to be pissed of with the NHS today?

[thestateofit]

I am prepared to be flamed here but I am slightly stressed at the moment so please be kind! I found out I was cheated on by a (now ex!) partner and took a sti test through the post which came back as testing positive for chlamydia yesterday, I was understandably upset but was just eager to get treatment and get it gone. I called the local sexual health clinic when they opened at 8:30 this morning to try and get an appointment and was told that I had to wait for a triage nurse to call me back so I called my GP in the meantime to try and get an appointment, no appointments for today, please come and queue at 8am in the morning when you may or may not get an appointment. Triage nurse called back at 11:30 and said that the earliest appointment is Thursday afternoon in the clinic all the way across town. I explained that I work 12 hour shifts and it would be difficult for me to attend an appointment there at that time as I work in healthcare and I can't just leave due to safety of staffing levels as I'm sure she understands, is there any way I can be prescribed the antibiotics over the phone or get an appointment sooner? No, the only way to get them is to attend this clinic on Thursday, nothing can be done sooner. I was told that I didn't even know I had the infection until yesterday so a few more days ago won't hurt and everybody has work commitments and work commitments are not her problem and she has a long list of other patients to call so please can I decide if I want the appointment or not as there is nothing else she can do. I phoned the GP back to see if they could prescribe the antibiotics over the phone, I was told no I have to attend this clinic this is the only way to get treatment. I have spent half the day on the phone and I have now found that I can buy the prescription online from Boots for £20 and the prescription will be available to collect within 2 hours. If Boots can prescribe over the internet why can't the GP prescribe them over the phone?I honestly don't think my mental health could have coped having to wait until Thursday for any treatment knowing I had chlamydia. The NHS system is so bureaucratic and frustrating for something as simple as an antibiotic prescription. I was lucky I could pay the £20 and get it over with but what about someone who can't?

Half the people on MN are moaning they can’t get appointments, you were offered an appointment but don’t want it. You wanted things the way you wanted them and nothing less would do, you found a solution so all good.

You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time

I didn't necessarily want an appointment, I would have been happy with a prescription over the phone. I knew what I needed it would have been a waste of a consultation to be honest.

They won’t prescribe over the phone. Of course they won’t.

Once again the entire NHS has been criticised due to one person’s experience during a non-urgent issue

But if I can buy the prescription on the internet from boots then why can't they prescribe over the phone?

Honestly I think it's ridiculous that someone needs to wait that long for simple treatment when they've had a positive test result. (Then again even if you have cancer you have to wait...)😑

When I had an UTI I found out I could get treated via Boots. I was quite shocked at how many things they could treat. Well worth the £20 but sad for those that can't afford it.

I've been prescribed antibiotics over the phone before?

I agree with you OP, it’s bureaucratic and cumbersome and I’ve also just starting buying what I need (in my case from Superdrug online and one visit to DocTap- private doctor). I can’t really afford it, but I can’t sit on hold for an hour either and hold down a job, so needs must as an occasional thing. I guess this is probably what gov is hoping/planning we’ll do?

You can buy the antibiotics from an online pharmacy if you’ve got a positive test.

I'm no doctor but surely not everyone can have the medication? If they don't have your full details how can they prescribe you the right amount/strength?

I would have thought buying them online would mean you get a much gentler dose so as not to over treat?

I can completely see why you're frustrated. Not every job can let people pop out to a specific clinic during work hours, and if I have got all of the above wrong and it's a very simple medication that you need then why make it so difficult to get?

I am a bit at a loss why you did not wait to see if the Triage Nurse could have arranged a prescription before calling your GP.

My elderly mums GP prescribed antibiotics for a UTI. It was sent electronically to the pharmacy and was ready for collection within 2 hours!!

The GP needs to check other aspects of your health, not just the sti test, before they can safely prescribe the correct ABs.

Their 7 years of training (and probably a decade of practical experience) is there to ensure you get the best advice and treatment, and that is worth waiting a few days for. Waiting a few days is perfectly reasonable, the nurse was right.

Just because you can buy ABs on the internet does not make it the best course of action. That would be choosing bargain basement when you were offered quality of care.

Last UTI I had I went straight to boots for the anti-biotic. Ordered online, picked in store. It was a Friday, I would have had to have waited until Monday to see my GP. Instead, by Monday, I was feeling a whole heap better.
There are loads of things that the pharmacist can perscribe this service should be publicised more.

Not true I have had many prescriptions over the phone.

111 doctor prescribed to my Dd over the phone recently for urine infection. Sent prescription to chemist and we collected straight away.

Was it a proper NHS approved test or did you just phone them to say I got a random test done from online it says I have this give me medication?

whoever prescribes is ultimately responsible for the prescription if anything goes wrong so I understand why they want to physically see you before prescribing

Can you email your results to the GP? They might be able to do something that way over the phone/video call

This. How did you do the test and get the results?

For those who want to know more onlinedoctor.boots.com/womens-health

Most Pharmacists are part of the “minor ailments” scheme as well

It is a nhs approved company SH:24 and the nurse from there called the GP for me and offered to email over proof but she was told the same thing.

She agreed that to wait until Thursday for treatment wasn't ideal.

I've been prescribed over the phone.

If you work in health care OP, you would surely know why they won't just issue a prescription on demand as t'were.
Boots is a shop.
The GP surgery is not a shop.

It sounds like your anger at being given chlamydia by your ex has clouded your judgment. Because it’s the nhs they probably have a whole safe sex talk that they give as well as discussing anything else you may have to consider thanks to your ex. You contacted your local nhs clinic, why would they tell you to effectively go private when they can see you the same week. The nhs isn’t perfect by any means but YABU.