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.

Congratulations to the large proportion of posters making the OPs point for her with your spiteful, selfish comments

Hang in there OP

Was the woman aware of why her appt was cancelled?

If so, yeah the entitlement, arrogance and self absorption is sky high.

When I went in for an elcs, I was "briefed" outside the theatre by a seemingly shit hot female surgeon/consultant, she told me about the procedure, was very positive and dynamic, she & her team were going to take care of me, she seemed v competent and I was pretty reassured she was going to be doing it ......

I didn't see her in the theatre at any point, in fact didn't see hide nor hair of her again lol.

I wasn't told anything, but presumed that in the labour ward/obstetrics, there were probably regular emergencies and, being Ms Shit Hot, she was prioritised onto those ..... I had a pretty by the book elcs and felt that was absolutely fine; I understood her being drafted out (without being told, and I wasn't - no-one said a word). Another doctor I'd seen around once or twice did the caesarism, trained another one while doing it, and it was fine.

It seems like the "I demand a formal apology" woman is lacking perspective, basic understanding and empathy etc Especially if she knew anything about why the cons was unavailable. The world is full of dickheads like her, who think it revolved around them. Fortunately they're not the whole population.

@beachcitygirl you need to read the story of the GP in her 40s who recently killed herself due to workload. Your opinions are bullshit and you need to educate yourself.

I'm not missing the point. I just believe the problem lies elsewhere.

The messaging from the NHS is overwhelmingly "make an appointment just in case". We have radio adverts at the moment saying "your NHS is open and wants to see you" or something like. When you go on the NHS website to look up a condition, a lot of them say see your GP (in various scenarios, and then) if you're worried.

You can't open up the gates, yell "come in!" and then be angry at people for actually rushing in.

People are being hit with the above messages (come in, just check to be on the safe side, it might be serious) but then can't get an answer from the pharmacist or the NHS website. Alternatively many people don't know what a pharmacist can help with. So they end up seeing the GP because they don't know what else to do, or rather believe that's the right thing to do.

If the NHS wants fewer people coming to see their GP, why don't they advertise that? Because it normally is better to be safe than sorry. They'd rather have 10 timewasters and save 1 life, etc etc. This is the reason why several strategies have been scrapped - because they discourage people from coming in.

If we want the same level of service, we need more funding and better management. If we want to keep the same level of funding, we need to reduce the service provided - and communicate to patients that they can't come in for XYZ. I don't think it's reasonable to keep the messaging/communication as it is, but then berate the public for taking it at its word and coming in.

As an aside, for years many people have been asking the very good question of why schools don't teach basic first aid. If they did this, plus some basic wound care/management of common illnesses etc, maybe people would have a better idea of what to do when there's a problem.

My ex BIL was a GP - didn't have the best bedside manner, but once told me that he was threatened by patients so often if he didn't give them antibiotics for a cold or mall cut, that it was easier just to hand them out and get to the emd of the day without a black-eye or worse.
No wonder we are short of healthcare staff - the abuse they recieve is beyond disgusting, especially when people think they are so entitled to this, that and the other. Bear in mind that the NHS has never been fit for purpose. 2 years after it was introduced, the LABOUR government who thought of it, realised it was going to be too dear - bought in dental and presecription charges in 1950
So every government since has been stuck with this behethmoth that is a victim of its own sucess (we all want treating for everything and none want to die, even if our behaviours are killing us slowly). There will never be enough money because new treatments/cures mean it is keeping people alive much longer at both ends of the scale (premmies and oldies)

I would say that your very first example is a poor one - IBS is the easy diagnosis and to expect the patient to manage it. Surely it is not wrong to keep checking on stomach issues over the years? Ditto the letters - if they are required then surely this is part of your job?

OP, you are doing such important and valuable work, I'm sorry that the compassion fatigue set in, completely understandable. I've always said that when the price is zero, the demand for your service will be infinite. Really wish we had a small charge for each NHS appointment, like £4.50 or something, I think this would stop a lot of time-wasters.

So this is a good example of what GPs have to deal with. Essentially patients with problems that have unidentifiable causes. They've referred the patient for every test they can. Nothing works. They suggest some mental health support, and get insulted because the patient is very offended that they're being called crazy. (Not saying that's what's happening here btw, but it is common).

Lots of people don't or can't establish a sense of agency over their bodies and lifestyle. That's a problem for us all, but it's gps who get it in the fucking neck day after day. What exactly are they supposed to do?

It’s not a race to the bottom. Social services are desperately under resourced, so is the NHS. It’s not right and it’s the fault of the Government.

I haven't seen my GP in years. She might as well be a ghost. Ring the surgery and the recorded message tells you to go away. I get random texts from the surgery saying don't call us. My DS had a testicular lump. Don't worry, I didn't bother my GP, I paid for a private GP and then fortunately we had work health insurance for the ultrasound. My mum had a cancer test. She called the GP for the results and got told to go away by a robot. They'd call if there was a problem. Only they didn't. They lost the results for 6 months. The cancer spread. I have horrible menopausal symptoms and possibly diabetes as part of it. It runs in my family. Don't worry, I'm again paying for a private clinic. My GP just wants me and my family to fuck off and hopefully die so we'll be off the books.

You have my utmost sympathy @memorial and my deepest respect.
Clearly it’s the same sort of zero-personal-responsibility, self-entitled moron that is cluttering up your surgery as is posting some of the comments on here. No wonder genuinely ill people cannot get the help they need while the NHS is on its knees. 💐

I can feel your frustration, OP. It's a perfect storm of underfunding, Covid, etc. I do see 'consult your doctor before starting this' a lot, and wonder if people really do ask their doctor before taking vitamin C tablets or doing yoga. Ironically there seems to be a general lack of education about small health niggles that people should be able to sort out by themselves, without having a doctor wave a magic wand

Thing is for every malingerer and time waster a GP has to suffer through, I can list at least 1 time the GP has caused delays and repeat appointments

Eg

Recently I had a problem with neurological symptoms that probably wasnt serious, probably was a complication of a recent serious injury and probably needed to be treated by the leftover medication I'd been given by the GP for a different complication two weeks previous. However If I was wrong and it was serious I could have risked collapse and brain damage.

The gp receptionist triaged me as not important malingerer, stop making a silly fuss and go away with some paracetamol, "Why was I being so rude and insisting on an appointment and making a complaint". She wouldn't even check with a doctor if she was doing the right thing

If I wasnt a stroppy whotsit this is exactly what would have done. I would have ended up in extreme entirely unnecessary pain and possibly needing an emergency ambulance at some point in the next 48hours

The 111 triaged me as needed an ambulance and A&E (which I thought was faintly ridiculous I made my own way). A&E said it yes I was spot on, definitely needing checking by doctor yes to use the previous medication to help resolve but why on earth wasnt I seen by my GP?🙄🙄🙄

Meanwhile on the way home from the hospital the GP paramedic practitioner contacted me because a complaint had landed on his desk was horrified to hear how bad I sounded when I picked up the phone (couldn't remember my name straight away) and wanted me in the surgery immediately. When I eventually managed to explain I'd already been in A&E for three hours (the stress of which would have aggravated the problem which primarily needed rest if it wasnt on the severe end) they decided to have an appointment the next day to check I was on the mend

Theres no joined up thinking in the NHS. The job of the GP is to see the Malingerers in order that they dont miss the serious complications. When I was a kid you saw your family gp, even if it was evening or a weekend. Now I'm begging my surgery to allocate a named GP to my complex needs son who absolutely needs continuity of care.

That's before I even get started on the hospital consultants who wont act and have suggested the GP deals with the problem that really should be their job. Or my repeat blood tests for something actually very serious that the receptionist couldn't tell me if they were ok or not and couldn't get a GP appointment for for 3 weeks. However a week later they could call me in for more blood tests, which they couldn't tell me whether were as a result of the previous tests, repeats of the previous tests or something else entirely. Suddenly then they could find an appointment within a week. So at the moment I have two GP appointments booked, probably with 2 different GPs potentially for the exact same problem.

GPs are a bit there own worst enemy atm

I think your missing my point. A nursery WONT take a child if they only have a cold unless they have seen a gp.
I'm not sure if that's still the case as all my dc are teens and older now but I certainly had to take my child to the drs to be told it was just a cold before they were allowed back.

I agree that the ‘worried well’ take up a lot of GP time and appointments. I have had poor treatment and excellent treatment from GP’s. At the end of the day, they are human too. I worked in an advice setting for years. Due to cuts in various sectors, we ended up seeing a lot of people we couldn’t help. We were the wrong organisation but there was nowhere we could send them to. I was having a chat with my GP a few years ago, and we came to the conclusion that they were in a similar position. There needs to be more preventative care and community services. Then GP’s could do their job properly and actually help sick people

@Mydpisgrumpierthanyours definitely not the case, nurseries take them as long as not vomiting or squirting diarrhoea (and often then if the parents have lied about it, amazingly still happens as apparently a global pandemic caused by an infectious disease has taught people nothing about disease control, or, as this thread demonstrates, altruism).

Absolutely.

I'd go and stand on the picket lines with the wonderful hospital nurses working day in, day out: the sort who work in the local infirmary's trauma ward, who lately restored my life and my mobility, or the ones constantly being abused by inebriated 'patients' in the Emergency Department all night long, yet are so often underappreciated and undervalued. I'd double in solidarity with the junior doctors, who are treated like shit and have a genuine grievance.

By comparison primary care physicians GPs have it unbelievably easy. Nowadays they barely even cover face to face appointments and triage them all by phone first. Phone a GP's surgery for an appointment and 'you are number 25 in the queue'. They work limited hours on a very undemanding basis and no wonder so many of them are able to retire so early, as they're paid handsomely for doing so.

If this diatribe is genuine (questionable, although I don't doubt some do harbour these attitudes) it gets no sympathy whatsoever from me.

I agree OP, I also think that so many people misuse the drs that it makes drs suspicious of everyone. I was back and forth to my drs for pain relief (back pain) for months. I had private physio, I had NHS physio, my dr told me I wasn’t taking my pain relief properly. Two days later I had emergency surgery for a herniated disc pressing on my nerves. I was in the a&e department and they announced a12 hour wait, nearly half of the people left.

I think the structure of the NHS makes (many) people think it really is free, or that everyone pays enough tax and NI to cover the costs. Neither of these things are true.
I would absolutely pay a bit more to fund an efficient NHS, but having worked in it for 40 years I am not convinced my contribution would be spent carefully and logically.
Health care in Spain, France, Germany is very much better, but everyone pays according to their means.
I find the NHS website is pretty good for basic information and advice, as are pharmacists and nurse practitioners.
I am lucky I have a really good GP in a well run, fully staffed practice. It is a pity there is so much variation in provision across the country.

Completely agree. I think it started when I saw people going for free prescriptions for anything and everything just to get it free. People taking their kids for a temperature instead of just dealing with it at home etc. This produced an over reliance on the GP and medical service and people took their kids for any sniffle and that has now become the norm.

Also people go for something and nothing because they will not take advice from others. That used to happen from elders in the family like grandparents who used to offer ways to care at home but now that is either not there or ignored.

Why you wasting your time responding to @TeapotTitties, she sounds dumb.

Yanbu, I think unless you work in the NHS you have no idea what we're up against every day.

Much sympathy for the OP. I think it is partly down to some people going to their GPs when they simply don't need to and I think it's an increasing societal trend rather than just the NHS encouraging it.

It's not quite comparable but I see this with a retired greyhound owners group on facebook:

Small scratch - multiple posts recommending vet check rather than dealing at home by soaking in epsom salts and putting sudocreme on.

Cyst - very common, almost always harmless and go down in a couple of weeks - multiple posts recommending vet check and biopsy.

Large dog eats very small piece of cheap chocolate - multiple posts recommending vet check and induced vomiting rather than doing the calculations for what's likely to be problematic.

And the same people moan about increased insurance premiums - but that's obviously another issue. Perhaps it's an increasing lack of common sense. Or an increasing inability to take a view about risk.

GPs are a bit there own worst enemy atm

I don’t think the actual GPs are the problem. It’s the system as a whole. The GP I spoke to last week said he would like to actually “see” me - my condition has been diagnosed over the phone and with blood tests I had to pay for - but they are still only booking telephone consults and requests for face to face go through a team for consideration the same as requests for referral. He said he is frustrated but his hands are tied.

A colleague at work has the worst diet of anyone I've ever met. Yesterday's lunch was a pot noodle and ready made sandwich from a shop - most days they bring in takeaway from the night before to reheat. They had an upset stomach about 6 weeks ago (most likely food poisoning) but because they've now been to the GP 7 or 8 times with it (refused to buy immodium because of the cost), they've been referred for urgent investigations to rule out bowel cancer. They had an appointment through for next week. I dread to think how many people have been pushed down the queue as a result.

No wonder GP's are at burnout, people like this take no responsibility for their health whatsoever and just want pills to magic them better. I wouldn't have the patience to even begin to deal with the majority. I personally feel that there needs to be some level of charging aimed at people to cut back this feeling of being "owed" healthcare.