Online GP systems do not stop the 8 am scramble, do not facilitate a GP call back or enable more serious patients to speak to a doctor

[H8484peful]

So we have had the new online system for some time and I’m amazed at what the government are promising with its rollout everywhere.

At our GP it opens when many are commuting and closes during the afternoon and also at any given time for the rest of the day when it’s “ overwhelmed”. It’s hugely difficult to get in the queue if you don’t have constant access to your phone during the day and hugely difficult to get appointments if you’re not in the queue early.

The receptionist now refuses to do anything as regards appointments other than talk you through the form( obviously only when it’s open which it often isn’t).

The triage system sends everybody with med queries to the pharmacy regardless of what the query is. They then decide if you can access a doctor for your query. I recently had to argue for a doctor to look at a medication suggested by the hospital for me to get from my GP that came with no details as to dosage or time frame. I was already on another medication. Said GP said I’d done the right thing to push for a GP to look at it. It took some time and a lot of calls discussing my personal details to get this with staff consistently saying computer says no, it’s not how the new system works.

Appointments are often weeks in advance for a GP and you’re triaged off to less qualified staff for most things.

You have zero say re appointments even if you put times on the form. They ignore it and you then get something unworkable and you have to submit another form if you want an alternative time.

Paperwork and referrals are often lost in the system.

You absolutely can’t ring and request a GP call back.

It’s a GP rated as Good.

The elderly, busy and vulnerable are going to put at huge risk and patients absolutely aren’t going to be getting what the government is promising. How on earth is the government not aware of this?

A photo is helpful though as it is attached to records and can be used as a comparison if the problem doesn't improve, gets worse, recurs or it needs to be sent with a hospital referral. However the quality of the vast majority of photos are poor in relation to people's social media photos.

And one or two photos are sufficient and not an album.

Ours is bloody brilliant. Open all the time, you get appropriate responses very quickly.

Ours works really well. You fill in the form and you usually get a call back the same day. Non urgent appointments are available to book online in advance.

I love the form! Saves so much time and hassle.

This has been my experience too OP except our online booking system usually is full by 8:30/9am. Before the booking form when everyone had to call in, we would get a call back from GP that day. Now have to wait 2/3 days for response with appts up to 2 weeks away, when you try to get earlier appt you are advised to call 111 instead 🤯

It works really well here. So much better than the previous system.

The underlying issue` is that there are not enough clinicians to do the work that people expect to be done.
There's no more staff today than there was yesterday and now suddenly the floodgates are open- we cannot stop the flow of work.
You think this is safe?
There is a limit on how many patient contacts/tasks etc you can deal with before it becomes unsafe.
If a mistake is made... being 'busy' is no defence in law.
We are totally fucked.
I'm already semi- retired... dropping another day is now on my horizon due to this shit show and I will not be the only one to go .. you know what? I'm done.

This is my experience too. Also, I recently sent in a form for my two year old and received a text message telling me that medication had been sent to a (completely random) pharmacy - no discussion about the issue, no request for photos or to see him face to face, just a decision made based on the very limited information I gave on the form. That doesn't feel safe to me when it concerns such a young child. There's too much potential room for error.

Yep.
Its not safe.
The alternative would have been nothing. They clearly didn't have an appointment to give you and the clinician had limited time to whizz through the tasks/enquiries in between seeing patients in surgery, home visits, referrals, signing off prescriptions, sorting out palliative care medications etc etc etc.
This is what you're getting ... this is how we are being forced to work and we -as clinicians- have bugger all say in the matter.

It sounds like your GP surgery not doing things properly to me. I like the online system. They can't magic up appointments but by directing patients to other HCPs, they can help.

If it's a true emergency and you can't get a GP appointment on the day, call 111 and they will find you one.

We have an online triage service and I have never had any issues with it.

If they need to see you, they give you an appointment the same day if necessary otherwise they will arrange a phone call.

.

We are loving the online system here, have seen a big improvement in getting seen and booking appointments. Much prefer this than having to queue outside the surgery for when it opens to get an appointment.

I voted YABU because you should be changing surgeries instead of moaning about it

It works really well at my GP, the online form is open all day and you can send photos too, they reply really quickly with an appointment.
I can request medication and other services too. It’s so much better now and this is a really busy and big GP practice

It depends how it's run I guess, our GP was already using a similar system although you could still call at 8 am for appointments.
I used their online form because we rarely have urgent requests, and if we do it's always out of office so end up calling 111. They usually respond within 24h with a prescription or a phone/for appointment, you don't get a choice with the times but never did on the phone either.

The only thing I agree with OP if the referral to pharmacists. IME it's always been a waste of time, they either couldn't or refuse to help/prescribe. So we always end up back to the GP anyway, but have wasted a day and had to go there in person because they don't do anything by phone.

I'm hoping the new system doesn't "break things" though, our GP practice had a good way to manage it before!

Our form opens at 6am every day the surgery is open and I've always had a same day appointment with a gp or nurse practitioner or pharmacist Whenever it's been the nurse or pharmacist it's been appropriate to see them rather than a doctor.
I've used the admin form a couple of times too and they have been able to promptly sort my issue out.

We haven’t got enough doctors for the sheer number of patients so something has to be done to make sure those that really need a doctor can access one. It’s right to use the pharmacy, nurses, HCA and the like where appropriate.

The onus shouldn’t be on the patient to decide and it’s right the doctor triages and points them in the direction of someone that can help them equally as well.

A couple of years ago I had a sore shoulder I couldn’t move. I called the GP surgery and they advised to phone the Physio department and they sorted my shoulder out without the need to see a GP. It’s utilising all HCP and they don’t need to be GP’s

Honestly I'd be looking to change GPs because that is the total opposite of how it works at my surgery.
The online stuff is available 24/7
They phone you back to make a suitable appointment
Your can request GP call backs at a set time frame
You can still walk in and make appointments or phone for appointments etc!

Ours closes incredibly quickly, if you aren’t waiting for it to open at 8am you have to try again the next day. Same with the separate admin request system.

I prefer it over the phone system, but all of it puts me off reaching out to the doctor for anything.

I don't think so many people would complain if they actually got the care they needed. They don't.

The lack of doctors in the UK is the government own making. Trying to patch things up with unqualified staff isn't the right way forward.

I think that could cover just about most things in this world, change that makes life worse, not supposedly better. I can’t comment on new GP online system though, as we still have the old traditional system of phoning or going in to make appts.

The problem is the public can’t always be trusted to decide what needs a GP or another HCP. I agree it’s a pain in the arse and they need to get the systems working better and get more GP’s etc… but can you imagine the time wasters who book GP appointments and they absolutely didn’t need to.

@BunnyLake you shouldn’t have the old system, from today they are supposed to offer online system from 8am to 6.30pm. How have your surgery avoided it?