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.

No its not obvious. Why would the person sending the letter be sending it to someone who cannot understand it? And a GP cannot even understand it? The point of letters it to communicate. The point communication is to impart information and understanding. Sending a technical letter to someone without a hope of understanding it won't achieve of these aims.

You are aiming you ire at the wrong person. The fault here is in NHS system, which thinks it is ok to send incomprehensible letters to members of the public. The public then inevitably go to their most accessible medic - their GP. The fact that you blame patients for this fault in the system of the organisation you work for is telling. You take this up with your NHS colleagues if it is causing you a problem - show some of that responsibility and ownership you accuse your patients of not having.

Sigh.
I worked all day Monday and Tuesday. I couldn't switch off and am a terrible insomniac. I think I posted the original post just after midnight. I dont work on Wed in the surgery. Its the day I usually do my other portfolio roles. Which I am not doing in the school holidays so I can actually spend some time with my DC.
Ok with you??

Don't, its worth going and seeing if they'll get you sent for blood tests. I first went a year ago and they found out i was severely VitD and Folic acid deficient, so i've had a year on supplements, some therapy to help with my low moods, and while i'm 'better' i'm still having some issues.. so been back this week and am now going for another round of Blood Tests to check my hormone levels and we'll go from there.

Its the women who know they're in meno that are demanding the GP's DO something, rather than accepting some shit just needs to be lived with because its normal/natural.

@OnlyEverAutumn I've educated myself not to vote Tory or to waste my own GP or A&E time.

GP is a difficult but extremely well rewarded career that carries a substantial workload.
No shit Sherlock.

As does everyone with a job that carries that money, prestige, golden pension & or self employment.

You don't get the big bucks for a relaxing easy peasy job.

Almost everyone who goes to uni and has a professional job with good salary & pension works overtime without pay & is subject to stress at work.

People misuse the nhs
People vote Tory
(Including people who are commenting on here saying poor poor OP 🤪)
Again for those in the back. People selfishly vote Tory.

It's still true that GP's in 1992 vastly changed their contract to stop responsibility for 24 hr care without loss of salary, placing further massive financial demands on the NHS.

Fair play to them - trade unions should negotiate up. But it's true nonetheless.

Would love to see some peer-reviewed studies on this. Not being sarky. If that's what it takes to save the NHS and improve the health, resilience and moral fortitude of the nation, then researching it should be a priority, no? And if there is solid evidence to prove it, let's pressure the new PM to slap a barcode on the door every A&E in the land.

The amount of projection and straw men on this thread, it's like a scarecrow festival at a shadow puppet theatre.

I dunno. If the letter is signed Dr A Bloggs cardiologist and has the hospital name and his secretary's name and number at the top with no mention of the GP or practice, then surely that's who you call. No?
Sometimes we haven't even received a copy of the letter yet. If ever.

Nobody needs you though. You're not essential to people in anyway. GP's are, and there aren't enough of them and they're leaving the profession in droves.

Perhaps you'll be less sarcastic when you and your family don't have a GP any more?

Working in veterinary health, having a system where all of your service users are also customers adds a whole different spectrum to consultations. The level of entitlement when someone is paying for a service increases, it doesn't necessarily make them value it more.
Particularly when it comes to giving lifestyle advice on the first visit. Clients moan about having to pay for revisits, prescription checks etc, even though it is for the good of the patient, antibiotic stewardship and safe prescribing. It increases the pressure on quick-fix prescribing on the first visit. It also introduces a potential element of distrust that you are recommending investigations or therapies for financial gain rather than for the patient. Then there's the patients who miss out because their owner can't or won't pay for simple treatment.

Beware the un-intended consequence.

How on earth do these people get an appointment to see their GP so quickly?? There's a min 2 week wait for an appointment at my practice!

@Jennylou88

Theres no need to be taking your child to the GP if they are ill unless they have temperatures so high they can’t be brought down with medicine etc or suspicious rashes etc. 111 will just cover themselves by suggesting a GP appointment.

Did it really need this thread to inform you of that?

sweet lord.

Funny I actually had to battle with my GP surgery to have LESS appointments. I only wanted a diabetes review once a year as I felt any more frequently was a waste of my time and NHS resources. Thankfully they agreed eventually.

I too can't believe the negative comments on here, I feel so sad that we have a situation where our GP's are so stressed and burnt out. I know a few myself and nurses, psychologists in the same position many who are leaving. For those who complain over anything, demand appointments immediately where will we be when we have no medical staff left at all??!!

@TeapotTitties your ignorance is astounding.

So much about this makes me angry. I have two chronic health conditions - chronic lower back pain (about 15 yrs of that) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (autoimmune disease giving an underactive thyroid). I also believe I have (undiagnosed) moderate CFS.

Let's just say that doctors are hopeless at dealing with chronic conditions. This may not entirely be their fault, because they clearly aren't trained to deal with these conditions. However the sheer number of people I know who have hypo symptoms and are fobbed off by their GP because their (only!) lab test (TSH) is still 'in range' so they are 'fine' is ridiculous. Those poor people have numerous hypo symptoms and are no longer diagnosed by those symptoms as happened in the past, but only by the holy TSH test (and there are problems with that which I won't go into here). It is far from being an infallible guide to one's thyroid function, especially not in the absence of doing actual thyroid hormone labs (FT4 and FT3), plus autoantibody tests. I know lots of people who've been fobbed off as being attention-seekers or just malingerers, despite their clear symptoms. The lack of diagnosis (and simple treatment for most!) means those people end up going back to their GP multiple times trying to get some kind of diagnosis for what ails them. Inevitably they are offered anti-depressants, despite that being a symptom of hypothyroidism! So I am angry because they are seen as time-wasters yet they are genuinely ill. Give them proper treatment and they won't need to keep making appointments! Until you have hypothyroidism you cannot appreciate just how draining and life-destroying it is.

There is mixed messaging - as others have said, 'go to your GP for [insert symptom]' even though it is something quite mild. Where I am it's increasingly difficult to get a GP appointment at all. Phone in at 8.00 a.m. for a few appointments. If they are gone, then there's nothing. Not even able to book appointments for a few weeks ahead, as used to be the case. It really does feel as if we are being left to our own devices and too bad if you get ill.

As for the OP's comment on menopausal women....😡

I think we need far better training for GPs, less reliance on only lab tests for diagnosis without using more 'old-fashioned' diagnosis methods. The public needs better education as to healthy eating, but even so, with the economic conditions many are going to grab the cheapest thing they can find or miss meals altogether. Better education re how to cook simply and healthily. Perhaps classes on how to look after basic health issues at home and first aid.

There has to be an answer or we are heading into a very dark place.

It was the 2004 contract actually. And there was a significant deduction in core payment to pay for OOH actually.
But you keep talking like you know what you're talking about.

My practice like many is really struggling. Hard to get appointments, things not done on time, etc...but I totally understand that nothing is personal and that everyone is struggling.

There is much we can do to help. I've signed up to the hospital system so now get all my tests results, consultant letters direct to me so that I can take initiatives to call or not my GP for a follow-up appointment. I usually will try to do some research first so I can ask questions.

I accept telephone appts without a moan even when I'd rather see my GP. I haven't met him yet, despite a chronic health issue. That's ok.

I never go for antibiotics, because I know that the best medicine for most upper infections are rest and patience. Yes it can quite some time but that's how it is.

As a result, I have a very good rapport with my surgery. People are always very pleasant and friendly. Receptionists, nurses, GPs.

You can't expect a special friendly service when all you do is moan, demand, think you know better. Yet that's what many people seem to expect!

At no point did I suggest it would save the NHS. That clearly is a task that cannot be solved by one change and is above the ability of one person but surely a thread like this is about discussing real life examples of what the users of the NHS see, bad but thankfully some good there too.

There’s many relevant points being made on this thread. My point was solely about paying for access and I make that observation as a person that’s lived in countries with both free and paid to access systems. I’m definitely not claiming it’s a perfect system because it’s far from that unfortunately.

Numerous comments about goldplated pensions. That is no longer true. First in 1995 then again in 2015. And paid into handsomely by us actually. As a partner we pay both employer and employee contributions. So almost 30% of profit into pension. Its not actually free money. Anyone else commenting so bitterly pay 30% if their income into a pension?

God almighty.

There is every need to tell the internet about it. We need GPs and at this rate we'll have none.

I partly blame the compensation culture. All those medicine leaflets and advice everywhere which says "talk to your doctor if..." just to cover their backs.

Also yes, people are not helping themselves. I know a young man who among the age group most completely screwed over by Covid policy, school closures, exam cancellations, lack of social contact etc. He retreated to his room and his computer and his own head, and has unsurprisingly struggled. He barely sees daylight and does no exercise, eats total crap and is clearly in a depressed rut. So his dad is trying to get him a GP appointment. What can the GP do? Easiest thing of course is to put him on antidepressants, when what he needs to be doing for a starters is a sensible wake/sleep routine, a proper diet, and lots of fresh air and exercise. This shouldn't need a GP at the moment until these things have been tried.

Gosh you clearly know far more than my 10 years of training and 25 years of experience. I am clearly so rubbish at my Jon just about anyone with Google can do it. Please feel free. We are short about 7000 GPs I'm sure you are more than able right?

My GP practice is absolutely amazing and has been all through covid and beyond.

I've been a frequent flyer for years, having shared care between my GP and consultant for immunosuppressants to control my ulcerative colitis, and more recently being diagnosed with 2 cancers 10 days apart and the very many things that have gone wrong with my treatment.

My GP has always run a triage system, you call before 11am or between 2 and 4pm and ask to go on the triage list. I am usually happy to go on the nurse practitioner list because it is usually items that nurses are more knowledgable about what I am asking for but occasionally need to speak to the GP.

They have all gone above and beyond for me, including the nurse that saw me on a Friday teatime with no appointment because the pharmacy hadn't ordered something I had been prescribed. She searched the cupboards and found me enough to keep me going over the weekend

I absolutely agree with you. The genuine in need people aren’t getting seen. It must be endlessly frustrating. The waits are ridiculous. I know my GP looks on the verge of a nervous breakdown and honestly she should change jobs.

Totally hear you OP, I’m on OOH booking and the shit people want to be seen for is insane. Sunburn, headaches (where they haven’t took a painkiller) …. Ffs

I completely understand your situation OP.

I work in a health related field and I see it all the time - a total lack of responsibility for health and the 'quick fix' mentality

I don't even think people know what taking some responsibility for your own health means because of the extent to which it is now normalised. Lifestyle factors associated with health have almost been obliterated from the narrative - just look at the multiple posts about the offence and upset that is caused if a GP dares to say to a patient that they need to lose weight and that is the main cause of their 'other' issues.

People are over sensitive and also over neurotic.

We as a society have been duped into the Big Pharma world where we need a pill or a potion for every ailment. Type 2 diabetes being a huge example of this - we have 4.7 million people with T2 and all could be reversed through them taking responsibility for their own health and changing their lifestyle, but no, absolutely no responsibility taken at all and costs us £10 billion a year (10% of NHS budget). Mind boggling.

Interesting. I'm the patient of a GP who appears to have become completely incapable of doing his job. Despite government guidance to resume normal services, he has decided not to resume face to face consultations at all, so the only means of access is by telephone appointment, that must be booked 3 to 6 weeks ahead. He offers no facility for emergencies other than signposting to 111 or A&E as he doesn't apparantly have the capacity.
If my experience of a GP and your experience of patients are both reflective of the situation we find ourselves in, it's rather alarming that both parties have become incompetent at the same time.