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 are as busy as usual. A phone call appt to a patient every ten minutes for three hour stretches at a time, interspersed by a break for lunch, home visits, paperwork etc. Then a further three to four hours. Seeing high risk patients face to face in flimsy ppe in a 'hot hub' for suspected Covid, several a day usually, and other patients for various issues that need to be seen in person. So full and very busy days.

As a practice nurse I am just as busy. Smears, immunisations etc. All the usual. Face to face alongside phone calls all the way through. I have since tested positive for antibodies.
Couple this with reduced staffing due to self isolation.

Our GP quite possibly saved my DD 12 life on Thursday last week. Phoned them with my concerns , got a call back within a few hours and was told to take her down to the surgery. GP examined her and booked her straight into the children's ward at the hospital. Within an hour of arriving at hospital it became clear that dd was seriously ill as she began haemorrhaging into the toilet and went in and out of consciousness. We are still in hospital trying to work out what's going on with her but I am extremely grateful to our GP

My GP surgery has also been great! The current system is that we get a telephone call to discuss the problem, and then if necessary go in and see the GP, usually all in the same day. I'm in Scotland, if that makes any difference.

However I had to eventually give up waiting for an "urgent referral" for an MRI scan, and got one done privately.

@Phyzzy

My doctors is now part of a group of about 10 different practices - all Calls go through to the one number doesn't feel like they hired anymore staff to answer calls - minimum wait times is over an hour on the phone - I miss the old days of booking it on the app 🤣

As far as I know my GP practise effectively closed down and aren't seeing anybody. I'm not really surprised, they've always done their best to avoid having to actually treat patients.

Angels, hope your daughter is okay.

@AngelsWithSilverWings

Our GP quite possibly saved my DD 12 life on Thursday last week. Phoned them with my concerns , got a call back within a few hours and was told to take her down to the surgery. GP examined her and booked her straight into the children's ward at the hospital. Within an hour of arriving at hospital it became clear that dd was seriously ill as she began haemorrhaging into the toilet and went in and out of consciousness. We are still in hospital trying to work out what's going on with her but I am extremely grateful to our GP

Glad your GP was so good. Hope you get answers soon

Let's hope there's no one having chest pain then huh?

I called with pains in my chest, chest tightness and breathlessness. I was immediately offered an immediate appointment at the same day drop in clinic. I did that - went straight there (not my own GP but the drop in as closer and quicker), seen immediately and an ambulance called there and then.

I could have also called 999 for chest pains and they would have come immediately, as they were doing so when the drop in called them for me.

I didn't call an ambulance myself as didn't feel it was actually needed in that sense. But that was MY choice. If you called up the GP with chest pains even in pre covid times they'd not want you hanging about waiting for an appointment really would they?!?

I miss the old days of booking it on the app
Absolutely. I can see why they don't want people to just book FTF online but why not allow telephone appointments to be booked online?

@GreyWall

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

I am personally very much in favour of teachers having much more support in schools but this type of generic post is ridiculous Whilst plenty worked hard it was also obvious that SOME teachers did very little during the first lockdown And again whilst again I support teachers it's very obvious that a gp would come in closer contact with people. And it's also the case that plenty of other professions face risk (social workers, police) with little protection Its not a race to the bottom. Stop being so narrow minded

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!

Phone system at the surgery I'm with has changed, so when you phone, you are told what number you are in the queue and the wait time. I was stood outside the surgery, looking at the receptionists when I phoned to be "allowed in". I was number 1 in the queue, wait time 20 minutes. How does that work? Three of them sat there doing nothing. Great service!

Several of my friends are GPs. They are working harder than ever and are doing about 50-60 consults per day (phone and in person) plus lots of paperwork. They are at breaking point and some are contemplating a career change.

I have a face to face appointment tomorrow.
I filled in the online question, I only needed a short answer, in fact it was a simple Yes/No.

Must have triggered something as was asked to make a face to face app asap.

@GreyWall

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

Your students are presumably young and fairly healthy. Surgeries are normally frequented by people with medical issues, often elderly. So if they continued as usual with busy waiting rooms and no attempt to deep clean between patients it would dramatically increase the risk for both staff and patients. And people who would be at very high risk of becoming seriously ill. And if all the GPS became unwell, there would be no triage for already over run hospital services. And just like teachers often feel that the general public have no real appreciation of all the work they do that does not involve direct contact with pupils, so might GPS feel that there is no understanding of the complexity of their work.

Well, so far I have had to wait 6 weeks for a review of some blood test results.

Three weeks of this was because the letter from my consultant had been filed away without being reviewed.

The other 3 weeks was because once the letter was found (because I kept chasing) the consultant hadnt said I should be seen urgently so had to wait for the next available phone consultation.

The test results still havent made it onto my online record.

Fortunately I have a copy of the letter so already know what the results are.

As ever my appointment is with someone I have never seen or spoken to before. I have seen the same doctor more than once fewer than half a dozen times in the time that I have been with this surgery (14 years).

On the other hand this is pretty typical for my surgery even in pre-Covid days (in Special Measures until recently, now only Requires Improvement)

I’m a GP. I am exhausted. I go in at 7am and leave at 8pm. We have seen patients face to face since the beginning. Due to a small waiting room and the need for PPE/ everything to be cleaned between each patient we can’t bring everyone up. This means that we phone every single patient to triage them. General Practice in the U.K. is incredibly busy and under resourced. I don’t want claps or praise but the British public’s love of GP bashing is destroying the profession. It is so demoralising to read what people think of us when most of us are working so hard on a shoestring budget. People have no idea .

The GP provision is so variable. Some surgeries are no doubt providing an excellent service but some, like mine, are not.

DD said she didn't realise how poor our surgery was until she moved away. Now she is very pleased with the service even during these times.

Even in pre-Covid times she has had blood tests filed and forgotten and sent away without treatment for an open dog bite.

for all the GPs out there.

I am sick of the GP-bashing. The UK has too many people who seem to hate every profession that tries to help.

I am not ecstatic about some of the care issues that have cropped up for my family this year. But the UK is very short of GPs, we don;t train enough, we don't pay for enough, they have huge caseloads.

My GP practice has been trying to deliver services whilst everythng takes longer and is more complicated and they have been making efforts to ensure the doctors deliver services in a way that makes sure they don't give covid to their patients - many of whom are extremely vulnerable.

This is the equivalent of the "what are ALL the teachers doing?!" threads that abounded during the first lockdown. I've no idea what GPs are doing, and I would not pretend to know. I am not a GP. Like teaching, though, I know you cant convince medics to be GPs for love nor money. I wonder why....I conclude that the working conditions must be shit. Like teaching. Solidarity to all GPs. You are appreciated. Keep going.

Thank you for everything you are doing @bertiesgal. I wish my GPs would take a leaf out of your book.
However it is unfair to criticise patients voicing their justified concerns at being unable to access GP services. There are many testimonies on this thread describing this scenario. Perhaps reserve your criticism for some of your fellow GPs who are less conscientious and whose behaviour therefore detracts from the good work that you are doing.

Gnome an open dog bite is an A&E visit. Not general practice. It's not a walk in service. She may have needed tetanus immunoglobulin which GP's don't have.
Same for chest pain as pp. Thats a medical emergency requiring an ambulance and A&E.

I have no idea what our doctors are doing. It's near on impossible to get an app - you have to be triaged then wait for a call back , which could be a long wait. You're not even allowed to walk into the surgery. I could understand them not wanting people in with Covid symptoms but is there an issue with going in if you don't have those symptoms? No different to popping into the chemist next door. The door is locked with big signs up

@AngelsWithSilverWings

Our GP quite possibly saved my DD 12 life on Thursday last week. Phoned them with my concerns , got a call back within a few hours and was told to take her down to the surgery. GP examined her and booked her straight into the children's ward at the hospital. Within an hour of arriving at hospital it became clear that dd was seriously ill as she began haemorrhaging into the toilet and went in and out of consciousness. We are still in hospital trying to work out what's going on with her but I am extremely grateful to our GP

So sorry about your daughter angels.

cptartapp they didnt tell her any of this, basically told her to go away. She phoned, they said come in then nurse said go away as wound wasnt big.

@BamboozledandBefuddled

The OP very clearly asked what GPs are doing (generally). I answered what service we've had here.

I'm sorry that my response didn't meet your expectations.