothing at all.

The rapid tests aren’t accurate and if a GP gets covid they’re out for weeks or passing it on to vulnerable patients. And most ARE seeing lots face to face - just on an as needed basis. The phone consults save time in most cases and enable social distancing.

The only GPs I know only doing phone consults are shielding themselves (yes they ARE people too)

@Crumpsly

I managed to get a GP appointment by calling 111, I told them I couldn’t get through on the phone. You shouldn’t have to pay for treatment but that may be the best option for you right now if you can afford it.

I would if I knew how? I'd transfer all my treatment over? Something came up on FB a few months ago about a sort of centralised GP service, but to actually go there physically, their office was at King's Cross. They seemed effective for appointments, but for general stuff, I'd have to hike into London to be seen for things like smears and such. I'm also afraid of the time it will take them to transfer files and medication prescriptions over, so I might end up a few weeks without medication which I can't do.

Our gp surgery you're triaged by the "specialist" receptionist; then rung by a nurse, if they can't help rung by a dr and then if they need to see then you're given a code for e-consult and if you actually need to be seen they'll give you an appointment.

Literally takes hours.

They only allow two rings of a phone to "save time". Don't pick up? You're DNA and get a nasty letter about being a time waster. How many people can pick up a phone at any time between when they call and 7pm?? There's been discussions on Facebook about it but they're removed within minutes.

hollow laugh at 'complain to the practice manager'. A friend did that and he told her that perhaps she should move practices. She's now terrified to see any gp.

They'll see you if you want your covid vaccine though.. 😏£££

@OhYouBadBadKitten

hollow laugh at 'complain to the practice manager'. A friend did that and he told her that perhaps she should move practices. She's now terrified to see any gp.

That's why I spelled out who is involved in the practice. The Mum, Dad and Son. Mum and Dad are about 80.

Feels like GP surgeries are hiding behind covid as a reason for restricting face to face appointments . Trying to get an appointment for an ongoing illness is very frustrating. Need to ring between certain times , explain issues to a non medical receptionist and hope for a call back which can be at any unspecified time . Our surgery also reduced its hours during the first wave and they have not been increased.

The only thing that I can do is to keep ending up in A&E when I'm too sick, too weak, too much in pain. All they can do is treat what I present with (a fluid drip, antiemetic, potassium and magesium drips, oramorph). Then they send me home and my GP can't do anything as they haven't seen me. Sometimes I get admitted and they discharge me with a letter to my GP asking me to be referred to X, Y or Z. GP doesn't do the referral unless you manage to get through to them! I genuinely actually bought a new mobile phone as I thought that the calls dropping was my phone's fault. No. Still can't get through.

Some truly harrowing stories on here 💐

OP, as you know, unfortunately A&E can’t do direct referrals to specialties unless it’s a suspected cancer or something like that. I don’t know why you can’t get through to your surgery but it doesn’t sound right.

But overall it’s irresponsible to say GPs aren’t working. This will put people off and delay their care.

Everything has changed. Everywhere. Accept there’s change, suggest improvements, complain when you have to.

My surgery is working well. I’ve spoken three times with a GP for me this year, twice for my daughter, got a paediatric referral, an MRI referral, a follow up. I’ve used them more in three months than I’ve done in years. Over the phone but totally suitable.

From your posts you've clearly had multiple telephone consultations, commented in a negative fashion about practice staff not being English, called emergency services so often they've put an alert on your file, and when you have been seen in ED you've told to talk to your GP- which means you did not have a medical emergency.

Telephone appointments reduce the risk of patients catching covid from each other or staff, and reduce the risk of staff catching covid. If your practice does have 80 year old BAME GPs as you claim, then it's hardly a surprise they aren't doing face to face appointments. A comparison with schools is pointless- schools aren't full of vulnerable, ill older adults- who are the main users of GP services.

Unfortunately you are not coming across well here, and FYI the NHS has a zero tolerance approach to people complaining about a Dr's ethnicity.

I know it’s not what people want to hear but there are private doctors (telephone, video) with prices starting at around £30 per consultation. I haven’t used this myself but I know a couple of friends who did and they had good care. It’s not ideal for continuity of care or long-term issues.

Surely every GP must be fully vaccinated by now? If that's not enough will they never see patients ever again?

GPs ARE SEEING PATIENTS.

Now can we cut this crap?

@LadyWithLapdog

GPs ARE SEEING PATIENTS.

Now can we cut this crap?

Some GP’s are seeing patients...

Unless you are accusing all the people whose surgeries are not of lying?

JustLyra - correct, I’m only making the same generalisation as others are.

@LadyWithLapdog

GPs ARE SEEING PATIENTS.

Now can we cut this crap?

Yes but only a small percentage.Vast majority of consultations are by phone, I don't think any surgery has gone back to all ftf whereas hospitals are now doing routine outpatients ftf.