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.

As I commented on another thread, I did not receive an appointment letter or reminder text, but received a copy of a letter to my GP stating I had failed to attend an appointment. If I don't know I have a hospital appointment how can I cancel it? I'm quite happy to pay a fee for no show, but only if I am aware of the appointment in the first place

Another problem I found a few years ago is that when austerity measures were imposed by the Tories (Cameron?), some council departments were so underfunded they stopped doing their traditional work. In my case, I contacted Environmental Health about something & they told me to see my GP, instead of doing their job & investigating what seemed to be a clearcut case of building works leading to health problems.

As money got tight it felt like everyone was trying to push bits of their workload onto some other organisation, from EH to GPs, from GPs to charities, from one charity to another.

So if you exaggerate symptoms you get an appointment? That doesn’t explain why people that have genuine symptoms that need no exaggeration can’t get appointments. They call at the specified time and get told no appointments. It just doesn’t make sense.

I think I have been on the receiving end of empathy burnout this week. I had an issue and the initial course of antibiotics didn’t solve it. A week after the course finished I’m very ill again.

Fought with the receptionist for a GP to call me, when she did - right before the practice closed for the day (I rang at 8.30 when they opened) she was totally uninterested asked for a photo, one receipt of the photo rang me and sprung into action with treatment and told me to be seen immediately if it got any worse. Who’s going to see me?? I had been trying to get “immediate attention” all day and very nearly gave up!

I find it so sad now that you feel you can’t visit a GP with a niggling concern. It’s no wonder so many issues become serious and beyond treatment before someone gets attention.

Not your fault OP but I just think the healthcare in our country is crumbling. The patients and employees like yourself are all suffering.

I agree re the fee, however, it's the young and elderly who probably take up most appointment time anyway and of course the govt would have to waive the fee for low earners so those hit would be those who rarely need to see a Dr anyway and then might be dissuaded and miss something important

Completely sympathies l, heard manga person say they are for fro the doctors because they woke up feeling a bit rough/ being sick/ with a stomach ache etc. also see it on here when ppl complain because there gp hasn't done what they think they should have despite having no medical knowledgeable of their own.

My son did work experience at a GP practice before university. He shadowed three types of clinic, diabetics, skin and lung clinics. He was shocked to find only a tiny proportion following health and lifestyle advice but many demanding more medication to make them better but not taking any responsibility. The diabetic clinic nurse told him that 80% of the diabetics would likely be dead or amputees within 5 years but they would not listen to advice or change their lifestyles. I’m sure someone will come along to this thread to tell me that people can do what they want and it’s their choice but another example of passing responsibility to others in medical practice. How can limited resources stretch this far.

I remember that other thread. Hundreds of posters detailing appointments they were never told about, and NHS admin staff giving the low down on how crap the appointments system is behind the scenes, eg it taking weeks for an urgent appointment letter to be typed and posted, often after the appointment date has been and gone.

yanbu op. I'm about to say something very controversial but.... I suspect the ageing population play a part in this. My own nan and great aunt, loved them dearly, but they were on the phone making dr appts on an almost daily basis for very trivial age related issues. I'm ready to be crusified for saying so but I stand by it.

No, it doesn't make sense. It's like an urban myth.

well I can’t even get a face to face appointment with my GP and most people I know say the same.

Of course exaggerating symptoms isn’t an urban myth. People do it all the time. My colleague did it right infront of me in the office last week whilst waiting for someone to (finally) answer the phone.

By the time you get through you do also tend to have developed anxiety as well as whatever you were phoning about.

If you have ever tried to get hold of, well anyone, at a hospital, as a patient, you will understand how difficult that is. I have spent an entire morning just trying to get through to say I could not make the appt I was given, let alone speak directly to the consultant. Plus the consultant that has just deemed it appropriate to send incomprehensible jargon. That Doesn’t install confidence that this is the person able to talk to you in plain language and make it comprehensible. And also, there is just not a culture of phoning to speak to consultants. I’ve spent 20 years as a patient with a chronic condition and it has NEVER been suggested that this is even an option. You wait for your scheduled appts. Hell, some consultants give the distinct impression that they don’t even have time for you AT the appts.
The GP is the person the public associates with being able to talk to about their health and communications about it.

However, you seem determined to hate on patients for the failure of your colleagues to be able to communicate in a way a lay person can understand. If you are so cynical and angry at your patients that you want to blame them for the failings of your colleagues, rather than talking to your colleagues about how the can better communicate, then I think you are right that you should retire.

Except I know it has happened because it’s happened to us and others resulting us now using a private GP along with others we know. And some people are resorting to using a&e. Who would pay for a private GP or sit for hours in a&e if they could get a GP appointment?

Maybe that’s what the poster meant. I thought they meant not getting appointments was an urban myth, as if I was lying.

Even if this were true, it would still be worth looking at the pressures that have led it to be the case (and no, it’s not just laziness).
People are deeply fiscally poor and time poor at the moment. More is excepted of us in every area- parenting, to answering work calls 24/7. Amazon and instant gratification exists because we need quick fixes, because we’re exhausted and hurried.

Self care has become a luxury. People want help because they are drained. Everyday demands plus a headache makes the headache feel overwhelming because it’s just one more thing on an endless list. I have a type of arthritis and there are some exercises I need to do 2x a day to keep mobility. I always manage the morning ones but half the time have fallen asleep on the sofa with my laptop still open when I’m meant to be doing my 2nd ones. Which obviously doesn’t help the arthritis either. But single parenting is exhausting.

Oh, and my phone network was down so I’ve been discharged back to my sodding GP rather than seeing MSK as they couldn’t get through to me to make the appt. Now it’s another 3 months waiting.

Life is hard rn. For everyone. It’s hard, overwhelming and just plain tiring. It’s the same for GPs but it would be nice if they could see their patients’ lives and reasons for needing help are bigger than an immediate whinge.

Nurse practitioner or pharmacist. Clearly if there is soreness inside the ear it probably needs looking at properly but many say oh my child has a temp, better take to the GP when most viral things clear up themselves.

So four out of five readers think that you are not being unreasonable, although many of the posters are eager to tell you ( usually rudely and often salted with a few casual obscenities ) that you are. The latter seem to fall into a) my condition was not treated correctly by a GP, which is understandable although shows a lack of the ability to extrapolate, b) I can’t get GP appointment exactly when I want one which must be your fault ( see above) or c) how dare you not appreciate that I am the most important person in the universe - which seems to prove your point.

I took my elderly neighbour to a specialist lung clinic appointment recently. The waiting room stank of stale tobacco smoke, wafting off the other patients clothes and hair. Some of them got up during the waiting time and went outside for a few minutes…..

I’m sorry that you have been driven to this point, but I’m not surprised. I hope you can find a strategy which will allow you to exercise you hard won skills without this degree of personal suffering.

This is so conflicting because in other instances something serious is overlooked with this attitude and we’re told “better to be safe than sorry” so which is it? We can only rely on our own judgment and that will differ for everyone, unless they are a medical professional themselves you cant expect every parent to be knowledgeable enough to effectively triage themselves - if they were they wouldn’t need to see a doctor.

Oh give over. Maybe patients aren't all suffering saints and some of them are taking the piss? You know, like people do.

Theres no need to be taking your child to the GP if they are ill unless they have

Some schools ask for evidence that they have been to the GP to prove that your child has really been off sick.

Still wouldn't get her an appointment at my GP practice. They announced they don't have any for the whole of August a week ago.

I say this as someone whose parent is currently dying now partly due to GP delays and procrastination. I’m so sorry you are on your knees and the system makes you feel like this. It was very brave of you to post here. I appreciate the hard work and emotional toll taken by all NHS staff in trying to prop up an unsustainable system. Please know that you are valued. Even if it’s in the abstract for some folks!

Ps. Can you have any influence to stop the NHS wasting time and money on woke, women-erasing nonsense?

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.

I have no doubt some patients attend with unnecessary things. But I think the reason why some people are a bit annoyed is because OP is saying the above. She’s saying most. I find that hard to believe. But if it is true and a widespread problem, I’m annoyed that I’m spending money on private appointments for my children instead of doctors surgeries working out how to deal with this. And that their training and skills are not being used.