another gp reception story... (with apologies to all gp receptionists)

[littlepollyflinders]

We are going on holiday next week.
DD (17) is on the pill (for heavy periods...) and is running out. She needs to see a doctor for a repeat prescription before we go and left it late, of course.
So tried to get an emergency appointment only to be told by gp receptionist that they didn't consider contraception a priority while they had so many calls about possible swine flu.

I am a bit horrified by this and managed to keep my cool but still tell her that I thought that was a very dangerous statement she made.
Given that the vast majority of those who get the flu will recover easily and be ill for only a few days and I do understand that people have been whipped into a real scare over this - BUT how can they possibly dismiss the impact that an unwanted pregnancy could have on a teenage girl?
Never mind the reason she was prescribed the pill - it is also a contraception and as I had yet to give receptionist any personal details she was not judging our particular case which she is no position to do anyway.

I am fuming about this.
I don't think I'm being unreasonable...

[MrsJamesMartin]

The 48 hr appt thing is an appoitnment with a health care professional though not necessarily a GP.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

they have to do BASIC triage, or they would have to give emergency appointments to anyone who called, and there would be none for people who need them!!

[lal123]

Edam - like Kathy says - just becasue swine flu patients aren't supposed to come into the practice doesn't mean that a) they aren't and b) the GPs have to deal with them in other ways.

Our GPs struggle at the best of times to reach 48 hours, now with swine flu there isn't much of a hope.

[spiralqueen]

Your DD is 17 and should be capable of organising her own life without you having to run round after her.

Leave it to her to sort out. If she doesn't get it done a really heavy period should focus her mind for the next time supplies are running low.

[CoffeeCrazedMama]

Polly you have my sympathy. Dd is the same age, and on the pill (and lots of other stuff) for awful PCOS. She knows her beautiful face will revert to a superating mass of pustules (and lots of other nasty side-effects) if she doesn't keep on her medication but still only thinks to mention that she is running low at the last minute!

Our gps (not always perfect in other ways) have an excellent system whereby you fill in a form and pop it in a box for repeat scripts. They will have it ready in 48 hours.

[kathyis6incheshigh]

But Edam, surely if GPs are busy talking to swine flu patients on the phone, doing swine-flu home visits for the really bad ones and swine-flu-related paperwork, there'll be fewer GPs available to offer appointments. So the fact that the patients are asked not to come in doesn't really have anything to do with it.

[GrinnyPig]

I wouldn't expect to always get a routine GP appointment within 24 hours. At our surgery if the first available appointment is too long for you to wait then a triage nurse calls back to assess the situation. You are expected to give brief details of the problem to the receptionist - although I suppose if you felt you couldn't go into detail, then the nurse would call back anyway. I don't think you should be too precious about your confidentiality. If the receptionist wants to be really nosey she can always peek at your notes! The receptionist at our surgery always rings to remind me about things like blood tests, smears etc. It is a bit embarassing when she has to remind me about my coil replacement because I do know her through work, but you know I reckon she probably has sex too...

[edam]

My own practice = where I am a patient, not a GP!

[edam]

(And the poster who said patients with suspected swine flu are asked NOT to come in was right. So it shouldn't be an issue wrt. other patients needing an appointment.

My own practice is running a swine flu clinic upstairs, which obviously does take up clinical time, but I doubt it's swallowing enough of that to mean GPs can't possibly see a patient who wants an appointment within the next 48 hours.

[edam]

see here

GP receptionists are not qualified or trained to perform triage. Some surgeries get them to do it, but it is not right or proper, especially as it breaches confidentiality. And it seems very few surgeries actually offer receptionists decent training in this.

Except if you look at the recommendations of this report, they do say receptionists should be trained to spot potentially urgent clinical cases.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

" receptionists making medical judgments which is NOT their place. "

have you never heard of triage?

[macdoodle]

Edam do you work in a GP surgery?? Am curious, if so please explain/show me how you avoid a huge workload especially at the moment, and if not well frankly you really dont have a clue!

[lal123]

Edam - with swine flu about at the minute its pretty much expected that the 48 hour appointment time won't be met.

[edam]

I don't think you ARE asking for am emergency appointment. You called on Thurs and would presumably have accepted on appointment on Friday. Sounds like your surgery has a crap appointments system. AND there was no need for you to explain to a receptionist why you wanted the appointment.

GPs are supposed to offer appointments within 48 hours, no matter what it is for, so they are breaching Dept of Health guidelines.

Call back and ask for a GP to call you back, then explain. Or complain to the practice manager wrt the 48 hour target and receptionists making medical judgments which is NOT their place.

And suggest they google the Primary Care Foundation's website where there is a handy report setting out ways GPs can create good systems to respond to requests for same-day care, without irritating patients or creating unmanageable workloads.

[katiestar]

YANBU Although to be fair I guess the receptionists are stuck between a rock and a hard place ie GPs and patients
Ring up and ask for your doctor to ring you back.When the receptioniost asks what its about say its 'personal' and you would rather not say.

[zipzap]

And remind your daughter to put a reminder in her diary, in your diary and on the family calendar NOW for 5 months time to prompt her to ring up and get the next appointment for a refill in good time! (assuming she gets a 6 month supply).

Another thing to look into is her local chemist - ours will set up a repeat prescription service and order medicine in for you, then when you pick it up they ask you if you want them to order it next time (which is always a big yes please!). And if the doctor wants to see you, you get told when you pick your prescription up, so you make the appointment then at yours and your doctor's convenience, with no worries about missing any tablets. Very convenient!

I think also that if you have forgotten to order tablets or gone away and forgotten tablets, chemists can give a certain number of tablets out and write it down in a big book. so worth finding a quiet moment at the chemists and talking to them and asking, especially if you have one that she regularly gets her pills from, they might give her enough to cover the holiday...

[DoctorWho]

Has she never heard of condoms? Raging gonorrhoea much worse, or HIV, if not using barrier methods and sleeping with foreign men of dubious worthiness.

[motherpi]

YAB shockingly U

[TotalChaos]

yabu. emergency appointments are for people who are ill not those who cocked up with ordering their repeat.

[Surfermum]

Yes, I leave my repeat prescription until the last minute regularly, but I wouldn't expect an emergency appointment because I have, and I certainly wouldn't feel angry with the surgery.

I work in the NHS and unfortunately I have to tell patients all the time that their issues aren't as important as someone else's, it's how we cater for priority cases and how I manage a waiting list.

Of course I don't put it across like that, but I do have to explain that certain cases are deemed a priority and would therefore jump ahead of them on the list. It's just how it is when demand is greater than the service available.

[readyfornumber2and3]

as far as the surgery is concerned your DD didnt take any notice of when her pill ran out and then expected to jump the queue ahead of people who are genuinely ill and in need of medical attention, I cant believe that you feel that you are being hard done by

I have forgotten to book appointments before and then had to wait like everyone else for a repeat prescription but I would NEVER blame the surgery for MY mistake!

I agree that the NHS isnt always run efficiently but its partly down to attitudes like yours! By taking emergency appointments for repeat prescriptions you are causing pain and distress to someone who actually NEEDS the appointment and in effect wasting a very busy doctors time

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

I think YABU

Your DD is also an adult and if she is old enough to have sex, she is old enough to keep an eye on her pill supply.

Get her some condoms and tell her to be more careful in future.

[macdoodle]

YAB so totally U I cannot say
Of course it doesnt warrant an emergency appointment - how very selfish of you - and how dare you be angry about it !
Bit of course in this absurd nany state of ours, why on earth would you take ANY responsibility for your own health!

[MrsJamesMartin]

YABU i'm afraid, your DD knows how many pills she has left she is responsible for ensuring that she has an adequate supply.

This situation is very annoying to a team that is already stretched every day and the patient's lack of planning does not constitute an emergency.

There are other easily accessed services available for contraceptives.