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?

@RuthW and a friend who uses the same surgery and has a liver condition that will eventually kill her has ended up in hospital twice, both times after not being able to see a GP.

This situation is playing out across lots of industries. Dentists come to mind. Bank services. Will be interesting to see how much longer this excuse can be rolled out to excuse crap service.

Dentists have been working as normal for some time, especially in the private sector.
It's time GPs starting seeing patients again. There are some things you just cannot diagnose from a telephone consult.

I totally understand why people are angry and frustrated. Why people need to see a GP. This was an under funded and under resourced service beford Covid. Add Covid on and it gets tougher.

For those who want to know a bit about the role GPs have in the covid vaccination programme this might be of interest.

www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/vaccines/covid-19-vaccination-programme

It might also help to understand why healthcare is currently spread so thin. They aren't sat doing nothing. They have an extra job on top of their normal day job.

It's all the unintended consequences of Covid.

"It's either not important enough to see you, or warrants you being sent straight to hospital"

Yes. Someone upthread mentioned having a COPD consult by phone. So did I and they want me to have a scan. So they're fine for hospital staff to see me...but they haven't seen me and checked me with their own eyes?!

@annie335

Dentists have been working as normal for some time, especially in the private sector. It's time GPs starting seeing patients again. There are some things you just cannot diagnose from a telephone consult.

Mine hasn’t, I haven’t seen a dentist since early January 2020.

It is so variable.
My GP practice has been excellent throughout, but my friend's son ended up having emergency surgery via A&E because her GP receptionist kept fobbing her off. I don't understand why there are such huge differences.

I agree op. My dd 12 had sudden onset of visual disturbance, headache and vomiting-never had before. I rang 111 as I couldn’t get through to my gp, they redirected me back to my gp-they (reluctantly) saw my dd (well a nurse did) but wouldn’t allow her into the surgery despite her not having a temp. She was examined in the dark in the car park. I was just grateful for her to be seen at the time but looking back, it was pretty appalling.

My dd has had 2 further episodes and it’s been diagnosed as migraine by a gp over the phone but hasn’t yet been properly examined.

I don't know anyone who had a vaccine at a GPs, mine was at a pharmacy & administered by a ex midwife. I know some GPs are doing them but all? nope.

Having been an HCP myself in a former life I'm usually the first to defend NHS services. But the current situation is becoming indefensible. I work in a school. We had a situation recently where a girl had stopped eating, the GP wouldn't see her and told her Mum to "ask the school for support". We made a referral to CAMHS (no idea why the GP couldn't have done this) but the GP refused to weigh her "because of covid" and the CAMHS Eating Disorder team wouldn't accept the referral until this had been done. The poor Mum, already beside herself with worry, had to call both services repeatedly to try to get someone to take responsibility and it was only resolved when she threatened to make a complaint. My GP surgery were refusing to do smear tests until very recently "because of covid" until a formal complaint was made and they were then forced to admit there was absolutely nothing in the guidelines preventing them from doing this and that other surgeries were doing it.

It's not just GP's. I find it ridiculous that I'm expected to mix with literally hundreds of students and colleagues per day but a child with a serious mental illness can't see a therapist face to face for a socially distanced appointment, it's all over the phone or video call which some young people (especially those with ASD) simply won't engage with. The fact that Health Visitor checks are being done over the phone "because of covid", with no one actually clapping eyes on the child is really worrying. I was asked at my HV check whether I thought my two year old was overweight, underweight or a normal weight and they just took my word for it! Studies have shown that parents are incapable of being objective when it comes to their own child's weight, so much for 'evidence based' healthcare!

I recently had Sixth Former tell me he was having suicidal thoughts and had actually made detailed plans to kill himself. I asked if he had told his Psychiatrist and he said no, when I asked what stopped him he explained that he's never met this person. All his medication reviews for the last year have taken place over the phone, generally no more than a ten minute chat, he said it feels awkward and he doesn't feel he has any relationship with them so why would he tell them? Fortunately, he was able to sit down and have a proper conversation with me and that's when he broke down and it all came out, what about kids who don't have those relationships at school or at home?

There are some subjects it's very difficult to talk about over the phone, you'd think the explosion in MH issues as a result of this pandemic would have taught us there is no substitute for face to face interaction.

Our GP was great last year and saw my daughter when she had ab ear infection in the first lockdown. Last month for a suspected ear infection again they would not see her as a temperature could be covid so we had to take her for a covid test and they sent antibiotics to the pharmacy just in case. The GP apologised and said she had to follow guidelines. My daughter tested negative and we gave her the antibiotics as her temperature was high even after calpol and she is only 2 so cannot tell us what is wrong. It was worrying having a daughter who seemed ill and not being able to get her seen as last year with the same symptoms she was seen within the hour.
My mum has had great service at her GP and her continuing cancer treatment has not been affected which we are thankful for.
I paid for a private smear test last month as I was due one last summer and our GP could not advise how long the delays on routine services like that will be. I felt guilty that for some people the £200 cost of a private test could mean having to wait for the nhs.

@piratepee

I don't know anyone who had a vaccine at a GPs, mine was at a pharmacy & administered by a ex midwife. I know some GPs are doing them but all? nope.

We all have different experiences.

I personally have not come across a GP practice that has locked it's doors and refuses patient contact. From this thread it's apparently a common thing.

@Livelovebehappy

This situation is playing out across lots of industries. Dentists come to mind. Bank services. Will be interesting to see how much longer this excuse can be rolled out to excuse crap service.

Universities too.

We all have different experiences.

Who said otherwise? I said upthread my GP has been ok but my relatives has been shocking. If you can't speak to a GP to have a check up after open heart surgery & nearly dying & can't get a prescription for more thinners what is the point of the GP?

DH is a GP - they have done a mixture of phone and f2f appointments throughout. They have never been closed. They have also volunteered to work on Covid wards at a local hospital and run a vaccine rollout. It’s been their hardest year.

Phone consultations are here to stay when appropriate. You’ve more chance of a same day appointment as opposed to a three week wait.

Medical insurance is the best money spent in this country. There are some remarkable people working in NHS, but the system itself is not fit for purpose. Who would think that a receptionist can be allowed to decide if the case presented doesn't require a doctor

I don't get it. Many industries have been expected to find extra capacity and yet run as normal...

Schools, supermarkets, prisons etc.

My gp was always amazing. Online booking, ring in the morning and make an appointment for the same day. I always raved about them.

Now it's horrific. No online system, ring in the morning for an hour to be told by a gleeful receptionist that there's no appointments for the day as they have all gone and they also are closed in the afternoon for covid meetings.

Imagine if the police closed in the afternoon for covid meetings, or schools.

This has happened the three times I have rung in the last year.

Each time the wonderful pharmacies went above and beyond to help me and my dc. Oh and once we ended up calling an ambulance for youngest dc.

I hate agreeing iwonder but I do.

Phone consultations are here to stay when appropriate.

I think phone consultations are fine in some circumstances, I'm less keen on the 40 min wait to get through & then having to wait all day for a call that if you miss you have to start again. Plus for people with mental health issues they are not always suitable. It will just put more pressure on A&E.

It’s my opinion that the worse a service it becomes, the easier it is for boris sell it to America

This so crazy! And quarantining a letter ffs!!! My doctors as always have been amazing and I've seen them twice f2f lately and a couple of times on the phone. One was for something minor, she didn't have to see me I was happy with a phone call. Can't stress enough how much I love my doctors 🙌🏽

@piratepee

We all have different experiences.

Who said otherwise? I said upthread my GP has been ok but my relatives has been shocking. If you can't speak to a GP to have a check up after open heart surgery & nearly dying & can't get a prescription for more thinners what is the point of the GP?

That sort of thing is appalling. They need to take it up with the practice.

My issue is more that people expect business as usual. We aren't there yet. Plus there is a massive backlog.

@piratepee - the wait to get through on the phone is because so many others are also ringing. Same as you can’t always have an appointment as soon as you want, because someone else already has it.
GP’s have too many patients now. Higher population, greater medical need but each year there are less GP’s as many are leaving and less new doctors training for the job.

• GPs are in many cases using phone triage where it isn't appropriate.

Its not appropriate for young children who can't describe their symptoms as you are relying wholly on subjective parent trying to interpret. Madness.*

I agree with the above. DD8 and I have been seen when necessary after a phone triage and the system worked well. DS7 wasn’t seen but I sent photos and appropriate medication was prescribed, so again it worked well.

The only time it hasn’t worked for us is when DD2 was poorly. They wouldn’t see her or even discuss what might be wrong with her until she was covid tested and then there was a delay in getting her the antibiotics she needed.

@Parker231

DH is a GP - they have done a mixture of phone and f2f appointments throughout. They have never been closed. They have also volunteered to work on Covid wards at a local hospital and run a vaccine rollout. It’s been their hardest year.

Phone consultations are here to stay when appropriate. You’ve more chance of a same day appointment as opposed to a three week wait.

That's been my experience too.

All those GP posts that were unfilled pre Covid. Wonder how many will need filling post.