To wonder if other Drs surgeries are as shit as mine

[Ohmegerd]

I've been unwell since January. Horrible hacking cough, burning lungs and i suspected it's a chest infection. Managed to make a doctors appointment at the time but they could only offer a phone consultation despite me calling at 8am sharp after being on hold for 45 minutes. Was told GP can ring anytime between 12pm and 8pm. Not ideal to be worrying all afternoon incase I miss the call but hey. GP did indeed ring and prescribed antibiotics, advising cough will improve slowly itself. Antibiotics made a slight difference and I muddled through a busy month of Feb in the hope I'd start feeling better.

Over the past few days I'm struggling again. I fall asleep but suddenly awaken gagging and unable to swallow. It's freaked me out and then I'm too anxious to go back to sleep. Horrible spluttering cough which leaves me feeling lightheaded. Chest hurts. Bladder seems to have given up on me and I'm leaking atleast once day after an episode. Rang GP yestrday but to no avail. Re-attempted this morning 8am sharp and after 25 minutes on hold again offered a phone consultation. I insisted on a face to face app but none left. I feel so fed up and upset. It's an absolute shitshow. Wtf will it take to be able to actually see a doctor??

Before we moved house, my GP surgery still had the doors firmly locked and you couldn't get into the building without an appointment. Getting an appointment was another hurdle as they hardly ever answered the phone.

We've since moved and my new surgery is bloody amazing. You can get an appointment on the day and I see the same GP each time. She takes time to listen instead of writing out a prescription before I've even sat down.

Lots of useful advice given via their messaging service and helpful reminders for things like blood tests etc.

I'd change your GP surgery if I was you.

Oh ALWAYS clearing my throat!

Yep!!!

I had an appointment at 6:45 the other day. I was finally seen at 7:15!!! Nobody had left the building that entire time so I was the only one there

That sounds very efficient. I personally wouldn't mind online as I hate being on hold for ages and then being let down. but I know my elderly neighbours and my parents would struggle with anything Internet related.

My DD15 has had a cough for months, we did see a GP (as ours are pretty decent) and the GP referred to it as the 100 day cough as its going round and lasting massively.

My GP surgery is shit too, but since the CQC found them "Inadequate" and they lost their contract, another local practice has stepped in to manage them, and they are definitely less shit. I mean I haven't seen a doctor since before the pandemic and I have zero confidence that they would actually diagnose anything serious that was wrong with me, but they happily prescribe HRT by phone and I guess that is something.

You can still phone and the receptionist fills the form in for you.

@Aydel I am so sorry.

Our GPs' website is a confusing mess and I’m very tech-confident so god knows what it’s like for people who are nervous of navigating the internet. You’re directed to a ‘Consulting Room' page which then just opens up to a total blank.

I recently paid to see a consultant privately and she was great - referred me back to an NHS service for the next step and advised me to chase it up with the GP 'right now'. I gave it a week then rang them - at least now they have an on-hold system that tells you your queue position rather than just endlessly ringing. Got through eventually, explained - total bewilderment. They 'didn’t have' the letter that I’d been sent. Couldn’t tell me what to do. Eventually, rather reluctantly, told me to email it to them marked for my GP and they’d pass it on, but warned that I’d just have to wait to be contacted for the onward referral. No idea when/how long. I know it’s not their fault but just so depressing. Haven’t had any acknowledgment from the GP.

I can see I’ll end up paying privately, which is what the consultant was nicely trying to spare me from doing.

Do people actually think GPs are sat twiddling their thumbs?
There are not enough GPs.
The contracts that are being enforced on the GP practices are not paying enough to sustain existing staff let alone recruit more staff.
GPs are providing more appointments than ever but only ever get bad mouthed.
You may think your surgeries are rubbish and your ‘part time’ GPs are the problem but I think we all know where the problem lies. Use your vote.

Our GP Surgery has Econsult online which is great for non-urgent stuff - when I completed the form for chronic back pain and wanting more powerful pain relief they made me an appointment with a physio with a view to considering injections in 3 weeks time. But still issued a prescription for further medication until I have my appointment. However when it is more urgent - if no appointment is available - you can still use the Econsult and they will call you in - if they feel it warrants an appointment but however it works you get a response within 48 hours whether it is phone call or text message.
GD was seen yesterday for various things going on that she just does not seem to be recovering from and DD was concerned that they may be missing something as she seems to be constantly dosing on calpol. Happily nothing to be concerned about - just a lot of it about - GDs school seems to be having the run of similar to slapped cheek syndrome (but it isn't!) not to mention all manner of other lurgies but GP was perfectly fine about Mums' concerns and did a thorough check of temperature, oxygen levels, ears, throat, rashes etc.
But my elderly neighbour has nothing but problems when trying to contact the same surgery - to hear her issues - you would think she went to a totally different surgery!! So some good and some bad for us all.

Our surgery you have to call at 8, but it can take half an hour or so of redialling before you can actually get through to go on hold in the queue. It's infuriating!

However, once you get through you can get a face to face GP appointment same day, or opt for a phonecall.

It took me 717 attempts to get through to my surgery, I'm pregnant and suffering from severe sciatica.

I had to call at 8am but started trying from about 7.55 and couldn't fathom how when the lines opened, i couldn't get through at all. Wouldn't even ring just got an engaged tone. Then I finally after two hours got through, only to be on hold for another 45 minutes with the same pre-recorded message and awful music on repeat until the line cut off. At this point I wanted to cry. Another 30 min attempt to get through and holding for 20 mins I got to speak to an actual human being who had obviously had a bit of a morning of it and wasn't particularly the most pleasant of receptionists. I used to be one so appreciate the hard job they have but I was always kind, even when dealing with difficult patients because you don't know what they are going through. Advised I had to call back or go to an urgent care centre. At this point I just cried because I'd tried to call the previous week and gave up. I managed to get a telephone call appointment the same day and the GP was lovely.

The last two times one of my children has been unwell and needed to see a doctor, I've phoned the surgery around mid morning and they've been seen the same day. Mind you, we only call when they're really ill (DW is a healthcare worker so deals with most things herself).

The practice is pretty busy when we're in there, but quieter than pre-covid. The waiting room is probably about half to two thirds full, usually.

Our GP practice is wonderful.

I hope you get well soon

My surgery been a mess for a while, ring at 8am for on day appointment but sit for ages in a queue then nothing available. They recommend using the e-consult which was fine the first year but now takes days to get a response. You're supposed to get a response same day if you report before 3pm, but that doesn't happen. And generally the response is "book to see doctor", so back to the phone queue. Rotas released 6 weeks ahead but fill up quickly and you have to wait for them to reopen. Thank god, I've had nothing major wrong for a while. I'm in pain waiting for a steroids injection since February, finally managed to book for April

Mine is shit. Haven’t seen a dr in person since pre Covid times. Their attempts to avoid patients are causing stress on other services and ironically, more stress on their own service.

I recently got a really nasty sinus and ear infection following a cold. Filled in a consultation and was fobbed off with referral to a pharmacist, who prescribed antibiotics (unfortunately the wrong ones as they are limited in what they can prescribe).

The antibiotics were not working, I got actively worse, couldn’t get my temp down below 39, could not keep on top of the pain. Filled in another consultation and no one contacted me for FOUR DAYS.

Except on the 3rd day, things had escalated to the point where I had a constant 39.5 temp, nausea, wooziness and started hallucinating. I called 111 who, firstly tried to send me to a walk in 40 miles away. I declined. They said a clinician would call me back in two hours. They didn’t.

I ended up in A and E. they saw me quickly as my blood pressure was 161/103. Triage forgot to do blood tests! They sent me home with more antibiotics and thankfully, some codeine.

The antibiotics worked wonderfully for 2 days, then I randomly had a reaction to them. Except it wasn’t random, the antibiotics were not supposed to have been prescribed to anyone with a history of liver disease. A and E had r checked my medical history or asked any relevant q’s.

So finally, after all this fucking faff and suffering my GP gets in touch by phone and prescribed me the right bastard antibiotics.

Then I just needed a sick note for work. Put in a request online only to get a phonecall from the surgery to let me know that I will need an appointment for this and their closest appointment is in 10 days.

All of this, literally all of it could have been avoided with one face to face GP appointment 🙄

But what do you expect a GP to do in person that they can't do over the phone? It's not like they can see your lungs. They're making the best use of their very over stretched time. I am a big fan of e-consult and phone appointments, so much easier. Do yourself a favour and take the phone appointment.

Look in my ear. Which they definitely cant see over the phone. This would have prompted them to realise that I needed antibiotics more suitable for the ear infection rather than the sinus infection and also check whether the infection had spread to the bone (I have an iga deficiency and a history of bone infections Btw).

They also could have checked my blood pressure that way.

I do not believe GPs are providing more appointments in any meaningful sense.

Ten years ago I would call, make one fixed appointment to see my GP, and be discharged with the appropriate actions completed in about 10 minutes (prescription, tests, referral, whatever.)

Now I would fill in an online form, and wait for a call from the nurse or clinical pharmacist which may come at any time in a 4 hour window. If I miss this call, I will get a message telling me to call again tomorrow if I still need to speak to them. If I do answer the call they will be pleasant but never have any answers, so they will need to speak to someone else. Then call me again to clarify something. Then speak to a doctor. Then call me again. Lots of time, lots of consultations, higher activity on paper, but no increase in actual care delivered. They are making themselves busy and wasting patient time too trying to do clever gatekeeping instead of just providing the appropriate care. It looks good on paper but as a patient it feels shit.

The last time I tried, I did an E-Consult, because I had a raging sore throat and couldn’t swallow properly. The chemists told me I needed to see a GP.

The GP phoned and said they could only do a phone appointment and to take a photo and send it…

I’m still trying to work out how to get an IPhone in my mouth to take a pic of my tonsils/throat.🙄

I gave up and booked a private GP. Got an appt the following morning and he examined me and prescribed anti-bs for a throat infection.

Bloody hopeless at our GP practice.🙁

I think our Doctor's work from home mostly, doing phone appointments. The surgery is usually very quiet with just receptionists and nurses doing routine appointments. I suspect a Doctor goes in once a week or so for face to face appointments that are rarer than hen's teeth. Cushy life for the Doctors now.

I'm so sorry and that is awful. Mine always get me in for lung related issues.

Does your surgery not have an econsult option on their website?
My surgery is terrible for answering phone but going on econsult quick and easy add symptoms/photos etc and I either get a doctors call back or email and prescriptions via there too if no face to face needed.

No they're not all like this. Mine is very good. They have moved to almost entirely F2F appointments now. You can book them online a week in advance, or call and book them, or pop in and book them. Can also call on the day at 8am and get emergency appointments - I have managed to do this every time I've called, although granted sometimes I've been on hold awhile. But they've never turned me away.

We also have econsult so you can do an online request, and you get a response within 4 days.

When I go and see my GP for a F2F appointment, if he needs to see me again he books it in there and then whilst I'm in the room.

I tend to find surgeries with a smaller catchment area/number of patients tend to be better. Mine is fairly small - something like 9000 patients - but has around 8 doctors I believe. I used to be a patient at a surgery with a huge patient load and it was awful.

Every GP I know (I know several) are working their working week from home permanently. This is why it seems so quiet in surgeries.

My parents’ local surgery is seriously failing. Patients are being urged to make complaints, staff are visiting patients in their own homes to take statements, so that the surgery can try and improve things. It’s frightening.