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

We used to have a minor injuries section to our GP practice who did stitches, wound dressing etc. Same building, different service. It kept minor stuff out of A&E. Probably because we don't have any minor injuries provision or anything else between GP and A&E. But the CCG closed it down and now we have an A&E in special measures, average wait of 12 hours and ambulances queuing all night every night.

We used to be able to keep this stuff out of A&E.

Things where I am are diabolical.

Siri tell me again why most of the country laughed at the idea of a Citizens Army.

Never had an issue with 111, yes you have to pick the symptom that is causing you the most concern but have always received a GP callback within the time frame given 🤷 if you can't pick the worst symptom then they will call a clinical team member to advise them the pathway to pick.

This sounds exactly what it went wrong in the first place. The NHS is not, and should be run like, a business. It is a public service.

My GP surgery has brought in an online only booking system for appointments, but I have friends and neighbours (age 75+)who don’t have smartphones or internet access and have to ask for help to book an appointment. They would then have to tell the helper what their symptoms are which they don’t necessarily want to do.

I tried to book myself an appointment last week and didn’t find it easy to even access the appointment booking system. When I finally found the right page I couldn’t book because you can only access the booking form between 8 and 10 or 12 til 2.

This. Absolutely.

System is broken and it's very scarey because there is a chance that when you need help there isn't any. Had very mixed experiences with NHS over the last 12 months. Brilliant when they thought I may have cancer, the two week pathway thing worked and the staff were amazing. But no one ever seems to be able to get a GP appointment and that's very very worrying.

So do i, Exeter, N.Devon, Torbay and Derriford have all been in special measures recently.
Derriford still is, 23 ambulances queuing to discharge patients on Friday.

To the pp idiot who laughed at the idea lack of social care isn't a primary cause of late patient discharges....
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/the-decline-of-publicly-funded-social-care-for-older-adults#:~:text=A%20lack%20of%20sufficient%20social,rehabilitation%20in%20a%20community%20hospital.

PumpkinPie2016, apparently one GP to 3000 patients, that's a lot of 10 minute slots!!