DH needs urgent prescription for UTI

[Tulipomania]

DH woke up this morning with a UTI. He urgently needs antibiotics. Happy to pay to get a prescription privately - but how?
Our health insurance can't offer a GP consultation until Tuesday.
111 said go to A & E - clearly we don't want to add to the NHS burden for a relatively minor ailment, nor have to wait 12 hours to be seen.
Most online private appointments seem to be linked to health insurance providers.
Anyone got any helpful advice please?

As @Pinkyandtwerky and @LaCerbiatta have said utis in men are very uncommon and would need review by gp to rule out other issues. Pharmacies and most nurse led miu or urgent treatment centres would not give a prescription for this.
-MIU nurse

In the meantime, get him drinking lots, cranberry juice diluted as well as just water.

If he has had it before, did they do all of the tests that pp are talking about?

We have no walk-in clinic near us, even A&E is 30 minutes drive away, closest private GP clinic I have been able to find online is an hour away.
Thanks to all for your advice.

Medical advice has told you A&E as unusual in men. Shouldn’t happen due to anatomy. Out of hours GP should have seen. Can try again phoning and asking for an appointment rather than a&e

Do you think you might have cystitis OP?

@Pinkyandtwerky

But what’s the sense in essentially waiting until people get systemically unwell prior to treating? That wastes further resources surely in long run?

Appreciate that some bacterial infections will clear without antibiotics but tbh I would be really surprised if a UTI in a male would. And of course yes it could be not a UTI but that surely has to be ruled out and then he needs signposted to the right care for further investigations. And that care should be prompt also.

Completely agree it is ridiculous to have to go to A and E for it at this point but the health service has been eroded to the point that’s the only place to access (crap, slow - not staff’s fault but it is) care in these situations, in many areas.

Dispensing pharmacist?

@Tulipomania in your shoes if I could afford it I would be seeking an in person GP appointment privately. Even with a two hour round trip. You’ll wait much longer in A&E surely. I also think a GP on a virtual service might well be reluctant to prescribe for this. I think they would have to insist he needs seen. I could be wrong of course.

The last time DH had this was during Covid, GP gave him a prescription for antibiotics over the phone which cleared it up quickly.

I am taking on board everyone's advice about it being more serious for men than women. Really don't think A&E is the answer.

111 have said a GP will call him back but no idea how long this will take.

Sometimes we just have to wait even if it’s uncomfortable and not ideal.
Redirecting to the wrong service (A&E) just makes the whole system function even worse.

Male symptoms need full assessment and investigation and that cannot be arranged by A&E. This needs the GP service so either wait until Monday (whilst monitoring for any worsening and taking pain relief/lots of fluids etc) or find an out of hours/extended access service on NhS or privately. I totally agree they are also massively overwhelmed and that’s not easy. The whole system is heaving. It’s a mess- no argument there.

I cannot see someone having symptoms for two hours requires a knee jerk reaction of attending A&E. It is highly unlikely they would get seen and it fills the waiting room. OP didn’t want to do this either so was seeking solutions. However some of us have said directly getting hold of antibiotics is not it. He needs more than that.

Can I just add if he is managing his condition at home and shows any signs of confusion, mania or delirium because of the uti he really must go to a&e to get seen as he would need urgent treatment

You could try bladapure from Holland and Barrett. My son has had this and we are mid investigation with a urologist, but to offer you some reassurance the urologist says GPs make it sound like it's super rare in men which suggests something terrible but it's not likely to be something to worry about.

Obviously if he gets worse or a fever then seek more urgent help.

We shouldn't reframe urgent. A bad UTI needs immediate treatment or it's at risk of spreading to the kidney. That requires a bed.

This. He really needs to speak to a doctor. I'd start with 111

@Tulipomania, in my very recent experience of A&E, they triaged us very quickly then sent us to a side clinic in the same hospital called urgent care, instead of waiting in the main A&E waiting room.

It seems A&E is the route to urgent care so check the nearest hospital online and see if they do have an urgent care clinic, then you'll know whether it's likely you will be sent there from A&E. Either way, it's seems this is the appropriate route on a weekend to get your dh the help you need.

111 said go to A & E

111 have said a GP will call him back but no idea how long this will take.

?

If 111 say A&E then that's where you should go. 111 is the out of hours gp service.

The Out of hours number for all NHS gps is now 111.

Bloody hell. I meant I was asking a stupid question because we don't get referred to 111.

Apologies for not reading your 2nd message before posting. I hope your husband gets help soon.

We have a badger clinic for all out of hours enquiries and it is also a walk in do I thought OP may have something similar

i broke a needle and the tip of it went into my finger. ( I only know this now because it popped out again a month later) but at the time i thought I’d just pricked it. The finger over a Friday night became very painful and swollen and hot to the touch. I too thought well this is neither an accident or emergency but it was still extremely painful. After googling I came across Livi. I filled in a questionnaire and they booked a zoom appointment for 20 minutes later. The gp asked me lots of questions then diagnosed an infection and sent a private prescription to my local chemist. I think the whole thing including consultation and prescription cost about £40, but it was £40 well spent as I was taking my first antibiotic an hour after booking the call.

Women in my family are prone to UTI s. They can progress very rapidly without antibiotics. And if course always start up on a Friday night or bank holiday weekend. Have had to call 111 on several occasions. Even when the patient is peeing what appears to be pure blood and feeling unwell, they have only ever said go to a pharmacy for some sachets!
To be advised to go to a&E must mean utis in men are treated very differently.
If 111 says go to A&E - do it.

Your local A&E may triage to a out of hours/minor injuries area, rather than emergency issues.

Thank you so much to everyone who posted on here with advice.

Amazingly we have had a call back from a lovely NHS GP and DH is getting a prescription for antibiotics. They said it's most likely connected to the fact that he was stuck on a long haul plane overnight (work trip) unable to go to the toilet when he needed to.

Great example of the NHS working efficiently and effectively contrary to what we are hearing in the media at the moment! I'm glad we did not burden A& E for this.

Interestingly he was only able to get an online private GP appointment at 8 am tomorrow (which we won't get a refund on!)

Well done - hope he feels better soon!