GP Surgeries are NEGLIGENT if they're not doing face to face appointments

[AmIEmptyOrNumB]

My GP surgery never stopped. They just triaged so 90% by phone and those essential face to face appointments carried on but with masks etc. Why is the government not doing more about this? These Surgeries denying all face to face appointments are failing the hippocratic oath.

Ours is triaging by phone or email, I've used the later and managed to sort out everything by email once and on other occasion they fitted me in later that day

When are people going to realise that what appears to be “negligent GPs” is actually wide spread, inherent system failure. On a massive scale.

I had a horrendous chest infection recently and wanted to see my gp. Offered a phone appt which I had to sit and wait for. I effectively diagnosed myself 🤦🏼‍♀️ my gp said I sounded ill abs prescribed abs. ALL on my say so. I wasn't best pleased.

Current situation with our surgery;
▪️Doors are actually open again but you can't make appointments at the desk anymore
▪️you have to either phone or fill in an e consult form - the phone system is very glitchy and you get cut off - wrt e consult form you might get a text or call back or you might not
▪️can't make appointments online anymore
▪️can order meds online
▪️very few blood test appointments available and you are asked to go 20 miles to nearest hospital

Our GP's have been fantastic in incredibly difficult circumstances. All e-consults are answered within 24hrs and either prescription given, a phone call arranged or an appointment at the surgery.

I actually prefer the new system of initial phone call followed by physical appointment if necessary. I hope my surgery never goes back! It seems to work much more efficiently than the old system.

At my GP's, we also have the option of filling in an online form with our problems where we can attach photos etc, GP will then ring back same day to chat or request you come into the surgery if deemed necessary. It's so handy!

@ohfourfoxache
I hear you.
Currently down 10 sessions and another GP off sick making it 14 sessions.
But there are people who think there is an endless supply of GPs just waiting to see them.. 🙄
And patients don't speak on tel consults for 10 mins only - they want you to chat for 30-40 mins and hen people wonder why we can't call at a set time.
I know there are some crappy surgeries out there - but most aren't. If your surgery is rubbish, speak to them- MN can't deal with it...

[quote ohfourfoxache]@Mrs08 no, that’s not right AT ALL- your mum should NEVER have been in such a terrible position and the standard of care she received is not acceptable at all

Unfortunately what you have experienced are the symptoms of a system that is monumentally fucked. The pressure is far, far too high to ensure that what is delivered is delivered safely[/quote]
Well...I agree with you.

Yet the Tories get in time after time...🤷‍♀️

Our GP has been awful. There is a place for telephone/video appointments and for some people they are much better but not until you get a time slot and it's recognised that some people need physically assessing. We ended up at A&E 3 times because the GP refused to see a 16 month old who had been unwell for weeks. It should have been dealt with in primary care

I think some GPs are determined to undermine the NHS and make privatisation the only option

@ohfourfoxache

When are people going to realise that what appears to be “negligent GPs” is actually wide spread, inherent system failure. On a massive scale.

Sadly some GPs have been negligent.

I'm afraid our surgery is getting a bad name locally...

My GP hasn’t stopped seeing patients who need face to face appointments.

I’ve been quite unwell of late, unfortunately, however I’ve had no problem getting a call back nor a face to face consultation. I do think the first time they saw me urgently, and didn’t fob me off, was because I had worrying symptoms, DS2 is a CCU outreach charge nurse and had said I needed to be seen so they listened. They identified an ongoing problem which has meant that anytime I’ve phoned since I’ve been seen and they’ve phoned me while I’ve been awaiting hospital appointments to make sure I’m doing ok.

I had to phone 111 about a month ago because I had a UTI on a Saturday morning. I was seen and back at home with antibiotics within an hour. It really is a postcode lottery.

[quote Tistheseason17]@ohfourfoxache
I hear you.
Currently down 10 sessions and another GP off sick making it 14 sessions.
But there are people who think there is an endless supply of GPs just waiting to see them.. 🙄
And patients don't speak on tel consults for 10 mins only - they want you to chat for 30-40 mins and hen people wonder why we can't call at a set time.
I know there are some crappy surgeries out there - but most aren't. If your surgery is rubbish, speak to them- MN can't deal with it...[/quote]
As I said, formal complaint made

No reply yet....

[quote ohfourfoxache]@Mrs08 JFC that’s horrendous 😱[/quote]
Yeah 😒

I must say the 111 prescription line is good ime

@Comedycook

I find the phone appointments quite convenient. My dd needed an appointment...I did it over the phone and she didn't need the morning off school which was a bonus

I think they're pretty handy, too. They've, together with the hospital ones, probably saved me having to ask for at least half a day off work about 11 times in the last year, leaving the in person appointments and tests I needed actually being available within a week or two, rather than 15 months minimum.

They'd started offering them prior to lockdown and whilst I thought it would be weird, the ability to get a callback within a couple of hours, a quick chat and the prescription at the pharmacist for when I finished work, rather than basically having to know I'm intending to be ill in 7 and a half weeks time by half past seven in the morning on the day they've just released a few urgent appointments in the previous 30 seconds is a huge improvement.

@Mrs08 can I get a hallelujah!

I must confess that I cried after the last election. The rate of privatisation is beyond scary. Actually, it’s heartbreaking 😭

I’m really sorry to hear what your mum has been through, that’s utterly shit

Can I gently suggest….if you don’t have any luck with the Gp complaint, contact your CCG. They (theoretically) should be able to help

@Tistheseason17 fucking hell, 14 sessions is horrendous 😱

DH is a GP. They have seen patients throughout the lockdown. Records show that GP’s have done more appointments over the last 18 months than previously. The main problem is there a reducing number of GP’s but more patients wanting an appointment. If you can’t get an appointment it’s because someone else has been given it. Many practices have way too many patients.

I'm sorry you're going through this @Mrs08. Not acceptable.
There is a timescale to acknowledge a formal NHS complaint - usually 3 working days. If this has already passed put in another complaint that they have not acknowledged your initial complaint. Disgusted on your behalf as I work my ass off to support patients but I know there is an incompetent minority.

@Parker231 add into that the average age of GPs - a terrifying number are getting set to retire, and there just aren’t enough juniors to replace them

In the grand scheme of things, GPs are going to be the first fatalities of the collapse of NHS

Please stop blaming the GPs.
I have several GP friends and they’ve never been so stressed.
The whole system is shit because it’s so underfunded. No GP wants to send away a potentially very ill patient. GPs are under huge amounts of pressure and are terrified. Please don’t make their already impossible job any harder.
The fault lies with the government not the poor doctors who are doing their best because they care.
Becoming a GP is no mean feat. Any one of them could walk away and into a job with better pay, better conditions and more respect. The ones that don’t are staying in a really difficult job because they believe it’s the right thing to do. We need them to carry on.

[quote ohfourfoxache]@Mrs08 can I get a hallelujah!

I must confess that I cried after the last election. The rate of privatisation is beyond scary. Actually, it’s heartbreaking 😭

I’m really sorry to hear what your mum has been through, that’s utterly shit

Can I gently suggest….if you don’t have any luck with the Gp complaint, contact your CCG. They (theoretically) should be able to help[/quote]
Thank you.
Yes, it's been horrid.
She's quite frail.
I have given the surgery til Friday to respond then I'm contacting the ccg, cqc and mp.

@Tistheseason17

I'm sorry you're going through this *@Mrs08*. Not acceptable. There is a timescale to acknowledge a formal NHS complaint - usually 3 working days. If this has already passed put in another complaint that they have not acknowledged your initial complaint. Disgusted on your behalf as I work my ass off to support patients but I know there is an incompetent minority.

Thank you. We have seen some truly wonderful HCPs over the years if mums health issues but if there were any other option (which there isn't) we would move surgeries tomorrow.

GP practices introduced telephone screening etc. to keep the most vulnerable safe

That's what my previous GP claimed - except that, as I've mentioned on here before, they were actually using the phone screening to flog private F2F appointments

Yes it was reported, and no it's not stopped, so I'm left wondering just how many others have been seized by the same notion