Had to go to a+E for a skin infection

[notreallyTheidea]

Couldn’t get through on the phone to Gp. Their online system is at full capacity (has been for 2 days now).
Went in person told to keep waiting till there’s capacity online. That never happens.
Went to a pharmacy who said it needs to be seen by a doctor.
111 just don’t call back
So I went to a and e and needed IV antibiotics they said had I been able to get to see a GP via OOH at the weekend or my own gp on Monday morning it could have been avoided. The whole system is broken

I had to take my mum to a&e yesterday morning as she had chest pain and a significant cardiac history.

I've never seen anything like it. Complete and utter war zone. Absolutely rammed with people, a significant amount of which had been there since Sunday afternoon.

We were very lucky, she had a ecg inside a couple of hours, this was reviewed and established as non serious and we were on our way within 4 hours. Stff said they'd never seen it so busy. Hospital volunteers were offering free hot drinks and food.

And I never heard a single complaint from anyone.

Glad your mums ok x

Thanks @ConfusedmumUC. I thjnk it was just stress actually. But not one to leave to chance.

It must be area and even gp dependent. I had a positive experience on Friday when my DD needed to be seen. I called the surgery at 10am, (so after appointments for the day have been booked) the receptionist agreed she should be seen that day and we had an appointment within the hour. The GP was excellent and really really thoroughly checked her over. She needed antibiotics - the amoxicillin that there has been a shortage off. But no issue getting it at all at the pharmacy attached to the GP surgery.

I’m not denying there are issues and have had my fair share of negative experiences at our local hospital, but I wanted to share this positive experience too!

It depends on the number of GP vacancies. That varies widely around the country. If your nearest surgery has a lot of vacancies, they will not be able to see you easily.
Our GP surgery is a teaching practice linked to the local hospital, so I assume it is a more popular choice for GPS looking for a new job.
The issue is we do not train enough GPs, sp the shortages are built in.

That's awful OP. I think I am very lucky that my GP surgery is great. The other morning I rang them at 8, got through at 8.10, receptionist said I'd get a callback sometime that day and a doctor called me back at 8.45. I am aware that's very unusual though, most surgeries seem swamped at the moment. My mum struggles to get appointments at her doctors.

I have used private GP services in the past though, they're usually about £40 but maybe worth it to avoid A&E in future? Somehow there seem to be plenty of GPS available if you're willing to part with your cash....

I also had a positive experience today (tho not one I want to repeat!)
Looking after my toddler grandson, he was playing with his cars and suddenly picked something off the floor and gave it to me. It was a tiny button battery... one of the cars had lost its underneath plate and the batteries had fallen out.
I couldn't find the other two... despite searching😮

Knowing how dangerous they can be, and he's 19m old who puts things in his mouth , I bundled him into the car, and went to minor injuries near me, who said he needed to go to the main hospital asap for scans.

Met my DD there, she took him in, he was seen, and had two scans within an hour, and home again. (No batteries inside him thank GOD) He ws seen immediately.

Of course we have now found the missing batteries and that car is in the bin..and I've aged 10 years!

But the NHS was brilliant today.

As a side note, my eldest IS a GP and they are flat out. Her list is full of same day emergencies, then video calls, home visits and a lot of worried parents scared their kids have scarlet fever. She leaves work several hours later EVERY day. There are not enough GPs and the ones their are are doing their best, but there are too few GPS too many patients and it's just not sustainable.

The private GPs are online or over the phone. So I guess GPs get extra work by working privately to fill gaps in areas with insufficient GPs.

@StillMedusa Glad your grandson is okay. Those kind of situations are so scary.

We can no longer book future appointments, which means people who have more urgent needs are in the same telephone queue as someone who could wait a few days. Urgent requests used to be able to call at 8 for a same-day appointment, now 8 is the only time to call for any kind of need.

Tried private gp for my daughter (but fully booked so had to go through 111). Bupa offer them £50 online or £80 in person (don't have to bea member). Others like Nuffield etc too if you have an online search.

I have chest and sinus infections (including lots of lovely crackling and rattling sounds and breathlessness, and as I was doing 111 for daughter they assessed me too. Had an OOH GP call me about 2 hours later, few questions and sent prescription to my local pharmacy for collection same day. It did take 2 hours on hold to 111 in the first place mind you! (Daughter was another story, pushed from pillar to post, eventually pointed to a&e for antibiotics for a 3 year old, took about 8 hours all in 🙄)

YANBU but I must be lucky because I've never had a problem with the GP?

I called last week and got an appointment the same day. I called a couple of weeks ago, and got an appointment - although that was a phone call and then she had me in the surgery after.

I find it utterly baffling that it can work well in some places but not in others. My last surgery was good as well - although that was pre-Covid so it's entirely possible it's changed since we moved.

I haven't had cause to use A&E thank god for a really long time, but I drove past our local and the entrance was just...closed. Worrying.

I know mn hates a 'my mates, dog's auntie's cat said' story, but FWIW, I have a dear friend who is a paramedic. For the 25 years I've known him, every time the media has been full of scare stories about bed blocking, waiting times, crisis levels and so on, he's always been able to rationalise and explain it, whether it's been isolated to a geography, type of illness etc. and it's not been as bad as the attention grabbing headlines.

This year, for the first time ever, he is gravely saying do whatever you can to avoid getting ill, needing to get to hospital and most of all needing an ambulance. It's horrendous.

My GP are wonderful but it’s impossible to get an appointment with them. They’re completely overrun and there are just no staff. In my old house, the GP firmly did not give a fuck, they got paid either way. Either way, whether the GP cares or not, I’ve not been able to get appointments. It’s very much a postcode lottery.

My current GP are channelling all the adult appointments to a third-party online locum consultation, which is actually really well done (and I’m the kind of person who would much prefer face-to-face) - but children can’t be seen by that service so all the GP appointments are for children and there’s just not enough appointments.