Page 8 | Why do so many people have issue with crap GPs in the UK?

Badbadbunny · 22/06/2022 12:36

Topgub · 22/06/2022 07:59

@knitnerd90

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

Lots of people make a profit out of the UK's NHS.

Lots of NHS services are provided by private businesses, such as most GP surgeries, most dentists, most opticians, most pharmacies, etc.

NHS Consultants profit by doing private work alongside their NHS contracts, often using NHS staff and services for which they don't reimburse the NHS!

Topgub · 22/06/2022 12:41

@Badbadbunny

I know.

forinborin · 22/06/2022 18:14

StridTheKiller · 22/06/2022 08:16

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

I use Livi for online appointments (GBP 39), and a local private GP for face to face appts (around GBP 70).

Tiredkoala · 13/09/2022 22:25

There is nothing wrong with GPs ... no one becomes a GP to be lazy or give rubbish advice. The problem is peoples expectations for the ten minutes they have with a medically trained doctor to rule out emergencies and work as the front line of the NHS and sign post you to the most appropriate place for help and give the advice they can give from their experience....if they are not trained in things like assessing feeding issues in babies etc then the midwife is much better placed to assess this and even has quicker access to refer on than any GP has, not even superman/woman can be a specialist in everything and please everyone.

GP appointments were just as limited before covid, the government is trying to make public blame the Gp practices and their hardworking reception staff etc for their lack of funding and foreword planning for an ever expanding NHS need.

Be kind to GPs they work 12 hour days and are there being kind to you! They deserve at least respect you would give any human being

Userxxxxx · 13/09/2022 22:44

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Howardsbend · 14/09/2022 12:23

tired

You make it sound like all they're for is emergency care and triage. That's not the case.

SecretVictoria · 15/09/2022 05:14

BattenbergdowntheHatches · 21/06/2022 16:05

@SecretVictoria OT but migraleve is just paracetamol and codeine (1000/12 iirc) which is available everywhere and one of the colours also contains an anti-emetic.

You can also buy sumatriptan OTC in Boots with a little card thing - very handy (although the 100mg is always OOS).

Ironic that they discontinued Tyrozets when you can buy amoxycillin OTC in most countries.

Yes, I know about Migraleve but it was OOS for almost a year everywhere so I had to go to GP for alternative. I know you can get Sumatriptan OTC but it’s only 50mg and I need 100 to manage the pain.

SecretVictoria · 15/09/2022 05:18

Posted too soon. Even a pharmacist I spoke to admitted that the pink Migraleve were better than taking combined meds. I did try Buccastem with paracetamol and codeine and it was OK for a time.

Back OT; requested repeat script via online service, no room to add notes (used to be) to explain I’m going on holiday and will run out while I’m there. So a phone call and fingers crossed my script will be ready before I go.

Fencesittingpoppet · 19/09/2022 16:37

Like a lot of things in the UK it's gone downhill at an accelerating rate since around 2015. What's so interesting though is most of the general population cannot understand why. Definitely seems to be a failure for how things are changing being reported in news media

Drewsie · 27/10/2023 05:28

Private doctors are just the same.
It's the training they receive. They all train in the same system, at the same colleges.
Western medicine is basically reductive and pharma based.
For some conditions its positively medieval. Unbelievable.
Only when you get a an experienced specialist do you sometimes get some real knowledge.

Badbadbunny · 27/10/2023 07:45

Fencesittingpoppet · 19/09/2022 16:37

Like a lot of things in the UK it's gone downhill at an accelerating rate since around 2015. What's so interesting though is most of the general population cannot understand why. Definitely seems to be a failure for how things are changing being reported in news media

Goes back much further. Blair claimed to "solve" the GP crisis when he gave them their new contract 15 years ago. It made things worse. GP services were crap 25 years ago when I was first diagnosed with diabetes - I remember long waits, useless GPs etc back then too.

Philandbill · 27/10/2023 07:51

Tiredkoala · 13/09/2022 22:25

There is nothing wrong with GPs ... no one becomes a GP to be lazy or give rubbish advice. The problem is peoples expectations for the ten minutes they have with a medically trained doctor to rule out emergencies and work as the front line of the NHS and sign post you to the most appropriate place for help and give the advice they can give from their experience....if they are not trained in things like assessing feeding issues in babies etc then the midwife is much better placed to assess this and even has quicker access to refer on than any GP has, not even superman/woman can be a specialist in everything and please everyone.

GP appointments were just as limited before covid, the government is trying to make public blame the Gp practices and their hardworking reception staff etc for their lack of funding and foreword planning for an ever expanding NHS need.

Be kind to GPs they work 12 hour days and are there being kind to you! They deserve at least respect you would give any human being

Generally agree with this but they are under staffed and over stretched. Writing this from a trolley off A&E where I have been all night on a drip. Phoned GP yesterday lunchtime and described symptoms to receptionist, she made an appointment for today with the practice paramedic. Lucky enough to have a family member who is a GP so messaged them to describe symptoms and they said you need A&E now or that could get very serious. He was right and not the blasted receptionist....

TimeForACider · 27/10/2023 07:55

My GP is lovely. I’m able to get same day appointments when it’s urgent, usually telephone but face to face if required. Admittedly, I’ve waited up to three weeks before to see her but that was for a referral to audiology so not exactly urgent given I’d been meaning to talk to her about it for three years 😆

forwhatitisworth1 · 21/03/2025 20:27

AgapanthusLove · 21/06/2022 08:39

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

My GP goes abroad on holiday with her 3 kids at every single school holidays and she works 3 days a week. She has absolutely not time to care for my concerns as she crams all her appointments in such short amount of time.
I have been struggling for years with various ailments brought on by covid. It feels like GPs have reach the point where they'd rather diss me with silly suggestions (go to the gym, don't smoke, drink water, no alcohol , blah blah blah..) In the mean time, I HAVE to continue working working full time and pay my 45% tax and NI and shut up til i die.
I have completely lost faith in this system. It is very unfair.

Theonethatflewaway · 25/04/2025 12:25

X

PhoniX000 · 13/04/2026 05:34

Incompetence and corruption start from the top down. Selling bits off privately behind people's backs, stealing taxpayers money and generally having one brain cell when it comes to actually running an organisation eventually trickles down because it affects staff moral, productivity and their ability to function well under pressure. There are many great GPS out there, yet they are the ones taking the stick from annoyed patients while the Fatcats hide out in their offices making big bucks and couldn't care less about GP rights or patient health. That's why we need to reclaim it as a public asset.

The NHS is not 'free'. Actually everybody pays 4.5% of their income for this service. If you earn 30k, you are paying £1350 a year for your healthcare. That's £112 a month. If you paid this privately, you would get (and rightly expect) at least a basic, efficient level of care. Bupa is cheaper than the NHS. I refuse to believe the NHS is 'failing' solely because of 'underfunding' when it receives £202 Billion a year from it's patient base. Why do you think business vultures buy shares in it? Wake up guys.

Nimonion · 13/04/2026 08:49

PhoniX000 · 13/04/2026 05:34

Incompetence and corruption start from the top down. Selling bits off privately behind people's backs, stealing taxpayers money and generally having one brain cell when it comes to actually running an organisation eventually trickles down because it affects staff moral, productivity and their ability to function well under pressure. There are many great GPS out there, yet they are the ones taking the stick from annoyed patients while the Fatcats hide out in their offices making big bucks and couldn't care less about GP rights or patient health. That's why we need to reclaim it as a public asset.

The NHS is not 'free'. Actually everybody pays 4.5% of their income for this service. If you earn 30k, you are paying £1350 a year for your healthcare. That's £112 a month. If you paid this privately, you would get (and rightly expect) at least a basic, efficient level of care. Bupa is cheaper than the NHS. I refuse to believe the NHS is 'failing' solely because of 'underfunding' when it receives £202 Billion a year from it's patient base. Why do you think business vultures buy shares in it? Wake up guys.

Edited

Seek help.

Auroraloves · 13/04/2026 08:55

I have had no issue seeing a GP when I’ve needed. I usually fill in a e consult and if it’s urgent they’ll see me on the same day. if not urgent I can get an appointment in the same week