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.

The NHS really shouldn't be there for teenage breakouts.

You don’t know it’s ‘just a breakout’. Acne can be very painful, and “is associated with increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies”. Not to mention that a lot of the treatments that actually work for it are only available on prescription. It’s a chronic condition that can have significant effects on people. OP’s posts suggests they’ve tried things and it’s getting worse, not better.

I agree it’s not ‘urgent’ though and a four week wait, although uncomfortable, is probably about right.

Sorry that it's such a struggle to see a GP in the UK. What's even more shocking is that so many posters simply accept this appalling situation as if it's reasonable.

Vote the Tories out and make funding and employing staff in the NHS and Education a priority.

I can ring up my GP and get a same day appt here in Ireland where I live. That's how it should be on the NHS too.

You can get Lymecycline on private prescription from online services like Superdrug. I don’t know for sure if they’d do it for under 18s but worth investigating?

Of course it’s not ‘medically urgent’ a 4 week wait for acne treatment is actually quite good in the current state the NHS is in.

Why do you think writing a letter of complaint changes anything? They can’t magic appointments that aren’t there. You are being ridiculous.

It is a dire situation and a postcode lottery. At my GP surgery you phone at 8.30 and after hanging on for 20mins in a queue get a same day appointment. It’s not right that it’s so variable across the country.

could you consider a private GP appointment? They can be as little as £50. Then the prescription cost. Or private derm appointment?

agree the NHS has to prioritise but that doesn’t help your daughter.

4 weeks is ok. It’s a non urgent problem . Your part time GP will have a smaller number of patients allocated to them so you won’t wait longer.
YABU . Try a Guinot facial. Amazing products

I can recommend a number of options

1. my private dermatologist Dr Natalia spierings
2. boots online acne clinic
3. dermatica / skin and me

What have you already tried

I'm sure Superdrug prescribe for acne treatments online.

So sorry you are going through this. I did same for my 16yo dd, filled in online form (by sitting by the computer ready to pounce at 6pm when the online appts are released.)
At 8.10 the following morning Dr texted me to say scrip is at pharmacy. It must have taken less than a minute.

@Airspice
Sorry your daughter is going through this. Acne is terrible for self esteem.

I can’t help with the doctors but I did work with dermatologists for a while and I can offer a few things to try.

1. Savlon. It really can work wonders. Get her to apply twice a day and hopefully it will help.

2. Dermatologist appointments. You can go private and they will be able to help

3. Mask Peels and Milk peels are good for reducing acne. Again there is a cost so I advice trying the Savlon first but it can definitely help.

4. Acne is often hormone related but things like dairy can be trigger’s especially around menstruation. Would she be willing to look at reducing dairy for a while to see if it is a trigger.

Private derm appointment - not expensive for a one off, might even do online appointment. Where in country are you?
Lymyceline is not an expensive drug to buy without NHS prescription costs.

You are going abroad on holiday so I will assume there is some disposable income in your household. Yes, sad this isn't available on NHS but if she really is devastated then well worth the cost.

Get started used benzoyl peroxide skin washes /treatment (acenide) as that is usually first recommended step before drugs.

Gp's aren't dermatologists and a referral to a proper derm will take months and months. You'd be better off going private if you can afford it or doing some research online how to treat it. Most medications can be obtained online now.

Agree that acne isn't an emergency though. I struggled to see a gp for 6 months with cancer symptoms which turned out to be stage 3 cancer by the time I was diagnosed. I'd rather things like that were prioritised, as awful as acne is - it can be treated outside of the gp relatively easily.

My local GP surgery went over to 'total triage' at the end of last summer

When I submit an online form for something I know is non urgent, I'll get an appointment in approx 2 weeks

Not yet tried for anything urgent

Our practice system seems to work well this way, rather than calling up at 8am hanging on the telephone then begging for an appointment

I think the fact everything is now triaged is great- it also prevents some patients "shopping around" with GPs and being frequent flyers, coming to the practice week in week out with non urgent stuff!

Lots of good suggestions from everyone re private consults, over the counter options etc. I’d be cautious about using anything heavy duty before you go on holiday if you’re going somewhere hot and sunny though, her skin might react differently in the sun.

Are you able to call the surgery, say you’ve been offered an appointment but will be away, so can they book you in for the week after? I get the feeling they probably won’t though given the stonewalling from the person you’ve already spoken to.

With regards to complaining - I know my GP has a “friends of xxxx surgery” patient focus group - if you have something similar, they might be a good place to give feedback about what is clearly a ridiculous appointment system. If not, I would wait until you’ve managed to get an appointment, and got your DC started on treatment, then raise a complaint. Keep it factual, unemotional, focussed on the appointment booking system and it’s obvious flaws. Ask for clarification on which GP you’re able to see, whether you can see a different one if non-emergency etc. Ideally, suggest a reasonable resolution / outcome you would like.

I really feel for your DC - I didn’t have acne, but did have other self image issues at that age, I’m 45 now and I still feel the effects of the lack of confidence these things create.

Reslly hope you manage to get something sorted soon - good luck!

I might be missing something but can’t you fill in the form in about 5 days, chances are they’ll give you a date just after you get back from holiday. I don’t see why you should have to wait until you get back.

The whole thing is falling apart. And as always management at all levels seems to use as little logic as possible. Your gp’s system sounds particularly insane - can you switch gp? Btw Sunflower oil helps massively with acne - at least twice a day. Don’t get it in the eyes. Seems counterintuitive but there’s method in the madness. Put it on just like you would moisturiser.

Obviously this is difficult when wearing make up as it does make skin slippy but in morning she can slap oil on first thing after washing face with water, then just rinse the oil off so it isn’t so oily. And put make up on just before leaving.

In afternoon after school take all make up off, swipe with miceller water, then oil and leave.

Then oil again before bed.
Do it for 2/3 weeks then assess.

sorry to hear about your mum and that your daughter is having a tough time.

A pharmacy can deal with acne.. they do for my Grandson and have done for two years. ( Also see a beauty therapist for a make over who can advice on covering her skin for the prom and offer a skin care routine).
Their advice is better than a generic GP actually.
GPs are over stretched.
I'm physically disabled..(age 66)after an attempted murder on my life and being thrown under a bus.. had so many operations l can't remember.. but l wait paitently in chronic pain to get an appointment.. my orthopaedic appointment has been cancelled 6 times from beginning of 2023... because they're are people worse off than me.. waiting for cancer treatment and other life threatening conditions.. and the NHS saved my life once before.

I do sympathise OP. I had awful acne as a teenager and years of back and forth with the doctor led to me to going on the pill which cleared it but I was probably 18 by that point. I remember being able to get some products higher strength than off the shelf from behind the counter at the pharmacy, so that might be worth a visit.

It’s not medically urgent. You need a dermatologist, ideally, or start using something like Skin & Me which has a good reputation for problem skin.

Hi OP. I sympathise. I get spots at the age of 32 & it really affects my self esteem! So has a teenager times that by 50! Can I ask what area of her face the spots effect? Because if it is the chin/lower jaw this could be hormonal, so not spot treatments will really help. Taking the contraceptive pill helped sort mine out! Maybe if you call for that reason it will be more ‘urgent’?!

Fill it in again and say it’s for mental health and that your daughter is depressed about it. That way it may get sorted sooner? If you don’t stress how it is affecting her, the spots in themselves won’t be deemed as urgent.

Go on boots pharmacy online. Get her to set up a profile. You can take photos and send them to the pharmacist.
They will then prescribe her privately.
Cost my son £28 I think.

Also a walk in centre with a nurse practitioner would be very helpful and they can do prescriptions.

Hi Op, try asking for an extended access nurse prescriber appointment - in our area you can book Saturday & Sunday a little further away than our usual surgery, and the nurse prescriber sorted my daughter & sons skin issues successfully -

YABU. It’s not urgent. You said yourself that she’s had it for a long time. You got an appointment in a reasonable time for something non-urgent.
if you feel it more of a priority then pay to see someone privately.