Can you see your gp yet?

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

This is not a gp bashing thread.

I find the whole telephone triage thing puts me off phoning ( l hate using the phone) and emails are not the best way of communication for me.

So I’ve ended up not contacting my gp at all. It’s easier than triage. This has been building up over the two years of the pandemic, and now l find it really difficult.

It’s mainly mental health problems. I can ask for eczema cream or something, but mental health it’s just easier not to contact. It was totally different when l could see someone with an appointment.

With mental health your doctor is like a check in? And they might say come back in 3 weeks or whatever. It’s feels like that support has gone and I’m drifting further away. It’s the lack of structure l think?

I don’t know. If we could still see f2f easily l think I’d be much better.

It’s hard having a relationship with someone you haven’t seen for 2 years.

I forgot the first part of the post🙄

I’ve saw another professional by zoom. I’ve got a horrible illness at the moment, but not really been in touch with my gp much. She was shocked and is writing to go.

Spot on. Phone appointments might be fine for the majority, but that doesn't mean it's OK to discount the needs of those that need adjustments.

I got an appointment by writing to the GP, specifying why I need to be seen in person. But when I turned up, they'd marked it as a phone appointment. I wasn't leaving so the GP saw me, and treated me like a leper. They put me in a side room, no computer so the GP couldn't access my records, the door left wide open and the doctor stood there. She gave me a prescription for an inappropriate medication (not surprising when she can't see my history). I've not been back since.

My old GP retired in the early days of the pandemic. He'd have found this way of treating patients completely unacceptable.

And if anyone says, "do an e-consult!", not one surgery in my area uses it. They don't even allow email communication.

I’ve seen mine once in 2 years. About this horrible illness I’ve got. The Zoomperson wasn’t impressed, she’s arranged for more support.

Do you think it will ever return to normal?

Phone triage…. ‘Yeah l feel like shit’ I just can’t do this. And this method is putting barriers in place ( probably intentional)

e-consults are no good for people with terrible MH in my experience. If you tell it how you’re really feeling it kicks you out and tells you to call the surgery and then face the battalion of receptionists keeping you from the doctor. Which is hard enough when your mentally well.

I can’t get to see or speak to my GP at all. It’s beyond frustrating as my psychiatrist wants me to have a decent supply of meds that the GP is supposed to provide but won’t put on repeat prescription. So every time I need them I have to lie about how I’m feeling on the e-consult and then type in the free text boxes what is needed. If I don’t get my actual GP (and I don’t the majority of the time) I get a patronising text message about how I’m not managing my MH well enough and meds aren’t the answer and they prescribe me 1/4 of what I need. My psychiatrist then goes nuts at them, they sort it out, 8 weeks later we do the same dance

How did we get to this?

I see a pysch. I see him more often than gp. He sends letters to them, then l have to ask for the medication he’s requested.

Why can’t they do a prescription?

My psych can prescribe but he can only do paper ones and only when he’s in the office. Which is about twice a month. So I have to go and collect the prescription from the office and take it to the pharmacy. Which when I need my meds is too much for me. He told the GP what to do. The last time I asked for the GP to do it I was told that as the instruction was from November it wasn’t current. Assholes

Christ, what a mess!

It really is a mess, I have similar stresses with co-ordinating between GP, specialist and pharmacy but ultimately feel like it's because they are just trying to manage the symptoms without really addressing the root causes and in the meantime it's more stress to deal with.

I hope you get some more support OP.

I now just self prescribe. I order what I want on their online form and they just sign it. It's ridiculous. GPs never look at your records now, and don't listen to what you say. I frequently find when I pick up the prescription they have ordered the wrong thing anyway. I took a bag full of medication I didn't want to the chemists the other day. It's costing the NHS a fortune because GPs just don't do their job anymore.

My current diagnosis is Bipolar and ADHD (although we don't think it's Bipolar)

I have been suffering from awful depression for the past 4 months and my GP has been brilliant! I can either book a face to face appointment online or do an econsult/send an email.

She keeps in touch with me to make sure I'm ok as I'm going through some medication changes at the moment. I really can't fault them.

It's a shame that not all GPs have been able to offer this level of service.

My GP is brilliant. She calls me every single week and I have face to face appointments as well. She will call even without me calling; just to check in.

My mental health is very poor.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow if you see a pysch are you under the mental health team? They should be able to provide you with more intensive support than your GP. You can speak to the duty team etc.

That said, I think your GP should be offering you more if you need it.

Sorry to all the posters whose GPs and specialists aren't communicating as they should. I am under my GP, CMHT and the eating disorder service, and although sometimes I feel communication is lacking, I always have my meds on time etc.

Yes, I agree. Talking to a faceless person (he’d put me on loudspeaker so his voice was distorted) was awful. I’d put it off for ages and my husband even rang asking specifically for a face to face consultation but they said no. I felt really unsatisfied with the experience

We've been able to see our GPs F2F throughout COVID, particularly in relation to mental health. The only time they wouldn't see me is when they suspected I had COVID - and they were correct.

They have a list of patients who are offered face to face appointments at the start of the triage conversation and you can see any GP later that morning or that afternoon. If you want to see a specific GP it may be a few days wait as they have reduced staff numbers in the surgery.

I had to come back to this thread as my GP surgery have just made it even harder to get through to them. As I said upthread we can only access any "care" by filling out an e-consult. I need to speak to someone about meds for a physical health thing so thought I'd sit down today whilst I have time and quiet and fill it out properly to explain my issue. Nope. Can't do that, broc. E-consult is only available from 8am to 6:30pm on weekdays. So that'll be when most people are too busy to fill one out properly. Bravo GP!