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.

I'm sorry, it's a rubbish situation and I can't believe there are so many posters saying a four week wait is good for a non urgent appointment?! It's real race to the bottom stuff. We all deserve better. As a child and even as a student I was always able to see a doctor within a few days, even for acne which I struggled with for years. Now we have the same 8am phone lottery for urgent appointments and seemingly nothing for non-urgent cases.
I'm sorry for your daughter, and echo other suggestions of trying Duac and Acnecide over the counter. It made a real difference for me and I still use it now in my 30s (but watch out for the bleaching, I'd suggest a white pillow case!).

Moved house and changed GP. New GP only gives appointments when you call at 8am. Unfortunately, now I have to drive my DCs to schools and we have to leave at 8:05. I need a medication review, but am unable to sit and wait from 8am on the phone, as I am driving. Receptionist just told me they can not help me any further. Total madness 😤

Have you tried black soap?

Personally I would be arguing that some of the spots are becoming infected and looking very angry… making it medically urgent!

4 weeks is just not good enough!

It’s a simple issue - no offense - but it truly is. When I was 16 I went to a GP. They opened the handbook to acne and they prescribed the first thing it told them to. They did that twice more, over the period of 3 months. Nothing worked so they referred to a dermatologist.

roaccutane was the best thing to have ever happened to me.

4 weeks is not good enough for an appointment and I would be trying to move surgeries. Sorry but it is urgent - a month to a teenager with spots is a life time.

Pay privately for her to see a dermatologist. £150-£200 for a consultation.

Op I'm sorry your daughter is going through this. Like this post, pay privately if you are able to. Could be seen and started on treatment on a short period of time.
Superdrug online pharmacy is also a good recommended.
Skin & me is also worth looking into for the future.

Your gp booking system sounds bonkers!

I can totally sympathise op. I’ve come out in adult acne at 40, my face looks a mess and I’m embarrassed to even leave the house. I filled all the forms out two weeks ago, got no call back. Called them and told to go to the chemist it’s only acne ( receptionists words) wouldn’t even offer me an appointment. I’m at a loss what to do

Oh no, your poor daughter. Four weeks is unacceptable and their system sounds bonkers. It's in stark contrast to our GP surgery. YANBU.

I don’t know why you’ve called your GP instead of a dermatologist?

surely that would be better, they are right in this isn’t an emergency.

I’d love to be able to see a dermatologist, how things are I can’t afford the gas bill let alone a private dermatologist appointment. Many people are in the same situation

Arrghh some of these responses are so depressing..YANBU. my gp surgery is like all the others and very stretched but they had seen my DD within a week for acne and prescribed antibiotics and a cream and there has been a big improvement in a fortnight. Yes acne is a medical problem. This is literally what the GP is for.. People's expectations of the NHS are now so low that it seems we need a debate about whether your medical condition is worthy of an appointment before you actually get considered for an appointment. How low can we go ?

I would be wary of seeing the GP for acne anyway. I took my son and he was prescribed long term medication which gave him awful stomach issues and pain and didn’t really make a difference to his skin at all.

I ended up taking him to a dermatologist and they prescribed a skincare routine (the Obagi system) which really improved his skin and his confidence/happiness. This is not something he would have been prescribed via the GP.

It's quite normal at our surgery to wait 3-4 weeks for a non urgent appointment. I know your daughter is upset about her skin but it really isn't an urgent medical issue. I would look for a skin clinic near you who can probably offer advice sooner.

I've got adult acne and it flared with stress last year. GP wouldn't offer me anything so I went to Dermatica online; filled out the form sent some photos in and their dermatologists prescribed me a cream and it cleared my skin up in 3 months. The cream had antibiotic in. They emailed to check how I was getting on, I emailed them when I had a concern about some itching and they responded promptly so this could be a route to look at?
another thing I use a lot are the spot plasters, fab at drawing out the gunk overnight and reducing how angry the spots look.
I feel for her, I remember how bad my acne was at school and the impact on my mental health xx

This is depressing. My gp tends to do a phone call after you upload photos within 48 hours for something like this. Occasionally he just texts back which I hate because it’s always suggesting stuff I’ve tried. Having had eczema all my life I do know how to treat my dc but when it’s got to the point she needs a prescription I have to call the gp and deal with him texting the basics I’ve already tried. I also had an allergic reaction that made my eyes swell like I’d been punched. The receptionist made me go to the opticians for a report before she’d put me on the gp list… I’ve had allergies for years and knew I needed steroids. The optician was cross with my gp and wrote telling him. He argued that because my symptoms were eye related it was appropriate. It wasn’t like this for us a year ago. I wonder how long before we’re waiting 4 weeks.

So the GP can refer them if needed and prescribe? I couldn't afford a private dermatologist

OP I'd be wary of Lymecycline. I was put on for 2 years as a young adult and it did absolutely nothing. Apart from giving me terrible infections (including recurring thrush, which I've never had since) and leaving me with stained teeth.

Then I found an old tube of Benzoyl Peroxide in my mum's drawer and it was like a miracle. It was hard to get hold of 15 years ago due to EU restrictions, now available as Acnecide gel in Boots (they also have a range of other products, moisturiseretc). Gotta be worth a shot.

I feel for your poor daughter, it's really impacts your confidence.

I say this with a heavy heart because I work in a doctors surgery but I think the receptionist/patient coordinator did an appalling job here. You should always be giving patients options but that option should never be write in and complain! Most surgeries have a clinical pharmacist and given you've filled out an e consult form with photos wouldn't that be enough information to prescribe the standard treatment? This is how I would have handled it and with that in mind I would have tasked a pharmacist and asked if treatment could be prescribed. There are so many ways this could have been handled better. I would complain OP. Complaints have to be acted on and learnt from to improve the service.

No I haven’t. All though OP described black heads and now a few angry spots, I didn’t know that was classed as acne.

No, a beautician would unlikely solve it but they are skin experts and can transform skin, it’s better then doing nothing.