AIBU to wonder where all the GPs are?

[Wingingit202122]

As the title suggests, it seems impossible to get a GP appt recently.

I have private health insurance but they won’t refer for further testing unless I have a GP referral. But it’s absolutely impossible to get a GP appt.
I call at 8am on the dot every day to be told there are no appts left. Called this morning and was told that i could now request an appt on their online appointment request form but to be advised it takes them 48 hrs to respond and in the response it will be to either visit A&E/ a telephone appt with GP may be booked but can take up to 10 days/ or a generic monitor symptoms. Completly unacceptable when you have a lump that is causing concern.
I have read that many GPs are doing private work and having booked a telephone appt through my health provider this morning, many bios of that GPs have against theyre profiles say they are employed at GP practices

Does this mean GPs are doing extra private work instead of seeing patients in surgery?

Not sure how it is in more rural areas but in the cities they are like gold dust!

many bios of that GPs have against theyre profiles say they are employed at GP practices

Does this mean GPs are doing extra private work instead of seeing patients in surgery?

Not necessarily, no. NHS GP surgeries are often/usually businesses that employ or contract their GPs; they’re not usually direct employees of the NHS because in-community healthcare is set up and paid for differently to hospitals etc. It doesn’t mean that the GPs are also working in private practice.

You’re not wrong that GP availability has decreased, though. At my surgery, it’s been a combination of factors:

1. A couple of the GPs were EU citizens and left the UK because of/after Brexit
2. Government has cut funding to health boards, meaning there’s less money to pay GPs and surgery staff. Cost of business rises have also had an impact
3. Some went part-time or retired during the pandemic and weren’t replaced due to 2

What private insurance are you with? I'm with Bupa and have access to a Gp (video call) within 24 hours. I have used it once and they wrote a referral letter to dermatology. it was turned down as they said it preceded my private insurance, but the process is still the same. Perhaps it's different for different conditions though.

If I had been working as a gp through this pandemic I would probably be in a dark room, rocking back and forward muttering about people who wear their mask under their nose

Or an an alcoholic

I’m with Bupa also and when i called them a few weeks ago they said i needed an open referral from my GP, hence why i’ve been trying and failing to get an appointment.

Found out yesterday you can book an online GP appt through Bupa so this is what i’ve done this morning. Didnt realise they could put in a referral!

Yes I did consider the Brexit effect and how this has impacted health professionals. I believe the theory that health services are being deliberately underfunded so that we will all have to resort to private healthcare

I absolutely don’t underestimate the effect covid must have had on GPs but in reality, things should have gone back to normal by now. Missed diagnosis for life threatening illnesses has never been higher following covid and those of us who need a GP are struggling

I’m with Bupa too; once you get in their system, the GP/referrals function is quite good. (It shouldn’t be replacing good community NHS GPs, but we are where we are).

Regardless of the route, I hope you get seen and sorted soon.

There has been a chronic shortage of GP's since long before the pandemic, the government promised to do "something", and since then it has got worse.

"There are now just 0.44 fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients in England" https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/pressures-in-general-practice-data-analysis#:~:text=September%202015%20to%20August%202022&text=As%20of%20September%202022%2C%20there,full%2Dtime%20fully%20qualified%20GPs

To be honest, given the vitriol they get routinely, I am surprised the shortage isn't higher. Although I suspect that may play into this now - I know at least one doctor at our local practice who left because it was thankless long hours and she was fed up of being abused and screamed at. The final straw was when she was hit across the face for telling someone that there was nothing she could do about the 18 month long wait for a hip replacement for their mother. She quit the same day. The reception now has screens and that is not about infection control! The practice had 6 full-time and 4 part-time doctors pre-pandemic. Now it has no full-time doctors and 7 part-time.

And the numbers won't change any time soon - it takes years to train a GP.

Yes I think the private health providers have finally realised that having GPs as gatekeepers to referrals isn't working. I am also with Bupa through work and can have a video GP appointment if I need it although of course it's a private prescription then.

DH had a knee operation earlier this year and to get the referral we used e-consult with our NHS GP - a GP phoned about three days later and did the referral. That would probably work in most cases, but of course if you have more concerning symptoms like a lump you don't want to wait.

Actually e-consult is good in my experience. We used it for my husband, and I also did it for my mum when she had a dodgy-looking lesion on her back - sent a photo, asked for a referral to dermatology and the GP actually got her in for a face to face appointment about 4 days later.

It still hasn't been removed, but she is on the waiting list.

I have a telephone appt with them this afternoon so hoping it leads to me being seen in person as it doesn’t look like i will see anyone from my GP practice anytime soon

E-consult is not an option at our practice. Would definitely use it if it was.

those numbers are absolutely shocking! even worse is the physical abuse drs and other staff are facing. i understand we are all worried about our health when seeing them but it doesn’t excuse abuse in any shape or form. it’s a sad state we are in and made sure i got private healthcare for me and my children as i’m sure it will only get worse

Before I got private healthcare, I did have video call with my GP during covid regarding a changing mole which was great as he did a referral and i was sent to a private hospital to have it removed so definitely have had good experiences
I suppose when you are worried about something like a lump it doesn’t help to be fobbed off by the gp receptionist every day who tells you appts are reserved for elderly, babies and life threatening illnesses. My complaint could be life threatening but i wouldn’t know as they won’t see me

I also have private insurance, but my policy allows me to "buy" GP time at my local practice, which I like as it is a good compromise. I have a regular GP who I know and who knows me, and I can choose either an e-consult or a face to face, but my appointments are not during "regular surgery times" (i.e. when NHS appointments are scheduled). That way I can get continuing care (I have a disability so explaining life over and over to new faces is trying) and the practice (not the individual GP) bills my insurers, which means that the "profit" goes into the surgery and supports the facilities it offers - which are actually very good despite the fact that it struggles like many others. They are struggling to recruit GP's simply because there are none to be had (although it is a training surgery as well so they support GP's in training); but there are 2 occupational health advisors, 2 physiotherapists, 3 nurse practitioners, and a variety of other practitioners... so they do try hard to support patients but a lot of it is now out of their control.

I hope things work out for you anyway, and it is nothing serious.