Aibu but 2 mornings per week isn’t cutting it

[Bythemillpond]

Bit of background
Ds had a telephone appointment with a GP (not his own GP as tbh we try to avoid this dr as we have had some bad experiences with them) and was told he was going to be referred for an ADHD assessment.

About 2 weeks later his own GP sent a form to fill in before he could be referred. Including an alcohol assessment. Ds doesn’t drink as he hates the taste. No idea why the alcohol assessment was included.

Filled it in and sent it back immediately by email. Got a reply the following day to say they had received it and would it take 3 days to process.
We left it 1 week and rang the surgery to check he had been referred

Nothing was picked up on the screen by the receptionist who said they would ask the dr to see what was happening
Left it till middle of the following week to see if he had been referred yet.
Receptionist said that ds had not sent the form back. I said yes he had and found the email and quoted her the time and date it had been sent and also the email in reply to say that the email had been received.

Asked to send it again which I did from ds’s email address and the receptionist said she had received it whilst I was on the phone
I was told that they would talk to the doctor the following day to bump Ds up the line as he had sent it weeks ago.

We rang back a couple of days later only to talk to another receptionist who again said Ds had not sent the form back as there was no email from Ds
Sent it again and was received by the surgery.
Receptionist said they would bring it to the drs attention when they were next in.
I obviously asked when and was told the GP only works 2 mornings per week.

Aibu that 2 mornings per week for what was a full time role (they were supposed to replace a retiring gp who is now back working at the surgery presumably to pickup the slack) is too little and if that is all they work then they shouldn’t be getting involved with sending out forms that they have no time to process.

Just to add that if we need to contact this surgery then we play tag trying to get through to them. That is why I have spoken to them on behalf of Ds.
Usually ds trys a few times (usually they cut you off after a while if the phone is ringing out so you have to start again) and then I take over. Only one of these calls has been answered straight away. The rest have taken several calls to get through.

Am I understanding that you're annoyed that the gp works two mornings a week?

I think you are working on an unrealistic timeline for a non-urgent referral. I would assume it would be processed within a month rather than a week.

YANBU to be frustrated at some of the processes and having to resend forms, but YABVU to think you take an issue with someone's working week.

You have absolutely no business deciding that someone working 2 mornings is out of order. Other people's working patterns are none of your business, be it a GP or anyone else.

I think you are right to be miffed that someone who does referrals only works two mornings. As for the missing emails that's just shoddy admin. Good job you could show that you had sent them three times. Any chance you could move surgeries?
How do they cope with urgent referrals?

It's very frustrating but I expect the surgery can't recruit more gp hours. We have national problems with training numbers in many health professiona and that's where the problems really lie.

There are GP shortages so they are probably being forced to take who ever they can get, for any hours.

However, they arent being very organised. The staffing should be joined up, so that the workload is covered by someone as if you has a single full time GP. Eg your referral and paperwork etc should be passed on to a GP working the other shifts when the one you saw isnt in, so that things are kept moving.

Yes I am frustrated as there was no need for them to get involved with this referral and given my own and dds recent experience Ds could at the very least have his appointment for assessment by now. (It is a very quick process)
Instead we are waiting on someone who has made work for themselves and clearly doesn’t have the time to see it through.

I am anticipating problems as this GP has a habit of refusing to refer patients.

I had to wait for a Locum to refer me to an allergy clinic after this particular GP said there were no tests for allergies.

Tibtab Given the state of ds’s mental health I wouldn’t say this was a non urgent appointment
He has been living on the edge for some time and it is getting worse. He actually didn’t believe he had ADHD but when we went through all the symptoms of ADHD and watched some videos of young adults who were ADHD he could really identify with their lives.
When he got the form he was a bit frustrated he hadn’t been referred when the doctor he had the appointment with had said they would. He answered all the questions and it was quite clear that he does need the referral. He was hopeful and could see a light at the end of the tunnel but now he is more depressed that he can’t see an end to it and that there isn’t any point to anything.

I have lived with undiagnosed ADHD for most of my life and it is a disaster. I didn’t know I had it. I just thought that other people must have charmed lives
Ds I think is me at his age without the mask and I know exactly what he is going through.
If I can save him a day without that pain then I will shift heaven and earth to do so.

Given this was supposed to be a full time role to directly replace the retiring gp then I do question how the NHS is spending money on bringing back the retiring gp who now works more time than the person who supposedly took over their role.

This sounds really frustrating, I'm sorry OP. No chance of going private? We went private for DP's referral and it was a gamechanger. It did involve scrimping but it was so worth it.

There are GP shortages so they are probably being forced to take who ever they can get, for any hours

This isn’t a new thing it has been going on for a few years. We just thought that this doctor had too many patients that needed to see them and that is why they offered appointments for 3 weeks away and would joke about the retired GP working more now he has retired than when he was working full time.

@Daisy95

Am I understanding that you're annoyed that the gp works two mornings a week?

I think the OP is rather cheesed off that they have had to email the same document to the surgery three times now, the surgery has fouled up, and are not not expediting the matter, which they should do.

I think the problem here is not the particualr GP's hours but the fact that noone is picking up their work in their absence. Yes it is important for your DS to get this sorted - and some of their 'paperwork' could be life threatening it should not be left for someone who clearly does not have the time in 2 mornings a week. If this is not resolved quickly I would contact the practice manager and ask for DS to be moved lists to another GP - and that the current one is listed as not appropriate for him to see (yes they can do this they do it for staff etc who have a conflict).

How old is your DS?

Im a little confused about the issue with who refers. It's usually the GP who does the episode of care as they know what to write etc.

It's frustrating and things are taking a long time at the moment.

The number of sessions this GP works has nothing to do with how the practice admin team has let you down in not processing your son’s emailed documents I’m afraid.

You’d be better placed directing your frustration towards a complaint to the practice manager asking to look at what happened and to address this better in future as well as to fecking well pick up your son’s referral.

It won’t matter which GP picks it up and send it on to the ADHD service, as I’d assume this won’t take place in Primary mental health services but will need to go upwards into secondary mental health services to access psychiatric and psychological assessments and treatments.

thevelvetcurtain

This sounds really frustrating, I'm sorry OP. No chance of going private? We went private for DP's referral and it was a gamechanger. It did involve scrimping but it was so worth it

We have always ended up going private, including for dhs cancer treatment which took our life savings and decimated any pension he had to keep us going over nearly 2 years he wasn’t fit to work.
Again he wasn’t referred when it would have been a straightforward operation.
He only got diagnosed on a trolley in A&E which I had helped him into because he couldn’t walk at the time. By that time it had become stage 4 and had spread.

Apart from giving birth and mine and dds diagnosis of ADHD these have been the only times we haven’t ended up going private. I have a couple of times been left in agonising pain for years before getting the money together and going private.

It won’t matter which GP picks it up and send it on to the ADHD service

This GP has insisted it is them that has to refer Ds.
He was under the care of a different doctor who did say they would refer him based on the answers to similar questions that were on the form.
There was no need for anyone else to be involved. Certainly not someone who works such short hours.

Re the emails disappearing, Ds thinks dr is deleting them so they can put off the work involved in dealing with them.

Emails don’t disappear 3 times

Call the surgery and ask to speak to the practice manager. They have the power to sort it out.

You are absolutely 100% reasonable to think this is appallingly bad service and shoddy organisation from the surgery. But YABU to tie it to someone working 2 days a week.

Is it possible to change surgeries? I have been known to rant at length about how the problem with GP surgeries generally is the inconsistency in how they are managed and, to a certain extent, the quality of the doctors. We have an excellent surgery but i'm always surprised by local friends who have different surgeries and have endless problems. Proving that management and control is the key differentiator.

I've been exactly where you are now, OP. Except in my case, it was for my autism diagnosis. I was only referred when a locum GP was briefly there whilst our regular GPs were on leave for various reasons. Your GPs surgery sounds very similar to the one we were registered at - an elderly GP who needed to retire for ill health and a replacement who only works a few hours a week because of family commitments (which I don't begrudge them).

It was the same with my crippling endometriosis. I was only referred to a gynaecologist when a locum practitioner was there. I'm now going to have to go through the whole process again because the endometriosis was left completely untreated throughout lockdown and has grown back on my bowel.

It might be a good idea if you can register at another surgery if you possibly can. It has helped us enormously. I would often shut down before an appointment because I was so nervous about going there and sitting in the full waiting room - and my DH had to take leave to take me because it wasn't within walking distance and I couldn't drive at the time. Now, I just walk to the much closer surgery and sit in the quieter waiting room with sunglasses and ear defenders on - which nobody minds.

I know this whole thing is a terrible upheaval. I hope you all get your diagnoses and support.

YANBU, it costs the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds to train a GP, they’re really taking the piss by working so few hours.

Don't expect magic to happen after the referral is made. The waiting times for an ADHD / ASD assessments are several years in many areas, a few days is nothing on this scale. My DC has been waiting for over 3 years.

I would focus on the fact that the GP surgery is letting you down and park your private thoughts on why that might be until you have resolved the current situation. Is there a practice manager that you could contact?

The GP might be retired, might have severe physical or mental health issues or be working in another GP practice at the same time - not sure we can really say they are taking the piss

Why don't you just change GP surgeries as you've not been happy at your current one for years just change.