Being told to go the pharmacy for cystitis by doctor receptionist

[Musica7474]

I have cystitis. I’ve had it before and had different anti biotic for it- sometimes 2 as it has been resistant to treat.

Ive left it to try and sort it self out for a few days by doing all the right things. It hasn’t.

Receptionist told me pharmacies now deal with cystitis and will advise me. I don’t need advice and I don’t want to be talking about my wee and symptoms in a packed pharmacy.

The receptionist made me feel awful for not wanting to go to the pharmacy and insisting on a doctor’s call( I’d have been happy with a prescription being left at the desk and no call just a gp looking at my records to check which anti biotic is best for me). She said I could have a call this time.🤔

Cystis can be really unpleasant and not great if not treated . Anti biotic are expensive and it’s not great to take several, I don’t think women should be made to feel like shit for wanting treatment for it and a gp to look at her records.

How can they be spot on when deciding on physical injuries and pain, mental health issues etc with no medical training, having given no consultation?

Are you honestly telling me a1 minute phone call you’ve sat in a queue for in a crowded surgery is as good as or the same as speaking to your GP?

And people always think they are the only patient demanding that '2 minutes' with the GP. But what if there are 10 of you, that's 20 minutes plus as it is of course not just 2 mins for the GP. That's 3 complex cases the GP hasn't been able to see that day.

'Most of the time they are correct. I've pulled my back - I need to see a physio. I've feeling down - I need to see the CPN'

What??? You don't see a cpn if you're 'feeling down' . Likewise you won't see a physio if you've pulled your back, you'd be advised to take paracetamol and see how you get on first.

Anyway. Back to the op. Pharmacies have enough on their plate with 3mile long queues as it is without taking on testing wee too. Whoever came up with the hairbrained scheme needs sacking.

Sounds like the receptionist was signposting you to the relatively Mrs Pharmacy First service (at least for us here in SE London)

Bullshit and actually there will be far less complex cases if patients are treated adequately in the first place. Having receptionists now being diagnosticians is not ok. What is also not ok is piling on patient blame and guilt mongering for an inadequate system.

Although given your previous UTI history it perhaps would have been better for a GP/other clinician to triage and make the decision

I've never had a 1 minute phone call. I have nearer a 10 minute phone call or in person appointment with the HCP. And yes, the MSK specialist was much better than a GP who would have just referred me to...a MSK specialist. Seeing a CPN for my mental is much better than a GP who has little training in mental health and would end up refering me to a mental health professional. Nurse was perfect at giving me my Vit D injection. GP I got an appointment within an hour when I was presenting with serious and complex symptoms.

I agree with you OP.
I had an inner ear infection so nothing intimate.
I was told to go to a pharmacy but the NHS website said they would only treat outer ear infections. I also insisted on a face to face appointment as a phone call would only have required me to go in for a further appointment. The upshot was that 2 lots of treatment later (both of which appointments required me to sit in the clinic for hours until I could be seen ) I still have pain,hearing loss and tinnitus and need a further appointment - which isn't for another month because I can't take another day off to sit in a waiting room (even assuming I can even get through to the doctor's on the phone )

The underfunding of the NHS is criminal. The lack of privacy is shocking.

Yes, that would probably be the advice if you saw a GP as they are not specialists. At my surgery we go straight to specialists. No need for drugs if you get the physio straight away.

No long queues at the pharmacy either.

I’m talking about the receptionist diagnosing you over the phone in the middle of an 8.30 queue. That is not 10 minutes it’s 1 and it’s not private.

CPN 😂😂😂No mental health provision round here.

You don't have to discuss details. And they are not snippy. It's a private phone line - how private do you want it? You want to ask the advice of a non specialist before getting advice from the specialist??? And you're so open to new ways of working....🙄

You're not understanding...the receptionist does not diagnose you. The HCP does. And of course it's private unless your GP uses a party line??

How do you know there's no mental health provision? I mean you didn't know there was a private room at your pharmacy because 'noone has told you'. Let me guess when you phone about your mental health you insist on seeing your GP?

Ours isn’t private. I can hear all the other staff surrounding the receptionist as she repeats back my details. You absolutely do need to to discuss details. Are you kidding me, so we’re not supposed to give any details to our diagnosticians now either ? Can I ask when all these receptionists took their extensive medical training?

No point in going round in circles, you can attempt to guilt monger patients who want a decent and safe NHS service all you like.

We have a great system here. But patients are part of that. If everyone demanded to see a GP all the time, no it wouldn't work atall.

I don’t phone about my mental health but I have had to about my children and my GP absolutely has requested we go in for what we needed to as MH isn’t a one size fits all. He was amazing and said to come back to him when we needed. No mention of an HCP at all.

I don’t demand to see my gp all the time , at all in fact. I ask to see my gp when I need to. Our surgery is generally fantastic but they misjudged this issue , one suspects due to guidelines as a result of NHS erosion.

The diagnostician is the HCP not the receptionist! You give details to the HCP. Receptionists get their training from your GP. You say to the receptionist for example 'I've pulled my back' - I don't phone unless I have a complex case- I use e-consult - then you can't say people can 'hear' your conversation. Then I get told come today at 11 to see the MSK specialist. Specialist sorts me out all done and dusted in one morning.

We have a decent and particularly safe practice because our GPs can see the complex cases in a timely manner.

It won't cure this bout if you've reached the antibiotic stage but if you're prone to cystitis it's worth trying taking d-mannose daily. It works wonders.

Exactly, it's not a one size fits all hence why it is better to see a specialist rather than a non-specialist. That's great your GP could help with non-specialist advice, I'm sure he would have referred you to a specialist if needed. As you say your surgery has no mental health provision. Ours does so our patients get to see a specialist straight away - not always a CPN, sometimes the social prescriber is more appropriate.

'Ours isn’t private. I can hear all the other staff surrounding the receptionist as she repeats back my details. You absolutely do need to to discuss details. Are you kidding me, so we’re not supposed to give any details to our diagnosticians now either ? Can I ask when all these receptionists took their extensive medical training?'

It's awful, some admin staff really need training regarding privacy and dignity. If one ever gets into the holy inner sanctum that is the waiting room <empty as they're all queuing over the road to get assessed by pharmacy staff> then you hear the withering tones of the desk staff as they bark at folk down the phone repeating names and interrogating the poor person who dares to want to see a gp.

You can use an online pharmacist and they have consultations.

I've never experienced that..but then I don't demand to see the GP because I'd rather ask their advice about my bad back than the actual MSK specialist. It's funny how you can't seem to understand you get that experience because of your attitude. You demand to see GPs but then can't understand why you have to wait so long, you wonder why the receptionists get frustrated. I have some patients like this and they used to be beyond frustrating, but even they are starting to see the benefits of being able to get a GP appointment immediately when they have a complex case, of having specialisms dealt with straight away and if they still need to see a GP they'll be able to straight away.

If you're so desperate to see a GP without speaking to a receptionist just do an e-consult. Come in for your appointment and if at the end of your appointment you still think you need to see a GP just ask and the GP will pop in. Would seem an easier experience for you.

My local one is great, too - very pleasant, helpful and efficient.

My local Boots is beyond chaotic though, always a massive queue and they seem incredibly slow at getting through it. And if it has a private space for consultations, I've never noticed it.

We have a third pharmacy in town, too, but unless you live close by, it's really inconvenient and there's nowhere to park anywhere near it. They are very close to one of the surgeries, and if it wasn't for that, I don't think they'd keep going.

Nope happy to do what we have currently changed to- give a small amount of info to receptionist indicating why I need to see a GP if it isn’t something I’d see a nurse for. I will then wait for a telephone call or go in as and when appropriate. The talking to the GP in however way is necessary being the appropriate part. What I’m not prepared to do is to give a lot of personal info to a receptionist in a 1 minute call and then have her diagnosis me and decide what treatment I need.