To be appalled by this new system at the GPS

[Comedycook]

Haven't had to go for a while but my DC needs to see a doctor. We used to call up in the morning to get a same day appointment or we could book in advance.. usually a two week wait. Called up this morning and told next available appointment is over a 4 week wait. I asked what happens if you need to someone more urgently. Was told that what happens is a paramedic will phone you and triage you over the phone. They then decide if you need to see a doctor. Wtf. I hate this stupid country.

There are so many conditions whereby you don't need urgent care but you also can't wait a month for help. Also, what about work and school. How do you know if you are going to be granted access to a doctor that day after your phone call from the paramedic? Do you keep your DC off school, do you take the day off work just in case they can see you?

As for myself I have several minor health niggles and in all honesty, it's not worth even trying to see a doctor so I just live with it. However, I obviously wouldn't do that when it comes to my DC.

To be fair, I felt sorry for the receptionist. No wonder so many people just turn up at A&E.

What about people who can't speak English well? What if they can't describe their issue over the phone? What if there are things that would be obvious to a doctor seeing a patient in person but which the patient themselves doesn't think are an issue? Why are we accepting this?

Surely if the patient is well enough to go to work or school while they wait for a call back, then in the majority of cases the call back will prescribe a medication over the phone without needing to be seen. If you do need to be seen but half the day is gone then yes, ring again the next day and say you need to be seen as per. yesterday's call back about said issue.

It's how it works here. If you're sick enough to be at home then you'll be around for your random appointment later in the day.

If it's for a long term thing which you want a face to face for then you do the x weeks ahead appointment choice?

I'm not stretching anything. Of course it's safe guarding issue.

And yes, I'm a sahm but I can also see how things may affect other people.

If by chance you happen to be in or next to Kent there is a new system you can use. Download an app called WaitLess which has a range of UTCs shown (Urgent Treatment Centres). It shows the waiting time at each and how many people are already waiting. They are numbered 1 to 10 etc so number one will be the shortest waiting time. My DH used it last week to get some antibiotics for a chest infection.

Not enough GPs so until the government fix the issues with retention and recruitment and training and we all pay more tax to fund the service this is what we can expect sadly.

Ours doesn't offer any x weeks in advance appointments. It's same day or nothing. There's loads of examples of problems where you might like a review with a GP but don't need to take time off school or work to attend a same-day short-notice appointments, e.g acne, joint pain, ongoing constipation or loose bowels, unexplained losing / gaining weight, wanting to go on contraception etc.

You seem hellbent on being outraged by this (which is interesting that you’re surprised by the current situation- have you been living under a rock)

how do you propose they fix this? There are not enough capacity for the gp to patient ratio, some people unfortunately do use the system incorrectly and use a valuable slot with the gp.

Knowing when a trip to the pharmacy is actually more productive, when it’s not urgent and can wait a month, when a photo is adequate for getting the prescription out to a patient saving everyone time and money.

this isn’t a perfect system but it’s one that I’ve used and found it to get the result I needed in the end, and I’m grateful that there was a triage system so I could be pointed to a doc quicker than I would have in the old system because I was able to get prioritised for what was deemed urgent. (In my case it was mastitis) and for my son when he had croup and we were told to go to A&E

I remember speaking to a GP in the 1990s (when you could actually have a chat with one) and she was complaining about all the old people who just book an appointment because they have nothing better to do.

Perhaps that is what they want to stop.

So there is currently a four week wait to be seen.
Give everyone an appointment on request without triage and you can triple that wait. At least. So people with potential cancer etc would be waiting even longer. And many of those wouldn't even have needed to see a GP in the first place.

And GP's triaging is a waste of their skill set. Paramedics and ANP's are better placed to do that freeing the GP's up to actually see those most in need.

I can see the problems with the old system definitely but this does not feel like the healthcare system of a developed country.

This is utterly ridiculous. I hope you’re encouraging your ds to call back and not be put off.

I rang my GP with a breast lump. I’ve had one before, completely benign and this was very similar but much bigger. The receptionist said that a telephone consultation was a waste of time as the GP would need to see it anyway so rather than double up on appointments she booked me in face to face in two days later. I told both her and the GP that I suspected it was the same as before. The GP agreed but said that since it had grown rapidly she had to refer me under the 2 week pathway as better safe than sorry.

Yes there are shortages. Yes GP’s are overworked but why is it that some GP surgery’s manage to operate with a modicum of common sense whereas others seemingly can’t be bothered to see patients at all.

My GP surgery is almost unusable now. You have to call at 8am, keep redialling. If you get through, the receptionist asks lots of questions, and tries to talk you out of needing a GP. If you get past that stage, a doctor will probably call you back at some point that day. That doctor then might decide they need to see you, maybe that day, maybe tomorrow. If you don’t take the exact appointment you’re given, they won’t offer any others. If you miss a call, you have to start again the next day.

I start work at 8am, and I work predominantly in labs. I can’t keep redialling all morning, and I can’t always answer my phone. If DC are ill, they usually stay home with DH - but he’s not their father therefore doesn’t have PR so can’t take them to the doctor.

The surgery don’t have any e-consult, won’t deal with emails, and don’t book future appointments.

I find it frustrating that some surgeries seem to be much more accessible

Now you're being ridiculous. A telephone conversation does not constitute a safeguarding issue.

I find this so strange. I used to live in the UK and it was never like that. My daughter woke up sick this morning. I called the GP at 8 and we had an appointment at 9.30 for free.
I did find it odd that you need to go to the same Dr everytime. Fair enough if you have a chronic illness and need close management, but for something simple surely seeing anybody is better than no one.
Do you guys do online appointments? Or is the receptionist a gatekeeper?

You don't think it's important doctors see children face to face? Remember when baby P had chocolate smeared over his face to hide his bruising? It would have been even easier to hide on a telephone consultation.

Sounds awful, but it is because of a lack of GPs. There simply are not enough.
I cans till get same day GP appointments fine so it is not the same everywhere. But if you look shortages of GPs vary around the country.

That's a complete misunderstanding of the skills needed to triage. Effective triage has to be done by the most qualified person available.

DH is this paramedic. He does the triage. If he's in two minds he can get you in to see him that day. He can also make home visits if he sees fit.
He also is prescriber trained so can prescribe in exactly the same way as GPS can.
He can refer on to social services, to the hospital for further investigations or he can seek a second opinion if he thinks something is out of the range of his competence.
Are you mistaking paramedics for (the fictitious) 'ambulance drivers'?

I had to ring my GP yesterday, dialed at 7:59:45 so I would be through for 8am. Three "busy" tones before I joined the queue, which was a 10 minute wait.
By then the only appointment was for 9:15 which I could not have made as I work in Central London and it takes me an hour to get home on a good day. No afternoon appointments offered at all.
Receptionist tried to talk me out of using the GP with "Have you tried xyz?" which I had told her I had done for a week.

Ended up using the private video GP we have through our work insurance. But definitely not ideal.

I think it’s sensible. At my GP practice there are other professionals who can deal with problems that aren’t the GP, but lots of patients, if asked, would say they need to see the GP. There are also lots of circumstances under which you don’t actually need to see the GP. As someone with experience of recurrent urinary tract infections, I’m very grateful to be able to be triaged and prescribed ABs over the phone, and not forced to wait for the first available appointment. The alternative to the triage system is a lot of appointments being used when they don’t need to be, meaning you have to wait longer to see the GP when you actually do need to see them.

That sounds ideal. Lots of allied HCPs who do triage aren't as self-supporting as your DH e.g. aren't prescribers, aren't able to take responsibility for their own decisions.

Yes! Ds did get his lump examined the following week after another day off work to be triaged again!!! ..and this time seen. Thankfully just a cyst but over a week for him silently worrying.

I agree, service does vary on area. We’re overpopulated here: hundreds of new build estates have popped up yet no extra gp practices. Phoning as soon as the surgery opens and being 65th in a queue is commonplace.

People locally joke about face to face doctor’s appointments being like gold dust..saying things like “Wow you got a face to face, how did you manage that?” 😂

Its a result of years of massive underfunding and mismanagement in my view, not the fault of NHS staff on “ground level”

I know a paramedic isn't an ambulance driver but the fact they are using them left me confused. I wondered if it meant I would be referred to a & e if they thought was urgent and that it would mean we either wait or month or go to emergency care

Yes, my husband saw a paramendic when he rang the out of hours service last year. She was amazing and spent half an hour with him and prescibed antibiotics.