GP telephone appointments

[Aquarius1234]

AIBU to dislike them.
I got the wrong amount of tablets after having a 7 minute call with GP to explain what I needed.
I now need to arrange another telephone appointment to ask for more ...
I don't think it would have happened face to face.
Not that I particularly like face to face. But I think its easier to get a clearer picture.

@Themostimportantpart - that’s awful!
my friend was diagnosed with a chest infection over the phone and given antibiotics. The Dr wasn’t the slightest bit interested in listening to her chest!
I was misdiagnosed with eczema on a e-consult when it was something more serious. I bloody hate the current situation.

You don't need another GP appointment though? You speak to the receptionist and say the doc has made a mistake with the amount of tablets I needed can he/she send a new script to the chemist? Ta. Sorted.

I’m a GP. Demand outstrips capacity every day. It’s a constant battle to ensure everyone who contacts us is managed safely. Phone consultations allow us to deal with straight forward cases more quickly which gives us more time to manage the really complex patients.

People are now surviving previously fatal conditions and the input they require going forwards is enormous.

I’ve just returned to work after cancer treatment and patients sometimes shout at me because they want a bespoke service. I know as a patient and as a Dr, we can’t cater to everyone’s exact needs but we’re doing our best with limited resources to provide a safe equitable service.

I’ve only been back a few months and I’m not sure how much longer I can sustain the disconnect between how hard we’re working and the public’s perception of what they think we should be able to
provide.

GP has been under resourced for so long now and burn out is immense. We’re all doing more with less. I’m sorry that people are frustrated but we’re patients too. During my own treatment, the ball was dropped on multiple occasions by a Rolls Royce system being run on a shoestring. I never took my frustration out on the frontline staff.

Even a little bit understanding of the difficulties we’re facing can make
our job bearable. I fear if the workload continues to increase and the public continue to criticise, there will be no GPs left.

It actually says on the hospital website that in circumstances like this it’s go to GP

Yanbu. They don't work for anyone who has stuff to do, like holding down a job for eg. Who has time to sit around waiting for the phone to ring?

The issue, as is so often the case, is not wit the tool - in this case, telephone appointments - but with how it is used.

With our GP, telephone appointments are fantastic. You are usually given a window of an hour - which, if you were in a sort of job where you can't just take the call spontaneously would be a similar amount of time you'd need to take off to go and see a doctor, maybe less, so that seems reasonable.

They are almost always for fairly routine, easy things. I had one recently regarding a UTI - antibiotics were prescribed and I was asked to drop a sample in. I also had one as an initial conversation regarding potentially going on HRT, after which I was asked to come in for blood test and a referral to see a specialist was made.

On the other hand, repeated stomach pain for DD - they asked us to come in.

Similarly, I can fill in an online form for all sorts of things that then get sorted and I'm informed by text of the outcome - eg meds not working right, new prescription with different meds are sent out.

But then you get surgeries insisting on telephone appointments when you've called to ask for an appointment because of a potentially infected insect bite or who insist on a 5 hour window. That is pointless and completely defeats the purpose.

@bertiesgal I hear you. The shortage of GPs just doesn't help.

From a GP perspective what would be wrong with calling for appointments the night before say 4pm. Then in the morning once they have been sorted into order a text to say your appointment will be between 2-3pm. Then patients can plan around it (late / early lunch etc). Be home, in the car or wherever is a private space to talk.

I don't give a toss that everyone buying their Frosties got to hear about my skin being up in hives. But other things are a lot more sensitive and people do deserve some privacy.

Not only do you have to be available all morning or all afternoon, but my own surgery calls from a withheld number.
So you have to enable those in your phone settings and hope it isn't the usual knobheads calling withheld. 🤨

@bertiesgal thank you for all that you , and other GPs, do. Having had a public- facing role years ago, i know how exhausting it is to deal with people’s problems day in, day out. And I didn’t have to make decisions at speed on which people’s lives could depend. I worry about GPs burnout a lot. What the hell will we do if/when there are no GPs? I have been wondering whether to send a card at Christmas to my practice to say thank you for truly excellent care when I really needed it this year.

Yes, I assume my GP does some version of this as we get 1 hour slots. They also have a good automated text service, as well as a personalised text service which works well. My sense is that our surgery are making the most of the technological tools available to streamline processes so that the GPs can prioritise actually engaging with patients. But not all surgeries are doing this as effectively, which is clear from this thread and multiple conversations in real life.

I actually find it’s only my GP/Hospital that call on a withheld number. All my nuisance calls are usually a random mobile number

On the whole, I don’t mind GP appointments via the phone, but I had one recently where I was obviously put on speakerphone, and the phone was right next to the computer keypad. All I could hear was the GP tapping away at the keyboard, whilst I was trying to explain my issue. It was very distracting 😕

We triage everyone via online submissions or a query left with our receptionist (for those who don’t like the internet). If we phone you on the day it’s normally because we think your issue requires urgent input so we’re hoping you have your phone on you. Employers should be sympathetic to acute health issues and arguably we are as a nation guilty of working when wee too sick (employers and employees alike). All other more routine patients are allocated a specific time for a phonecall or a face to face appointment. I often start the day with over 100 humans - young/ old/ housebound/ palliative/ seriously unwell needing my help and I have to prioritise those
most in need. Realistically we need folk to work with us. From the opposite side when my big neck lump appeared from nowhere, my colleagues worked with me to ensure I had the time to speak to my GP. We all need to be kinder and understand that the core service of 8am to 6pm doesn’t even include the millions of test results and letters we’re processing. I worked 56 hours a week before I got sick and it nearly killed me. Please please work with us, we’re people too and there are barely enough of us to cover the core hours as it is.

I mean kinder to each other. If a colleague needs medical input, they shouldn’t be squeezing it in their lunch break or between classes. If it’s routine then fair enough, allocate routinely at a time that suits but if it’s urgent, please keep your phone on you and remember that there are tonnes of folk who needs their GP every day so we don’t twiddle our thumbs. Speaking for my team here but it’s been the same wherever I’ve worked.

I ended up in hospital with pneumonia after a phone consultation. The doctor said she was sure it was just viral asthma so wouldn't prescribe antibiotics just oral steroids, I was 28 weeks pregnant and have a history of chest infections and pneumonia. The consultant was not amused.

I've actually found phone consultations to be excellent. We live rurally and an hour's round trip just to speak to the GP for 5 minutes is a waste of time.

But I would hope that there are good triaging systems in place to make sure that the people who need to be seen face to face, are. And those who can be spoken to on the phone, are triaged appropriately so as to not waste valuable resources.

Fwiw, last summer my youngest got Lyme's Disease. He had the most classic bullseye rash ever, along with a high fever, joint aches, extreme fatigue. Two face to face GP appointments to actually look at the rash, take his temp, examine him, and neither of them was willing to diagnose it as Lyme's. One said, oh, looks like a fungal rash of some sort! The other said, maybe an ear infection has side of his head and face is so red and hot!

It took GP #3 and a phone consultation with emailed in photos of his rash to get a correct diagnosis. Ultimately, it had nothing to do with phone vs. in-person assessment, and everything to do with a well-trained GP who took the time to listen to me and look at the (photos of the) rash and who was educated enough about Lyme's to know the (very obvious) signs. He was given the correct antibiotics and made a complete recovery.

I'm baffled by our latest system, as tested this week.

If you phone, you get through eventually to Reception, who then at some point later texts you a time-limited link that lets you see what appointments are available.

Then you get a message saying 'Please ensure that you only attend the site if your appointment is face to face'.

But the appointment texted to me says 'Venue: [GP address], [Time]' and 'Telephone Patient/Reception'. I really don't know whether that means it's on-site or a phone call, so I'm going to have to waste their time all over again to find out.

(Unless the Miracle of Mumsnet can tell me what that means, because someone has the same booking software?)

My practice seems to have found the right balance.

A couple of years ago I took the plunge with HRT. It was all arranged through telephone appointments and I order repeats with the app.

My husband is seeing a practice nurse later this week about a minor skin issue. That was arranged as an appointment booked in advance through the app.

But a few months ago a cold settled on my chest and left me with a persistent cough. When I decided really did need some advice, I phoned the surgery in the early afternoon, a GP phoned me back me about an hour later, said he would rather see me in person, so could I come to the surgery in the next hour or so. I did, he listened to my chest, diagnosed an infection and issued me a prescription for antibiotics there and then.

The idea of having to join in an 8am phone lottery sounds horrific.

@DistractMe yes - that's the point I keep trying to make. The telephone appointments are not the problem. The problem is the process around them.

Our GP surgery is very much like yours. All very painless and when you do need in-person, then that is organised promptly.

On the other hand, I did chuckle while in the waiting room for some blood tests a few months ago. They have one of those iPad check in things at the door. Very hard to miss. But just in case, hanging over reception is a large sign that says, "please check in on the iPad at the front entrance." While I was waiting, at least 5 patients attempted to check in with the front desk. She was patience personified.

It must be very difficult to manage a surgery effectively when so many of the patients can't follow basic instructions.