AIBU - I have called the GP over 200 times this morning

[IAmADancer]

Just that. I need to get a blood test referral for menopause symptoms but I can’t get through. I started calling at 8am and have called over 200 times. It’s still engaged.

I know that if I call back at 10am when it’s quieter they will tell me there are no appointments and to call back tomorrow. Then you go through the same routine all over again. I just want to access basic care. Feeling very frustrated

Silly to call on a Monday morning.

@ Embroidery that exactly what's happening. My work is regularly getting 30 odd patients turning up an hour in A&E and then everyone expects their issues to be resolved magically and instantaneously. The reality with these numbers is it will be hours to wait because the departments are overwhelmed with people wanting/needing tests who think they come back in minutes rather than at least an hour if the lab has a ‘normal’ workload. I'm not sure what the answer is because everyone seems to need to be seen and respectfully no one wants to wait and understandably from a personal.perspective feel it's urgent but essentially isnt necessarily an emergency. The system.simply cannot cope with the loss of NHS staff vs a population that keeps.growing but also has complex needs in many circumstances.

As someone planning for the total lack of blood tests in a hospital I'm actually pretty pissed off to hear that some patients with what appear to be non urgent symptoms are getting bloods done at the moment.

I'm very aware I've only got part of the story and there may well be reasons for it but believe me the risk of running out of blood tests is a very real concern. We are already limiting the tests we offer to inpatient including those in ICU.

Get a better gp surgery

For something like this I can book via an app at my surgery.

Right, just off to make an appointment to get my blood pressure checked after reading this thread. I should get through now as it's a Monday and, because everyone has been told they are stupid to ring on a Monday, I will be the only caller. Yay!

OP, I agree with you, its a disgrace - you should be able to ring your doctor and make an appointment. Here in Aus, I pick a convenient time on an app, no need to even phone. And I won't be waiting 2 weeks for an appointment, like with the NHS.

NICE guidelines say women over 45 should not have a blood test to diagnose menopause. Women over 45 who present with menopause symptoms should be treated as if in menopause.

Twentypast that is true. My friend was simply prescribed HRT when she saw her GP, no blood tests

[quote IAmADancer]@Loubilou09 thank you, will have a look at this[/quote]
My initial appointment was £150 I think and it lasted for well over and hour. I now see my consultant once a year for a follow up which is about £80.00 so it isn't massively expensive and I can get an appointment quickly and also she is at the end of an email if I have any questions.

Good luck x

I'm not surprised you are frustrated!

Monday morning is definitely best avoided for something routine. Can you drop in and speak directly to reception (I do this at my local surgery) or submit and consultation?

Blood tests to diagnose peri menopause are of limited use and wouldn't be suggested for everyone but a discussion with a GP about your symptoms and possible treatment options would be entirely appropriate.

Have you considered going to the GP Surgery for opening time. Get there early so you're first in the queue when the door opens. Then you can sort it out in person. My surgery opens the same time as the phones.

@MyMushroomsInATimeSlip

There is a national shortage of blood test containers and only essential or urgent bloods are being done. Does yours fit this criteria do you know? If not you will likely have to wait

Yes, it's a real issue right now. I'm overdue for my annual blood test to check that my medication isn't impacting my kidney function. It's not going to happen until the shortage is sorted. I doubt that a menopause test is more urgent.

Can I ask people what the solution is?

At our surgery we have several receptionists and several phones, and they answer the phones as soon as it rings. The second they put the phone down it rings again and they answer.
We have enough consulting rooms in our surgery to house enough doctors and nurses at a ratio of about 1 doctor per 2000 patients (standard quota). All the rooms are used all day Monday-Friday. Every doctor and nurse has a full surgery morning and afternoon.

So we can't employ more doctors/nurses as there aren't any spare rooms. We can't create more rooms as there's no space for them (we've already extended once and lost some car park).
We can't work longer hours as we already work 8-8.

We can't find more doctors even if we had the room (in fact we have actually advertised for an extra doctor, thinking we could use the meeting room as a consulting room, but we haven't had a single applicant).

Our doctor to patient ratio is normal, and has been the same for the 25+ years I've worked there.

The fact that our surgeries are all full means that clearly some patients are able to get through on the phone.

So tell me, if you were given the job of improving access at my surgery, what would you do? I'm especially interested as we have had this discussion countless times, and have yet to find a solution.

Seems the main point OP is making is that is nigh on impossible to see a GP nowadays. The reason she is trying to get an appointment is irrelevant really.

Wonder if everyone on here wants to pay the tax that would be required to employ the number of receptionists needed to answer all Monday morning calls instantly.

@NotAnotherPylon

Right, just off to make an appointment to get my blood pressure checked after reading this thread. I should get through now as it's a Monday and, because everyone has been told they are stupid to ring on a Monday, I will be the only caller. Yay!

Why can't you do it at home?

Can I ask people what the solution is?

The solution is total reform of the NHS, along a European model with employers paying insurance for people working, the state paying for people who aren't. People paying to see the GP.

But that's not going to happen so we're stuck with an inefficient service which is impossible to access.

OP, your GP has a really shit system. I simply cannot abide GP practices who don't allow appointments in advance. Surely one of the main purposes of a GP is to deal with illnesses before they become urgent. If you cannot access routine healthcare (because you can't nip out of work for an hour or two even if you do get an appointment) then your medical condition goes untreated and is more likely to become serious. Sometimes that is "a bit" serious (I ended up in hospital for three days due to delayed treatment for tonsillitis) but in other cases it could be life threatening (eg if a breast lump wasn't checked promptly).

I would definitely check with other GPs in the local area. In some places it may be an area wide policy, but that isn't always the case. I moved practices (about a mile apart) for exactly this reason.

Wonder if everyone on here wants to pay the tax that would be required to employ the number of receptionists needed to answer all Monday morning calls instantly.

Nobody is saying the call needs to be answered immediately. A GP practice wouldn't be the appropriate place to be calling if it was that urgent. But the OP should be able to get an appointment in a timely manner (eg phone answered at some point today and seen within a week).

And yes, I'd be happy to pay sufficient tax for a system which is actually functioning for primary care.

Reading some of the stories on here I think we must be incredibly lucky with our gp surgery. I can't get a blood test but it's still easy to phone in and get someone to answer the phone. A relative uses the same surgery and has found it fairly easy to get phone consultations and medications.

@Bagamoyo1 does your surgery allow patients to book appointments in advance, or do you operate the same as many others in that you have to ring that morning for an appointment that day?

If it does operate in this manner, why have you moved to this system? It seems guaranteed to cause more stress on both patients and staff and waste hours of everyone's time.

@IAmADancer

Just to answer a few questions

When you call my surgery it goes straight through to busy tone so you can’t hold in a queue and wait for a place. You just have to keep calling back until it clicks into the actual surgery system where it gives you options to go through to various departments.

My surgery is not taking advance bookings, only bookings on the day. They used to release appointments via the nhs app to book but have stopped that.

Also for those saying it’s not urgent, no offence but you are not me. I haven’t slept properly in over a month. I am exhausted and struggling to function properly. Being able to access something as basic as a blood test to find out what’s happening shouldn’t be this hard. Not sleeping is debilitating and due to another condition that I have I need to speak to a GP to be able to discuss what the best way forward would be.

Apololgies if anyone else has already mentioned this but you don't need a blood test to be perscribed HRT if you are 45 or older and are experiencing symptoms. That's the NICE guideline. If you are under 45 they may want to check that something else is going on though. Hope you get it sorted.

I would happily pay more money for functioning system

@BigWoollyJumpers Good idea

I had an emergency menopause blood test a couple of weeks ago. But I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and they wanted me to start meds to block oestrogen. So sometimes they are urgent.
For someone who has been having symptoms of menopause for a month you may be waiting a little while.
Does your surgery have online booking? A lot of surgeries are using this system. No waiting on the phone. Just book with a GP for phone consult and you can even give a brief description of your needs. Totally bypassing the dragons on the desk.