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?

I've been prescribed antibiotics over the phone twice this year and once for my son too.

Many Trusts now do postal STI tests including HIV (Which is an absolute bastard to do if your blood clots easily)

Well they do for other conditions. I had a telephone appointment and was prescribed accordingly, a couple of weeks ago.

I agree with OP, it is not necessary to do a face to face appointment, and the country doesn’t have the resources to adequately care for the population on face to face appointments alone. So, telephone or internet appointments are a great solution. I have an internet appointment this week, they seem to be more forward thinking in my county.

I think your anger is misplaced tbh and should be targeted to the person who gave you chlamydia

I've been prescribed steroids for over a year, plus had a referral only by phone.
It's for a skin condition that no one has even bothered to look at, but that's a different story...
A positive result from an NHS service should allow for a phone consultation I think. Seems a massive waste of a face to face appointment.
Sexual health clinics do love to lecture though 🙄

I had similar with an asthma flareup last winter

Needed an inhaler, could not get an asthma appointment for weeks, got the prescription online with Lloyds within a day

I don't think it's that bad to have to wait a few days for an appointment but I agree that it's silly to make people come for appointments unnecessarily, think how much time and money the NHS could save

They do sometimes! I've spoken to a GP on the phone and had a prescription sent over to my pharmacy.

Your surgery is the issue. I’d be annoyed too OP.

My surgery would prescribe in this instance over the phone for sure.

I’m a sexual health nurse and what you have just described is literally completely normal, but I can’t understand why you didn’t just wait to be triaged before you rang your GP?

SH:24 feed their results to us and we triage them appropriately then arrange treatment. In the Trust I work for, if you have no symptoms and are not as risk of pregnancy then we can arrange for you to collect your treatment from a partnered pharmacy, although I can’t speak for other Trusts as I don’t know how they work.

As for being ‘pissed off at the NHS’, waiting three days for an appointment isn’t at all unreasonable, especially if you are asymptomatic. Your anger would be better directed at the person who gave you chlamydia in the first place.

Sorry you are in this situation though, it’s shit

Yes they will, all the time

In the last year alone my household has been prescribed antibiotics over the phone for a chest infection, tonsillitis, a UTI and an eye infection. GPs regularly prescribe antibiotics over the phone when you ask to see them in person but they want you to go away - the only time my GP has refused to prescribe antibiotics over the phone is when another medical professional said I needed them and, all of a sudden, they can't offer that option and refused to prescribe them.

Many Trusts now do postal STI tests including HIV (Which is an absolute bastard to do if your blood clots easily)

I've done postal tests but via Lloyds pharmacy so paid for the test and treatment was free if needed. I did do HIV too, little pricky things for the finger actually gave me a sharp shock!

I've also been prescribed antibiotics over the phone before....

You didn’t want the appointment offered so paid extra to get treatment asap.
I don’t get the problem?
You wanted cheaper treatment asap?

I've been prescribed antibiotics over the phone for "suspected tonsillitis", so I don't see why OP couldnt be prescribed them for a Confirmed STI.

16 drops! It's loads if you don't bleed easily 🤣
I used all the stabbies, had sore fingers for days

Really shocked? Can you not google minor ailments? Plenty pharmacies offer common services.

Fwiw women aged between I think 16-64 who present with a uti in boots in my part of Scotland can get antibiotics after filling in a wee form with the pharmacist.

STI clinics have had funding slashed and i thought everyone knew on line pharmacies can treat/prescribe?

Glad you have it sorted.

I was prescribed antibiotics last year
I filled their form in online then the doctor at the asda clinic spoke to me about symptoms etc. then wrote the prescription which was filled and waiting for me within a couple of hours
it was private but quick

and they called me in the next few days to see how I was

it’s totally dooable by phone and / or online

I remember when I was a teenager that there used to be walk in clinics where you could just sit and wait and be guaranteed an appointment, they always used to be busy and well used it's sad that things like that are a thing of the past.

@citycat1 is this the sort of “in my day” comment you mean?

They can and do prescribe after a telephone consult. I've had many scripts issue after such--all abx!
You have my sympathy, OP. How frustrating!

Hi OP you are not being unreasonable. I've had multiple things prescribed for me in response to telephone appointments since 2020.
Might depend on the GP surgery though.
In which case I would switch GP's.

Sorry I've only skimmed through the thread but I agree with you OP. The GP could have prescribed the antibiotic over the phone.

Im a practice nurse and we often prescribe over the phone during a phone consult. In fact all of my straight forward diabetes reviews and subsequent prescriptions are done over the phone (Anything more complicated would require a face 2 face)

I would send an email to the practice manager.

when you say you work in healthcare, do you mean you’re clinical staff? If so, I don’t understand how you don’t get how the nhs works and why. YABU