To think that a wait of 46 days for a routine appointment to have a call with a GP is outrageous?

[MrsKebble]

I saw a consultant who has said I need to start some gastric meds. He wrote to my GP this week and the practice have now told me that the first available telephone appointment to discuss this is 46 days away - is this not bloody ridiculous? Referral was Oct, procedures were Feb, results were March and now this. Why not just start me on the bloody meds?

Do you have a Nurse Practitioner at the surgery? I find they're usually good at fixing up meds.

Ring, ask to speak to the practice manager and threaten to make a complaint in writing.

If they still refuse make said complaint and also send one to the CQC.

Too many services continue to hide behind covid and it is causing devastating results.

Are you sure you need an appointment? If the consultant has asked the GP to prescribe, they shouldn't need to see you/talk to you first, they should just be able to prescribe it. Can you just ask if they can issue the prescription the consultant has requested?

Econsult is perfect for this. Alternatively you could write or email your GP.It is a nightmare for many GPs at the moment and I am sure that your doctor wishes it wasn't.

Usually the consultant prescribes if they are initiating treatment.If my above suggestions don't work could you contact the consultant's secretary.

My dentist is not doing routine appointments only emergency.
I have had a niggling tooth for ages but eventually rang yesterday for an emergency appointment and had to say I had severe pain which I don't because the nerve has been removed. Went to surgery, there were 3 chairs in a massive waiting area and no patients. Loads of staff too. Saw dentist and tooth is now beyond repair and will been to be taken out or I can opt for specialist root canal which would be 900 pounds.
Shocking.

I'd phone the consultants secretary. I'd explain that you have been told it will be 46days until you can speak to gp re medication, and clarify if consultant is happy with this time frame. I did similar during first lockdown, my consultant then called me and then they messaged gp who sent prescription to pharmacy

Consultant should have done the prescription. It’s so frustrating when they don’t… GP is so overstretched at the moment there’s no capacity for our own work, let alone doing a script for another clinician colleague.

@WutheringBites

Consultant should have done the prescription. It’s so frustrating when they don’t… GP is so overstretched at the moment there’s no capacity for our own work, let alone doing a script for another clinician colleague.

It must get very frustrating to get the blame for problems that shouldn’t have landed at your door at all.

It may be that the hospital consultant has to ask Gp to prescribe, the issue is who pays for the medication / issues it. There will be agreements in place with primary and secondary care fir this restricting what they can do.

I don't work in practice any more but certainly when I did you wouldn't need an appointment for that, what a waste! You just need to request it(in writing, online, through your pharmacy I'm not sure how your practice does it), and that's if the doctor hasn't already done so

Complain, yes but to whom?

We have had a couple of issues that were resolved by PALS, but they were connected to hospital services.

What is the equivalent of PALS for GPs, if there is one?

@MrsKebble

I saw a consultant who has said I need to start some gastric meds. He wrote to my GP this week and the practice have now told me that the first available telephone appointment to discuss this is 46 days away - is this not bloody ridiculous? Referral was Oct, procedures were Feb, results were March and now this. Why not just start me on the bloody meds?

The outrage should be about your consultant.

Why did the consultant not issue a prescription at the end of your appointment?

You should have given a list of current meds so th consultant should have been able to check for the most suitable meds.

The consultant should have been able to discuss the benefits and any risks.

So would you need to the GP to issue a prescription. The consultant should write to the GP but unless the GP is expected to refer you to a different consultant its a total waste and unnecessary duplication of effort.

EBut it explains why your appointment will take 46 days.

@Sirzy actually the thing that upsets me if the fact it messes with patient care. there's really no excuse for the fact that a patient now is left with a problem (like trying to get an appointment) for something that could have been sorted for them at the time.
you can imagine how hard it is when we see this again and again. it's heartbreaking

You don't need an appt, the consultant has told them what to prescribe in the letter. At my GP they just send a prescription for me to collect at the pharmacy. It's usually done within a day of them receiving the letter.

Yes, it's a 7 week wait here for a phone appointment. Utterly appalling.

My GP surgery is really poor and even they could offer something sooner than that. I did an Econsult for DS on Monday and a doctor will call me next Wednesday, so 10 days.

I can't believe how much worse primary care has got since I came to the UK 25 years ago. It used to be much better here than at home but now I am deeply relieved that my parents are in Ireland where they can see a GP when they need to.

As a couple of other posters have said:

The Consultant is the one at fault here. They should have prescribed the first month of the medication and discussed it fully with you. This is in the contract between NHS trusts and GPs but some appears not to realise this. It is really frustrating the GPs 'get it in the neck' for things that are not their fault. They are under ridiculous pressure as is clearly demonstrated by the very long wait for an appointment.
Secondly, to continue the medication, if the Consultant has indeed written to the GP, they don't need to speak to you about it. Usually, they would be able to just continue to prescribe it. If you don't have an consult system just email the surgery, ideally attaching the letter from the Consultant, and request another prescription. Prescriptions are typically processed in 3 days by most surgeries.

Hope you get your medication promptly but please don't slag off GPs for things that are not their fault. It's pretty disheartening to be constantly criticised everywhere when you are overloaded with work.

@TrickyD

Complain, yes but to whom?

We have had a couple of issues that were resolved by PALS, but they were connected to hospital services.

What is the equivalent of PALS for GPs, if there is one?

CQC - care quality commission

Even if the consultant should have prescribed it - 46 days for a telephone appointment is outrageous.

I'd agree with the suggestion that you complain. Far too few people complain about crap GPs which allows them to continue. And I used to work for a GPs practice so well aware that there are both brilliant and shit GPs- and the shit ones need dealing with like in all other walks of life.

My 'routine' telephone appointment is 25th May 😨. The 'routine' aspect of my problem was decided by the receptionist when I went in to try and get an appointment in the first place. I've had 12 weeks of private physiotherapy for a very painful issue, and the physio has now said that there is no more they can do, and I need to have an MRI and be seen by an orthopaedic consultant.

I relayed this to the receptionist (and handed over the referral letter from the physio) and she said that it wasn't urgent and they can't 'just refer' without me seeing a GP. I am fine with this...but NOT fine that I can't even get a telephone appointment before 25th May!! Even then, the GP will apparently need to decide if I need to go in first before referring...which will be at least another 4 week wait, as 'non-urgent' 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

It's appalling!!!

I may get my MRI by 2025 at this rate 😰

Thanks girlmum21. Yes the CQC deal with complaints etc, but they are a big, national organisation, which is fine in many ways, but a GP version of PALS smaller scale, and aware of local GP services would be very welcome.

It is shit but the consultant absolutely should have issued the first prescription to get from the hospital pharmacy. I’m not being ultra defensive but one of the reasons GPs are so busy is this kind of work dumping from Secondary Care.

Contact the consultants Secretary, they are usually very helpful. Obviou!st they cannot prescribe, however they can get them to call you and sort it all out.
I have done this in the past

Either call consultants secretary or call GP surgery and tell receptionist that the GP needs to read the letter from consultant and gp can send script to local pharmacy. You don’t need to speak to GP .
46 days is ridiculous! Complain to practice manager.