To think gps need to unlock the doors/open properly

[Nousernameforme]

Theres an article on the bbc about childrens a&e being overwhelmed by visits that aren't needed. Aibu to think that these people would have taken their children to the gp had they been able to? I know that they say a lot of them wouldn't have needed to see a gp but the viruses right now are horrible, probably due to everyones immune system being protected for a year, so it's harder to tell what needs help and what will get better on it's own.
My youngest has just got over the most awful virus which if it had not turned a corner when it did I would have got him medical assistance and if I can't get it from a gp I would have had to take him to a&e.

Our gp surgery is locked up the phone lines are only for those who have no internet and if you do get through all they do is put a request through on the ask my gp thing. I or members of my family have tried to see the dr for about 9 things this past year and got in once. 4 times we were prescribed antibiotics having not seen a dr.
Can we not have an official unlocking of the gp surgerys now please.

I'm T2 diabetic, on medication along with blood pressure meds and I haven't had a single check up since this pandemic started. I've begged and pleaded for an appointment with the diabetic nurse as I've got terrible ongoing gastric issues from the tables but am told I have to wait for my review. I did point out that I've already missed 3 reviews but it's like they've just stopped caring.

And I have an awful feeling that this is how things will remain. GP care as we know it has long gone.

It seems so variable, my toddler had one of these viruses a couple of weeks ago. She’d had a temp but a negative COVID test. It was lingering for more than a few days so I put in an online request for a gp contact, got a call back that afternoon and an appointment for 6pm (albeit at a different surgery). I couldn’t have asked for better service.

My problem is that if I want to speak to a gp its he will call you today so thats me done for the day is it? Not only do I have to be stuck to my phone in the only room in the house with signal I also must have child with me too so they can answer questions I can't go anywhere I cant work I cant do anything else but wait

Why not give a time

Primary care is largely shambolic in the UK and needs a complete overhaul.

Because of lack of funding from the department of health, so saying 'GPs are shit' is, quite frankly, moronic.

Yanbu. Doctors can and do see children with temperatures. They wouldn't refuse to see an extremely unwell baby because it had a temperature! Some GPs are doing better than others.

Telephone triage for babies and toddlers wastes time. They nearly always have to give an appointment anyway, as it would be seriously negligent to diagnose a poorly baby who can't communicate, based on their parents untrained and subjective observations.

I had to take my child to a&e at night with a severe winter respiratory infection nearly 2 years ago due to lack of out of hours alternative. 48 hours later she was fully ventilated in intensive care, where she spent the next two weeks. Its important parents can access medical care for children despite Covid. If I had kept my daughter at home & given her bloody calpol she would have died.

I think a lot of it goes to how GP services are funded. GPS should be doctors focusing on medicine not also juggling a business. There shouldn’t be such inconsistencies between practices.
Mine has been operating ok however their priorities haven’t always been right. I’ve been a couple of times since the pandemic started and each time have found them wanting to do things like weight checks (that I know in my area they are paid for) even when it is irrelevant and they have been reluctant to do routine bloods.

We’ve been seen as normal - in fact, it’s been a better service than usual as anything that can be diagnosed without a face to face (e.g. impetigo) has been done quickly via photos and a phone call. When they’ve felt face to face was necessary, it’s been organised quickly. As a PP said, I’m not sure why there’s such a difference across the country.

People focused on funding just how much more expensive is it for a doctor to call you at a certain time than call you whenever my doctor calls me from home I can hear her dog barking at the neighbours the last time

It's not the GP's I have a problem with, it's the reception where we are! Even the GP's have admitted that getting through them is difficult. I just worry that someone with terrible mental health won't bother trying. 😢

I can’t get through to my GP on the ‘phone. I’ve tried the email triage service but never hear anything back. This may be because I can’t have my phone at work and give specific times that I am available on my details - I simply can’t be available for unscheduled calls but am available most afternoons.

The only time I actually had a response was to offer me a telephone appointment for my smear test! I had to see a private doctor to get the medication I needed but to be honest after three months of constant pain I was happy to pay and the doctor I saw was disgusted.

I haven’t seen more than one car in the staff car park at my GPs surgery for months - pre covid it was always full.

I work in school and have worked right through (including unpaid over some holidays and bank holidays) with no PPE and no social distancing but I can’t even SPEAK to a GP let alone see one even with distancing and masks. Something stinks…..

One of my customers used to be my GP, she has moved practice now.
She was saying that they are going to maintain phone appointments as they work better for everybody.

They have never shut to patients, those that needed seeing were seen throughout lockdown and are still being seen now.

Personally, I think it is fantastic that I now don't have to go to the surgery, wait what has been an hour, just for a 10 minute consult. I ask for a call back after a certain time and I know I will get sorted.

@bananamonkey

It seems so variable, my toddler had one of these viruses a couple of weeks ago. She’d had a temp but a negative COVID test. It was lingering for more than a few days so I put in an online request for a gp contact, got a call back that afternoon and an appointment for 6pm (albeit at a different surgery). I couldn’t have asked for better service.

Yes I've also found e-consult good when I have a specific question.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow

GP here. We have been delivering 30% more patient contacts than pre-Covid, over 60% of which are face to face. So we are at near pre-Covid levels of F2F consultations, but are doing a lot more telephone and email consultations than before on top of that.

Workings days are 12 hours+ without a moment's rest. I'm also an A&E doctor. General practice is more intense. I occasionally get a break in A&E. Never in GP.

My reception staff are sworn at and abused every day.

We can't retain staff. 1 new receptionist left after a week because she couldn't take it. Two of our neighbouring practices are handing back their contracts and giving up.

There are not enough GPs or general practice staff.

Constant bile directed at us in the media and social media is the final straw. My team have worked so hard throughout Covid. And you all hate us. Perhaps we shouldn't care, but we did not go into medicine to do a shit job We cannot do our job properly because we have too much demand and not enough staff. No one wants to do the job because who wants to work a 12 hour day with constant abuse?

I think the situation isn’t as clear cut as you make it out tbh.

As seen on these many threads where some surgeries just put so many barriers to having a consultation that it puts people off.

Otherwise you wouldn’t have the issue highlighted in the article. People don’t decide to go to A&E just. for fun if they can get to their GP instead.

I also don’t think people loose their patience just because they want and are choosing to be abusive. More likely they are at the end of their tether because of the lack of care
Eg my surgery is good. But it’s clear that using some specific key words will open doors that others such ‘I’m anxious/worried’ won’t (rather you will be told to come back/wait 3 weeks etc…).

Does it mean being on the receiving end is ok? Nope
Does it. mean people should just accept things because ‘we are doing our best/are on our knees’? Nope either.

Until people scream badly about the situation, nothing will change. Neither for the patients nor the GPs, consultants etc…. Because that’s what an underfunded NHS looks like.

I'm not bashing gps I'm saying that right now it seems that a majority of them aren't doing very much and patients would benefit from them all opening up properly. Perhaps the overstretched gps need to have a word with those who aren't instead of having a go at the people who have a valid complaint.

@sparemonitor

We are open. I've seen patients face to face every working day of the pandemic. We have also been underfunded for the last 20 years and the gap between supply and demand is showing. Blame successive governments for year on year real terms funding cuts, because every GP bashing post like this pushes another GP towards leaving the profession.

Exactly. GP’s are also a massive part of the vaccination programme. They are only human.

Yeah definitely need to be opened up again for face to face appointments, crazy world when a person who has decided to be a doctor shies away from seeing a patient.

God, we've been so lucky with our doctors here.
The surgery has been amazing. Receptionists are bloody brilliant too.
Got me in the next day for a breast lump and other issues. Hard to get through sometimes on the phone but they give you a ring back time slot and see face to face where needed.
I really feel for everyone where this isn't the case. It's bloody scary when you can't access medical help.
I honestly assumed there'd be a standard way of operating throughout the pandemic but it's such a postcode lottery.

I actually prefer the arrangement our surgery has now.

Pre-pandemic, it was impossible to get an appointment and they had an open surgery in the morning, where fucking everyone and their cat would turn up and they would see patients in order, so basically unless you were there at 8am (and they only started seeing people at 9) you had about a 3 hour wait just to see a gp or nurse. So you had to write off your entire morning instead of, oh, I dunno, letting people use the fucking telephone in the morning to call and get an appointment.

Now there is no open surgery, you just call up and talk to a gp or nurse over the phone, and they can either give advice that way or give you an appointment usually on the same day. Hopefully they will keep this system in the long term.

@MapleMay11

every GP bashing post like this pushes another GP towards leaving the profession.

Maybe they need to take accountability and consider why people are unhappy with the service they are providing. Primary care is largely shambolic in the UK and needs a complete overhaul.

What precisely do you expect GPs to do about the fact that there aren't enough of us to meet demand?

Our gps merged with another a few months before lockdown.
It's worse than ever to try get an appointment now.
I've been told I need a medication review yet they wont actually give me an appointment for my review so each month i have to ring (400 times and wait for an hour just to speak to someone) and ask for my prescription because it cant be repeated until reviewed.
Cant have an appointment because of covid. I dont even need a f2f appointment. Telephone would be fine.

My gp is actually seeing people. Two months ago the waiting room was empty. Took my dd to baby clinic and the surgery was really full. Gp actually said he's finding it difficult to manage it safely. People want to see a Gp but with five GPS in my surgery and clinics its difficult to manage the waiting room numbers. Nurse actually entered the room whilst I was seeing the Gp to say the waiting room was getting very full.

Some GPs are better than others. Where I am it is impossible to get through on the phone, and the doors are locked so you can't go to the desk if it is urgent. The system works well for non-urgent routine matters. I booked a call several days in advance for some hay fever advice. The Doctor called at the time booked, the call took literally 2 minutes and a prescription was sent directly to the local chemist. Very efficient. Anything urgent, or complicated is a different matter. I am fortunate to be able to afford to take my dcs to a private GP, who has been open throughout the pandemic for face to face appointments. If he doesn't see people he doesn't get paid so he has no incentive to lock the door.

I disagree, my GP surgery have been great during the pandemic. Whenever I have called I have been phoned by a GP the same day and where necessary seen in person. It is much better than it was before in that you get to speak to someone within a couple of hours and often don’t need to traipse in when you aren’t feeling great, when I have been in, those waiting are kept well apart and it feels safe. Has done all the way through,

If your GP does not have available appointments then that is annoying and wrong but the answer isn’t to go back to the pre pandemic way.

Cheers to all those gp's who are doing their best but it is obvious from the many posts on here that many are not. I do not understand why all practices have not been issued with guidance as required as to what they should be doing and how. It should not be left to gp's to decide what service they provide.

GPs are being disgraceful and it seems like an excuse for them to be even less incompetent than usual. The rudeness of receptionists is incredible. They start the conversation by assuming there's nothing wrong and you're making a fuss.