To wonder if doctors surgery's will go back to normal.

[Ciaram55]

In light of the latest news that covid restrictions are ending and things supposedly getting back to normal, I wonder if doctors surgery's will go back to how they were, as in get to be seen more easily.

Mine's been back to normal for about a year. It's not easy to get seen, but it never was.

I actually prefer what happens now at ours. We call them at 8 or 02:30, they then give you a morning phone appointment or afternoon if you call them at 02:30.

The doctor will have a phone call with you and then assess whether or not you need to be seen.

You always get an appointment (I never called and not got one). I remember before it was so hard to get same day appointments.

I prefer how ours is now too. Ring at 8 for an appointment that day. Face to face if clinically necessary or over the phone for simple things.
Saves me a visit.

Ours has always operated telephone triage and I like it.

I get a call and assessed whether I need to be seen very easily - has been the same throughout the pandemic.

I hope they don't get rid of the e-consult system; it's brilliant. So handy when I need a new prescription or something and the one time I did an e-consult that required more action, a doctor rang within an hour.

I hope so, it may work well for some people to have consults over the phone but being unable to see a dr face to face unless the receptionist thinks it warrants it is stopping people accessing services.

I hope not. It was appalling before, always overcrowded with people. Much better since the pandemic because they only allow you inside when your appointment is due.

Ours will not , they have already said that they plan to carry on as they are now , which means everything to do with an actual Doctor is done over the phone unless they feel that they need to see you . It doesn’t suit me , I have multiple health conditions that require monitoring, my endocrinologist is basically crap so it’s left to to me , occasionally it is nice to run some things past a GP , I’m not doing that on the phone as I’m not comfortable with that so basically I’m on my own . Bizarrely the surgery respiratory nurse is desperate to see me for a review and to check my inhaler technique despite me telling them , in writing , at least twice that I do not require respiratory reviews .

@CazM2012

I hope so, it may work well for some people to have consults over the phone but being unable to see a dr face to face unless the receptionist thinks it warrants it is stopping people accessing services.

Our triage is done by a doctor. You call, receptionist asks for a few pertinent details and you can give as much info as you like.

Doctor calls back and then decides if/when to see you.

No receptionist makes any decisions.

It's loads better being able to have telephone consultations! Far less hassle, I don't need to take time off work (nobody does my work if I'm not there so it just means my workload gets more stressful if I take a couple of hours out).

I think a blended approach is probably the best option, so triage is by phone except for particularly vulnerable patients who can't cope with that or aren't able to articulate their issues on the phone.

I think they might realise a mix of phone conversations and in person appointments are the way forward.

I called at 9am the other day and got a call back from the doctor at 9.10am and they asked after a short discussion if I could go to the surgery to get bloods done at 10.30am.

I prefer it now too. I could never get through before to book any appointments. I much prefer e-consult. I'd rather they leave face to face appointments for those who really need it.

I hope not, I far prefer ours as it is now.

It's still hard to get a regular appointment, but you can fill in an e-consult form on the website. They either reply via email, upgrade you to a telephone appointment.

For telephone appointments, if the doctor wants to see you then they arrange it with you there and then.

For an emergency same day appointment, you book in with the receptionist and then a nurse phones to triage you. If they can't deal with it, then you either speak to or see a doctor.

I find it so much easier than sitting in the waiting room for ages when I should be at work!

Ours is staying as it now is - you phone, get told you will be called sometime in the morning or afternoon (don't give you a set time - you have to hope you are not driving or something as if you miss that call then you need to start the cycle again (an hour on the phone just to get through 🤦🏼‍♀️)

It is a pain, I don't mind a telephone triage but a an actual time is useful!!

Ours is loads more efficient now.

DH is a GP. They had an online triage system before the pandemic which was lucky but I asked him last week whether they will still continue to wear PPE f2f and he said they were. His boot is full of visors and aprons for home visits. Their doors are also still on a buzzer so you can't just walk in the reception like before. I think they should change that back as reception are protected by a screen.

I don’t mind the system now tbh. Sometimes I haven’t needed to be seen in person because I’ve just needed something basic prescribing.

I hope ours will change the current set up. Currently everyone has to call at 8am, routine or emergency. The timing is a pain in the arse for work and school and it took me two days (and over 100 call attempts each day) to get an urgent appointment for DS and that was only because I would have taken him to A&E otherwise.

Oh the telephone triage is terrible if you have any kind of life outside the home. You dont get told when to expect a phone call and if they do want you to come in they sometimes expect you to come in quickly which isn't much good if you have to leave work, pick up your DC from school etc. We can't keep taking days off work/school for a ten minute appointment.

I hope so. It wasn't great before but it is awful now.

You hang on and hang on and often it cuts you off. If you do get through you might be lucky enough to get a phone appointment but often they will tell you they are none.

If you get a phone appointment they can't give you any idea of time which is pretty stupid.

I'm happy with phone appointments, but would be better if they could give at least some indication when it might be, rather than just morning / afternoon. It's OK for me, as I work from home FT anyway, but must be inconvenient of lots of people. I don't see why they can't give 1 hour slots eg between 10am and 11am

I hope not. I used to have physically turn up at the surgery to make an appointment because they took a minimum of 45 minutes to answer the phone. Since Covid, they've had a really efficient system if online bookings and phone triage, and I've been seen much more quickly and with less stress than in the past.

I really hope they keep the telephone and online appointments. They are so much easier for me and I imagine more efficient for the poor GPs trying to cope with very high demand.
Online appointments are my favourite - I can take my time to compose what I want to get across, I never run out of time and can check it over to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. I can attach photos if needed.
I think about 80% of medical diagnosis is done on the history, the examination only 20%.

Ours has been a mix of phone appointments and face to face ones since before covid so not much changed really. The phone ones are handy if you can't get down to the surgery on person, as is the e-consult.

I just need treatment for a nail fungi, the receptionist said she'd send me a template for me to add a photo to, but I've phoned ,twice now and it's not been sent. But really a photo won't tell the doctor what kind of treatment I need. Before the pandemic I'd have been seen.