To think the NHS makes it difficult to avoid A&E

[ArchesOfsunflowers]

All the comments about people just going to A&E… but there’s so little alternative!
I try to play the rules, this time:
-GP no appointment until May
-None at 8am
-Try pharmacy for infection, looks at me like I have two heads and says go to GP
-111 really really difficult to be listened to, get callback in the end (refused to discuss both ear and throat having pus/ swelling, I had to pick one issue)
-call back hard to hear, like he’s swallowed the mic
-rude and dismissive but says he’s sending antibiotics to pharmacy. Told off for overuse of antibiotics (she’s not had any in five years???)
-pharmacy receive nothing, so restart the loop.
(Here there’s no walk in, I know some areas have them. We have GP and A&E or out of hours calls/ online consultations)

I’ve luckily not had to call them often, but with 5 children sometimes they need the GP. It’s just inaccessible here. 8am calls are the only on the day options but you end up in a queue for ages to be told there’s no appointments if you call on the dot (it goes to answerphone recorded messages before 8, no calling earlier.)

I get the funding issues. But without GP access people get funnelled to the only option. It’s not just the narrative ofthe lazy/ feckless who go there on whole family jollies to have a fun day out. It’s the fact that people can’t wait a month to see a doctor and there’s nothing else. People get sick occasionally however hard they try.

DD has huge tonsillitis, covered in pus and an ear infection with it, gunk dribbling out. I’m not going for no reason, it’s reasonable to check a child crying in pain with a high fever and pus leaking…but the system is broken. We are being told to blame each other, it’s our fault. Or to shut up because people are sicker or something.

The issue though is an under funded system that’s also got management issues that’s not fit for purpose. It’s not just time wasting for an otherwise fit for purpose system. My local hospital for example is being rebuilt with less beds, and the end of life care ended. No alternative in place, and the population has hugely increased since it was first built. It’s funding… and bizarre planning. And gatekeepers. Partly people, but a shit ton of big issues as well

GP,'s "working remotely and overseeing things from there" probably don't add to the amount of available face to face appointments.

This must vary widely across the country. I've always got a GP/nurse appointment for the same day or next day if I phone at 8am. Chemist are also fab for things like UTI etc to save going to the doctor. Must be a postcode lottery.

I haven't needed the NHS for years but this week I do... completed an e-consult on Tuesday and had a text the next day to say a GP will review it next Monday so nearly a week after I contacted them. Who knows when they might actually be able to see me. The text also said if symptoms get worse go to A&E. 🙄

I'm considering going private even though it's frustrating having to do that. There aren't any private GPs in my local area so it's not convenient either. It's the first time I'm feeling quite worried about the lack of access to healthcare.

We are lucky that there is a walk in centre and a minor injuries unit within 25 min drive (although both would be difficult to access without a car)

My DS had an ear infection last year. I (miraculously) got a gp apt, and they prescribed a course of antibiotics. And said to return in a week if no improvement. There was no improvement so called GP after he finished the anti biotics. First day called at 8, in a non moving queue for about 40 min. Gave up as the chances of getting an apt if it's gone 8.30 are almost zero. Repeat next day, same thing. Tried 3rd day same thing so had to take the morning off work (after arriving late the previous 2 days) to drive to a walk in centre 25 min away. Waited an hour saw a gp who prescribed a new set of anti biotics. That's for a pretty straight forward problem!

But it's not the same everwhere, a colleague with health anxiety manages to get a gp appointment every week, without too much effort. She can call in the morning or at lunch time and get on the day or apts in advance. (Our own gp is 8am for on the day only apts if you can get through)

It also doesn't help that a&e seems to be used by hospitals to triage follow up care - eg if you are treated/ have an operation and then have further issues relating to your treatment or op the advice is to come back via a&e in order to get referred back to the relevant team.

Can you afford a private GP and prescription OP.

It's utterly rubbish that it is required but at least it's available.

Try livi.co.uk

With Livi, you can see a registered GP by video on your mobile phone or tablet. The GP can offer medical advice for symptoms that do not require a face-to-face physical examination. First, download the Livi app from the App Store or Google Play and sign up. To book an appointment, follow the steps in the app.

Only some pharmacists can prescribe. I believe it's only a small minority. There is a new "pharmacy first" scheme which they can sign up to and then they can prescribe on some circumstances. I had a look and none of the pharmacies in my area are signed up to it.

Actually, you are completely correct!

It’s a political decision to continuously underfund the NHS and social care. The Tory party wanting to cut NI is also another shocking blow to our public services!

Please go to A & E if you think you have something serious. Over the course of 5 days, my daughter in law made 14 phone calls trying to get help, to her GP and 111 and visited the walk-in centre. Fobbed off, misdiagnosed at walk in by a pharmacist who had no access to her medical records.

On day 6 she died on the operating table.

How is it unhelpful

Pus is always a gp appointment?

Working in a busy, city centre GP practice, I genuinely feel for a lot of our patients.

Sadly, despite protestations that people can’t get appointments, I see the same faces over and over again. Patients who know exactly how to game the system, say the relevant trigger words and swallow up huge amounts of resources. I’d say at least 40-50% of GP appointments are taken up by these people.

I am also gobsmacked on a daily basis by how little certain patients are prepared to self-treat. They won’t/can’t take their child’s temperature. They refuse to go to a pharmacist, despite the free of charge Common Ailments scheme in Wales. There are plenty of people who are unwilling to hear basic medical advice from a nurse/pharmacist/physiotherapist and insist on it coming from a GP.

i am surprised a drs surgery won't fit in a child in pain with puss coming out of their ears until may tbh. My drs would definitely fit that in even if it was a Dr call back and they were completely full. I would change drs surgeries they sound particularly terrible.

Completely agree. We were at a&e last Saturday night. There were signs everywhere saying, do you need to be here, can you GP help. I said to DH at the time, all good and well the signs but it’s pretty much impossible to see the GP these days.

And every private GP is a GP who will never return to NHS

Or one who is doing.it on the side lol

This absolutely.

Because the whole point of the OP's post is that she can't get a GP appointment! Sheesh, talk about missing the point....

I seem to be the only person in the U.K. who is not having these problems.

Last year I had an issue on a Sunday evening, emailed gp on Monday morning, was seen Tuesday afternoon. ABs and when that didn't clear the issue, a 6 month wait for an ultrasound. That found a cyst where there shouldn't be one. Referred to gynae, appt in Dec, second ultrasound in Dec, Gynae call to agree op to remove it. Op in March. So 15 months, not fast but well communicated.

The last time ds needed help - large chunk out of knee, grit in the wound, our practice nurse saw him in about 10 minutes. But we turned up bleeding on a quiet afternoon.

In Birmingham- a massive city with a population of over a million there is one walk in centre left.
the others have either closed or you have to call 111 to get an appointment.
Surprise surprise, it’s nearly impossible to get a gp appointment and a&es are overrun because 111 or gp receptionists tell you to go there.

The NHS needs an efficiency overhaul.

Mine wouldn’t see an asthmatic child that had a wheeze and needed steroids. I know the drill, we’ve had asthma many years. I called a few times in the hope someone had cancelled. I was begging, said I know she’s at the stage steroids can help but if she doesn’t get them soon we will end up being admitted. Just said go to a&e, we can’t help. In the end I found a walk in centre 45 mins from home. They asked if we were staying in the area, when I said we had driven to avoid a&e as the GP wouldn’t see her she was mortified. Other surgery in the area no better and also not taking on new patients.

Do people have options to change practice? I feel like phoning mine up and singing their praises

Must vary across the country.

I phoned up 3 weeks ago with a sinus infection, seen by GP about an hour later.

Apparently there are more F2F appointments than pre pandemic but our district hospital is in special measures, AE wait times 24 hours, dozens of ambulances waiting to discharge, corridors turned into wards.... council just approved a new 1600 housing estate.... with just 39 houses for affordable rent, so these properties will be sold to people moving into the area.

Yes correct is a political choice to import 1.4 m immigrants to a country that cannot afford to support them, house them or have any existing infrastructure for them. Hence why I'm becoming one of those leaving and moving to a country that has a proper immigration system for which you have to be able to contribute significantly to live there

I’ve resorted to paying private GP on Babylon app or gogodoc.com. It’s worth the £50 to be seen within 30 mins.