GP appt saga

[Paininthebutth0le]

Just went into my GP as I have been sent an auto appt for something and I can't attend on that day. I was in the reception which was empty with 3 staff members behind the window... I explained my situation and was told I am unable to reschedule in person and I need to call them instead!

None of them were on the phone, it was empty. I just said ok, went out to my car and called from there getting the lady who had spoken to me 60 seconds prior. Have all GP surgeries fully gone mad or is it just mine?

My adult DD has just told me that she has been diagnosed with raised cholesterol, the test showing this was almost a year ago. She has numerous health conditions and a strong family history of heart disease and high cholesterol, it’s disappointing as she had rung in for those results and been told the results were fine.

Brilliant!

YABVU - you should have stood in front of her and called.

I've literally started googling local surgeries and asked a few local gossip groups. Wanted to get Christmas out the way.

I have also left a message with his consultant, but the secretary said worst case scenario I can call 111 and explain the situation with medications.

Because of some other medical conditions I have to have “extra” Covid vaccinations. I got a text telling me to ring and book one. I picked up the text when I left work (no phones allowed at work) so started calling (hands free) as I was driving from home. I was quite pleased to start off at around number 10 in the queue. After half an hour driving (still listening to a recorded voice telling me how important my call was) I parked in the car park near the surgery and walked in. It was 4pm on a weekday when surgery should have been in full flow but there were only TWO cars in the staff car park, the waiting room was empty, and the consulting room doors were all open. I was still listening to the recording…. I told the receptionist what was happening and she rolled her eyes as she pushed a button resulting in the sound of a phone ringing and she answered my call! She then told me that the “current boosters are only for those over 75”. I said “and those with underlying conditions including x which I have”. I got my appointment for the booster but haven’t been seen in person by a doctor since before Covid despite the fact I’m supposed to have regular checkups. My surgery has never gone back to normal since the pandemic.

Tbf surgery wait times are not the GPs fault

Yes, completely mad! I had blood test results come in and told by receptionist on the phone that the doctor really needs to see me over the results. I asked her to make me an appointment then and she said she couldn't do that, I'd have to call at 8.30am to try and get an appointment! Then I call in the morning and can't get a bloody appointment. Waiting time to see the nurse is months. And yet whenever I do go, the whole place is empty. They've also replaced a GP at the surgery with a paramedic.

No it's not the gp's fault. But the healthcare system we all pay in to is now shit. It largely shut down over covid. Hospitals are now semi functioning again but GP surgeries are inaccessible in lots of areas. Different reasons, sure, but when you're at the sharp end needing medical treatment and none is happening it all looks the fucking same.

Interesting that so many when you go in the GP is empty. I had to go in for a change of address and was the only one there at 11am. I asked if it was a training day or something and the receptionist said no it wasn’t and they were very busy?!

Had a 9.15 last week - a waiting room that used to be bustling with maybe 40+ people in it - there were 2 of us.

Took a friend yesterday to her doctors a 4.30pm appt only ones in there - really don’t get it !

My surgery is the same, always empty. Cannot get through on the phone, always a recorded message saying the queue is full please try again later, but at least when you go in they can actually make an appointment for you.

Ours is a car crash. Can only book appointments on the day you have to ring at 8:00 sharp to even have chance. Th waiting room is always empty

Years ago my gp surgery tried only allowing appointments to be booked by phone call. I asked if I stood there and phoned would I then get an appointment. Was told yes.
So I stood at the desk and phoned and the receptionist that had just refused to make the appointment at the desk answered the phone and made the appointment on the phone while we looked at each other.
Bonkers, and that policy didn’t last long !

We didn’t have the money. It took 10 months to finally get a GP to see him.

He has Multiple Myeloma with 5 broken vertebrae, broken ribs, and a hip now.

10 fucking months.

That's the reason why I do most things in my home country. I avoid GP unless it is very much needed, or it is A&E, which really should be sorted by GO at first place.

I just had a ct scan and full blood test done in 48 hours and all that cost me €20

The wait time is a big issue and private insurance is so expensive :(

And my reply would be "you can tell me what to use my iphone for and what apps to have when you pay for it

YES, GP seems useless right now.
Can only assume it's the receptionists rather than the actual doctors though.
Between this and them "having no record" of things that there definitely should be records of?
Doing my head in honestly.
Have very little faith in the service anymore honestly.

I'm a GP receptionist at a practice with 19k patients , I have been there less than a year but my goodness it's an eye opener as to what goes on behind the scenes . On the odd occasions when the waiting room appears quiet patients have no idea what is happening being closed doors or round the back . There could be patients in treatment rooms waiting for ambulances which means we are working frantically in the back re organising the nurses appointment screen whilst the others attend to the emergencies . We have started asking people to ring to make emergency on the day appointments as opposed to coming in , nothing to do with calls being recorded but because at 8.30 we could have a queue to the door if all those people want an emergency on the day appointment it leaves little or nothing for the people that are ringing and that's unfair . So to make it fair for everyone , everyone needs to ring now.

Bit like the lockdowns then. Locking everyone down was also seen as fairer.

Oh we know how busy you are, busy following all procedures that create work, annoy people and help the population see how money and time are wasted.

An example, it was not possible to change my son's phone number on his record whilst he was actually on the phone to the receptionist, oh no he had to fill a form in. Then when he asked how he did this, she didn't know and had to faff finding out by looking at their website. He has since, 2 days after that call, had an email asking him to confirm his email. If this has been done on the phone it would have taken seconds.

Waste of everyone's time. We've gone backwards.

@JenniferBooth I don't make the rules , I would love to give everyone an appointment when they wanted one but it's not feasible. One day last week , due to staff sickness/ emergency home visits we had 16 afternoon appointments available.

@DreamItDoIt yep that sounds ridiculous, I would have just changed it over the phone .

I think they just can't recruit. My mum's GP is an old fashioned family GP where there are 2 GP sisters left (the practice had been their parents). They cannot recruit for another GP and have tried loads of times. This is a nice village, not a deprived area with lots of social inequality and problems like addiction etc. If they can't recruit to an "easy" practice then things really are bad.

I think there have been some very strange decisions regarding working practices post COVID that I just don't believe are done for any real reason such as effiency/better patient service etc. You are not telling me that Patientaccess type IT systems are an improvement on someone at the end of a telephone listening to your personal story as a human being and making a quicker more correct decision on the best course of action or looking on their screen to give you an appointment. These systems are so inefficient and more importantly INEFFECTIVE (to downright dangerous) that the only answer must be that it's making someone a lot of money OR that there are now so few medical staff available and it's just purely a system to deliberately try to actually put you off accessing any care unless you're seriously ill. And to try to push more people to going private.

I recently turned up at opening time at my local walk in centre (because the GP is no longer doing open surgery like they did pre-COVID which worked very wel). The walk-in was closed because there wasn't enough staff. I had to go to one across the city. When I mentioned it to the nurse there they said that it's because there has to be a minimum number of staff and if it falls below that then they just shut the whole place and send the staff who ARE there somewhere else. Mad.

Mycatsanutter - How many GPs are at your surgery for the 19,000 patients, and how many appointments are allocated daily?