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

@girlmom21

She went to hospital. Her thread title literally says she was at the hospital.

The person with sepsis was unlucky and if the OP had more severe symptoms she'd have phoned an ambulance and would've been treated but she didn't. If she'd have developed those symptoms at the hospital she'd have been treated but she didn't.

A cut on your finger could become life threatening overnight. That doesn't mean you go and sit in a hospital every time you cut yourself.

She went to the out of hours GP which happens to be based at the hospital. She didn’t go to a&e. The out of hours GP was the correct course of action to take.

@CuteAndFluff

I'd just put the whole UK in a centralised system rather than these catchment areas that gp surgeries have. People could just log online and locate appointments. Opening hours past 430pm would help. The sooner the nhs is restructured the better.

That's exactly the system that out of hours GP services already have. It doesn't help because the problem is not having enough GPs. One in 5 GPs has left the profession since 2015. The UK has almost the lowest number of doctors per head of population in Europe.

@ThePoisonousMushroom but then the triage doctor refused to see her and she went home?

I agree she went to the right place if she followed the correct processes - but that doesn't mean the NHS is broken, does it?

OP did you phone 111 first to get an out of hours GP appointment?

Vapeyvapevape exactly the same at my SE surgery

and i cant believe anyone thought seeing an out of hours GP was a good idea at 10 pm

No one turns up at 10pm to see a GP for fun?

BBC News - How the NHS is unravelling and why it won't stop
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59249409

This is why it's so bad

Surely 10.00 pm is what out of hours GP services are for?

If you were at a walk-in center rather then A&E they probably don’t have much staff out of hours. Could be a quicker process/wait time if you try again now during the day.

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.

@Anythingbutsnow

I had 20 minutes wait for 999 to pick up last week and then a 7 hour wait for him to be seen at the hospital. Im going to book in for a first aid course today as I think it's an important skill to have at the moment

A similar situation here led to a local person dying. I don’t understand why it is so bad, we are not totally overrun with Covid cases in the hospital, yet getting a GP appointment is almost impossible too.

I HRH ink GP surgeries should be working as they were pre-Covid. They seem reluctant to see patients face to face and perform their part in the NHS.

Also, I’m sorry you are feeling crap op but surely this is an example of not waiting till a problem is so urgent that you feel like passing out. I’m guessing you knew you had the tonsillitis for at least a few days now. As you have had to miss work anyway perhaps it would have been better to go to the walk-in center within normal hours. Hope you can get it sorted though.

Think

[quote ARGHHHHHHEY]@BeaLola that issue is with your consultant - they should be arranging your blood work (and they are paid for it), not your GP[/quote]
The arrangement in my area is that the consultant issues the form for the blood work but you get the sample taken at your local surgery, or at one of the two hospital's phlebotomy clinics, whichever is more convenient.

As both hospitals are over 8 miles away, with nightmare parking at both, it's far more convenient for me to get mine done locally.
Thankfully, it's far easier to get an appointment with the nurse/phlebotomist than it is to see the doctor.

I went to hospital 2 weeks ago for an injury that needed urgent tetanus shot and antibiotics. Called 111 for advice, they said go to A&E (it was 10pm at night). I was there all night. Med advice was to get tetanus shot within 4 hours of injury. I got it 8 hours later. I feel really scared for anyone who is in a life-threatening condition at the moment.

@ChikiTIKI

You can have a video GP appointment via PushDoctor app. Ours are paid for by our surgery but I think they're about £45 for private appointments. Then the prescription would go to whatever pharmacy you choose at normal NHS price.

That’s a good idea.

Also, OP don’t worry about the cost of the antibiotics. I have bought them privately, and they’re less than the cost of a prescription. Was about £3.

The reason we are at this point is because the NHS on average has 10% of its posts unfilled. In some areas it will be higher than this. There is a lack of staff due to the failure of government to plan properly and the terrible working conditions. COVID has just accelerated a process that has been underway for the last 10 years. It is austerity that has done this.

@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.

It can be if you develop a quinsy. I’ve had one twice and they compromised my airways.

I also develop a raging fever that needs high octane antibiotics

@Bananabrush

The reason we are at this point is because the NHS on average has 10% of its posts unfilled. In some areas it will be higher than this. There is a lack of staff due to the failure of government to plan properly and the terrible working conditions. COVID has just accelerated a process that has been underway for the last 10 years. It is austerity that has done this.

Plus Brexit. Lots of European staff have gone home and won't be back.

We have a severely disabled child and recently spent 3 weeks in hospital, even though I knew what the problem was.... they ignored me...he ended up with a bladder that no longer contracts, E-coli in his bladder, C-Diff and his seizures never ended. He no longer tolerates his Jejunum feed either...are they worried...not really! Finally 3 weeks in they changed the tube which I said caused the problem 4 weeks previously. Things got better from that point of view, but 8 weeks in...I'm still dealing with the other problems!

@Seymour5

I developed a severe UTI quickly overnight, I knew I needed antibiotics. Rang 111 and an OOH GP rang back, discussed, and sent an electronic prescription to the nearest pharmacy for collection first thing. It happened again on a Saturday, rang 111 again, they made an urgent appointment at the Walk in centre where I was seen by an ANP, who issued a prescription.

I can’t fault 111, perhaps in other areas they don’t have the same options. They can advise someone to go to A&E, even send an ambulance, so unless I needed 999, they’d be my first contact before going anywhere.

My DD (17) started a bad UTI on a Saturday evening the other weekend. She was in agony, with blood in her urine. Rang 111 for advice. The best they could offer was drink lots of water and ring the pharmacy in the morning who would be able to provide all that was necessary. I queried ABs, and they confirmed, yes, that would be fine. I rang first thing as instructed, said we'd been referred by 111 and the pharmacy didn't have a clue what we were talking about - the best they could offer were those sachets (she was obviously well passed that stage!).

So yes I think it really does depend on where you are.

OP, I noticed boots are doing online doctor consultations for just £19,it’s over video chat. Give them a call from your bed, don’t bother going out again now you’ll make yourself worse. Feel better soon.

@Malibuismysecrethome

I HRH ink GP surgeries should be working as they were pre-Covid. They seem reluctant to see patients face to face and perform their part in the NHS.

GPs are seeing more patients than pre-pandemic. The number of GPs has fallen sharply, the demand for appointments has increased sharply, as waits to be seen in hospital have increased. GPs provided 17 million F2F appointments in September alone.

General practice is on its knees. Staff are leaving in droves. If you think you can do better, sign up - plenty of vacancies for staff of all types.

Can you buy antibiotics privately without a prescription? I think if you could and pharmacists could prescribe them it would take the pressure off the NHS and GPs. We need solutions to this rapidly escalating problem of not being able to access healthcare.

The OP would have been better off going to a chemist with late opening hours, we have one in our area that's open until 11pm. They would have been able to give her something to relieve the pain and advised her what to do.