To think that is a miracle that gp's can suddenly diagnose and treat patients over the phone?

[thewinchesters]

For the past 5 days I've had abdominal pain, bloating, and a couple of other symptoms. I spoke to my gp over the phone who diagnosed me with a uti and sent antibiotics to the pharmacy.

They're not making any difference so far (day 3) and the pain and bloating is getting worse.

For the sake of a simple urine test, or even just a quick appointment where the gp checks my actual body, I don't understand how we're at the point of now just guessing and hoping for the best!

Why haven't they resumed normal service??

My GP receptionist has told me to go to urgent care for eczema, a hip X-ray, a basic ear infection. You name it, my doctor will have you sent off to the inappropriate place for care. All so they don’t have to see you face to face.

i once came out of a proper consultation and the doc said just make a follow up appt at reception as you leave. They said oh no, he can’t see you face to face!!!! Hun, he literally just saw me face to face.

i honestly think people will die from this sort of ill management.

Absolutely best thing that ever happened for primary care. They actually are in my local practice sitting at home taking calls with two in on a rotational basis to see the ones they deem fit to see. No wonder people are going to a and e and being diagnosed there.

I'm a GP too, posts like this just make me feel even more despairing.
Yesterday I was in work at 7:40, did a full morning surgery of which only 2-3 were telephone consults (patient choice).
Then at lunchtime I meetings with our health visiting service (they're short staffed and in crisis too).
Then i did results, letters, referrals etc.
Then I started afternoon surgery, all but two were face to face, again this is patient choice.
I finished at 7, went home got both kids to bed and logged onto the work laptop at home until 11:30.
Then I had to sort of my daughters upcoming birthday party because it has to be done and when else can I do it.
I went to bed at 1am, one child was up for an hour at 2am then the baby was sick at 4am and I was up with her.
I've been in work since 7:30.
Yes it's a broken system but that is just to give you an idea of what it's currently like. My home life and my children are suffering for it, I get abuse in one form or another every day and just feel exhausted and demoralised.
Sometimes a telephone call is the only option at the GPs session is already overbooked and past capacity.

There's no quick solution to this but none of us enjoy working in a broken system, just as I'm sure the airport and airline don't at the moment either.

Just something to consider when you think that we are all working from home and seeing no-one face to face.

Covid compliant telephone consultation/diagnosis cost my husband his life. His worsening 'soft tissue' back pain was cancer.

There is a place for phone/zoom appointments but face to face is still necessary

The GP surgery I worked in 15+ years ago triaged over the phone. It worked well for most things and kept appointment waiting times down to reasonable levels. It sounds like they did exactly what they would have done seeing you - first line antibiotics immediately, before sending the sample. Unfortunately, these days, UTIs often don't respond to first line antibiotics and need a second course of something different. Get back in touch if your symptoms haven't eased.

There needs to be a huge shake up, because I despair at the thought of what's going to happen, if things continue as they are.

GPs have been shocking way before covid. All NHS services have. I dont doubt GPs are busy though, but having seen poor attitudes from receptionists to GPs who don't take people seriously, I don't blame peoples loathing towards them.

People do need to stop going for things that can be bought at the pharmacy though.

Attitudes need to change, for both staff and patients, towards physician's assistants. The thread a while back showed you the problem.

See other HCP for that MSK pain - osteopath, physio etc. Yeah you have to pay, but in most cases they'll help you far more than that GP who'll give you painkillers. They can also refer you to the GP for scans etc.

My DH had an appointment with a nurse last week. Whilst waiting the screen was pinging several names to go to rooms, 1, 2, 3, etc There wasn’t anyone else in waiting room. When he got in with nurse, he asked what was happening as there wasn’t anyone in the waiting room. She told him that was the system for telephone consultations. My DH has been seen a few times by our GP practice, he had heart attack and bypass surgery in May 2020, he’s also been sent to community hospital and other places to actually see someone face to face. He had an outpatient appointment yesterday in a hospital and said for the first time in around 6 visits in last year, it was really busy. In fact his face to face appointment could have easily been over the phone as he was only asked a few things and wasn’t examined at all.

@thewinchesters
Why haven't they resumed normal service??

Too many have left/retired/part time, few new ones and no ability to recruit from Europe now.
Some areas now have 10s of '000s of patients per GP.

I wonder how many moaning now about a terrible GP service voted Tory to slash primary care funding (during austerity) and never held the Tories to account for failing to meet their promise of 5000 extra GPs ? Or voted for Brexit, which meant that EU GPs left the UK ... along with many EU Dentists too.

Sure the Govt want us to blame Covid, lazy GPs or the NHS for the state of healthcare but the problems are really down to them and their voters.

I don’t like a pile on against GP’s generally but what about the OP’s case? Would you have done the same? Is it appropriate treatment.
it seems hit and miss, I had MH issues whxih I was happy to deal with over the phone, the GP’s were sympathetic asked lots of questions and I got the full time and it felt very private. Over the weekend I’ve had a hard painful lump come up in my thigh and the receptionist said I’d have to have a telephone appointment and then f2f if it was felt appropriate, I’m not sure what can be judged over the phone, unless it’s totally vanished the GP will need to poke at it so why waste a telephone appointment? I was happy to wait till next week but now I have a call today.

Just an advice - you should be checked for Celiac. They can do it with blood test. I had the same symptoms and had no idea I could have it.

Our gp do a phone triage for same day appointments and call you in for a face to face if they feel they need to see you. Or if you want a routine appointment you can choose phone/face to face.

It sounds like they did exactly what they would have done seeing you - first line antibiotics immediately, before sending the sample.

The op stated in her posts that no sample was taken! She wasn’t invited to supply a sample and didn’t go anywhere near the surgery.

Apparently NICE guidelines only recommend an initial sample to be sent away for analysis for pregnant women and men, with suspected UTIs. The op didn’t even have dip test to confirm a UTI, let alone have a sample sent for analysis and for antibiotic sensitivity to be established.

phone appointments work well for most things, and I usually find that if face to face appointment is needed, that is arranged on the phone.
I am fortunate that I live and work close to my GP practice, but for many people a face to face appointment can mean a half day or day away from the work place.
when I had a UTI last year, I was prescribed antibiotics, which I was able to collect within about three hours of contacting the GP surgery, dropped in a urine sample, and the GP contacted me a couple of days later and prescribed a different medication that would work better for whatever it was I had.

I think my GP will forever do phone triage now as it works well and seems to be avoiding too many cancellations, but they are still seeing people in person if needed, like for pain or a lump. It is currently luck of the draw with GPs, others near me aren't doing that which is pathetic when it's the same council area so surely should all be doing the same thing but nope.

I think charging people a fine for missing an appointment is the solution. Not much, just £10, but it bills people for wasting time. That appointment could have been used by someone else after all.

They kept doing the same to my bil, wouldn't let him go in to be examined. He ended upon hospital and almost died of peritinitis.

Is there a minor injuries unit anywhere near you?

I’m not even sure this is to do with covid and telephone.. the amount of times I’ve sat in hospital or a doctors and they’ve said ‘take ibrupofen’

i am anaphylactic allergic to it, it’s all over my notes and I wear a massive red band in hospital 😰

I’m really surprised at this as I have never been given antibiotics for a UTI without first supplying a sample. I had one during the lockdowns and knew exactly what it was and was asked to drop a sample in at reception, then got a callback an hour or two later to come and collect my antibiotics.

This covers it very well.

it is awful, sorry to hear these stories. The surgeries are not using telephone appointments to get out of seeing people face to face. That argument doesn’t make sense, it would mean they are seeing less people per day which if they were lazy, they would be? It’s because it increases capacity. They cannot physically cope with turning them all back to F2F as it would mean a drop in capacity with the demand ever increasing. The government are pressuring them to see and do more and more on the same number of staff or less. A Gp in a session can get through 1/3 more patients at least if they are calls, bringing in the face to face ones who they think needs an exam

completely agree with this, it’s so frustrating when you know you need an in person appt but this is the only way they can get to speak to most people and work out who does need that.

My doctor gives the option of telephone or face to face appointment but I usually go for a telephone appointment because it''a easier.
However I can understand why you're not happy. I had to ring my parents doctor and basically force them to see my dad face to face. Given my dad is 76 and from the "don't make a fuss generation" I thought it was shit that they were trying to diagnose him over the phone when he'd had what they now know was a mini stroke.
Given their treatment hasn't worked tell them you now need a face to face appointment.

Do people really honestly think that GPS are lazy? That they want to do everything on the phone so it’s easier?

Not trying to be goady I just want to understand if that is really what people think is going on or if people are more frustrated at the lack of options.

So just dole out antiobiotics then when it may not be a UTI? Whatever haooened to only taking them if they are really necessary? Meanwhile the real problem continues to get worse if it isn’t an infection. Awful.

Why aren’t they seeing people face to face then?

Have you read the thread?

All the information to answer your question is in it. Over and over again.

Some are offering face to face when it’s needed but doing telephone triage is a far more efficient way to manage the number of people wanting appointments when demand is massively outstripping supply.

1990s above has replied to a brilliant thread which actually gives the bigger picture as opposed to the individual experience.

If they weren't seeing people face to face, I wouldn't be waiting 3 weeks to see my GP.