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.

I’m moaning about the receptionist saying very abruptly that the surgery doesn’t deal with cystitis anymore and her saying on this occasion she’d give me a GP call when I insisted. Absolutely wasn’t told that by the GP when I did speak to him and I don’t think it’s a good enough policy for the NHS to have. I have adjusted in many ways to the dwindling NHS and use our pharmacy for many things but I simply don’t think a go to the pharmacy for cystitis approach is ok.

We are allowed to complain when we think things are shit with the NHS and services are eroded. This “oh it’s the new way so it must be right” is pretty blinkered.

No it doesn’t work like that at our GP. Our GP refers us.
Who is diagnosing musclosketletal issues if you are having no conversation with your GP- the patient or a receptionist. That is not ok.

Ditto with MH. MH struggles can be caused by all sorts of things and you need your GP to go through your medical history, prescribe meds if needed or refer you. I wouldn’t want a receptionist or patient deciding what was needed.

I had this recently.

I'm in a wheelchair so while my pharmacy does have a private consulting room it's not actually wheelchair accessible.

So I did have to have the conversations in front of the queue.

I then wasn't eligible for the pharmacy service, so phoned my gp and the receptionist then referred me back to the pharmacy as she failed to notice that my other conditions meant the pharmacist can't treat me.

After that I started getting fever and chills and severe problems with my temperature so I ended up at walk in.

It's not minor if it turns into a kidney infection.

You may not have seen it if it is out the back! So you actually don't know if there is a room or not! You've not even asked!

As has been pointed out many, many times the 2 minutes for you is not 2 minutes for your GP. They will often need to speak to the pharmacist. The pharmacist will need to sort your medication one way or the other. However your '2 min with the GP' means someone who has a complex case has to wait longer to see the GP. Not fair. Because you don't want to see a pharmacist, you don't want to see an physician associate, you don't want to see a ANP, you don't want to see a Nurse prescriber. It has to be a GP. It is that attitude people find unreasonable not your particular issue.

So apparently you don’t go to your GP now for Mental Health at all, Coughs, colds, virus, sore throats, bladder infections( and all the other things pharmacies apparently now sort), anything that might need physio( let’s hope the patient and receptionist who decide it’s physio related is correct), I’m sure there are a shed load more….

What exactly do you go to your GP for now?

I blame those who are responsible for running down the health services
Then your blame is misplaced. The main problem the NHS is facing is the lack of clinical staff available for a constantly increasing unhealthy population.

The NHS staff has been disseminated because of increasing pressure on staff because the level didn't increase to align with the increase need.

The increase is due to an increase in life expectancy but more significantly an increase in people living longer with long term conditions and the majority are very much the results of poor lifestyle choices.

So yes, we do have a responsibility in what is happening to the NHS and the least we can do now is support it by accessing the right care for our needs. In this case, the first port of call should have been a pharmacist as rightly advised by the receptionist.

My pharmacist advised me to see a doctor if it persisted/came back 🤷‍♀️ this is another problem, you get told different things by different people.

Sick notes? Mind, if they ask the newsagent next door they could maybe outsource that one too.

What exactly do you go to your GP for now?
If you have to ask, then maybe do some readings on what Gaps do in their everyday working life!

Nurse wasn’t offered and neither has privacy at the pharmacy- ever. It’s so tiny and queues so long and staff so short I’d be amazed if there was one. It’s not my job to advertise it.

Many many don’t find wanting to see a gp for this unreasonable actually. I always take phone calls or see a nurse when needs be but don’t feel seeing a pharmacist was appropriate for this.

@Musica7474

Nothing because the gp won't prescribe you anything then will say if it gets worse go to a&e.
I had to wait 2 weeks to get my infected eczema sorted the other day as a gp wouldn't see me.
They are bloody useless.
That goes for 111 too as the times I've rang for advice they've sent me to a&e, then a&e always look at you like you are wasting their time... I don't want to be here thanks but it's the weekend and the gp isn't open.

So lack of investment and doctors isn’t the issue, yeah right.🙄

But you already diagnosed yourself with cystitis and said you just wanted GP to look back to see what worked..which is what pharmacist can do if you give him information

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. However, there is always a GP available so if you situation turns out to be more complex you will see a GP at the same appointment.

What do you go directly to see the GP for? A few examples - you've been having seizures, you have symptoms of Whooping cough, you're having palpitations and shortness of breath, you've got a mix of symptoms - weight loss, bruising and a rash. You've already seen another HCP but things have deteriorated.

My DH has a health condition which means that he frequently gets cystitis. He too needs special antibiotics. He was once told by a receptionist that" men don't get cystitis" Thankfully our surgery is pretty good. The OP knows her condition and what she needs, ie at the very least a phone consultation, and, having worked as a doctors receptionist they shouldn't be handing out medical advice, I was never allowed to.

Yes, I can see that being frustrating.

We thought you were out.

Discussing details about “ feeling down”’over the phone to a snippy reception in a non private space is not ok. It’s not for a receptionist to refer you. If I have damaged my body I want to speak to my GP before undergoing exercises that are “ mostly correct” could cause damage…..

It's complex isn't it? Yes of course that is part of the problem. But we have a big spike of elderly people now (the baby boom) so we have many more patients needing to be seen. We don't have a big spike of doctors to see them all, in fact we lost lots to Brexit and other HCPs too of course. We physically cannot continue working in the way we have done. GPs are by their nature non-specialists, but needed for complex cases. Other HCPs can deal with more specialist needs/less complex needs. And it has lots of benefits to patients besides just that when they need to see a GP, they can see one straight away but that you cut out the middle man. Within a few days you've seen the MSK specialist and have exercises for your bad back, rather than you wait a week or so to get a non-emergency GP appointment, then you wait another couple of weeks to get your physio referral.

I get it is not working properly everywhere. I get it cancelled because frustrating and sometimes things go wrong. But we all need to at least make the effort to learn about this new way of working and open our minds a bit to doing things differently. To demand that a nurse or pharmacist can't look at your notes unless they are sitting in a private room with you in front of them is just crazy!

I've been there recently too.

i often have to have 2 weeks worth of antibiotics of different types and have been hospitalised with cystitis many times.

My most recent episode i got sent to a pharmacy, got the talk, wanted me to try the sachets, i refused (they have never remotely worked) and then tried to prescribe me 3 days antibiotics. i had to stand my ground and eventually got 7 days worth which also didn't work so went back for another 7! just a waste of time when my Dr would have just done my prescription over the telephone normally!

Absolutely have made an effort to learn about this new way of working and have moved to a whole host of new ways of doing things but as regards this it’s not ok. I also don’t think it’s ok that receptionists have now apparently taken on the role of GPs, make diagnostic decisions in a split second in the middle of crowded GP surgeries and give out care as they feel fit.

We may have greater demand for healthcare than we have workforce to deal with it, but a lack of GPs doesn't translate to an oversupply of Pharmacists. Every time I visit a pharmacy there are long queues.

I'm supportive of Healthcare on the High Street and of Clinical Pharmacists doing more than dispensing medicines. I'm lucky enough to be healthy and working and so given the option to visit a pharmacy for a minor illness, I would jump at it. That doesn't mean it's the right option for everyone.

The whole point of the Pharmacy First scheme was to improve access and choice, not take it away.

But that isn't the role of a GP is it? Receptionists make a decision of which HCP will suit the patient best. Maybe yours are rubbish but the ones at my GP surgery are usually spot on, ime. And if you still need to see a GP they are always available. They're available because the majority don't need to see them so 1 GP can manage all the cases from the other HCPs where they want a GPs opinion.

Quite.