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??

They carry stethoscopes for a reason. They also have otoscopes, and they can swab your throat if strep is suspected.

They can also measure your blood pressure, feel your boobs and pits for lumps, feel your abdomen, and much more.

They do hands-on, physical examination of patients as part of their training for a reason.

Mine’s like that too plus the receptionists come across really rude

@Rosesanddaisies1 I had three phone consultations for a sinus infection that just resulted in me being told to do the same thing over and over. Then I saw a doctor and he took my temp which was sky high and looked in my ears and worked out, within seconds, that this was a problem with my ears and not my nose, which all the other people I had spoken to had said it was. If it wasn't for him, I'd be getting a referral to get my sinuses drilled.

So GP just rang. I brought up that it could possibly be reflux but I'd need an appointment face to face ideally to determine what it is. He decided to prescribe me omprazole... I wasn't happy but he said to try it and he would also make a chest xray referral.

He sounded half asleep!

Be careful with omeprazole!! My mum was put on it and was never told she had to have regular blood tests, until she had been on it for about five years!

No they are not all like this. I can always get an appt at my GP within a couple of days. I can book appts online, phone waiting times aren't long, and I can also contact a GP by message for non urgent queries. Could you change GP OP? A friend of mine has recently changed over to the one I'm at and she can't believe how much better it is than the one she was at.

It’s hard to get an appointment at my surgery - hard to get through on the phone and then generally no appointments and a long wait but every time I do get to see a GP the care I receive is excellent.

If I feel I need to be seen rather than telephone appointment I go to a walk in or urgent treatment centre though. Yes, in general a lot of things can be dealt with by a phone appointment but it misses baseline observations which can be critical.

The whole system is in such a mess. I was recently diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis, the pain is seriously affecting my life on a day to day basis.
I'm constantly in pain and have difficulty sleeping because of it.
At best I'm fobbed off with painkillers and anti inflammatories that just dont work.
It's almost impossible to book an appointment in advance . The only solution seems to be taking a day off work in order to phone at 8am, in the hope that I may get an appointment that day...
I just don't know what the answer is.
The disintegration of GP Practices since covid in particular is shocking.
Dentistry has also gone down the same road.

Ours is pretty bad.

Over the last few years (and these are pretty much 90% of all dealings we've had with them):

Misdiagnosed DC with chickenpox when they had hand, foot and mouth

Argued with me and refused a Right to Choose referral - eventually conceded I was right, but took two phone calls and me printing off an email to resolve - they'd "not heard of it before".

Archaic in their systems - as above, there was no way for me to forward an email to them, I had to physically print off an email, take it down to the surgery and wait for them to call me.

Usually pretty good at same-day call backs (no in-person appointments however), except one time when they had none left - without seeing nor speaking to a GP, had antibiotics prescribed for DC, just from the receptionist asking the doctor.

Same. It works really well here. Have had meds prescribed and ready at the dispensary same day too. Pretty impressed by the new system. We get 30 min time slots for calls too, which means no hanging around.

We pay higher taxes in Scotland but our surgery is great. I can get through by phone, get an appointment within 48 hours, I've had some hospital tests same day. No complaints

If GPs can work from home without seeing patients then surely the next step is AI, and no GPs at all, just a computer? All those years of doctors pleading their unique professional training and now they're saying just ring up, it makes no sense. I might as well ring a GP in India, is this on the cards?

It also makes a complete mockery of all the common health advice and public campaigning 'if x happens, consult your doctor' - good luck with that. Preventative medicine is in the bin if only urgent and difficult cases warrant an appointment.

I'm happy for pharmacists to dispense much more than they're currently allowed to, and happy to see nurses, practice pharmacists etc if it's deemed appropriate. We can't keep venerating doctors though if they don't have diagnostic skills. They're just a worst case clearing service.

Yep..ours is awful. They won’t answer the phones, sometimes they hang up on you. There’s only one doctor anyone wants to see and you can expect to wait 3 or 4 weeks if not more to see her. She only works 3 days.
The staff at reception are so rude too. They want to decide whether or not you need a doctor. They shut for lunch 1-2.30 and take the phone off the hook at 4.15. There’s an emergency gp from 6pm in a town about 30 minutes drive away. Sometimes that’s your best bet. I’m in Ireland and I hear the same craic about other places. Got worse since covid for sure.

Can't offer any constructive advice,but I'm seconding what previous posters have said about the GP surgery being deserted, despite being given the impression when you try to book an appointment that they are rushed off their feet!

I'm in Leeds and my GP's are exactly the same. I was going to move, but having read the reviews of the other local ones, they all sound the same! My husband even went to my surgery and asked for an appointment as I have had chronic back pain for 5 weeks now and my usual painkillers have decided to make me violently sick. He was told I needed to ring at 8am the next morning. I rang bang on 8 and I couldn't even be added to the queue! How does that even happen?
I'm fobbed off every time I ring now. And I know it's not personal, this is without them asking my name! Surgeries are not fit for purpose any longer.

@Aydel I am so sorry this happened to your mum. How many people are slipping through the net as they can't get an appointment ..

My Docs is awful too - I rang 25 times last week one day and couldn't even get through to make an appointment. I went down there in the end and waited at the desk and they were very huffy with me but I got an appointment and that will be my tactic from now on.

I can't believe you typed that out with a straight face do gps have magical powers and can see and touch you through a bloody phone?

Unbelievable.

:) that made me chuckle too!

I'm really quite surprised that some people are being prescribed antibiotics over the phone, especially for coughs. Perhaps if the patient is having a flare of a chronic lung condition and has a plan in place for exacerbations. The vast majority otherwise are self limiting and antibiotics are of absolutely no benefit at all, sure most people with a short history of very viral sounding symptoms so can be triaged and given advice over the phone, but if in that triage they sound unwell enough/persisting long enough that they likely need treatment I would think it risky to do this without having a face to face, even if briefly!!!

No not all surgeries are like that OP, if that was my experience I'd move to another practice.

I don't have horror stories like the ones here, and in fact my local GP is relatively good. I called last year reporting breathing difficulties and got a face to face appointment that morning. He did fob me off a bit, but at least he saw me.

My parents' GP is also easy to get hold of, but recently, when my father had a fall and was in a lot of pain, I never managed to get a doctor out to the house for him. The paramedic came three or four times, and there was a registrar, but no actual doctor visit. I think he could have got a face to face if he'd been able to walk and leave the house, but he wasn't. Dad ended up in hospital and away from home for about six weeks.

Sorry you’ve had such a shit experience OP. I don’t understand how there is so much inconsistency between how practices run. How is it some can be amazing and some can be so poor?

My surgery and especially my G.P. is amazing. I have a very complicated and quite rare condition that requires quite a lot of medical intervention and my G. P. makes an effort to be actively involved and there to support me. He has made an effort to learn about my condition and to research possible treatments and is always looking for ways to make my life easier. He has helped fight my corner when issues have arisen with sickness leave from work and has generally been an exceptional practitioner. The surgery always have appointments when I call. I can always be seen in the same day if needed or within a couple of weeks if not urgent. When my children have been unwell, even if I’ve just called for advice, they will see them just to be sure. If a longer appointment is needed they make sure they book me at the end of a morning or afternoon so that the dr isn’t trying to get to the next patient. It’s unacceptable that my experience isn’t more common when it’s something as important as health!

It's all gone to pot since we came out of lockdown. Had to change medical centres because our usual one went over to " walk ins" up to 4 hours wait.
I've never seen my new gp. I'm 69 and fairly uncomplicated but do need a med review at least once a year. Had to ask for the last one, chase it up, chase up the blood test forms, chase up the result.... not easy getting the blood test either.
My husband is complex, 15 medications taken, not reviewed for 2 years, he has managed to get an appt next week ( waited since Christmas) for a review of his breathing as has severs asthma, COPD and sleep apnea .... all of which have worsened significantly. Our pharmacist is very diligent and does a good job but repeat scrips often not sent across, meaning one more trip to collect for either my husband who struggles to breath and walk at same time or me.
Our minor injuries was good today though, 1hr 15 mins to have a wound checked and new dressing applied.
Its even scarier at wknds when you have to call 111/999 or wait all day for duty doc at walk in ( if he can get here, live on an island)
Very insecure....

DH was a GP for 25 years until he’d had enough and handed back his contract. GP’s aren’t avoiding patients - there are more patients wanting appointments than there are available. GP’s are leaving and not being replaced.
If you can’t get an appointment it’s because someone else has been given it. More people can have phone appointments than face to face.

More people are getting appointments since lockdown but there still aren’t enough to go around.

Sickens me how doctors refuse to see patients now. My dd woke up unable to swallow her throat was so painful. Had to take her to private doctor who took a swab and she had antibiotics within the hour. Turns out it was strep A.

She was getting worse by the hour. I have no idea what would have happened to her if we didn't have a private gp. In my grandma's day, the same doctor every time would pay you a home visit. What does the future look like?

My best friend was transferred to our local Macmillan Palliative Care yesterday as she has been told she has two months at the most.
My lovely brave friend has been back and forth to her gp ( when she could get an actual appointment)for the past 3 years, to be met with apathy and her being made to feel she was a nuisance.
I have lost all faith in the NHS.

But the point is I get the appointment with the doctor after several pointless appointments with staff who cannot do what needs to be done. Which means activity is inflated to no positive effect. I absolutely do not believe more actual GP appointments are happening - it is very obvious at my surgery that they are not. Hence why they were found unsafe and lost their contract.