GP's please why are you not back to seeing us face to face

[whenwillthemadnessend]

Just that really ?

Please can any GP's explain the reasoning

If dentists physios and accident and emergency doctors can see people why can't GP doctors?

@Tistheseason17 - when I have encountered that sort of daftness (which I have regarding my osteoporosis) it has been worth seeing a consultant privately and asking them to set out their sensible and more up to date advice in a letter to the GP. My understanding is that optimal wellbeing comes when TSH is towards the lower ranges of normal for those who are hypothyroid. Fortunately I've never had an issue with that and would change GP had that been the case.

What I do find absurd is the fact that needing levothyroxine means I get every single prescription free even for non related conditions. Even without levothyroxine they would be free now in any event as I am over 60.

It is bizarre. I can see the logic for the levothyroxine but not for ABS, painkillers, etc. Also whilst I am 60, I am still working full-time. It is woeful mismanagement of resources.

@RosesAndHellebores
I agree, my issue is I'm rural and our 5 local surgeries merged so I can't move GP! 😂 However, recent new GP appears good so I'll hang on in there. I do collect my high dose steroids free and find it hard to understand that some meds are free and others are not. I have always considered being able to breathe pretty important. I pay for anything else that is available without a script but this is not always possible.

My sister's gp has refused to see her despite the fact she has been suffering unexplained weight loss and stomach pain for months. Eventually she became so unwell she called an ambulance and has been admitted for tests for suspected cancer. I cannot express how furious I feel towards her gp, who has resolutely refused to take my sister's issues seriously.

GPs seem to assume that everyone is a time-waster until proven otherwise. Even if you haven't been to the GP for ten years in which case you could assume that they wouldn't be bothering you unless they really felt they had to, unlike the ones who phone up about a cough every week.

While A&E have to pick up the slack. And patients get very ill from very preventable conditions. Don't the lazy GPs feel guilty for earning so much and doing so little? Very clearly not. If I did so little in my job I'd be out on my ear within days,

56 day prescribing? I commented about our surgery above, but it sounds as if this is also something they should be doing, but are not. DH and I are both on long term medication, but cannot get more than 28 days at a time. There is no slack for holidays etc. Add to that the fact that my two medications come due two weeks apart and that's 24 trips to the pharmacy each year.

I have recently been on medication for 15 months that they would not even put on repeat, making it even harder to get.

@NaToth
Ask your surgery to synchronise the meds and then put on repeat dispensing electronically for 12 months. Standard in most practices. Any probs, ask your pharmacy to put the request in. Best wishes

I think they are not allowed by NICE to do prescriptions more often than monthly. This was reiterated at the beginning of the pandemic to prevent stockpiling.
I wish my surgery would do elecronic prescritions. I am CEV and was shielding. They refused to deliver and yet I couldn't get them anywhere else (rural practice).

@Isadora2007

Even more weirdly why are podiatrists not back working face to face?!?

We are, and have been able to work throughout this lockdown.

@Boph

I think they are not allowed by NICE to do prescriptions more often than monthly. This was reiterated at the beginning of the pandemic to prevent stockpiling. I wish my surgery would do elecronic prescritions. I am CEV and was shielding. They refused to deliver and yet I couldn't get them anywhere else (rural practice).

Let me guess they are a dispensing practice? They aren’t reimbursed under standard pharmacy conditions and for many practices it generates a nice profit. They won’t want you to go to a pharmacy During the lockdowns they were obliged to deliver to CEV patients, you need to complain

@Boph - sounds like your practice is not acting appropirately - they can absolutely dispense more frequently and should be delivering to CEV. - @BungleandGeorge is correct.

However, that is unless you are on an opioid or other replacement therapy or addictive medication. And if you are on antidep medication a GP will want to talk to you and support you (well they should!). Not safe to keep dispensing without review!

My GP has been so-so over this last year. For a couple of things they have told us to go to the MIIU unit at the hospital which you can't just turn up to and need to book through 111. The nurses down there were pretty miffed that we had been sent instead of seeing a doctor so when I've had something else I've gone straight to 111 and cut out the Doctors surgery.

But, when I had a period after 13 months of nothing I filled in the e-consult and had a phone call saying it was something to be concerned about and they would refer me to gynae. I then had a text to say that wasn't the right way and I needed an ultrasound first which was booked. Had the ultrasound and received a phone call at 8.00pm that evening to say they had seen something so needed a hysteroscopy which was booked for a couple of weeks later. I do work in a preschool but am lucky that if we are waiting for a call can leave our phone in earshot and answer it. So, for me the whole econsult and windfalls has worked. My screening for skin cancer has started up again after being cancelled for the whole of last year but I was called by them at the beginning who said they are not seeing the people who they felt would monitor themselves and ring if they had any concerns. I have had my diabetic check up by phone but was called in for my pneumonia jab and had my diabetic eye check up in hospital.

Where it has fallen down is my DD wants to sign up for the online account so she can reorder medication. Went to the pharmacy to ask and was told she needed to go into the surgery with ID scams home, picked it up and went back down. Surgery door locked so she had to talk through the intercom and was told quite bluntly that she was not allowed in and had to do it online as they weren't allowed to see people or handle paperwork for trivial things! She's came home looked online and found it categorically states that she has to go in to the surgery with her paperwork for it to be actioned. She still hasn't done it.

I think everyone is having different experiences with their doctors so it's easy for some to say that they surgery they work at is definitely seeing people when there are clearly surgerys that aren't for some reason or another. I also think that when you finally get to go in there seems to be only you and who you are seeing in the building whereas before we were so used to going into a crowded reception and sitting for what felt like hours before seeing someone. When you go in now you are the only one and seen on time which is a novelty 😁

I never stopped seeing people face-to-face when needed, I still do more telephone consultations than before, and this is likely to continue. I see people every day I work usually 8 - 10 and I see people in baby vaccine clinics and for joint injections/smears/bloods. I’m not back doing minor surgery (I used to do 1/2 day once a month) and I still get seconded to the GP covid assessment centre 1/2 day a month. I do home visits for the housebound, I never stopped. I am as busy as ever working 10 hour days.

*8-10 patients

Ps our prescribing advisor says 28 days only, so we rarely do 56 day prescriptions

Ours are. You put in a message on the website, the doctor rings you back the same day and if you need a face to face appointment they book one. If not they advise or prescribe, to be collected from the pharmacy. It's all working well here. I had a nurse practitioner appointment today.

Absolutely brilliant over last 24 hours. Completed the form clearly for an e-consult. Gave the details, the history and what had worked previously. Received a text within 24 hours advising prescription at pharmacy and Dr hoped it was better soon and advised "also do x and y". That is a zillion times better than the old days.

Ours is a joke. You describe problem to receptionist who tells Dr, who then rings you back to discuss but only between set hours. No face to face apps, no check ups of any kind. My mum who is diabetic hasn't been seen in almost 18 months, her diabetes is unstable and god knows what damage is being caused. She has tried to get appt and been told their clinics aren't on and not taking appointments for routine checks. Disgraceful and I cant see them going back to face to face

I am currently waiting for the dreaded triage call, having rang yesterday. Issue is I need a swab/sample doing and they are collected by midday - so if ring after 1pm, have to wait for Monday! With my current health condition it is important I get it done before Monday ( with then a wait for results), and last few times I have ended up in hospital with a raging infection.

Sigh. My employer will not be happy I am in hospital again for infection, but I have got nowhere saying please can I have a sample form and container and I will drop it off!! At least under pregnancy, I cannot have it count against my sickness record!

like trying to get into fort knox, they are all about phone appointments now, thats nothing new, they have always had that but now, seems the procedure is to ring , then , if your lucky , you get a phone appointment, whenever , then the doctor decides as to whether he needs to see you in person or not, so then you may get an apppointment, whenever, i cant see us ever getting back to the good old days

@earnshaw47
You mean the 'good old days' of sitting around for an hour in a waiting room full of people coughing in order to speak to your doctor about a matter they do not need to physically examine you to diagnose?

Personally I much prefer the current system of only seeing a doctor in person if they actually need to look at you/touch you to see what's wrong.

i do realise that in the dim and distant past things werent ideal but , technology again has reared its ugly head, we used to judge our doctors on bedside manner , thats all gone, sorry , but i still miss the old days, such a faff now, especially if your not feeling well, ringing the surgery, after listening to an automated message saying what to do if i think i have covid, then the receptionist eventually answers , says , if neccesary, the doc will ring at some point, waiting again , then doc rings back , then its down to them as to whether they see yo u personally or not, it just feels all wrong,

I don't think things will fully revert back to the "good old days"

In some ways this system feels much better (speaking personally)

I don't want to sit in a waiting room full of people coughing, with fever & goodness knows what else- that's how it used to be!

A few months ago I would have disagreed with it but it's really irking me - my GP are basically refusing to see people (although note the nurses are in doing baby immunizations and the like). There's effectively a filtering system of "are you at deaths door" or not, but of course anyone that poorly is almost always directed to the nearest a&e.

I seriously object to GPs telephone triaging a toddler who can't yet talk. Its relying on the parent (hugely subjective and utterly untrained) to basically speculate on the childs symptoms.

GPs want to be a little bit careful. If they are suggesting there's far less role for face to face GPs.... what's standing in the way of replacing 80-90% of expensive UK based doctors with call centres of doctors in cheaper countries?

Have you contacted the surgery to find out why they are not seeing patients? All the GP’s I know, including DH, have not stopped seeing patients but many appointments are online which is proving very popular.

They are claiming they are doing appointments but the reality is they won't give you one!

I am completely in agreement with telephone and online for capable adults and older children but my toddler needs to be seen and they are making it extremely difficult, which is unacceptable in my book. She has a complicated medical history and I really do not want her ending up in hospital again.