30 minutes to negotiate with the GP receptionist for a phone appointment

[Gakatsbsk]

Hi,

I am an nhs nurse, and so I realise this is not all GP receptionists but I have just spent 30 minutes speaking to a GP receptionist to try and negotiate a GP over the phone appointment.

It seemed to me like I was wading through excuse after excuse, in a hospital none of these excuses would wash.

The first excuse was that despite registering five weeks ago they didn’t have my medical records (I’ve moved between UK nations) and ‘there was no possible way’ to determine what previous medications I was on, my suggestion that they could be confirmed with me, the patient was of course completely ridiculous and I could be maliciously seeking meds (which are non opioid, non addictive and not remotely interesting to any one).

The second excuse was that I couldn’t have a GP appointment because I’d not had a GP appointment there yet and ✨ covid ✨. In secondary care we haven’t been able to use covid as a reason to not see any new patients, and of course how can I have had an appointment without having an appointment.

The third excuse was an altered replay of the first one, that doctor won’t be able to prepare for your consultation without your medical records. Doctors do this day in day out.

The fourth excuse was a lecture about how busy the nhs is, how covid is surging at our local hospital and how there’s so many covid patients in critical care. At this point I told her I work as a staff nurse in critical care at said hospital, and that this conversation was dragging on and could I please be given a GP appointment, or ANP appointment, or do I need to register elsewhere. At this point I was granted a phone appointment (anytime until 8pm so don’t go anywhere was the warning).

I do realise our colleagues in primary care are stretched, as we in secondary care are but this was ridiculous and it saddens me that vulnerable people probably miss out on health services because of attitudes like this. If I spoke to anyone on the phone in my job role the way she did, I’d end up facing disciplinary action if the other party complained.

Is it just me being completely unreasonable ?

Many thanks

I've been really lucky with my GP's surgery, and had no problems whatsoever in getting an appointment and follow-up when a blood test taken elsewhere revealed anaemia. But a friend with pernicious anaemia has had the most ridiculous struggle getting basic treatment, to the extent that at one point he ordered the medication from abroad and had to teach himself how to do the injections using YouTube videos. Matters were made worse by the fact that he was diagnosed (late) just as the first lockdown started last year so hasn't been able to change surgeries.

Covid really cannot be an excuse for the sort of nonsense you encountered, OP. Could be worth a report - not necessarily a complaint - to the practice manager to suggest how they could improve things.

@Bagamoyo1

Thanks for your post and for all the work you do. I hope I have not come across as a GP hater and I am sorry if I have. GPs provide an invaluable service that save lives, and for every patient I have had in icu where things haven’t gone right, there will be hundreds who haven’t got as far as needing an admission due to GPs like yourself.

However, the GP receptionist I spoke to was obstructive, and the excuses she gave were either untrue or not relevant but starting this thread probably wasn’t my best idea.

x

@ancientgran

Are you in the UK? When I turned 16 my mother was often not allowed in the room with me for appointments unless I made it very clear I wanted her there.

@HaveringWavering, that's a good idea, he is like lots of teenagers and prefers emailing or texting but I will try to encourage him to phone.

He is staying with me for a few weeks (I've broken my ankle and he's helping out) do you think I could say I'm in loco parentis? It would cause problems between me and his mum but maybe I have to step up?

I'm shocked people can get seen in A&E for GP related care because they've gone there

I was told by 111 to take DS to A&E when he had a funny reaction to a food. Upon arrival he looked okay and the streaming nurse was a bit who told you to even come here etc

Before she would even stream us on, she called someone else over to check our case and see if A&E was really necessary

I was very because I had only followed medical advice!

I am a GP of over 25 years service and I have NEVER been so overworked or stressed as we have been in the last 6 months. Demand is insane , we now have 10x as many hone calls a month as we did 2 years ago. This receptionist sounds bonkers but my business partner and I cannot have a weeks holiday at the moment, we worked almost every weekend between December and April vaccinating ( as well as a full working week ). We have NEVER been CLOSED and we saw patients face to face all the way through pandemic. Not EVERYONE, but everyone who needed to be seen (medically) was seen.

so all you GP bashers, just please please be quiet, you have NO idea what you are talking about

[quote Gakatsbsk]@ancientgran

Are you in the UK? When I turned 16 my mother was often not allowed in the room with me for appointments unless I made it very clear I wanted her there.[/quote]
Yes we are in England. It seems crazy to me but I am worried, he seems to be sleeping alot and I know teenagers do and he's just broken up for the summer so I suppose a week or two lying about is fairly normal. I'm at a bit of a loss. His mother is insisting that he has to tell her what the problem is or she won't allow it. She is controlling.

@thisisnotthewaytomanage

I imagine GPs and GPNs probably have the most criticisms and experience of the faults of the system, but it is clear the system is on its knees.

As much as I love the nhs, when something isn’t good enough, we can’t just accept it.

I am 51 now and decided some decades ago that most GP receptionists in the UK believe their primary purpose is to prevent people from access to a doctor. I have fortunately always had good health so it isn’t even something I have tried to do on a regular basis, but whenever I have it is like going into battle every time without fail.

@logincard thanks for all your hard work

I'd like to know why GP's have effectively shut down.

All through the pandemic you couldn't get in to see them, but pharmacies, a&e, everything was overloaded while they did what?

Call me cynical but I think this is a ploy to bring in privatised GP's.

It's even worse where I live, because the local hospital is run by the GPs. So if you can't get an appointment with a GP then your chances of any success at A&E are even lower (you have to call ahead for A&E, you can't just walk in).

Thanks everyone for your reply, I have now reported this post as it has turned into GP bashing which was not my intention.

I just want to send some love to my dentist practice. I broke a tooth in January. I was so surprised to be given an emergency appointment the next day. It was the hight of the second wave and i would have thought dentistry, because of the close proximity to mouths and airborne particles, would have been extremely dangerous.

I was given a temporary filling that has proved to be such a good fix that, in mid July it's still there and holding firm.

My DD is registered in Scotland. She came home for lockdown and within three months needed to see a doctor. She phoned and GP got back to her within an hour. Spoke to her, asked her to send in photo, she didn't need any immediate treatment. A couple of days later, problem worse, and again GP back to her within an hour. GP was brilliant and got her admitted to hospital for assessment. Sadly, I guess it depends on individual surgeries and also their current situation - I do know this practice had nine members of staff isolating last week.

As most of us get no NHS now we shoudl be allowed to pauy 20% oess annual income tax (the amount that ghoes on the NHS). The NHS never seems to be there when this family needs it and yet we pay vast amounts of tax. My pregnant child moved work appointments to wait for a GP appointment and the doctor called 2.5 hours later than the agreement time when she was in an important meeting so missed that one. Then the midwife refused to see her in person and kept fixing telephone appointments and then not calling at the time despite all the effort my daughter had put into keeping the slot free! Eventually she managed to speak to a nice one a week or two later who let her actually go in - wow they would actually see a pregnant woman face to face. So I suppose at long last she did get some NHS care but it really does not seem worth paying vast amounts into the NHS - they should give us a choice to opt out. (I have seen a doctor for 7 minutes in 15 years and paid hundreds of thousands of tax into the NHS so not feeling I get that great a deal at present as I don't seem to get ill)

[quote Gakatsbsk]@thisisnotthewaytomanage

I imagine GPs and GPNs probably have the most criticisms and experience of the faults of the system, but it is clear the system is on its knees.

As much as I love the nhs, when something isn’t good enough, we can’t just accept it.[/quote]
Have you complained to someone at the practice?

Lots of people on here have said they have had good experiences. It’s important to listen to those who haven’t but you can’t generalise and extrapolate one experience to a ‘system being on its knees’. If there are lots of complaints it will go further to cqc etc for investigation.

In response to the assertion that all GPs are like this, they aren’t. Mine has been brilliant. I’ve had to go several times over the last 18 months and it’s been phone consultation in a morning and then they’ve seen me in the afternoon if they’ve needed to. Same day of booking every time. So clearly it is possible but some places are not operating effectively and ending up in horrible situations. I would scope out if there’s a better one in your local area OP as there does seem to be some good surgeries out there.

This makes me very glad I am now in Ireland! I used to live in England and always had enormous difficulties getting GP appointments, to the extent that I usually paid to go to a private Casualty because there seemed no way to be seen by a GP.

Here in rural Ireland (even throughout our very strict lockdown) I can call the surgery in the morning (don't have to negotiate with the recpetionist or tell them what is wrong), have the GP call me back herself by lunchtime, and if she thinks I should be seen she will see me the same afternoon. No, it is not free (although I have medical insurance, which pays 50% of the consultation fee), but it is a brilliant service.

I have heard, but not directly, many GP are swamped at the moment with people at home quite poorly with covid, not poorly enough to go to hospital, but needing GP support like sorting out pulse oximeters etc

Sorry that you have had such difficult time, getting an appointment - it really sounds like it didn't need to be so difficult! Ive had good experiences in recent years with calling 111 and getting out of hours urgent appointment when needed or a phone appointment set up with someone.

YANBU
Its not just covid, its been happening for years at our GP.
I don't know what is going on with GPs but I do wonder what it would have been like if the current situation had applied when my children were small as they had various issues which were luckily treated. I do wonder how mothers with young children, and vulnerable people fare under what is clearly a completely overstrained system.
I once once needed post surgical dressing which I was told to do via GP who said there were no appointments for 4 weeks! My dressing was oozing and really needed attention. DH had take a day off so we could drive back and forth between GP and the walk in centre they sent me to where A senior nurse came in and had a go at me and said if I wanted my dressing changed I would have to go back to my GP and get a prescription for the dressing. They made me feel like a thief. The GPs then had a go at me saying I should have insisted on treatment and sent us back again to the walk in, where mercifully I was (eventually) seen. I was feeling so weak and under the weather at the time that I just cried. The wound was infected and really needed seeing to.
I thought this was a one off and we were just unlucky but the same thing happened when my son had a large skinned area due to an accident and needed regular dressing changes.
Its definitely got much worse in the last five years. I haven't even tried to book appointments during Covid. Although they did do the Flu jab and Covid jabs well.

@BungleandGeorge

Fair point, I have generalised. Working in three ICU’s and through the chaos of the pandemic has skewed my perspective. Maybe it isn’t on its knees.

When I finally got to see a gp yesterday she was excellent....but, the 20 minute phone call to be told to fill in an online form (another 20 minutes) the results of which were to see your gp (another 20 minute wait) then a phone call back from gp 'at some point later today' was very frustrating.

And @BungleandGeorge seeing as it was only this morning i have not yet, and haven’t decided if I will

@daisycottage

This is why A&E departments are being swamped with patients who can't access help from their GP.

DH's leg swelled up a couple of weeks ago. He's had DVT in the past so I took him straight to A&E rather than try and negotiate a GP appointment which is what happened last time, pre Covid. He wanted someone to actually see his leg rather than have it described to them!