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.

How do you know? If my parents had thought this way, I very probably would not be alive now. I have had problems with my ears all my life and have had mastoid surgery twice in one ear and am waiting for some “simpler” surgery on the other. The mastoid bone is very near the brain and had it been ignored l could have died. When I was thirteen, I had the worst earache l have ever had. It was a burst abscess. That child with a sore ear might well have a simple viral infection or it might be something more serious.

And another thing weighing up the costs of going to an appointment that will probably be late or cancelled with balancing work and unsympathetic employers does make patients more tetchy. Losing your livelihood isn’t going to make you any healthier and will only increase depression and mental health issues. It isn’t that they don’t understand there was an emergency appointment but most times your boss doesn’t care. That letter OP spoke off could be proof for the patient.

Everyone has so many pressures - there needs to be more understanding both ways. There are times I put my health at risk as I just couldn’t take the time off and make rent or I feared keeping employment.

I can’t believe how much shit OP is getting (along with messages of support). This is someone on the front line, who is clearly doing their best and is reaching the end of their tether. Easy to jump on and criticise. Harder to consider whether there might be some big societal issues to think about

Why do you suspect you have high BP? You either know or you don’t surely?

And if you suspect this, what are you doing about it?

The first port of calm is not meds, it’s lifestyle changes, unless it’s very very high.

The fact that there are people on this thread suggesting the OP is a troll, unsympathetic, in the wrong job etc are completely oblivious to the reality of working in the health service and particularly primary care.

We have become a society which externalises responsibility for most things, if we’re ill we need someone to fix it, if we are unhappy we have mental health problems and need someone else to make it better, if we can’t afford to live where we want it’s someone else’s fault, if we’re overweight the media is judging us by not promoting body positivity and needs to change. Of course, with all of these examples there are elements of truth, sometimes we get ill and need treatment, depression is a real and very debilitating thing, society isn’t equal or fair and we could do better etc but actually we could do better for ourselves for the most part. We (mostly) have personal agency, we can make changes to improve our lives, we can also accept that sometimes shit happens and we feel unhappy or unwell for a while and we can tolerate that, we don’t need to be fixed and life doesn’t need to be perfect.

Primary care is overrun at the moment for a number of reasons, blaming GPs for that is ridiculous. Hopefully people who do that might read this thread and start to see the bigger picture rather than just believe what they read on the local Facebook group.

I feel for you OP. Several of my friends who are either GPs or hospital consultants are hanging on by a thread. The government need to step in and sort out the mess, like they do in so many other areas, but of course they won't.

What do you mean? You can only get a smear when you need one and it’s part of standard care, so how were you treated like this?

If they didn’t want you there
and you weren’t entitled, they’d have cancelled it.

They said ‘simple’ sore ear. When you’ve had a history of ear problems you know the difference between a ‘simple’ sore ear and a burst abscess.

It’s also common to try self medication first and wait a while to see if there’s any improvement before you go to a GP. If you’re doing that, you’re not the type of person the OP was referring to. If you’re not, why not?

"oh no! Our doctors are emigrating and we are fucked"
"Being gp is hard because lots of people take up time un necessarily and it doesn't leave time for serious cases who then end up in very bad state"
"Fuck off to aldi then if you don't like your job"

Love it. Stupids

I completely agree, just nowadays everyone is so self entitled. My aunt died at 91 and hadn’t seen a doctor in over 50 years until she went in to a retirement home. Some people need to grow a backbone and leave the appointments to people with genuine problems.

The NHS has never had any incentive to modernise because they get the money regardless. Regardless of technological advancement and changes in society, it's still essentially run the same way as it was when it started in the 1940s.

So sad. She will get worse quickly and then what?!
Neuropathy already 😞

My 26 year old niece was a junior dr in the NHS. She was reported missing by her husband and was found hanging in a tree in the woods 24 hours later.
The stress, hours and expectations both from within herself and the system ended up killing her.
Threads like this are disgusting.

@Quincythequince
The smear test is just one example.
The receptionist was rude to me huffing as I could only come in on a Tuesday or Friday afternoon as I work out of town.
Then the nurse doing the screening test rushed. Usually they make sure I'm comfortable before they begin.
It was overall a very poor experience. One that could potentially put me off going back.

Anyway, that is just one example.

Sorry I disagree , you as a GP and the rest of the primary health care system are there to stop people becoming ill or to stop things getting too bad that they need hospital treatment . The state people are coming to hospital in and coming to HDU level care when they never would have before is unreal . People having MI’s because they haven’t had bloods checked or BP checked for years , people attempting suicide because of literally no mental health support . we had a woman who died of urinary sepsis because a GP refused to see her just for a UTI .

The workload is dreadful but people are sicker than ever with the changes of standards of living and stress etc and you more than anyone should know that . Blame the government not the poor patients .
I work in health care by the way .

Because if she had fewer people coming in with sore throats, colds and painful elbows, she'd have more time to look at what's causing your severe pain and your endometriosis would probably have been diagnosed earlier. That's the point.

Alternatively your GP may have been rubbish, IDK, but that doesn't mean the OP is, so don't have a go at her. She sounds like she's trying her absolute best for her patients but time wasters are making it impossible.

And there's a difference between someone with severe issues that are causing them extreme distress, and someone who has normal symptoms that can be managed at home.

@Coyoacan

So is it only diabetics who you think aren't looking after themselves & aren't worthy of a Drs appointment? Or are there other groups of people you think shouldn't see Drs either? People with heart issues ? Crones? Asthma? Migraines?

And why put extra pressure on pharmacists. They are trained in medications not diagnosis.
They'll be the next ones to start leaving.

Thank you. Exactly this. Imagine 10% of a 10000 patient population doing this every week

But this really is nothing new.
There have always been a percentage of people who try to see a dr at a moments notice for not very much really. I would agree roughly 10% have always done this. Why now is it this huge issue, when for years the receptionist or nurse has typically been the interceptor if you like.
I mean pre pandemic you could walk into my GP surgery and just tell reception you were willing to wait til someone was free, and often reception would ask a nurse to fit you in, if you were well known for this. Now you need to call in advance to even get through the door, absolutely no waiting around in the waiting room is allowed at all, ever. If you are there, it's for a pre booked appointment and you cannot be really early and you miss it if you are late. So how are these worried well getting to see an actual GP?

Gosh who knows!
I'm not a medical professional...
I exercise and eat well, I'm not stressed...
I suspect, because i recently tried my boyfriend's BP machine (because apparently GPs don't do that any more) he suggested it was high, a bit of a Google seems to agree, historically my BP has been "enviable" so yes. I'd love to pop down and have a chat about it.
I don't know how to read it properly so I'd love some professional input.
I don't feel up to the battle with the receptionist right now though.
We used to have checkups to monitor this stuff around 40 didn't we? That was an amazing way to catch things that might go unnoticed.

But that is exactly what the Op is doing - blaming patients and not looking at the wider societal issues which causes the problems 🤷🏻‍♀️

I used to be a social worker and had quite a few colleagues who shared a similar view to the OP - 'why won't they just help themselves?!' Perhaps because they've never been taught? Perhaps because the soul crushing poverty they're experiencing leaves little headroom for anything else? Perhaps they have MH/Drug issues? Perhaps they've lived through years of abuse and have zero confidence in themselves? Perhaps they have zero support? People generally don't like having SWs in their lives so if they keep coming back there's probably a reason for it.

Resilience was the buzzword when I was a SW - which translated to 'put up and shut up with your lot please!' - I guess it's been replaced with 'self-care' these days!

I work with vulnerable adults and notice that some areas have wonderful networks of social prescribers, befrienders, drug and alcohol support workers etc. When these processes work well it takes huge pressure of the GP service. It does seem to have reduced or at least deflected the serial GP attender. Our systems are also at fault ie: I'll visit a person who needs their bin taken from their door and that needs a GP referral, blue card applications need a GP referral.I can't get my head around that only a GP can acknowledge an old lady on a zimmer frame can't take her bin down a country lane. A serious look at this unnecessary admin is required.

I don't know why people are being so harsh in their responses OP. My Mum is one of those who is never out of the GP's for one thing or another (none of them serious). It's fucking ridiculous.

Here in Jersey we pay to go to the GP and shockingly enough it's almost always possible to get an appointment the same day because people reserve going for when they actually need to go.

I'm in a different profession but have also noticed the people we deal with become markedly more dramatic and needy this year.

OP - you sound great and I love GPS. Please come to my practice in a rotating basis (PM me for details I’m serious!). We have a series of locums who live working here because they have the time to THINK! My GP phoned me back within 15 minutes yesterday, went away and had time to research, phoned me back 10 minutes later with more info.

i got a hospital appointment the day I needed it and the doc saw me before I’d even got dressed again and I’ve got an urgent-urgent referral with all teams working together. Not all trusts are equal and if you want to practice medicine - not crowd control, we’d be delighted to have you.

@memorial I just wanted to say: thank you for your service.

I've been a teacher in very tough schools for 20 years, so I get it. The last few years have been horrific.

I'm taking a break to do supply because carrying on wasn't tenable, much as I love the job. Perhaps going part time or taking a career break might reinvigorate you?

I don't understand the morons being rude- we need every doctor we can get.