To think that people have become completely incapable....

[memorial]

Ok so I'm a GP (yes yes I know I could be anybody) and have been for over 20 years.
But bloody hell our society have become completely and utter incapable of any kind of self care or self responsibility. I have never known anything like the kind of demand we are facing. And I'm sorry most of it is just complete and utter nonsense. Over and over again.
Genuinely ill and needy people are being lost in the deluge. It's absolutely impossible to offer any kind of decent care. And we are losing doctors, nurses and staff rapidly. And we cannot recruit. It's not about pay It's about absolutely ridiculous workload and risk.
Yes the system is broken yes we need more of everything.
But every single thing does not need GP hand holding. It doesn't need 2 page complaints because you didn't get what you wanted when you wanted it.
Some days I just think people won't be happy until I go and wipe their arses for them.
I'm done. And it's not just me.

At the risk of being flamed I think a lot of people, excluding those with diagnosed mental health conditions, need to take more responsibility for their mental health too. Some stress is good for us! There seems to be a view, that if you call an ambulance saying you are stressed and panicking and can't cope, that an ambulance will come and take you away to a nice mental health facility where you in will be "fixed" in a few days. People need to understand that mental hospitals are not restful places, nowadays a lot of patients are just "held" there, mainly to stop them doing harm to themselves, or more rarely others, and their treatment may start in hospital but generally they will be treated in the community once they are out. Stark though it is, if you are not diagnosed with a mh condition, and yet life has got on top of you, no one is really going to help you except yourself.

Of course many people are lonely, isolated and have no family support. There need to be more resources invested in relieving social misery but of course every initiative like this has been cut to the bone. I think we all need to put a bit more effort in to our local communities tbh.

You can hardly compare a mindless job like shelf stacking to being a senior GP in a busy practice

ive been a shelf stacker and it was low paid, no responsibility and exceptionally boring

I understand that you are tired and at the end of your tether. I can feel the exasperation in your posts.

I feel the same when my aging parents (who are fit and usually very well) cannot get an appointment for two weeks. They rarely call the GP but sometimes it is needed.

What do you think the solution is? What are you trying to achieve with this thread?

I don't live in the UK and whilst we pay for everything (and we pay a lot, some of which is covered by insurance but there is always an excess), we get excellent service. But, of course, this is all private health care, which isn't ideal given todays living crisis and poverty levels.

The NHS is a wonderful thing that needs protecting (including staff!) but it is being run into the ground and burnt out from every angle at the moment.

Great idea

We could call it National Insurance and income tax!

Yes but sorry to say the percentages need to go up. Those that can afford it, need to start paying more tax. Not a popular view but necessary!

OP I can relate to every word that you say I experience it myself and hear it all the time from my colleagues in primary care and in all other areas in secondary care. Like you I'm fed up of looking at ridiculous complaints; one the other day complaining that their sandwich was made of white bread and those who wont use a bit if initiative, I've googled it and its says I" have X (exceedingly rare life threatening condition, not the exceedingly common condition diagnosed by my GP/ANP.
To quote a young ITU doctor worn out during the height of covid:
"Will you still clap for us when this is all over"

Completely agree with this. There are so many things that you have to unnecessarily speak to a GP for. Annual reviews for meds being one of them - what is the point? I'm a grown up, if I feel my meds need changing/stopping I'm quite capable of arranging that myself without wasting a gp appt every year to say 'no change!'.

The last time I had a tooth infection I got antibiotics from an online GP service - cba calling non-stop at 8am for a few tablets.

As an aside, constantly on MN you get posters saying 'that isn't an accident or an emergency, you don't need the hospital, you need a GP' - now you've got a GP saying 'pfft piss off with your silly little problem - go to a pharmacy'....just waiting for Mr Boots to come on and tell us to just fuck off and die cos he can't be bothered! 🙄

I am shocked at the vitriol on here towards the OP. My in laws and their extended family are the type to go to the GP for trivial things. They also have serious health problems caused by an unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, obesity). My DM on the other hand is the type who had to be pushed to go, only to ignore the advice. Not taking her medication led to the condition that killed her. Her GP even wrote to her asking her to please come and speak to him about why she wasn’t taking her medication and to look at alternatives.

There are, in any profession, some people who are better than others at their job. But put anyone under excessive strain and they won’t perform well. There are a significant number of time wasters out there and I have no difficulty in believing that it’s been getting worse over the years.

OP, you have my sympathy.

All the people listing examples where the GP missed something or was disinterested or rushing. Or they can’t get through to the surgery.

YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT. Do you not think it’s because GPs are overwhelmed with time wasters and the health anxious and seeing far more patients than they can cope with?

The GP on this thread isn’t talking about people reporting symptoms that have gone on too long, or other red flags. They are talking about those who present with a short history of minor cold symptoms, or for a chat because some TV programme tells them that menopause is something abhorrent that must be treated (and yes I appreciate some women are very unwell and in worst cases suicidal with menopause symptoms- of course those women must be seen but they can’t get through as all the well women are taking appts to just chat about the possible benefits of HRT).

I personally know lots of people who are unable to cope with a sniffle before rushing to the GP. In my own extended family and friend group, most will take themselves or their children to the GP with a cough of few days duration, mild d&v and so on. I’m qualified to triage them, but they STILL bother the poor GP with minor self limiting illnesses. They wouldn’t even think to talk to the pharmacist for advice.

We don’t pay enough to have a system where we can consult a GP or practice nurse for every twinge. We therefore have to safeguard the resource by practising self care for minor illness. Then GPs will have more time and energy to properly assess those among us with genuine illness.

This is definitely a modern phenomenon. Older generations in my family didn’t consult the GP for themselves or us as children unless they suspected something was seriously wrong or not resolving by itself. We all knew how to manage minor self limiting illness.

How on earth is she getting an appointment for those issues?

@NicolaSixSix I can absolutely guarantee there are people in hospital due to extreme health anxiety, one of such patients is currently undergoing 10 rounds of ECT due to the severity of her anxiety!! She cannot function in day to day life and this situation is far from uncommon now since the pandemic. I do know I work with these people on a daily basis!!

Wow, I can't believe the lack of acknowledgement on here about what the OP is talking about. You have a GP who has witnessed the decline of self care and common sense amongst patients since they started and you choose to belittle them, not believe them, blame them. PPs are taking it as a personal attack. Why? Why can't PPs understand that there are plenty of people who are incapable of self care. It's not hard to imagine. You only have to watch the ambulance fly on the wall programmes.

Because the receptionists often don’t ask and know they’ll get pushback at best or an aggressive earful at worst. When they do you get loads of complaints. I’ve see several on this website “I’m not telling some receptionist about my private matter”.

Another GP here. Completely agree with you OP. We are deluged since Covid with people demanding appointments for the most absolutely trivial rubbish. And our poor elderly or mentally ill patients do not get a look in however hard we try and prioritise them.

Our appointment demand has risen by 25 per cent with no corresponding increase in funding or staff. A local GP- my age- 2 kids- committed suicide a few weeks ago due to the pressures of the job. We always have at least one doctor off sick with stress and we are in a large well organised practice-
many practices have it far worse.

And just to answer some of the Daily Mail readers- we are not private services- we are self employed contractors to the NHS- which determines every single aspect of what we do and moves the goalposts and removes funding at the slightest opportunity so we are constantly scrabbling around to find funding pots to pay our staff.

As a parent, a daughter and a patient I am terrified of what is going to happen to the service in the next 10 years. I have been doing this for 20 years and train junior GPs. They are bright, intelligent and hard working and I watch them crumble with the pressures of the job. Every time I meet a group of GPs most of them are leaving the NHS. Usually this decision has been agonisingly difficult as people worry about letting down their patients and colleagues. But essentially no job is worth sacrificing your mental health for.

Still practically impossible to get an appointment at most GP practices though in Ireland

That's a ridiculous thing to say .
The OP is in the profession to help people medically not teach them life skills or be a social worker . It's the whole issue of society degenerating again where 20% of people are a real drain on public services thus preventing people with a real need getting quick access to help

Yes!?

And if you’re so keen on people with ‘real problems’ why did it take 8 years to diagnose my crippling endometriosis after being dismissed by more than one GP as whining about nothing?

OP your lack of empathy pretty much mirrors my experience with most GPs. Not all, but most.

'How on earth is she getting an appointment for those issues?'

With my friend it is persistence. She dropped to part time because of stress last year but now seems to fill her days either at the GP or trying to get appointments. It is a real shame - covid and lockdowns completely battered her and she just can't get her head around other options (which she used to do and enjoy).

OP you have raised an important issue and it is time that it was discussed. People's ability to take personal responsibility is eroding year on year.

What we do about it I don't know, but maybe it is time to start charging for a GP visit.

You sound completely lacking in empathy. Have you considered talking to the woman presenting 100 times about a stomach ache about the possibility of health anxiety?

How would you have noticed the man was being abused unless he was just having a blood pressure check - which is surely just as routine and mundane as the other things you are complaining about.

Off you pop - I don't think you'll be missed.

I can’t believe that people are visiting GP to consult about hair dye/ tattoo/ massages and even sore throats . What planet do you live on? In my area you need to fill in an online form to get GP appointment. It’s long and confusing and even if you’ve managed to do it the most appointments are phone consultations. Where are these people who are in and out GP surgeries every week? it’s pure nonsense.

OP you sound really depressed so clearly need a break to sort out your own mental health. Tbh people can get burned out at any jobs and workplaces so it’s not surprising especially with such a complicated life nowadays. I wouldn’t say that there is no CFs who are trying to abuse the system, so you are not wrong there. But the whole picture is not like this. Our problem is lack of GPs, nurses and hospitals, and also old equipment not an attitude of people. It’s very worrying that you are staying in your profession thinking like this ( if you are really a GP of course)

How many GPS have to go before they will be much missed? My view is that losing clever, committed, extensively educated people after they have finished their training because the stress of the job is too great is showing something is really wrong with that job.

If the job of being a GP is so horrible that no one wants to do it, the NHS will completely collapse.

Do you use eConsult? My surgery uses that, and I think it works quite well. We’ve always got appointments quickly when needed using that, and had helpful advice over email when not. Surely if someone sends a message about knee pain, you (or someone, doesn’t need to be a dr), sends a link to advice on exercises to try at home? Why are you seeing all the time wasters in person?

Yanbu op.

Part of the problem with the NHS is probably underfunding and poor management.

But, a big problem is as you say, time wasters, and a very unhealthy population.

I've known people and it's practically their hobby to go to the GP. Demanding antibiotics because they've got a mild cough even though they've been told it's a virus.

As a doctor, this is absolutely awful. I am so sorry that you had to go through this.

I feel for you OP. And reading the responses on this thread I can see why you would want to leave - ungrateful bunch.