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?

Like a lot of the NHS, I think it’s a postcode lottery. I’m in Lytham with family in Blackpool and have been seen several times face to face in the past year. One was for a potential cancer query and I was physically examined by the GP within a week and sent for tests which have all been face to face. Most consults happened by phone but when I was needed in to be looked at and examined, I was in.

DH is diabetic and developed a skin lesion and we were worried he might lose a limb because of it, we took photos, emailed his diabetic nurse and treatment was prescribed the same day and he was checked on regularly to see how it was healing.

Both my parents have accessed out of hours GP face to face going way back to the first lockdown for things like heart symptoms, falls and scalds/dressings. They’ve had physio face to face. I also had to see a GP before Christmas face to face with what turned out to be a Uti, although kidney stones was also suspected. I didn’t want to go in face to face as it was one of the most dangerous times in the pandemic, but they insisted. I’ve got uncles who’ve been seen face to face throughout the pandemic including one who is seen purely for his mental health (schizophrenia).

Whenever we’ve all been seen we’ve had to have our temp taken, not been admitted with Covid symptoms, everyone is wearing PPE (absolutely NO exemptions allowed at GPs, they are strictly no mask no entry). There’s no reason that face to face couldn’t go ahead really. But I do agree that with some symptoms telephone consultation or telemedicine makes more sense in a pandemic. Telemedicine has already been in place in local care homes for years. When I have not been seen in person, I’ve been asked to take my temp and tell them, send pictures of visible symptoms, pop down to the surgery to take blood pressure in their machine (or have own at home), take weight down etc and tell them or keep a regular record of all of these on the MyGP App. A lot of these are things that slow down face to face appointments and going forward maybe we will be expected to do some of these things ourselves.

Its just another example of where I feel children are being neglected the most by this whole thing

It’s Monday morning and at 9 am I walked past my GP surgery. All blinds drawn. Notice on door about calling 111 or 119 for covid symptoms and giving address of our nearest walk in clinic (two buses away). Staff car park totally empty.

Definitely not seeing patients!

doctors on line might be fine for some but , as an oldie,73, i so much prefer the old fashioned face to face with the doc, to me. its scary, that things will never be the same again.

@LadyDanburysCane

It’s Monday morning and at 9 am I walked past my GP surgery. All blinds drawn. Notice on door about calling 111 or 119 for covid symptoms and giving address of our nearest walk in clinic (two buses away). Staff car park totally empty.

Definitely not seeing patients!

Similar with mine it seems, can't get appointment even though I have a possible covid worry

we have always had phone appointments with our GP so thats nothing new but i do hope its not going to replace face to face

I've been quite disgusted for some time the way that covid is an excuse for GP Surgeries, they have had long enough to get their act together, asking elderly people to take photos of rashes !! i mean come on put the PPE on & do appointments & not phone calls when they can fit you in im a nurse & im seeing patients & have been the whole time!!i myself had an incident where they said i should see a dr f2f they cancelled & called,how they were going to feel abdominal pain over the phone is beyond me !! i then had to go in the next time!!

DH had to take a PCR test before he could see a GP face to face (and was told to self isolate before and after). He needed a physical examination and blood tests.

DM, who is 87, and has a history of skin cancer, was told to take a photo of the dodgy mole on her phone and send it in. She doesn’t have a smart phone, and was told “well we can’t help you then.” She called the hospital, and got an in person appointment with the dermatologist that week.

I’m a retired health professional and despair of the approach by some ( not all GP s )
It’s actually not worth having them if this is the best they can do - maybe we should start a new way to deliver Primary Care because this isn’t working .
Perhaps they are like turkeys voting for Christmas because hiding away just shows that someone else can do a better job !

Don’t lump all GP’s together. DH and his colleagues have been open throughout. They have done f2f appointments when they think it is warranted and also telephone consultations. DH spent 8 weeks working on a Covid ward, they have continued with day to day work and dealt with Covid vaccinations for care homes and the CV.

They and their colleagues have had the hardest year of their working lives.

I am actually thinking of changing my GP surgery once I've had my second jab because my current one seems to have become so inaccessible!

We used to have an online system where a certain amount of appointments were available to book online for the two week period ahead. Emergency same day/ week appointments you had to call up at 8.30am for.
A new system with a naff front page website has been put in. All online appointment booking removed ("due to national guidance") and the only way to get an appointment is to send confidential medical info about what's wrong into a black hole via a web form which my computer scientist DS says is 'insecure'. If you're deemed worthy, then you might be lucky and get a text saying the GP will call you. No specific time/date! So you're just expected to be available to take that call and discuss personal medical stuff whenever it's convenient to them!
I asked online for a minor change to my current HRT prescription and it looked like it had been processed, but when I turned up at the pharmacy they had no record of it. I went back online and was searching my patient record summary and apparently I have a telephone consultation booked with a GP tomorrow at 6pm! First I've heard about it - no text/ email/phone call etc to confirm.

The situation is going to get worse. The population has grown but the numbers of GP’s has gone down so each practice as more patients but less GP’s. New houses are built in an area but no new GP’s practices are built and there is a huge shortage of GP’s starting their training and the numbers leaving goes up each year.

I actually much prefer the new system, so much faster and more convenient, and the GPs will still see you face to face if it's needed.

I had a rash last week, not an emergency but getting worse and needed treatment. I phoned the GP surgery, they asked me to send in some photos, had a callback from GP 2 hours later, prescription sent to pharmacy and I picked up my medication the next day. No 3 week wait for a GP appointment. No trying to sort out time off work. No dragging 2 young children along to the GP surgery with me. So much easier and quicker than before.

I phoned the surgery yesterday, only wanting to speak to my GP. She'll apparently call me on the 27th.

too many people blame covid for delaying services, things are easing so why no improvements at GPs, no excuse now, the doctors were one place you go to sort out your problems by visiting , more often than not, the doctor you have been seeing for years so they know all about you, phone appointments have always been there and in its place its ok, but it should not replace face to face, its all so sad

I spoke to my Mum last night. She said she thinks she has an ulcer developing on her leg. She phoned the surgery, they told her to take a photo of it and email it to them. She told them she is 87, has no smartphone and no internet. They told her to get a friend to do it, but she hasn’t seen anyone for months and her neighbour is older than her and in the same position. They said they couldn’t help her, and hung up.

Mine GP practice aren't seeing any one either . It's hopeless. I have a dodgy mole in an aquward place. Couldn't get a wonderful photo to send them- so they told me to ask one of my colleagues to take a look at it!!!!! Useless.

Meanwhile I can go to the dentist, shops, hairdressers, hospital outpatients.... why are lazy GP's so different? Covid19 and "WFH REVOLUTION " is the biggest excuse for the workshy to get out of their actual responsibilities. Just not good enough.

Clearly the new system will need to find a balance, a settling period, between the old style and the new.

But I think a lot of the public have lost a lot of respect for both workshy GP's, and the whole way some GP surgeries have conducted themselves.

If you disagree with the way in which GP’s have had to operate over the last year take it up with NHS England. They have mandated how GP’s have had to work. GP’s haven’t been closed but have worked throughout but in a different way. Stop blaming GP’s who have worked excessive hours.

Parker do you seriously believe that the situation described by Blaytiful is acceptable. Something minor that should be attended to , left untreated could go on to be far more serious. People are being denied basic health care. There is no excuse for that now at this stage.

DH and his colleagues at their surgery have throughout the pandemic seen patients in person (where warranted) and via telephone. If people can’t get through on the phone it’s because the surgery are talking to someone else, if you can’t get an appointment, it’s because someone else has the appointment. Many surgeries have also continued with flu vaccinations and done Covid vaccinations on top of their normal workload.
The government promised more GP’s and an additional 5,000 appointments a year but there are now less GP’s as they are leaving the job.
Contact NHS England if you want the system changing.

The issue is they only see patients “where warranted” and can make wrong judgements over the phone.
The receptionist triage who gets a Gp and who gets a nurse phone all. If you are lucky enough to have jobs that allow you at answer you phone at any random time and don’t need to travel to work ( so nhs staff and teachers will struggle for starters, plus police etc!) then you can take the call. If you are deaf, tough basically!

My child ended up in hospital as we got the nurse triage. Despite symptoms being fully reported and pictures sent, nurse decided she was qualified enough to refuse a Gp phonecall ( which we had asked for), refused to see said child and then said no treatment needed. The A&E consultant paediatrician had a very different opinion, treated my child and my child has now been referred to a consultant for long term care.

Where warranted is the worrying phrase. It is how those decisions are made without seeing patients that concerns me. After all, I do not thing fire brigades decide if a fire is small enough to be left over the phone, and definitely the government decided schools should open first after lockdowns, and were never closed to nhs staff etc for their children. Teachers have not been told to only teach children that benefit from face to face teaching - and cev and cv staff are back in schools now, with no PPE, no vaccination unless old enough to qualify!

Excuse rubbish typing and errors above!