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 ?

Ours have been awful sadly, I’m sure others have been great but not the experience locally.

Ds is a severe asthmatic (shielding) phoned the Gp about an accute attack that was building, GP refused to see him because it was a respiratory problem instead telling us to go to A and E - because that’s the best place for a vulnerable child when they clinically don’t need a and e (hence contacting the GP before it got to that stage) thankfully o managed to contact the consultant who helped us.

My dad has a catheter and a conversation he had went “yes you need to see someone but we can’t see patients we will get the district nurses out to you” - so the poor district nurses ended up having to play go between and apparently that’s a massive issue for them adding to their already stretched workload.

The care from the NHS my family have had through this has been amazing all things given, but the GPs have let the side down

@GreyishDays

Haven’t you answered your own question, doing online consultations?

Well it's obvious you haven't understood my query .

We have had 3 same day call backs and two face to face consults since March. Tbh the service is better than before!

I think alot of the issue is that they are being exposed to covid daily, there are rotas for home visits, hot spot centres andso on, there is still the planning side of stuff as really most GPs do not employ more than a practice manager and a team of reception/admin so all the infection control needs monitoring, strategic decisions about resource allocation and keeping staff and patients safe is down to managment which is GPs and practice manager, they are more exposed esp when on rota for hotspot centres - so their own rate of infection will be higher, they need to protect patients from cross infection hence call, video etc I have spoken to GPs at least 3 times one time was a locum and one time was from their grouped practices so they are sharing the out of hours work to make it sustainable in a situation where they have a high level of vacancies, burn out and struggle with part timers etc. Many are also taking on duties elsewhere and have carehomes under their care or like my own he is 50/50 hospital consultant ENT he also has responsibilities to the hospital he works in. SO while we may only see the tip of their iceberg its not hard to understand what they are up to. Its you they are trying to protect

I found it funny that my doctor's surgery has a poster on the door saying: 'Do you feel unwell? Do you have a temperature? Do you have a dry persistent cough? DON'T COME IN!' I mean if you can't enter the doctors because you feel unwell, that could be a problem!

There's another poster too reading: 'Need medical assistance? Go home and call the surgery from there'. Let's hope there's no one having chest pain then huh?

Doing phone consultations, mine has a callback service where they have triage service for online requests and contact you the same day/next few days depending on urgency by text, phone or email. They have face to face appointments only if required. They are also doing house calls for vulnerable patients, I'm guessing for the very elderly or ECV patients.

It's a quicker service than normal, usually it can be weeks for non-urgent appointment. They were always good with children's appointments on the same day or urgent appointments.

At my rural surgery they are working in the flu clinics, doing the telephone consultations and face to face appointments. I know this is true because I have had them all more than once since the end of March.

They're doing everything they normally do, just mostly over the phone or via video which is completely necessary, as the risk of bringing COVID into a GP surgery and infecting staff who could then pass it on to already unwell patients is huge.

I think it's actually working really well and hope that at least parts of this system continue in the longer term. Previously, you could have waited a few weeks for an appointment, but now you generally get to speak to a GP on the phone the same day, and then a follow up face to face appointment/blood tests etc if deemed necessary.

I needed a GP appt a few weeks back. I called and spoke to the receptionist who advised that the GPs aren't doing any appointments, face to face or telephone, due to the fact that we are in tier 3 (Scotland). I accepted this and just thought I would hold on (despite being in a great deal of pain). It got to the point that I couldn't hold on anymore and I called a few days ago. Turns out that the receptionist had been robbing me off - they were in fact doing telephone appointments and I managed to get one. She hadn't even asked any details, just a blanket no to any appointment.
So please make sure that you aren't just being fobbed off by reception; doctors are there for people and still working away.

*fobbing. Still no edit function on MN 🙄

You know, I don't often agree with Xenia on here, but I do see her point. I have spent so much on private treatment in the last 10 years, for conditions that are supposedly covered by the NHS (but actually aren't), I'd like to be able to opt out.

I think alot of the issue is that they are being exposed to covid daily, there are rotas for home visits, hot spot centres andso on, there is still the planning side of stuff as really most GPs do not employ more than a practice manager and a team of reception/admin so all the infection control needs monitoring, strategic decisions about resource allocation and keeping staff and patients safe is down to managment which is GPs and practice manager, they are more exposed esp when on rota for hotspot centres - so their own rate of infection will be higher,

My parents' GP surgery had to close down for two weeks due to positive cases amongst the staff. Presumably that is the kind of thing that they are trying to prevent. Not to mention that they may well have infected vulnerable patients.

Our surgery has been great. The receptionists have been polite and efficient and the nurses and doctors very professional. On one occasion the phone was answered by the senior partner because there had been an outbreak of Covid amongst surgery staff and none of their reception staff were available at all. They must have been under a ridiculous amount of pressure but still managed to squeeze my daughter in for a F2F appointment. Perhaps some patients are unrealistic in their expectations, expecting, for example, call backs on the day. That isn't necessary for a routine problem and a lot of problems. It's also been widely publicised that there is a shortage of GPs, nurses, etc so they simply do not have staff and resources to provide the service they would no doubt like to provide.

Our GP practice is working really hard and providing a great service. I have had numerous appts for me and DC since March, they call back quickly and deal w the problem thoroughly, refer, send for blood tests etc and then follow up afterwards. We used video consultation for a few things too. Honestly it is more convenient and works so well. I am really grateful to my amazing GP practice. They are so knowledgeable and kind.

So the problem seems to be no national system of accountability for GP practices. The experiences of posters on this thread are widely variable. How can the ordinary patient struggling to access services hold the poor GPs to account?

I haven't needed face to face appointments but have heard our local one is running an okay-ish service, all things considered. However it's clear on a national level that something has gone quite wrong with the way some GP's are responding. I think it was okay for them to retreat in March but not now. In a lot of other countries GP's are assessing people over the phone and prescribing Covid tests in addition to their normal job.

@Phineyj

You know, I don't often agree with Xenia on here, but I do see her point. I have spent so much on private treatment in the last 10 years, for conditions that are supposedly covered by the NHS (but actually aren't), I'd like to be able to opt out.

Yes, I agree. NHS provision was woefully inadequate where I live well before Covid was heard of. I'd be happy with an opt out.

My GPs bought into some online thing so you just see some random gp over an app on. Was a lot easier to get an appointment! No idea what my actual GP is doing though. Lots of people complaining about not being able to see anyone.

My GP's have been amazing. My parents are also with the same GP. We have all have annual reviews with the GP calling us and arranging tests and changing medication where necessary. My parents have had 6 visits from a GP and between us we have had 30 or so phone consultations and 20 or so ftf appointments. They even agreed to do my monthly blood tests at the surgery to save me going to Central London for them.

Never any problem getting an appointment.

@GreyWall

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

Because potentially exposing sick, and more than likely vulnerable people to covid is such a good idea. Use a bit logic.

I’ve found the current way the GP is working much better for us. It meant I didn’t have to drag myself and a baby to the surgery when I had mastitis. Everyone in my family and wider family has had good an appropriate are from the NHS from GP appointments, to consultants for long term issues, dietitian appointment (especially easy without having to look after the child at the same time), GP home visits and major surgery for cancer.

My dh who is severely asthmatic and immunosuppressed can't even get a flu jab through lack of supply ! Our practice is doing phone consults only.

"Fuck all obviously when teachers sit in stuffed classrooms and no masks. Makes me sick."
@GREYWALL I dont have up to date figures but in September over 600 NHS staff have died of Covid19 (obviously not all contracted it at work but I'm pretty sure quite a few did. In my own rust we have lost 2 colleagues and we are in an area what a low incidence of Covid. In contrast the only figures I can find for those who work in education (again not up to date) is 65. Secondly there is still little evidence that wearing bog standard masks, which all staff in the NHS are now required to wear, protect the wearer.
"If we can see 300+ fucking students a day they can with patients."
But you don't see 300 students individually doing you? One of the commonest complaints from patients is that they dint get enough time with their doctor.
Thirdly and in stark contrast teachers have done nothing but moan since this epidemic started but the vast majority of NHS staff have gone above and beyond and many are totally traumatised by this epidemic many have never seem death on this scale.
"They could be distanced,"
Finally Im a HCP the fact that anyone could even write this demonstrates how clueless people are. I only work very part time I see 12+ patients a day and I am unable to social distance from any of them, and none are wearing masks etc.

My aunt is still doing appointments online.

Yes we do see them individually as groups of 32 packed like fucking sardines and NO PPE for them or us. The DfE and Govt are hiding the real statistics. I mean seeing them individually would half... actually lessen the risk by 31 times.

nothing promptly - I rang when it opened at 8am and it took until 9.30 to get through and the earliest emergency appointment they could give me was a phone triage four days later. Absolutely useless!

I have absolutely no issue with appointments over the phone, in fact prefer it as it saves waiting about, but I am in a fairly lucky position of WFH. If I was back in the office or did a job where you couldn't recieve calls, firstly I wouldn't have been able to stay on hold for 90mins to get the appointment anway, and then I wouldn't have been able to keep my phone on me for the call back.

It seems quite a good system for those who aren't working (for whatever reason) or WFH and can manage their own diary for disruptions, but seems incredible unfair for the majority of working people who are the ones who actually pay for the service! I have no idea how my family members who are teachers/electricians/dentists etc would ever manage to get an appointment with this system!