Are all GP services awful now ?

[TulipVictory]

Pre covid I could phone in the morning and often get an appointment the same day. Now, I have to phone to get a phone call back from the GP and even that is five working days just for a call 🙄

Mine has been great but know of some which are hard to get seen.
Do you have econsult?

I know of one decent surgery, but the others in the area are abysmal. At mine the doors are locked, samples are put through the letterbox.

There's no way my surgery would use an econsult service either. They flatly refuse to give an email address, and if you wish to make a complaint they'll post a form for you to post back to them.

Mine is probably better tbh
You contact via email and the doctors phone that day, or make you an appointment for face to face which is usually a few days later. Pre covid you'd be looking at 3 weeks for face to face and no chance of speaking to anyone the same day.
In both versions they reserve(d) a few same day emergency appointments.

like PP mine is better - it was always quite good but they've really managed things well. Phone appointment first and then if you need to be seen they get you in really quickly. I've been so impressed. I think the practice manager there is very good and I think that maybe makes a difference?

I don't say this to gloat but to say, it can be done.

At our GP surgery all appointments are a phone call initially (same day for urgent issues, or a week to two weeks for non-urgent) but if they need to see you they will get you in the same day, usually within an hour or so. I've recently been seen by a GP the same day for an ear infection that didn't get better with antibiotics and ended up with a referral to ENT who I saw just a few days later. However, we don't have many Covid cases here. I think the pandemic is creating a lot more illness generally with long Covid and sometimes severe symptoms and there hasn't been any extra money put into primary care to reflect the greater workload so I think in some places the system is collapsing. The government need to be forced to take responsibility for poor primary care where it's happening, rather than individual GP practices, as they are the ones who hold the purse strings ultimately. The UK already spends less per capita on health care than a lot of comparable Western European countries. Primary care has always been provided by the private sector (by self-employed GPS fulfilling NHS contracts) in the UK, so the failings aren't about ideology, they're about funding. Or, more precisely, the lack of it, which isn't keeping up with an aging population.

I can only speak for my own GP. It is terrible now. I dread getting ill and needing to use their services. They sent a text message last week saying that patients needed to practice self management of symptoms, or speak to a pharmacist in an emergency. I took that to mean don't bother trying to get an appointment. It's no wonder a&e is ridiculously busy.

Ours is definitely worse - surgery is locked up tight, phone consultations to start then face-to-face if deemed necessary.
I've been trying to be proactive & set up the online system so I can order repeat prescriptions etc but had to get a form, print off, fill in & drop off. That was a month ago.
Whereas normally I'd have handed it into a receptionist & they'd have checked my ID on the spot, I'm now waiting for them to contact me about a zoom appointment to verify my identity.
Emailed them this morning to check on the progress & apparently - due to Covid, they have a backlog of these forms & will get to it when they can. So god knows when that'll be.

Doors still locked, everything, samples, repeat prescriptions to be posted through the door not emailed.

You have to call at 8 and will get a call back that day any time between 8-6 if you miss the call you have to start the process the next day again. You can't book any appointments in advance, I work in a school so have missed calls, give up with it now.

Ours is great. Phoned and got a phone appointment on Monday, saw nurse for tests on Wednesday, had another conversation with the doctor to discuss the results the following Monday.

I can only share my experience this week of contacting my GP surgery at 08.30 and seeing the Doctor at 11.00 on the same day, I can only speak as I find, excellent

No. It varies by surgery, which is obvious from the DAILY threads on this. Its tiresome that people have moved on from teacher bashing to GP bashing now.

We have to fill in an online form and then will be called. This is only the second time I've had to make an appointment since the pandemic. I've now been waiting 72 hours for a call back (was told 48 but did ask specifically for a female doctor). Doesn't look like it's going to be today, which means I have to take the worry away with me on my short break next week.

I find it really stressful knowing that they could call any time, whether I'm with my kids, in the supermarket, at work etc, when it's a delicate gynaecological matter that I need to discuss - I'm hardly going to be able do it in Tesco, driving with the kids in the car or in the office!

I understand that it's helpful to have a telephone triage first but I wish there was an option to make a telephone appointment at a time to suit me. That would work much so better for me.

DH is a GP. Yep. It's an awful service now. It's no longer fit for purpose really, is it? I mean, we could sit here and sympathise and be kind and understanding about what a shit show primary care is courtesy of a pandemic, but honestly, the standard of care is beyond skeletal and it's no longer a proper service really, is it? Secondary care is amazing. And although the wait time is slower courtesy of the covid backlog, it's still strong. But primary care is a joke. If you're plugged into secondary care already, you're fine. But trying to get referred to secondary care... trying to even get anything from the GP is really hard. I see my DH ringing patients at 9pm... patients he should have called hours earlier but couldn't because there is an obscene amount of patients to deal with on a daily basis. The problem with econsult is that it's just swamped GPs. DH is trying to get through a daily patient list that in reality requires 2-3 days to get through. It's impossible. And he can't meet the needs of his patients because there aren't enough hours in the day. And it's proof that bigger practices don't mean a better service. My own surgery is an 8 doctor practice. They're just terrible. They don't even return calls/respond to econsults now. I just don't hear back. I've given up.

No. It varies by surgery, which is obvious from the DAILY threads on this. Its tiresome that people have moved on from teacher bashing to GP bashing now.

It's not GP bashing though. It's not my DH's fault that he can't deliver a decent service. He'll take the fall but it's no GPs fault. I think most of us know this. But let's call a spade a spade: A shit service is what's on offer when it comes to primary care and you really can't polish that turd. The pandemic has broken a very fragile NHS. I see it up close every day in my own home/ad-hoc surgery.

Mine are great. We had AskMyGP in place pre-covid and because of that I haven't noticed a drop in service. They're even now working with other surgeries in the area to offer nursing appointments (blood tests and injections) at each other's surgeries at the weekend, which is really handy. The IT system just means you email in your query with photos if necessary, GP calls back same day (often within the hour) and calls you in if needed for f2f. Also means if you need to call reception, phones are answered promptly as most people sort everything online. They've never stopped us entering the surgery although you're asked not to turn up early. I wish everyone got this service across the country.

Honestly ours is better now. E-consults responded to very quickly, always same with GP/nurse phone calls same day at roughly a specified time. Same day face to face appointments if needed. Booked blood tests with 5 minutes slots so no waiting with results texted through. DS has a skin issue and has been through GP, local hospital and GOSH. He’s only seen doctors locally and at GOSH on three occasions for a biopsy and treatment.

Mine is fabulous.

Messaged Wednesday, got a message back within a couple of hours saying the GP wanted to see me and giving a time yesterday (Thursday). I couldn't do the time so phoned in, phone answered quickly, got an alternative time for the same day. This was for an ear infection so not life threatening by any means.

Mine is good - now offering FtF appointments without a telephone consult first, although they're asking for medication reviews etc to still be telephone appointment. I had 2 FtF appointments in 3 weeks, with blood tests in between for a possible cancer diagnosis. The e-consult system hasn't worked too well in my surgery and it hasn't been possible to make appointments online since March 2020, so getting through on the phone can be a challenge, but the care is good.

I have to say that mine is great. I have needed to do a few e-consult forms recently. Either a phone call the next day, or a text message with an outcome. I did an e-consult for my shoulder pain, saying I wanted advice or physio referral. I got a text message the next morning saying 'physio has been booked for next Friday - let us know if the time doesn't suit'.

Yesterday, I had to phone the GP to ask what I should do about my Dd's condition. I had a phone call within 35 minutes, telling me to take her to A&E.

I care for my DM and needed the GP to adjust her medications. I got a planned phone call, where we discussed the options of increasing medicines or referral to secondary care again. We agreed that we would try the increased medication and I'll get back in touch if it's not good enough and we'll go for referral. Very much a joint decision.

I can't really fault my GP surgery.

Mine is great. Phone appointments can be booked a couple of weeks in advance using the NHS app. If you need something more urgent or want to be seen face to face you phone up.

A couple of weeks ago DS had an ear infection and seemed to be getting worse. I phoned up about 10am, got a call back from a nurse almost immediately and then a face to face GP appointment that afternoon.