Utterly frustrated at not being able to see a GP?

[ismiseeire]

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

What an absolute joke. On another note, where did all the money go that was raised by Major Tom? Millions of pounds and it doesn’t seem to have made any difference at all.

No, hospitals are doing lots of telephone and video consultations. That includes things like fracture clinic and physio therapy. My surgery hasn’t gone back to direct online booking and thank god for that. The waiting time was 2-3 weeks then vs 2-3 days now with telephone first. I’m in London and it does sound mine are pretty good.

@GoLightlyontheEarth

What an absolute joke. On another note, where did all the money go that was raised by Major Tom? Millions of pounds and it doesn’t seem to have made any difference at all.

It wasn’t raised for basic services though, was it? Wasn’t it for the NHS charity - so will fund equipment and ‘nice to haves’ rather than basics?

www.bbc.com/news/uk-52758683 Major Toms money.

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

Are you actually blaming ME? I'm about to fucking die and you're blaming ME?

Pankhurst. I do not willingly call an ambulance. I call 111 of fill out the 111 online form as I CAN NOT GET A GP APPOINTMENT. What part of that did you not understand. It's in the thread title!

I've been seen twice in person this year thankfully, (long term conditions) in outpatients.
I've experienced the joke of a telephone podiatry consult...not to mention the dermatology one.

I'd happily wait 2 to 3 weeks to be seen ftf. I can only hear about 50% of conversation on the phone.

Sometimes it’s time wasters complaining, sometimes people want more treatment than is medically appropriate and sometimes it’s people who really have received an inadequate service. Difficult to tell from afar but I would agree that the number of face to face appointments does need to increase. However, it’s impossible when covid vaccinations are taking up so much time. The staffing to give 30 million vaccinations doesn’t just miraculously appear from nowhere there is a trade off and I think people are being naive to think anything else. Guidelines for health and social care settings come from the government they’re not decided by the contractors. They don’t make the rules, if they’re not following the rules given to them then you have cause to complain

@BungleandGeorge

Sometimes it’s time wasters complaining, sometimes people want more treatment than is medically appropriate and sometimes it’s people who really have received an inadequate service. Difficult to tell from afar but I would agree that the number of face to face appointments does need to increase. However, it’s impossible when covid vaccinations are taking up so much time. The staffing to give 30 million vaccinations doesn’t just miraculously appear from nowhere there is a trade off and I think people are being naive to think anything else. Guidelines for health and social care settings come from the government they’re not decided by the contractors. They don’t make the rules, if they’re not following the rules given to them then you have cause to complain

I have not been able to see a GP from my practice since March 2020.

Why won't GPs see patients? Dentists do, physios do, hospital doctors and nurses do (all of whom are fed up with the attitude of GPs). What's so special about GPs that they won't? I won't bore you with my family's situation but we know many medics and were able to bypass the GP system to get surgery for a family member in January. In normal times this surgery would be considered urgent, as delaying can cause long term problems, but the surgeon told us they are just not seeing these cases any more - a situation that perplexed and worried him. The reason for this being such cases are not getting past the gatekeepers (GPs) because the gate keepers refuse to see patients!

@ashmts

pretty sure nitrofurantoin doesn't cover for BV so online scripts and bypassing the GP aren't the answer.

If you read my comment I said Macrobid is what GPs often give you for a UTI. In my experience Macrobid does get rid of UTI's. It got rid of mine last week.

Online ordering of pain killers and antibiotics is a way around the current GP shambles - if you know what's wrong, have had it before and know what to order. It isn't the answer to the current GP shambles though, I agree.

I try the 8am lottery most days, when I'm well enough. Now the phone lines just drop when it says 'you are number 10 in the queue'.

I can't get through to them, so I fill out an econsult form requesting pain relief. Sometimes they respond, more times they don't.
Sometimes I end up so sick, weak, fainting and in pain that I call 111. Sometimes I accept an ambulance, if I think I can actually make it to a hospital without dying, then I'll book an uber.
A&E do all they can to treat you with drips and pain relief. On about 5 occasions I needed to be admitted.
Hospital consultants then send referral letters to my GP which I am copied on by post.

Nothing gets done.
You try again to ring the GP to speak to one but you're back to square one where you can't get through.
Rinse and repeat.

I’m sorry you’re having such a miserable time OP. I do wonder if the majority / all of the GPs at your practice are shielding and that’s behind some of the issues - not that that makes it better.

Not all GPs are fully vaccinated yet by a long way because of the 12 week interval.

Even if they were, imagine how covid would spread in waiting rooms as they were pre pandemic - the patients sitting in waiting rooms are not vaccinated.

Telephone consultations are entirely appropriate in many situations (not all obviously).

I am a GP and working my backside off. I have around 40 appointments a day and see a couple of patients on home visits (not to mention the referrals / results etc). Of those 40 appointments probably about 8 are face to face because they need it. That’s obviously done in full PPE and takes longer to don / doff and clean.

To those hospital staff who have replied to say how useless their local GPs are.... thanks. That has made this thread a truly sad read. I won’t reply with the similar tales I could share painting secondary care in a bad light because I genuinely think the vast majority of my colleagues are trying their best. I am aware though that lots of hospital care has also been shifted to telephone appointments - for example (for my own family) oncology follow up (including difficult scan results) and dental hospital follow up, as well as scans and appointments being significantly delayed.

I hope OP finds a way forward very soon

@ismiseeire no, I’m not blaming you. If you read my post you’ll see that I actually understood you’ve had a bad experience.

chinateapot From this thread alone I realise that my practice is a bit unique in not seeing patients at all. A lot of people have responded saying that they can actually see their GP.

Well, I’ve just finished a 14 hr day on the ambulance and, as usual, 8 of the 10 jobs today were to people who’d tried to get GP appts today and a) either tried for so long they couldn’t get through/ or no appts left or b) been advised by receptionists to call 111 instead or c) done the latter and thus we have ended up being called due to ambiguous questioning/ answers to 111 (I realise that’s contentious.)

None of these 8 have required hospital treatment; 4 of them I managed to send back to their GP by insisting on an appt, 2 had nothing wrong anyway but this could have been assessed by a GP phone appointment, had they not been advised to call 111, and 2 hopped into a taxi to the local minor injuries unit.

As usual, one GP thanked me for being their ‘eyes and ears out there’. That’s fine, great. But in that case I a) want paying the same as a GP for in essence doing their job in the community for the last 12 months. And b) the time it takes for me to sort each of these jobs out, fill in paperwork, make phone calls, means poor old 84 yr old Doris, who was my last job, was waiting 4 hours in the garden face down with her fractured hip.

The knock on effect of people’s inability to access GP help has had enormous effects on ambulances, A/E depts and such like. We are all sick of it.

I am also a GP but mainly work for the out-of-hours service and the community COVID assessment hub where GP’s refer patients into for us to see on their behalf if they have cough/fever/COVID and need a face to face.

My experience is that some GP practices are doing a great job. It’s really hard for them at the minute trying to do the usual work and vaccinate (contrary to what a poster said earlier, they are not making a profit from doing these jabs, the money is used to pay staff and other costs). However there is a small minority who seem to try to avoid seeing any patients which I really don’t understand. I’ve seen patients in OOH with issues going on for weeks and not seen anyone face to face, I feel sorry for them. It’s consistency the same practices, so it is unfortunately pot luck for patients depending on where they are registered, perhaps due to shielding Gp’s at the practice?

The knock on effect of people’s inability to access GP help has had enormous effects on ambulances, A/E depts and such like. We are all sick of it.

Completely agree. I've called an ambulance twice & being hospitalised for treatment. In both cases if a GP could have seen me I wouldn't have got so ill.

@chinateapot

I’m sorry you’re having such a miserable time OP. I do wonder if the majority / all of the GPs at your practice are shielding and that’s behind some of the issues - not that that makes it better.

Not all GPs are fully vaccinated yet by a long way because of the 12 week interval.

Even if they were, imagine how covid would spread in waiting rooms as they were pre pandemic - the patients sitting in waiting rooms are not vaccinated.

Telephone consultations are entirely appropriate in many situations (not all obviously).

I am a GP and working my backside off. I have around 40 appointments a day and see a couple of patients on home visits (not to mention the referrals / results etc). Of those 40 appointments probably about 8 are face to face because they need it. That’s obviously done in full PPE and takes longer to don / doff and clean.

To those hospital staff who have replied to say how useless their local GPs are.... thanks. That has made this thread a truly sad read. I won’t reply with the similar tales I could share painting secondary care in a bad light because I genuinely think the vast majority of my colleagues are trying their best. I am aware though that lots of hospital care has also been shifted to telephone appointments - for example (for my own family) oncology follow up (including difficult scan results) and dental hospital follow up, as well as scans and appointments being significantly delayed.

I hope OP finds a way forward very soon

Out of curiosity, what is full PPE for a GP? Surely it's an apron, gloves, surgical mask and a visor? Can't take that long to don and doff.

Re my useless GP. I can only speak from my own experiences and they have been utterly useless, yes. I also had a mental health crisis late last year, managed to get a telephone appointment and a one week line, but was unable to speak to a GP after that. The receptionists requested line extensions but the GPs were too busy to speak to me as I wasn't deemed urgent (I guess as I wasn't suicidal?). The GP then refused a line extension without speaking to me as she'd decided I was ready to go back to work. I did eventually get a call back from her and in her own words 'the NHS is short on staff so we need you back before Christmas' as I apparently sounded more like myself. From a GP who had spoken to me once before when I was severely unwell, how does she know how I normally sound?! She was also about to go on mat leave so can't have been that worried about staffing. I cannot begin to explain how let down I've felt by them.

Secondary care isn't perfect by a long way but at least it's trying to get back to some sort of normal functioning. It feels like primary care hasn't moved on since last March.

@mrsnoodle55

Well, I’ve just finished a 14 hr day on the ambulance and, as usual, 8 of the 10 jobs today were to people who’d tried to get GP appts today and a) either tried for so long they couldn’t get through/ or no appts left or b) been advised by receptionists to call 111 instead or c) done the latter and thus we have ended up being called due to ambiguous questioning/ answers to 111 (I realise that’s contentious.)

None of these 8 have required hospital treatment; 4 of them I managed to send back to their GP by insisting on an appt, 2 had nothing wrong anyway but this could have been assessed by a GP phone appointment, had they not been advised to call 111, and 2 hopped into a taxi to the local minor injuries unit.

As usual, one GP thanked me for being their ‘eyes and ears out there’. That’s fine, great. But in that case I a) want paying the same as a GP for in essence doing their job in the community for the last 12 months. And b) the time it takes for me to sort each of these jobs out, fill in paperwork, make phone calls, means poor old 84 yr old Doris, who was my last job, was waiting 4 hours in the garden face down with her fractured hip.

The knock on effect of people’s inability to access GP help has had enormous effects on ambulances, A/E depts and such like. We are all sick of it.

If I could give you a round of applause I would. This is the feedback that I get from paramedics when I end up needing them too. They are so kind, but end up transporting patients like me who are just too weak!

Yes - that’s PPE in primary care. Plus wiping down the chairs / equipment used.

It doesn’t take that long but given that a 10 minute appointment has never been enough time to get someone from the waiting room, see them, write up the notes anyway, the extra few minutes it takes genuinely has a significant impact. It’s probably 5 minutes per patient I reckon - which in a day which always ran late anyway does count.

I’m sorry you had that experience. I wouldn’t have - and don’t - managed patients with mental health issues like that (though I have consulted with a fair few patients with mental health issues by telephone with their agreement). I hope things are better now.

Paramedics are so tolerant of me. They're so patient. God but I couldn't do it. I agree that they should be paid a HELL OF A LOT MORE than they are paid. Same with police.

Bizarre fact. If you call 999 and request an ambulance for an asthma attack (which I have had to do), if the ambulance can't get there on time, police arrive within minutes.

I've had police either transport me to hospital in their car, or sit with me to await an ambulance. GPs seem to operate in a complete other sphere. You've the emergency services working together with A&E and then GPs just saying 'we're working from home'.

Are there other GP surgeries in your area that you can switch to?

A friend was having similar problems with her GP surgery (a surgery that was in special measures in 2019 and seems to have gone downhill since). She asked on Facebook for recommendations of GP surgeries in her city that were responding well to the pandemic, and switched within a week.

I actually had the opposite problem - my GP made me come in about something that could have been dealt with over the phone. That was a couple of months ago, before I'd had the vaccination, so I really wasn't impressed.