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AIBU?

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Original poster

Can't answer your call because of the COVID pandemic???

44 replies

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 02/02/2023 08:13

This is what I heard when I tried to put a call in to the doctor this morning. My back went in the shower on Monday and it's spasming. Causing me to walk funny and affect other muscle areas in my back. I wanted to put a call in to obtain painkillers.

COVID? Really? After three years?

OP posts:
Thepeopleversuswork · 02/02/2023 08:14

FFS. Really pretty insulting that this is still being used as an excuse today. And incredibly poor PR on their part.

Pterrydactyl · 02/02/2023 08:15

Maybe they’ve forgotten to change an automated message?

x2boys · 02/02/2023 08:21

Pterrydactyl · 02/02/2023 08:15

Maybe they’ve forgotten to change an automated message?

That might be a more likely answer?
although I remember my Drs had a sign up for at least two years advising people if they had been to Wuhan or Italy recently to lookout for symptoms of Covid 19

Skyofplanets · 02/02/2023 08:23

We've currently got 3 staff off with covid and 2 with a flu that's testing negative but sounds a lot like covid.

It feels very 2020 but definitely still causing issues!

MaryBeardsShoes · 02/02/2023 08:25

I went to my GP in the cold snap before Christmas and their tv was displaying frequent advice about what to do in a heat wave 😂

I expect they have just forgotten to change it!

Crumpetdisappointment · 02/02/2023 08:26

there is still covid around, still need to wear masks at the GP

CastleCrasher · 02/02/2023 08:27

Our GP and local hospital still have the same messages too!

BitOutOfPractice · 02/02/2023 08:28

It’s not just them. Lots of businesses still have Covid era phone messages explaining why their service is crap when you phone them.

WolfFoxHare · 02/02/2023 08:29

I did this before Christmas @ImJustMadAboutSaffron . The only thing that cut through the pain was ibuprofen with codeine. I’d advise getting some from the pharmacy. You may also be able to self refer for physio, check your GP website.

Original poster
ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 02/02/2023 08:29

MaryBeardsShoes · 02/02/2023 08:25

I went to my GP in the cold snap before Christmas and their tv was displaying frequent advice about what to do in a heat wave 😂

I expect they have just forgotten to change it!

Ha ha ha that's the most likely answer! But I still couldn't get through, and after the message played I was cut off.

OP posts:
Original poster
ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 02/02/2023 08:31

WolfFoxHare · 02/02/2023 08:29

I did this before Christmas @ImJustMadAboutSaffron . The only thing that cut through the pain was ibuprofen with codeine. I’d advise getting some from the pharmacy. You may also be able to self refer for physio, check your GP website.

Are these two different medications, or one? What did you buy? I have had Naproxen before for back pain. I had a car accident 12 years ago (when did Kate Middleton and William Windsor get married? It was on their bloody wedding day that's how I remember!) and I think it's a legacy of this as another driver went right up my backside and shunted my car forward.

OP posts:
fiftiesmum · 02/02/2023 08:35

A lot of businesses are still using that excuse

youshouldnthaveasked · 02/02/2023 08:36

Do your GP have a website? I can never get through on the phone but usually complete an econsult on their website and get a phone call the same day.

and yes, the covid excuse needs to do one

Thepeopleversuswork · 02/02/2023 08:42

Pterrydactyl · 02/02/2023 08:15

Maybe they’ve forgotten to change an automated message?

No doubt they have but that’s pretty shit. How difficult is it to record a new automated voicemail? It’s been three years not three weeks.

It gives the impression that they cling to any excuse to do less work than they should.

I’m sure they are stretched etc but you have to put your best foot forward and do your own PR in this life. GPS surgeries have plenty of challenges but if they treat the public like idiots they will lose trust and eventually lose patients.

unfortunateevents · 02/02/2023 08:47

Maybe you are with my GP surgery? We had a text message this week to say that three of the doctors are off with Covid, apparently they still have to be away for five days and get a negative test before they can come back so it's going to be quite the challenge this week for them. In general, however, I agree with you, Covid is being used as an excuse still for all sorts of things, particularly in the workplace. It's infuriating, and it makes people be unsympathetic to genuine situations which are still affected by the virus, such as the one above.

x2boys · 02/02/2023 08:48

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 02/02/2023 08:31

Are these two different medications, or one? What did you buy? I have had Naproxen before for back pain. I had a car accident 12 years ago (when did Kate Middleton and William Windsor get married? It was on their bloody wedding day that's how I remember!) and I think it's a legacy of this as another driver went right up my backside and shunted my car forward.

Show quote history

You can get Nurofen p!us,over the counter at most chemists ,it contains both ibuprofen and codeine.

Chooksnroses · 02/02/2023 08:56

Covid is still here! 52 people admitted to hospital in my local area in the past 7 days.

TheTeenageYears · 02/02/2023 08:58

That's totally crap but doesn't seem to be too unusual. I would cut out the middleman and book an appointment with an osteopath to sort the route of the problem if that's an option financially.

Lilavanblue · 02/02/2023 09:03

Chooksnroses · 02/02/2023 08:56

Covid is still here! 52 people admitted to hospital in my local area in the past 7 days.

Well, it is still here, but it’s also not going anywhere - people still need to be able to get through to GPs.

hiredandsqueak · 02/02/2023 09:05

Our Local Authority SEND department have never reopened the phone lines since the start of Covid. If you email and get a response they advise that they are unable to make phone calls because of Covid. My dd works for the LA in a different department and has been taking calls throughout all whilst working at home so it's not across the board. Expect they might open up soon though as Ofsted are due to inspect.

starfishmummy · 02/02/2023 09:34

Our GP seems to randomly change their message and we keep getting the covid one every now and then.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 02/02/2023 09:38

Could be that you’re at my local surgery - they’re basically closed this week. Three of five receptionists, three GPs and the nurse all have covid.

The dentist surgery (same building) is closed as well as both of them have it.

SouthCountryGirl · 02/02/2023 09:39

I heard this excuse last year. Fell while doing an event and asked for a plaster. Apparently Covid prevented them from carrying basic first aid.

Riu · 02/02/2023 09:42

It drives me mad, so many places still have this. People are only off work if they actually have covid now. It isn’t as if staff are isolating and wfh anymore. Presumably they get someone to cover for the receptionist if she catches covid and is off work, just the same as any other illness.

JanuaryBlues2023 · 02/02/2023 09:47

I work in a small team of three in different locations and two of us are off with covid.