To think that if I can work..

[ButtonRose]

Surrounded by the British public every day and "be safe", there is simply no reason why I have to have a telephone appointment before I can see a real human being for heath care?

@ButtonRose but it is likely that if your need to see a doctor really is as high as you say, you will be offered a Face to face appointment the same day as your telephone appointment.

Whilst I agree that you are seeing the public everyday (much like the rest of the country now) and feel that you are at risk, you must understand that doctors are not seeing people face to face is reducing the risk of spreading covid to them and therefore them going off sick? You’d have to wait even longer for an appointment in this case.

Yeah it’s annoying, but it’s not like you’ll never get a real appointment

I didn't have to 'talk about my symptoms' : just say in one sentence what was happening. That's what the receptionist is there for - to pass relevant information on. The doctor evidently decided on the basis of the information to prioritise a phone call to me. People who don't like giving brief factual information to the receptionist need to get over themselves.

@Violinist64 you have to do this anyway, whether it is a telephone appointment or a face to face appointment. Never in my life have I booked an appointment without being asked what it was for

I think in some instances a telephone appointment is good as they may tell you to bring in a urine sample or to not eat before the in person appointment but they should absolutely not replace the in person appointments!

Many things need to be physically checked or you’re only comfortable talking about in front of a doctor in a private room.
If I was in a DV situation and I rang up to say I have a bruise but had my partner listening so I couldn’t tell the truth they may tell me to just take paracetamol but if they saw me in person they may see something else was going on.

It took me over 3 weeks just to get a telephone appointment and I ended up in hospital.

I wonder if the appointment is for a child they see them in person?
I dread to think how much child abuse is getting covered up.

My GP has done phone consults for the last five years or so - works well, saves time, has now moved to e-consults, tons better.
Instead of the 8.30am scrum to book an appointment, after filling in an econsult form, the receptionist called back in a couple of hours, GP about an hour after that - and then I had a face to face slot at the surgery about half an hour after that,
WHen I discussed the process with the GP, she felt it was much better because they are able to prioritise baed on need, rather than pot luck of who gets through on the phone at 8.30

@Lancrelady80

especially if said symptoms are potentially embarrassing

And especially if you have to do that in a work/public environment.

You had to do this prepandemic though. I can understand the actual doctors call being a bit difficult but I've had it plenty of times where I've had to go and find somewhere private to discuss my horrendous periods whilst at work. Prepandemic. If its not a convenient time you just say give me 15 minutes while I find somewhere more private.

@toocold54 my child has always been seen in person or they have asked for photos.

Plus you've also got people who can't take phone calls at work
Sometimes I need an appointment but I'm fine to work. If my phone rings while I'm working, I can't answer it 🤷🏽‍♀️

I guess everywhere is different but for the first time in a long time I've been able to actually see a doctor following a telephone call. Possibly because not everyone actually needs to see a GP? Totally understand where OP is coming from but it seems to be working for a lot of people.

Maybe it depends where you live. I phoned on Wed for an appointment- Dr phoned back to do the telephone triage within an hour and then suggested a f2f a couple of hours later. At f2f, Dr thought a hospital appointment was necessary, which she booked for Friday morning. I thought that was very impressive.

Receptionist or whoever arranges a telephone appointment to see if they need a f2f appointment. This could be up to ten days away

Well it would be unreasonable if it took ten days for the Dr to phone, and twice as unreasomable if it took ten days for an actual appointment, which I assume it would in that case, if the Dr is so overloaded. On the other hand, the time from arranging the phone appointment to physically seeing the Dr might be 48 less than hours.

It's not the number of steps that matters, it's the actual waiting time, about which we know nothing.

Phone appointments reduce Dr workloads and cause waiting times to be less than they would otherwise be. Everything else being equal, not having phone consultations would cause the OP to have to wait longer.

The difference with HCPs though is that a chunk of those they see will quite possibly be vulnerable themselves so that does add an extra level of complication. People can avoid going to shops etc but they can’t avoid medical appointments.

I have no issue with things like telephone triage for GPs because often things can be done via phone and then the appointments are saved for those who need to be seen.

There is certainly a place for both face to face and virtual appointments moving forward I think

Plus you've also got people who can't take phone calls at work

I could never get an appointment because I start work at 8:30, the same time the phone lines open - all appointments are taken by 8:45. At least with e consult it’s triaged by the doctors and the people deemed to need the appointments get them first and the less urgent cases not taking up all of the spaces.

My GP appointment in late February early March this year I booked online on a Sunday, was phoned back on Monday, and saw Dr Tuesday or Wednesday. This is at a practice where for a decade or so the earliest you could ever physically see a Dr was 2-3 weeks after speaking to receptionist. (But they've been much better in recent years.)

My best friend is a GP and we were talking about this recently. At her practice at least it isn't about keeping the doctors and nurses safe. They've merely found it to be more efficient to run with a telephone triage system as a large proportion of those who they speak to can have their issue resolved over the phone, meaning more face to face appointment time is available for those who need it.

The thing I don't like about the telephone appointments at my surgery is you have no idea when they will call. I had a call while I was shopping in the supermarket so had to talk about private things in front of loads of people. I would prefer an approximate time they will call.

I did get very good care the time I phoned with a suspected chest infection. I was referred to a respiratory nurse who I got to see in person the same day.

I find it crazy that this is still going on in the UK. I left the UK early in the year and returned home to Ireland, where we have some crazy restrictions , yet I can see my gp face to face , often within a few days. No big battle to get one either unlike when I was in the UK.

We waited 2 weeks for a telephone appointment only to be told that we needed a f2f apt but that they hadn't got any to give at the present time. Ffs.
Finally got seen and sent for urgent scan, from which we got Gynae referral, now awaiting surgery :(

it still comes down to those that are falling through the cracks
the elderly who live alone and do not have a smartphone or internet skills
who is going to take a picture of the rash on their back - or the nasty looking lump
even if they can try and explain their problem via telephone triage - it is difficult if their first language is not English or they have difficulty hearing or just a little confused without the GP coaxing the information out of them
or those with mental ill-health problems

That is just a few of the inequalities of getting help from the GP.
It is all well and good that posters here say how wonderful their experience has been - I daresay it is if they are lucky or are in need the prioritised services such as maternity or children's health
but this is not true for everyone.
I find it incredibly sad that there are so many people being left without the help they need and no-one seems to give a damn.

The not giving a time to call simply can't carry on. It's not reasonable to expect people to be ready to discuss confidential medical information at any time between 8am and 5pm, while they might be teaching, on a checkout, driving a bus, running a clinic etc etc. I don't even get phone signal where I work, so would have to give two separate phone numbers for them to try depending on the time of day.

I work largely on the phone at the moment and for my non urgent phone appointment I did request it on my day off. I did get a window for the call timing. For the urgent one where I needed face to face quickly I just had to cross my fingers and hope for the best. I was told though that the call from the doctor would be in the next two hours.

I think GPs etc need to move back to face to face appointments and get back to normal as the rest of us are, ridiculous you can go to an opticians, dentists,hairdresser etc but seeing a GP face to face is near on impossible. My surgery offered telephone consultations before lock down as well as face to face ones. I get that sometimes telephone appointments can work but sometimes they dont and I think most of us are capable of judging which appointment we need face to face or not.
I did an e consult for a GPs appointment , loads of questions most irrelevant but initially it told me to ring 999 which was ridiculous so i tweaked my answers , it then said i would be contacted within 24 hours, I was contacted within 24 hours but only to be told a doctor would review my econsult within 48 hours, so 3 days in total! Then GP phoned me, obviously had only vaguely glanced at e consult info and we went through everything again on phone so basically it was a holding system for 3 days, would have been easier to make an appointment straight away. The only thing with a telephone appointment at my doctors is that they dont give you a time, they can phone anytime between 8.30-6 so you are on alert all day and if you miss the call they dont phone you back and you need to make another appointment which is rubbish.

If its not a convenient time you just say give me 15 minutes while I find somewhere more private.

But that means yet another phone appointment slot taken up. Plus as pp said, some people can't take phone calls at work let alone pop out...eg sole adult in charge of 30 six year olds, with no TA and no idea when a phone call will take place, as another pp said. School has a no mobiles in class policy for adults due to safeguarding.

Even if that was possible, it would be tricky and highly inappropriate to say the least to discuss how I was doing with regards to depression, self-harming and work-related stress whilst standing in the playground. In the past I could simply arrange a f2f appointment with the GP for a specific time (every two weeks for the first few months after returning to work) and let school know cover was required for those times.

Pp who said talking about symptoms over the phone was the same pre-pandemic...not necessarily. No phone appointments here until Covid, just the receptionist and yes, you did need to give a brief description. But that's v different to a full on consultation. And as teachers struggle in to work come hell or high water, any teacher ringing for an appointment is either off as very sick so at home, or ringing in the holidays from their home. Private in both cases.

What works for some people does not work for others. But I am concerned that overworked GPs will grab onto phone appointments as a miracle solution but actually it will lead to some things (people) slipping through the net.

@StarDrawers that’s good to know!

There’s not enough gps so if they catch covid even more patients won’t get care so they do a call, triage you, then if you need a face to face you get one.

I called at 9am, gp phoned me at 10.30am, decided she wanted to see me at 11am and I had a blood test then a call the next day with results and tablets within 24 hours. Just let them triage you and you’ll get a face to face.