Waited in hospital since 10pm to see out of hours gp. It's now 2am. Do I give up and go home?

[GrrrlPwr]

There's 5 people ahead of me in the queue. Receptionist has no idea how long they will all take.

Do I go home and plead my GP for an appointment tomorrow?

Feel so stupid to have waited so long and to go home. But I ache so much. I need to go to bed

Hope you managed to see/speak to GP

I don't bother with my GP anymore, they're great but I just don't have 45 mins spare on hold before getting through the the receptionist. I just go on the LIVI app now and get an appt within a few hours or book one for the next day. Can't rate it enough, prescriptions are then ready the following day (when I'd probably still be on hold trying to get through to a GP)

@ThePoisonousMushroom

Basically these other systems that sound so much better are also better funded. That's probably why they are better. Are we willing to pay more tax?

I already pay 40% tax, then close to £200 a month on top of that for private health insurance for the whole family as the NHS isn’t fit for purpose, so yes I’d pay more tax for a service that works.

I would too. But it would have to work, not just be funnelled off in private profits somewhere.

I have lived in Germany and Singapore, both counties have better healthcare systems. DH and I have family in both countries, the quality of care offered to our elderly relatives is very good. Germans do pay a lot more but their system would work well in the UK.

@Floundery they include copay. For example, Singapore healthcare spending is 4% of GDP but according to the Data, despite all the fluff about Singapore being a healthcare system based on 'personal responsibility', the copay component (medical savings account and health insurance) is actually a small percentage of total spending, majority of healthcare spending in Singapore is government subsidies.

A big problem with healthcare paid out of direct taxation is there is little incentive to prevent waste. Even if you 'privatize' it, the private contractors inflate their charges as they know the government can pay... And the private companies support politicians who will turn a blind eye to the profiteering.

I have just been to my local pharmacy to collect an antibiotic prescribed by my GP. There is a notice saying the pharmacist can prescribe you antibiotics! That is a new one. Also the GP's answer phone machine keeps mentioning the pharmacists for minor issues, and that pharmacist can refer to GP if needed.
Apparently, my prescription was actually written by my GP's pharmacist (it is repeated prescription after the GP has seen me). They called me back at 6:20 yesterday to tell me it was ready! I have never ever known of them working so late!
It sounds like things are bad! They are busy, too busy as per usual. And trying to relieve pressure via the pharmacies. At least here.

@MorrisZapp

Scotland lets pharmacists prescribe anti biotics too.

Not in my part of Scotland? I have asked pharmacist before and they definitely do not prescribe antibiotics for tonisilitis

@TheRealShedSadie

OP I hope you’re feeling better soon. I don’t think we actually have a functioning health service any more. We took our child in to walk in centre recently after an accident - we thought he’d lost an eye. We went because it was the closest place open we could get to.

6 hours to be seen. Poor kid was utterly terrified. Visibly torn eyelid and a deep wound. No pain relief and sat in packed, dirty waiting area. Just horrendous.

Thankfully he hasn’t lost his sight. I absolutely dread my kids getting poorly or having an accident and needing hospital.

I’m so sorry, this sounds awful. Based on the replies here people are losing all sense of compassion and what basic care looks like.

Just as a counter balance we are in central Scotland and luckily haven't experienced such long delays personally.

However the the tonsillitis hopefully you're feeling better - it's worth looking at the guidelines for when to prescribe antibiotics eg no cough, fever, pus etc etc so you're prepared for the appointment and also here certain pharmacies can prescribe for straightforward throat infections.

You can’t always tell if a sore throat is a bacterial infection by looking at it - only sure way is to take a swab but it would take days to grow any culture and you can have a fever with either a bacterial infection or a virus so that isn’t a definitive test either.

I have asked my pharmacist for antibiotics for tonsillitis and was refused and asked to call the doctor
The only time they have issued antibiotics was chloramphenicol for eye infection
Im sure this is the only antibiotic the pharmacist can issue here in Scotland

Genuinely would like to know - what specific pharmacies in Scotland prescribe actual antibiotics as I would rather get in a car and drive than join the 830 am scrum to get through ( or not ) to my doctors ( receptionist)

@SarahJeffers341

I would not wait in hospital with tonsilitis… I am sure it’s horrible but not an emergency. If you have a GP you can fill out an online form and they should call you back.

Ok Dr Sarah. I was given this advice and stupidly stayed at home.

Eventually took myself to a&e and I had tonsillitis complication with an abbess. If left untreated it bursts and your organs start to shut down and you die.
Dr took one look at me and took me to a side room immediately and made a cut in my throat to drain the abscess.

OP please listen to your body only.

OP tonsillitis can develop into a life threatening abscess called Quinsy. No antibiotics will help, only abscess draining. please seek help if you struggle to eat or drink. X

This is probably something that won’t get better by itself and you’ll feel so much better if you can just get one dose into you.

Tonsillitis nearly always gets better by itself. One dose of antibiotics is unlikely to do much.

The best thing to do is treat the symptoms to help you feel better. It is really only after 3 or 4 days if you aren’t improving that you need to see the GP.

I had bacterial tonsillitis regularly as a child and younger adult. I rarely had antibiotics.

You poor thing. Health care is just a joke right now

So much so that I'm poised to pay 90 quid a month to take out private health care. I am not wealthy but can stretch to it and I'm just fed up with the minor inconveniences I've had recently - let alone hours wait like you.

And this stuff should be simple. A dr can prescribe antibiotics online / over the phone. All this sending people to other places.

If I was a conspiracy theorist I'd think that ... well, let's not go there

My 78 year old mum spent 12 hours on a trolley in a corridor a few weeks ago, having (mild) seizures.

Hope you're feeling better OP!

Genuinely would like to know - what specific pharmacies in Scotland prescribe actual antibiotics as I would rather get in a car and drive than join the 830 am scrum to get through ( or not ) to my doctors ( receptionist)

Very few and only for (as far as I am aware) UTIs. You won’t get them for things like tonsillitis.

OP tonsillitis can develop into a life threatening abscess called Quinsy. No antibiotics will help, only abscess draining. please seek help if you struggle to eat or drink.

But also know, it is rare and only affects 12 in 100,000 people.

Tried to phone 111 for DD (20) yesterday as she has what we think is tonsillitis. Message saying they are completely overwhelmed and it would be a while before the phone was answered. Went onto 111 online and filled in the form which said it would be about 6 hours before contact. This was 7:30pm. They phoned about 01:00 to see if she still wanted to talk to someone then a Dr finally phoned about 02:30 and said it sounded like tonsillitis and would send a prescription through to our local pharmacy. She phoned the Dr's this morning as she also had some cramps and an upset tummy and was told there were no appointments and nobody could phone her, also told her prescription wasn't there and there was nothing they could do about it so best to ring 111 back. She did this and was told to phone a local pharmacy as they could prescribe bit when she phoned they told her they would only be able to give her strepsils!

I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up her dad's prescription and hers was there waiting to be collected. She is now on penicillin but has now started being sick and still with stomach cramps along with horrible stools.

She is going to try and phone the Dr's tomorrow to see if anyone will see her.

Our local hospital is only a minor injuries unit and you can't get through the door without phoning 111 in the first place and you can't phone 111 when the Dr's are open as they direct you there first only to be told by a receptionist you need to phone 111 as the Dr's have no appointments. You end up going round in circles with not seeing anyone at all.

@BoredZelda

Genuinely would like to know - what specific pharmacies in Scotland prescribe actual antibiotics as I would rather get in a car and drive than join the 830 am scrum to get through ( or not ) to my doctors ( receptionist)

Very few and only for (as far as I am aware) UTIs. You won’t get them for things like tonsillitis.

OP tonsillitis can develop into a life threatening abscess called Quinsy. No antibiotics will help, only abscess draining. please seek help if you struggle to eat or drink.

But also know, it is rare and only affects 12 in 100,000 people.

I ended up being sent to a&e by my GP with a quinsy a few years ago; didn't realise it was that rare to have one!

Hope you've got some meds and are starting to feel better now, OP.

@BoredZelda

This is probably something that won’t get better by itself and you’ll feel so much better if you can just get one dose into you.

Tonsillitis nearly always gets better by itself. One dose of antibiotics is unlikely to do much.

The best thing to do is treat the symptoms to help you feel better. It is really only after 3 or 4 days if you aren’t improving that you need to see the GP.

I had bacterial tonsillitis regularly as a child and younger adult. I rarely had antibiotics.

Actually no. I’ve waited multiple times and ended up in a terrible state. Good for you though.

@BoredZelda

Genuinely would like to know - what specific pharmacies in Scotland prescribe actual antibiotics as I would rather get in a car and drive than join the 830 am scrum to get through ( or not ) to my doctors ( receptionist)

Very few and only for (as far as I am aware) UTIs. You won’t get them for things like tonsillitis.

OP tonsillitis can develop into a life threatening abscess called Quinsy. No antibiotics will help, only abscess draining. please seek help if you struggle to eat or drink.

But also know, it is rare and only affects 12 in 100,000 people.

I thought only UTI too but tonsillitis is also dealt with too according to a website I saw a wee while ago. Think it was a Deers.

And it’s usually after waiting a number of days and getting worse that people seek help, especially women.