What are GPs actually doing during all this time ?

[VivaMiltonKeynes]

We were discussing this . In our surgery they have e consult online and you get a call back . On the couple of times this has occurred it's not even a doctor at our practice - it sounds like a service they use and it is really appalling . They don't even seem to have read your notes . The nurses are run off their feet doing the usual blood tests, flu shots etc but what are all the GPs doing ?

"@Alexafrost those 'useless medical students' have shown top aptitude in the country to get into medical school and have passed everything to graduate as a doctor. If they're so shit do it yourself, sounds like you'd had no problem passing medical school finals"

It hardly matters if I pass or not, anymore than it would matter if I would make a good pilot. Nevertheless, I still want a competent pilot when I'm in plane regardless of whether I would make a good one or not.

Given just how bad so many GPs are in this country obviously the finals can't be THAT hard. Either that or so many GPs are just going through the motions and don't give a shit.

Either way, it amounts to the same thing, a bunch of useless quacks in general practice which is very different to the higher levels of competence and conscientiousness I have found among consultants, surgeons and (some) nurses.

@GreyWall

There's no fucking need for the shit they demand. If we can see 300+ fucking students a day they can with patients.

We see multiple patients daily. It’s government guidance that where possible, for both staff and patient safely you try to treat people safe within their own home to minimise transmission. I’d say a good 3/4 of patients who demand they need to see their GP that day, they don’t. Clinical symptoms for most things are enough and don’t end up requiring a physical examination. Yes you may have children in your presence at school, but aren’t you supposed to be socially distanced and 2 metres away from the children at all times? Tried doing many physical examinations 2 metres away have you? No. You haven’t. The danger to staff seeing and examining patients far outweighs teachers who can do their job without direct contact. GP doors are always open for those that need it. Those that can be remotely treated will be as per government guidance will be, and those that have more serious issues will be forwarded to urgent care. To be honest it works far better! Patients are actually going to a&e for their heart attacks now rather than turning up clutching their chest in a gp practice hoping to avoid a&e waits. Yes it may be crap for teachers too, it’s crap for all key workers but don’t slate another professional that’s working their arses off, 13+ hour days under immense pressure, I wouldn’t wish their jobs on anyone right now.

@Alexafrost - you have obviously no idea as to the academic and practical training involved in becoming a doctor and then a GP.

I’m amazed daily at the brilliant service DH and his colleagues have continued to give to the patients at their practice. When you need your Covid vaccine I hope you remember this.

GP's are bloody amazing and work bloody hard, at our local doctors anyway.

I've had phone appointments, face to face appointments, online requests answered. They have been brilliant. I'd say their workload is even worse with covid, with the extra online and phone calls in place. But for the future, think these options are the way forward as you don't always need a face to face.

Come on - I really don’t want to read fellow teachers bashing GPs... bigger picture people..

Our GP has been brilliant. Phone consult then face to face if needed. Also follow ups by phone/in person as required. My GP has really helped me recently.

The one thing we can agree on is teachers and GPs have continued to be paid all year whilst large parts of the population of the UK have no jobs at all and no furlough money or have had to accept 20% pay cuts for even more hours and plenty because they have savings have no universal credit entitlement either - all because our aim is to keep hospitals no fuller than in a normal winter even if we destroy the nation in the process.

My daughter is starting at 7:30 and finishing about 7pm. She does video consultations, sees face to face where necessary, covers duty, provides onsite cover to the hot hub and sees Covid19 patients face to face.
She’s done flu vaccines and covers care homes. Every other weekend she provides cover at a hospice.

"@Alexafrost - you have obviously no idea as to the academic and practical training involved in becoming a doctor and then a GP.
I’m amazed daily at the brilliant service DH and his colleagues have continued to give to the patients at their practice. When you need your Covid vaccine I hope you remember this."

No, not much, neither do I care. I don't care what academic and practical training is involved in becoming an electrician but I still expect them to wire things so the sockets work and don't burn down the house.

If I did go for a vaccine I expect it would be given by a nurse. How hard is it to stick a needle in someone and squeeze some liquid wherever it's supposed to go?

None of this excuses the uselessness of so many GPs I and other members of my family have had the misfortune to deal with. Maybe your 'DH' is a miracle worker. All I know is that most GPs I've dealt with were bloody useless.

My husband has had a terrible sore throat for 7 weeks. He keeps getting fobbed off with nurses but they refuse to look down his throat.

How can they help him if they won't look.

Now his ears have blocked and he is in agony. So frustrated.

@SkiingIsHeaven

My husband has had a terrible sore throat for 7 weeks. He keeps getting fobbed off with nurses but they refuse to look down his throat.

How can they help him if they won't look.

Now his ears have blocked and he is in agony. So frustrated.

Go to local hospital tomorrow. Someone on here put in a formal complaint about their surgery they were most helpful after that. Seven weeks is ridiculous. Ask them how you put in a complaint and who to.

Our surgery is part of a bigger group and is apparently only doing phone appointments. I know quite a few people who have tried to get a call back and haven't been able to. After trying to get an appointment for a few days, we eventually booked a private GP appointment and bloods. Friends at other surgeries have had the same problem.

However my parents in law have been seen multiple times at their surgery for things that really were not important. So it seems there’s a massive difference between surgeries. Our doctor was pretty crap before covid so it’s not surprising really.

I agree with Xenia. The lens of teachers and HCP should not be blurred by ignorance of the precariat.

I have had to take a 12.5% pay cut this year and my organisation has had no choice but to make 15% of staff redundant. Despite the pay cut I work nearly 60 ours every week just to tread water.

We have 8 gps, some are female and working from home because of child care during lockdown they have been told to carry on working from home. We have a questionnaire to fill in which you have to be careful with because if you do not play down your symptoms in the check boxes you get told to dial 111 and they shut down the questionnaire which is annoying. The nurses are all there as are the reception staff but you are not supposed to phone in now. I have now been forwarded to a consultant without even seeing a gp.

Ours have been brilliant. Econsult is much better than sitting in a germ-filled waiting room in order to talk to a day. You fill in a form online and get a call back from a doctor the same day. If you need a face to face appointment they book you in. I was seen and referred for tests at the hospital, luckily all was well. I have also been given a prescription over the phone which was sent straight to my preferred chemist for me to pick up.

Hubby had several phone call backs, face to face visit, blood tests x 2.
Change of meds. Referral and several scans since July. Awaiting result this week. Probably quicker than usual? Very pleased with the service.

Not a lot from what I gather from DH, I haven't needed to see the doctor recently. I must say though that my dentist and hygienist (private) have been excellent and I have seen them both recently

@justasking111 Thanks. I will.

My husband has had a terrible sore throat for 7 weeks. He keeps getting fobbed off with nurses but they refuse to look down his throat.

I don't want to scare you, and perhaps if his ears are blocked it may be something less serious, tonsillitis or sinusitis type infection.
But I have seen two patients in the last week with different ENT type cancers which have both had delayed diagnosis due to Covid.

Get him seen.

www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/nagging-sore-throat-may-be-early-sign-rare-cancer/

@Xenia

The one thing we can agree on is teachers and GPs have continued to be paid all year whilst large parts of the population of the UK have no jobs at all and no furlough money or have had to accept 20% pay cuts for even more hours and plenty because they have savings have no universal credit entitlement either - all because our aim is to keep hospitals no fuller than in a normal winter even if we destroy the nation in the process.

This could not be further from the truth.

I feel the need to make a positive comment! We have needed our GP very little this year but on the two occasions that we have needed medical care it was straightforward getting a phone appointment and both DD and I saw a GP face-to-face within a short amount of time.

The adult and child flu vaccination clinics were run extremely efficiently and safely at my GP practice and I have no doubt that the GPs were involved in planning this.

Not GP, but I also had a very positive experience attending a hospital appointment and came away from that amazed at the resilience and selflessness of the staff there, running a theatre list under difficult circumstances. Things were run in a very efficient, careful but still caring manner. I actually wrote to the hospital management following this experience to thank the team as it was so much better than I was expecting in Covid times.

I am whole-heartedly grateful to all the NHS doctors and nurses that DD & I have encountered this year, whether face-to-face or on the phone. I worry for what they are being put through as people.

I find some of the comments on this thread staggering.

I'm sorry CherryPavlova are you saying that HCPs and Teachers have taken pay cuts since 23rd March 2020 or are you saying that people working in hospitality, law firms, non essential retail, hairdressing, etc, have not?

Mines just misdiagnosed my daughters issues over the phone. Over these phone consultations already.

@RosesAndHellebores

I'm sorry CherryPavlova are you saying that HCPs and Teachers have taken pay cuts since 23rd March 2020 or are you saying that people working in hospitality, law firms, non essential retail, hairdressing, etc, have not?

I am saying the notion that it’s all done to keep hospitals quiet is beyond uninformed.

I’ve never been busier. With e consultation and telephone triage in place it is easier for busy people to ask about less serious issues than it used to be so there has to be a degree of sifting. Usually if examining is needed we can arrange it, and for a lot of problems an examination really isn’t going to change things, but I can see that some people don’t feel “seen” unless they have had a face-to-face. We’re nearly all using the same kind of systems now, but some patients have so firmly decided that there is a problem with access that they will complain about it to my face as I try to examine them in a face-to-face appointment, usually on the same day that they contacted the practice. I think they believe media hype above their own real life experiences. Give us a break!