Getting cross with doctor’s surgery

[Airspice]

I’m seething over a situation and don’t know if i am being unreasonable feeling like this.

My 16 year old daughter has always had bad blackheads as a teen. In the last couple of months actual bad spots have developed and her skin looks red and she’s obviously very self conscious of it, we’ve had a fair amount of tears.

After trying several things, diet change, skin care options etc, today I decided something needed to be done. She has her Year 11 prom in June and is distraught at the thought of going with her spots as they are now.

With our docs we have to fill out a lengthy online form, with photos etc, and if we get that form in early enough on a day my doctor is actually working (she works part time 3 days a week) we might be lucky enough to get a call.

8.30 I’m furious filling out this form hoping to be one of todays ‘lucky ones’
2pm I get a phone call from the patient coordinator, a doctor has deemed this not medically urgent’ and so an appointment with my doctor is available on 4th April. Today is 7th March. So in FOUR weeks time.

As if that isn’t bad enough, that’s in the school Easter holidays and we are abroad! When I explain this the PC says ‘well you’ll have to fill out the form again when you get back’!!!! What, and then potentially wait ANOTHER four weeks?!

So then I said that this was too long to wait and we were more than happy to see another (ANY!) doctor. Oh no that’s not allowed unless it’s ‘medically urgent’. I said ‘well to my 16 year old daughter this IS urgent!

Nope, not urgent and tough shit basically. He says I can email and complain. So I do.

My points were:

1. Appalling that the first appointment available wasn’t for another 4 weeks.
2. It’s wrong that because my doctor works part time the wait is even longer. Not that I think she shouldn’t be part time, of course I don’t think that, but if she is part time another doctor should also be available to us if necessary.
3. No wonder mental health is through the roof when a self conscious teenage girl, who currently hates herself because of the issue, is being ‘left’ like this.
4. The whole ‘whoever fills out the online form from 8.30 in the quickest time, might get a call back’ way of making appointments is a pile of shite.
5. The whole system is crap.

And just purely coincidental, whilst furiously trying to fill in this form this morning, my work colleague who lives in a different area, also needed to see a doctor ‘non urgently’ today, so rang her doctors at 8.30 and got an appointment at 2pm today!!!!

WTAF??!! Where do we turn now?!

So…..

AIBU - doctors have enough on their plates without me ranting and putting in a complaint.
AINBU - the whole thing is an absolute mess and I have every right to be fucked off.

Surely they can book you in for when you get back? If not fill in the form 4 weeks ahead of when you can see a doctor.
I have sympathy as my son had a next day appointment booked, the doctor was ill and it was cancelled and the next one I was given was 4 weeks later. Fortunately it could wait.

The whole thing is a mess I agree, but where I live at the moment it’s possible to just go and see a dermatologist with no referral. Alternatively phone round some specialist skin clinics and see what they can offer. I would be doing this before trying to see a GP to be honest.

A teenager with spots is not an urgent medical issue, however horrible it must be for her.

I agree that many e-consult services are frustrating, especially when practices restrict the hours you can access it - my GP has it open 24hrs and deals with it all while open. My neighbours is open for three hours a day, my mother doesn't have it at all so it's worth considering changing practice - if you live somewhere which has a choice of course.

This is just how it is these days, I look after an elderly chap who has been in agony for weeks due to a broken tooth and can't afford private. Direct your anger at the underfunding/mismanagement of the NHS.

Spots aren’t medically urgent. You’ve been offered an appointment. Do another consultation four weeks before you get back from holiday!

Who are you angry with here?

It is awful for your daughter and she needs a prompt assessment, even though it is not an emergency. She should be seen soon.

But there are not enough doctors in the country due to funding. GPs’ workloads are impossible. They can’t magic doctors out of nowhere to see patients. So they have to prioritise.

We need a different government asap.

Can you see one of the other doctors. You usually don't have to see the one you are actually registered too.

Get him to phone 111 , they will direct him to an emergency NHS dentist to get him out of pain for now.

Sorry OP but YABU. Spots aren’t a medical emergency and 4 weeks is pretty standard for most GP’s now for non-urgent things.

It's not urgent though. You'd be seething and writing to the daily mail with a sad face if you found out your seriously unwell mother wasn't able to get a same day appointment because a teenager had some acne.

It’s so frustrating how different each GP practice is. I don’t blame you for feeling this way.

Re the ache - I’ve linked the St George’s Hospital treatment guidelines. First step for mild to moderate acne is benzoyl peroxide, which you can buy otc as Acnecide. I’d get her started on that while you wait for appointment.

https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Management-of-Acne.pdf

You can get any treatment that a GP would prescribe from an online pharmacy.

I was just about to add that
I followed the acne.org regime and it helped massively for mine

From the OP that you presumably read some moments ago:

"So then I said that this was too long to wait and we were more than happy to see another (ANY!) doctor. Oh no that’s not allowed unless it’s ‘medically urgent’"

Everyone saying acne isn't medically urgent. No but the impact on the mental health can vmbe devastating and therefore urgent

It can be but it's still a long term chronic issue not an acute one. If it were infected and the Dr was still saying a 4 week wait then you're well within your rights to be angry.

Try Dermatica online dermatologists or Boots online - I highly recommend both of these for acne.

but yeah, that’s a bad system they have OP

Take her to a pharmacy and get advice from the pharmacist while you wait.

I think YANBU to get annoyed with the wait, but trying to argue that some teenage zits are "urgent" is pretty stupid.

The receptionists are probably scrabbling round for appointments for people with possible cancer symptoms, mental health breakdowns, infections that need antibiotics before they spread, people in agony etc.

If your DD's spots were actually an urgent medical problem, you wouldn't have been trying to sort them out at home for months and would rather get them treated than go on holiday.

Nurse Practioner?

@Isittimeformynapyet ooops I missed that bit.
At my surgery you only see a specific doctor if you request one.They just book you in with the first one who is free.
I guess the OPs surgery is the opposite.

It does seem odd that you're allocated appointments based on who your named dr is, rather than on medical need. I don't think my DC or I have ever seen the specific named dr we're registered to.

But I assume your dr has fewer patients under her because of her part time hours, so you might not actually be waiting longer. All the dr might have 4 week waits for non urgent appointments.

But generally, yes I'd agree that four weeks isn't acceptable. But it's not really the surgery's fault if that's how many patients want appointments.
At my surgery you flat out wouldn't get an appointment for spots. You'd call at 8, maybe get through, be deemed non-urgent, and they only do urgent on the day appointments. It's not possible to book in advance for anything other than smear tests and vaccinations. If it's not serious, you will never get an appointment.

How do you ever get treatment? Lots of stuff is not urgent but still needs treatment.

Not sure what you have tried in terms of medication available from the pharmacy already , but have you considered something like https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/treatment-for-acne.html Superdrug’s doctor service for acne , then you could get the ball rolling straight away .

Actually my Mother had appalling treatment when suddenly diagnosed with cancer and passed away very quickly and in agony, earlier this year. I suspect the the stress my daughter suffered over that has contributed to the skin issue

I'd say unfortunately it's the type of symptoms now that will be bumped to low priority. There are plenty of people with worse and they do have to prioritise. It's terrible as everyone should be seen within a couple of days. This used to be the case a long time ago.
Could you afford a private dermatology doctor? If not it's a case of waiting I think, but there must be a pharmacy medication she can take in the meantime.