AIBU to be annoyed that my GP seems to have no plans in place to see patients as we come out of lockdown?

[everydayiwritethebook]

After reading another poster's thread where she couldn't be seen by a GP and ended up at A&E, it struck me just how angry I am about not being able to see a GP face to face (socially distanced of course).
I have had a couple of instances where I've needed to see a GP, and my DC urgently needs to see one face to face, but we can't. I understand during lockdown it was necessary, but I haven't been able to see a GP in 14 months and now that most places are back at work (I work with the public and have been back for several weeks), it feels like they're taking the piss.
It's actually got worse at my surgery - today I took a letter in for my GP about being referred for a condition, and whereas previously they had a locked foyer which you could enter one at a time, now the front door is locked and you speak to the receptionist via intercom! I was also told my letter would be quarantined for 72 hours, even though I said it is urgent.
I feel like they are really failing their patients now, and I wondered what other people's experiences or thoughts were about this?

I'm finding it all quite ott now.
Plenty of people have had to do face-to-face work throughout the lockdowns, getting paid a damn sight less.
I've been told to take my dc to a & e for a non urgent situation if I'm worried as they're only seeing urgent cases. I feel the hospitals have enough on their plates. I would have to traipse my dc on a longish journey on public transport. And plenty of things are non- urgent seeming but require prompt investigation or treatment.
Telephone consultations are a nightmare too. Not all of us have been wfh and are in jobs where we either can't take a call, have no privacy, or can't get a signal on our phone. Not so bad if you can book a time, but our gp's will phone at anytime during the day.
I am sure lots of people are like me and have put on hold things we'd ordinarily go to the doctor with.
Sorry to be brutal, but it's time some practices stepped up, and did what they're paid to do.

For those not happy, have you contacted NHS England who have told the GP’s how the practices should be operating now?

Why blame the GP’s who are working harder than ever.

Plus waiting on hold for an hour from 8 am is impractical when getting ready to go to work/ getting dc's to school.
Our practice is insisting all appointments are made by this method including things you don't necessarily need to be seen that day for.

How do these gps know your history though, surely its better to have a gp who knows you?

I have had no issues with my gp or with the telephone triage system so no skin in the game but in our case none of our resident gp’s know us. My family have attend the same small, rural surgery for the last 12 years, and my dc and I have never seen the same gp twice. We have very occasionally seen one of resident gp’s but most often we have seen a locum. This hasn’t caused us any issues as our history is on the system.

I agree. Many practices are working very differently and doing a good job(mine included). NHS staff were all vaccinated first a long time ago. Many other key workers and shop staff still haven’t had vaccinations at all. My dd has been in hospital several times during the year, all the doctors and nurses there are just getting on with it.

@Parker231 many of us have been working harder than ever to cover shielding/ illness/ self- isolation whilst only earning minimum wage and with no concessions as to how we do our jobs.

You can't socially distance in a GP office or outpatient clinic- the rooms are too small, & often badly ventilated. Ditto GP waiting rooms. Having to buzz to get in (in order to restrict numbers in the building for social distancing) means a member of staff is constantly answering the door instead of doing something else. One Covid positive person the waiting room could easily infect multiple vulnerable patients. Patient to patient transmission is a real risk - much more of a risk than a supermarket etc because of the cramped spaces. I've found phone appointments to be quick & efficient as both a patient & a Dr. A lot of people don't need a physical examination so phone triage makes a lot of sense.

I have rung at lunch time and got a 5-6 o clock telephone call from my gp on the same day several times. They always try to help me working in a school. It won’t be the same gp but they all have the same notes. My dc have needed a particular gp and anyways get him. Our sister practise is just as efficient. Surely if some can perform well during a pandemic they all should. It’s been around long enough now.

Our gp waiting room was never busy and you can easily socially distance in it. It’s bigger than most school staff rooms where staff have to get on with it. During busy times we queue outside like you do going to the supermarket. Not a problem.

Practice

The issue is limited funding, more houses in the same space and not enough GPs. Covid has just forced a change that was already coming. Its been a nightmare to get an appointment for the last decade. Housing developers have no proper obligation to provide for medical care for the new households they bring to an area. It shows. Sadly to fix this is more than just changes to the way a GPs surgery works, it's also an NHS issue a planning issue etc.

Controversially I'd also introduce a £5 charge for all appointments that are missed. We also need to eliminate NHS waste caused by us, the public, not just 'red tape' - whatever that means.

Agree with your first paragraph. Talking about new developments and the infrastructure required (there is often a lack of school places)in our town a local councillor explained that there was no obligation to provide these services unless a planned single development reached a certain number.(There is planning permission for 1500 new homes and this does apparently necessitate a new school, cant remember about GPs but would hope so) However she couldnt explain why this was not required if you had say 100 x 10 house developmenta, which would obviously create the same amount of people requiring services than 1 x 1000 home development. In the road adjacent to mine, in a stretch of half a mile there have been 21 new homes in the last 10 years, built in 2s, 3s and 1 development of 12. If you repeat that around the town you can easily see how schools and GPs have become oversubscribed but because each of the developments are small, the council seem to look at them in isolation rather than consider the cumulative effect.

On the point about missed appointments I would agree if it was genuine. However when DD had some hospital apts 2 or 3 years ago, they gave an apt always within a school day, 6 or 8 weeks in advance. On a few occasions I either couldnt make it because of work commitments or didnt want to take her out of school during exam week. I called or left a message each time to ask to cancel or rearrange the apt, at least a week in advance.Every subsequent apt I got an earful from the receptionist or dr about our previous "no show". I feel aggrieved that I had called in sufficient time to cancel, and that wasted not only the drs time but presumably they didnt reschedule so another patient could have had that apt. I'd feel pissed off if I had to pay a fine for it, when the fault is their communication system, not mine.

But we live in an area with a massive amount of new building.

If that's the case @Nofriend I predict health problems increasing for the working classes - the lower paid manual workers who've kept this country going during the pandemic.

I feel I should point out that I am not someone who thinks the GPs are being lazy! They have been working throughout, but the issue now is why are they not taking safe measures to open in even in a limited capacity, just as the rest of the workforce is having to do.

In my job (public facing) there have been remarks that anyone not willing or able to return to the workplace should be maybe "reconsidering their position".

@Parker231

For those not happy, have you contacted NHS England who have told the GP’s how the practices should be operating now?

Why blame the GP’s who are working harder than ever.

So how is there so much variation between GP surgeries if they're working under the same rules?

[quote FindingMeno]@Parker231 many of us have been working harder than ever to cover shielding/ illness/ self- isolation whilst only earning minimum wage and with no concessions as to how we do our jobs.[/quote]
A GP claiming to earn "minimum wage". That's the funniest thing I've heard for decades!

@PankhurstTastic

You can't socially distance in a GP office or outpatient clinic- the rooms are too small, & often badly ventilated. Ditto GP waiting rooms. Having to buzz to get in (in order to restrict numbers in the building for social distancing) means a member of staff is constantly answering the door instead of doing something else. One Covid positive person the waiting room could easily infect multiple vulnerable patients. Patient to patient transmission is a real risk - much more of a risk than a supermarket etc because of the cramped spaces. I've found phone appointments to be quick & efficient as both a patient & a Dr. A lot of people don't need a physical examination so phone triage makes a lot of sense.

Yet out patients' clinics are operating, despite lack of social distancing. My OH was seeing his oncologist in an out patients' dept late last year, that's vulnerable people sat together in a tiny unventilated side waiting area outside the consulting room cluster. Stupid thing was that the main outpatients waiting area, a much larger area, was completely fenced off with no one sitting in it. NHS management really havn't a clue.

@everydayiwritethebook

I feel I should point out that I am not someone who thinks the GPs are being lazy! They have been working throughout, but the issue now is why are they not taking safe measures to open in even in a limited capacity, just as the rest of the workforce is having to do.

Most GPs would like to - as referenced up thread ,telephone triage means a longer harder day for most but currently NHS England are still insisting on remote triage first so all patients coming to surgery are supposed to be triaged to prevent access when can concluded remotely

@Badbadbunny I wasn't talking about Gp's earning minimum wage!
I was talking about shop workers etc etc. As in, everyone who has gone in to work ( and many wfh) have had to work harder, so its not exclusive to gp's

You can’t socially distance in a scanning room either, and most don’t even have windows, yet NHS England have forced trusts to reopen to partners. Lateral flow tests are fast and reduce the risk when combined with masks. You definitely can’t socially distance in our antenatal day assessment rooms but partners can now come in without a test (as it’s an emergency so they don’t want people to delay coming in to do a test). Every adult can now access LFTs and take one in advance of a GP appointment if one is scheduled. There’s no excuse for not seeing a patient face to face if needed - I’m not saying phone triage isn’t a good idea but those practices who are not seeing patients in person when they should be are being negligent.

Lady whose dad has significant mole changes - time for official written and verbal complaint. I'd ring local press if I had to in that situation. My own GP has been good re offering face to face after phone call if needed for my partner . I must admit I've put something off for a year now as can't face giving history by phone for. I do worry about the elderly/disabled/those with mental health needs/non English speakers, who may find phone or online apps even more daunting. In my area, Health Visitors have continued to visit throughout the pandemic. Some health services however just stopped and are now restarting with enormous waiting lists. Some services have decided if they managed without face to face for a year, it mustn't be needed!!! I think they need to ask the service users their experiences and opinions.

A person can still pass on Covid even if vaccinated.

If GPS went back to F2F there would need to be cleaning schedules in place between every patient. It would HALVE the number of appointments.

Initial telephone triage is currently the only way to cover anywhere near the demand there is right now. Our GP team are desperate to see patients F2F as it's much quicker to do so - but instead of contacting 40-50 patients per day they'd only see 20-30.

Your wait time for an appointment would double!

Once 90% of population has been vaccinated we may get back to F2F but there are patients who prefer telephone or digital so I think a mix would work better.

But some patients need face to face. Plenty of other hospital departments are managing to see patients when it is needed.

Yes things are harder than previously but patient care shouldn’t suffer because of that and at the moment it is.