Doctors receptionist fobbing off with nurse

[noclothesinbed]

Hi. I have been really ill for the last four months. Every month I have had a period of up to 2 weeks where I'm wiped out with symptoms of Covid but it is not Covid. Terrible painful chest and hacking cough temperature aches headache. After being in bed again all weekend I phoned the doctors this morning and the receptionist was adamant I needed a phone call from the nurse. I really wanted to see a doctor to discuss what I've been going through. My question is how do you see a doctor these days when they seem to think a nurse can see you instead.

GP appointments are triaged due to the vast amount of need and not enough appointments. I would much rather be trained by a nurse than the GP receptionist how it used to be. They are trained to tell you the most appropriate place to access care, for example you have mentioned chest pain, the nurse may get a history and try to determine if that's a more plueritic sounding chest pain or more cardiac in nature. If it was cardiac you would be going straight to hospital. If that was the case and you had been booked straight in to GP you would potentially have to wait until the after noon which would put you at immense risk, then they would need to get an ECG, staff would need to sit with you whilst you wait for an ambulance to get you to hospital. This would be a waste of your time/put you at serious risk/ and would be at least an hour of time where the GP was sitting with you when they could have been seeing 5/6 appropriate patients.

If the nurse thinks you need an appointment at the GP practice (very likely with your symptoms) they will book you in. I have a friend who is a GP and they get multiple calls a day for dental pain from people who are not aware there is an emergency dental line. Triaging allows that to be redirected to a more appropriate provider.

Hope you get seen today and feel much better soon.

You're not being fobbed off. It's their system and if you want to talk to the doctor you need to speak to the nurse first.

I spoke to a nurse practioner last week for my Ds.. she felt he needed

Sorry posted to soon....

Nurse felt he needed to see Gp. He was seen 45 minutes later

Do you really mean a nurse or an advanced nurse practitioner? It's easy to get them confused

This might be news to you, but advanced nurse practitioners are actually qualified too.

We can assess, treat and prescribe, especially for things like chest infections. And we even train doctors!

be strong op
state your symptoms
a nurse is highly regarded in this situation

Exactly. It's the same with Dental Surgeons and Dental Therapists. DTs are trained to exactly the same level of expertise in the areas in which they work, which is all routine dentistry, but when it was announced recently that even more treatments would be available from DTs there was an outcry from SM about getting dental treatment from inferior practitioners.

I really rate the nurse practitioners at our doctors, last time I saw one she went and fetched a doctor to examine me and I got a really long, thorough consultation with not just one, but two, highly qualified health professionals.
Our practice also has a paramedic on the staff, who is similarly excellent for an initial appointment, he confirmed I had an infection, popped out to get a prescription signed off for me, job done.

See the nurse, they will refer you to the doctor if needed.

I’d rather see the nurse than the doctor (at first anyway). They’ll take the blood tests etc otherwise you see doc who tells you to make an appt with the nurse!

Hope you get seen soon 💐

The best advice I have ever received from a doctor was actually from a nurse! In my opinion they are undervalued, if they need to refer you on they will do.

Why do we need doctors then ? So what would you need to see a doctor for if nurses can do it all anyway ? What sort of thing can't a nurse deal with may be a better way of asking

If you don’t want to see a nurse and feel
a dr is more appropriate then book a private GP appointment. Or maybe wait to see what the nurse says before posting on a public forum. I’m 100% convinced that if the nurse thinks you need to see the Dr they will organise this.

How do I get a private gp appointment? I've not heard of this at our surgery

OP if you've not been to the DR's recently then perhaps you don't understand the new system.

Receptionists are no longer receptionists, they are trained to direct you to the best resource for initial investigation/treatment for your symptoms. 9/10 that really doesn't need to be the Dr.

I, like you, tend to treat at home unless I'm falling down, but I can assure you that you'll get the treatment needed you just need to follow the appropriate process. The nurse will be able to order the various tests etc. you might need, it might be that they then refer you to the DR to discuss the results.

Stop moaning and understand the system works differently now. You can and will get the treatment you need, it might just not be straight away with the Dr.

Each part of the surgery has roles they are better placed to carry out, just like there are many, many different medical roles.

I'm not moaning I'm asking a genuine question What can a doctor do that a nurse can't. Seems everybody on here is saying a nurse can do it all so what can't they do and why is there any jobs for doctors Can anyone tell me what a nurse can't do ?

As a GP receptionist nothing annoys me more than the comments and hate we get. You're not being fobbed off. GP receptionists are trained to direct people to the best type of HCP for the problem they are describing, and at the end of the day we are doing what we are told...by the doctors!

People really seem to believe that we have nothing better to do than deny people of GP appointments for the fun of it. The NHS is on its knees and we're all doing the best that we can.

To get a private gp appointment you google private gp’s in your area. They may rent a room at your local hospital or gp practice.
A dr can prescribe a wider variety of medications but for which there maybe more serious contraindications and side effects. A nurse with an additional qualification can do minor procedures, prescribe widely used medicines, change doses, review results and order some but not all investigations, review wounds, stitch and take blood. A Dr can also do all these things but can order more investigations, request more expensive investigations if able to justify them. The list is endless.

I admit as a Nurse I get very prickly over "just a nurse" attitudes but honesty OP seeing an Advanced Nurse Practitioner is likely to be helpful.

The ANP can take your history, order investigations if required and potentially prescribe antibiotics or other medicines if indicated. They will then advise on follow up referring to a GP or other HCP depending on what you need.

Please see this as a positive step to regaining your health. I hope you are feeling better soon.

I was not rude or hating if the receptionist I totally understand it's her job. She on the other hand was miserable as soon as she answered to call before I even told her the problem and she was rude in her tone when I said to her I would like to see a doctor please she snapped why do you think you need a doctor

@noclothesinbed weird isn't it. If you don't like people, then don't have a people facing job. Give them feedback on careopinion...

Nobody should have to dread calling for help or advice from the NHS.

How do I get a private gp appointment? I've not heard of this at our surgery- Google it. Should bring up your nearest private GP. It costs £70/95 here I believe.

I think receptionists probably get a lot of heat from doctors to filter calls as much as possible. They probably get a fair bit of abuse too.