@LadyWithLapdog
Gamerchick, not at all. Just bored of the same faux concerned but concerted slagging off the service. It’s grotesque.
Sorry, but the problem here is that some people are getting a service whereas other aren't getting one at all.
There is a systematic failure going on here. Its not ok.
We shouldn't pretend its not happening when its a reality for many. People on this thread are not making shit up. They really are struggling to get any kind of healthcare.
There are posters who for various reasons and because they have various agendas who are saying to shut up and put up. No I don't really care who the fuck they are, whether they are hard working GPs who are providing an excellent service or someone who just thinks everyone is a pisstaker. Its not ok.
Everyone should get access health care regardless of where they live. It is not ok that the way GPs work mean that where you live you are utterly at the mercy of effective monopolies. You can't kick bad surgeries up the arse. There is no mechanism to really improve service in places where there is poor protocols for handling patients and giving them appointments. Patients are totally stuck and don't have the ability to change surgeries. Its damn near impossible to do (and yes I have first hand experience).
There are some fantastic surgeries who have done well throughout the pandemic and have made patients feel their door is always open if they are needed. However its very very clear that there are some surgeries who have been very different and have given this impression of being closed, hostile and unapproachable throughout the pandemic and the systems for making an appointment have very definitely been part of this. Thats not ok for patients to have this perception of their doctor's being closed. It doesn't matter if that is not the reality. The perception is important and this needs to be tackled head on and acknowledged that there are surgeries who have put systems into place which are effectively cutting themselves off from the community and destroying lines of communication.
All the 'but my surgery is good' stuff fundamentally is missing the point. Thats nice and great and all that. But it still doesn't acknowledge there is a problem, much less aid putting pressure on government to sort this shit out. It is NOT purely a resourcing issue, if you have such different systems for getting seen from one GP to the next.
This can not be sorted and laid at the feet of government if there isn't a willingness to acknowledge the problem. The minimising and excuse making to almost smear people having a problem as 'lazy', 'stupid', 'overly anxious' doesn't help anyone. When its coming from GPs themselves I find it akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
There is a problem here. Basic access to an appointment is not universal. It ends up favouring people who are better off, more articulate and in better health. Which misses the entire point and premise of the NHS's founding principles. Those who can and are able to navigate the maze and obstacle course of the system will always far better.
In this sense it effectively means that many GP surgeries are institutionally failing along the lines of race, disability sex and economic security and in doing so run the risk of being indirectly discriminatory in a number of ways.
At the bottom of the list here are those with mental health issues - for whom navigating systems becomes not just difficult but actively traumatic and can do long lasting harm as a result.
I really wish we just were being blunt and to the point on this so that the message gets across; far too many GPs are so beaucratic and hostile to the idea of seeing patients face to face that they are harming their patients and we need to identify clear how this happens.
Not the 'why it is happening?'. Thats the next step of the process into getting the sorry mess sorted.
In a step by step process you start with 'what is the problem?' This is basic management principles. Then you go to what do we want to achieve, what ideas could we use to tackle this problem, evaluating how good those ideas are (including the need to identify unintended consequences and flaws with that plan in order to help minimise those issues) before THEN coming up with a workable solution.
The fact we are not having that conversation and are having people sniping and saying 'well we are...' TBH I don't get a fuck about the good stuff if we are failing at basic levels for everyone else. It just ends up costing us all in the long term too.
In reality, every single person on this thread should be agreeing that there is a problem emerging at some gps. Without exception. Especially those who are doing a wonderful good job and seeing loads of patients.
The question is really do we want freeuniversal healthcare that is accessable to all or not? Thats the most simple version of this.
Stop throwing strawman arguments and excuses in all over the place to side track it from that.