Why do so many people have issue with crap GPs in the UK?

[AgapanthusLove]

I know the NHS is much revered but as a non UK person I am baffled by the very regular threads about poor service from GPs.
Why are so many of them seemingly so bad at their jobs?
Why is it so difficult to access them if an appointment is needed?
It seems very weird to me. I think I would rather pay for a service that worked & I felt attended to than a 'free' service that didn't give a shit about me or anyone else
Are there not enough GPS? Are they not trained highly enough? Why does there not seem to be enough to go around?
Genuinely interested as I've never experienced anything like what I read about here

As PP have said, you're only hearing from people who have a complaint. Most people don't have a problem with their GP, but people rarely post to say their GP is operating a normal service .

Entirely anecdotal, but I never hear family, friends or acquaintances complaining about their GPs.

Something is seriously wrong here as the ACA abolished lifetime caps in 2009.

The US isn't perfect either, but the anecdotes are useless. I had horrid care on the NHS for my first and excellent in the USA for the 2nd & 3rd; what does that prove? We don't pay a huge amount from our pay checks, but then DH's employer pays another $12,000 a year that we never see.

As for referrals: the British system is designed so GPs ration access to secondary care. If people got referrals whenever they asked (much less without asking) the system wouldn't be able to cope.

The NHS needs far more funding than it currently gets if it is to offer the service we expect from it. When it was originally set up, the NHS was not providing the treatment levels it is currently expected to. In 1948, people didn’t expect to survive for years or even be cured if they had cancer, there was no IVF, organ transplants didn’t happen etc etc. Yet people today, expect the NHS to provide all modern medicine using an old form of funding which isn’t geared towards today’s treatments.

The NHS needs a total change and I expect it will cost us more money but, if we won’t a modern service we need to pay for it.

I can’t get to see a GP, although if I can pay £165 I can see one at a local private practice (he works 3 days at my GP’S and 2 days at the private practice) which is annoying to say the least!

My GP practice is great, IF I can get an appointment.
Where I am, you have to phone up at 8am for an appointment (a telephone call these days). By 8.15 there's nothing left. If you need to commute to work or take kids to school at that time, then you've no chance.
If you are lucky enough to get an appointment for a call, then the GP will make a face to face appointment for you if they think it's needed.
The service works reasonably well if you can get that initial appointment but if you can't, it's completely rubbish. It used to be that you could call and make an appointment for a few days ahead, with a few emergency appointments available on the day. That system was so much better for getting treated for non urgent issues

@WotTheDickens as long as it works both ways.

the big question is does the NHS support the strikers. This will become apparent in how the people who have out patients appointments this week will be treated. If they struggle to get there or dont turn up through no fault of their own will the NHS sympathize and reschedule their appointment for the very near future or blame the patient and reschedule six months + down the line

About $125 a month I think.

It's quite simple really. The NHS is a slumbering cash cow, with various cuts of meat taken off for private companies to ingest, so much so that the NHS is nearly dead. The only way to revive it is with a government transplant.

@alanabennett

So that's a minimum of 4k (approx) that you pay directly. With a lot more being paid by your employers. Plus the excess of up to 7 grand. A year.

The UK average spend per person is around 3k per year (if you divide total spend by people, not what each individual actually has spent on them)

The UK has one of the lowest per person spends on healthcare in the world and amongst the lowest as a % of GDP.

And yet people have the cheek to criticise the available service and act like we have the highest spending in the world?

Given the spending (and everything that's been chucked at it recently) I think the nhs is completely shafted and misaligned

Poor and substandard care is never ok. But jeeze.

Its like walking into Harrods with a fiver and demanding a bottle of Dom Perignon.

Practices don't help themselves either.

This week, there have been two posts in my local Facebook group. One criticising the lack of appointments at the practice. One criticising the way they handle repeat prescriptions. Both posters had valid concerns and many commented expressing similar concerns. At no point were any of the posts or comments abusive. Just expressing disatisfaction. The prescription concern was particularly valid.

Today the practice has posted a lengthy tirade on Facebook about "abusive social media posts" and how they won't be tolerated.

To me, this really reflects this idea that we often see on here; that GPs are above reproach and we shouldn't criticise the service because it's sacrosanct.

I totally get that there are reasons why people cannot get appointments etc., but we should never be in a position where criticism is seen as abuse.

You can’t reschedule in the very near future if all the slots in the very near future are already booked with other patients.

My next free follow up appt is in October. Do you want me to cancel all the people already booked in for August and September to make space for you?

Of course not And it wouldnt be ALL of them would it.

@HelloThereObiWan That happened here too

There aren't enough GPs

Not enough GPs.

Our practice has 1 GP some days and they are covering thousands of patients.

I have had to go private a few times as a self paying patient but can’t afford that anymore. Anybody has any recommendations for private insurance and how does that work?

I'm not sure what point you're making? That the NHS is underfunded? Completely agree.

From a patient standpoint, I don't much care how much my employer contributes - as I'm sure UK nationals care little about how the NHS is funded, as long as it's free at the point of consumption.

I pay my health insurance from my pre-tax salary just as UK nationals pay NI. I don't also pay a separate tax towards healthcare. Put crudely - NI equates to my insurance premium. Yes, if we have a bad year, health-wise, that can cost me up to $7,000 (though after almost 20 years in the US, it hasn't yet). But for that I'll have received excellent care (the scoliosis surgery as an example.) if I were in the UK I'd have paid more annually in NI contributions that the cost of my US insurance premiums, and for far inferior service.

I don't have a problem with ny GP - or my NHS Dentist for that matter.
Like most occupations, some people will be excellent, others crap, but the problem is exacerbated by not enough GPs, so their patient lists are often too big.
If you prefer to see a private GP, there are lots of options available.

@alanabennett

The very obvious and clear point I'm making is that you're getting a 'better' service because you're paying much much more. The amount your employer pays will be factored into your wages. It's not rocket science.

And while you have received a better service for roughly the same (as long as nothing is actually wrong with you) many in America don't. Most dont.

I do care how the health service is funded. I'd rather pay more tax and fund it properly than either an American or European style service

We don't have a problem with ours. Nor does my DSis, DSil... different areas and GPs

I've no idea. I've not experienced poor service from a GP thankfully.

Who do you think are doing the private GP appointments?

Who sets the number of doctors training places?

I entirely understand why one wouldn't prefer an American style service, but "European" covers an entire range of systems, many of which have happier users. The NHS isn't the only fair way to run a health system.

@knitnerd90

It is if you think people shouldnt be making profit from healthcare

@forinborin Can I have a link to your affordable private GPS please?

GPS are human. They make errors. Sone at out practice are excellent. Some not so much. 3 separate missed opportunities resulted in me being in unnecessary pain and discomfort for 4 months and likely caused disease progression.

But ai still support the NHS. I am on a forum for my condition and I see the hoops the US members have to go through to get their treatment. Often paying 60 dollars co pay.
I pay 10 per month effectively for everything I need.