Being sent to walk-in as no GP appt yesterday

[Isthisrealorjustfantasy]

I posted the other day about having some stomach symptoms which in the end seemed to resolve, but on Tgursam I found a lump in my groin which I though prob was a gland come up - could only feel it standing up (in shower). I googled and it said to see GP w a groin lump.
I knew I was too late for ‘on the day’ appt on thurs am but they said no surgery Thurs pm so I rang first thing Friday, by the time I got through there was no appts left (usually you’d get in even if waiting 10 mins), and they said nothing in the afternoon either - so advised to go to walk-in which is what I did as wanted some reassurance as it’s a big lump which I’ve never had before.
I was only examined by a nurse, she def was not a Dr, who was pleasant enough and said it if doesn’t go within 10 days to contact GP for blood test. Ok, that’s protocol, but in walk-ins they don’t know your medical history (I have some digestive issues although upper rather than lower), GP may have ordered bloods anyway to be thorough straight away etc.
I just feel that being ‘sent to walk in’ is just not good enough really. Something needs to happen as there’s just not enough GPs around. I know I could’ve waited til Monday, but I’d be more worried over weekend and the same thing would’ve happened!

*Thursday

A lump in the groin, without pain, doesn’t need a same day appointment. Personally I’d have assumed it was a lymph node, and given it a week of not touching it to see if it went itself.

It could be an inguinal hernia. If it doesn’t go, please see the GP

Where have you been for the past 5 years?
same day gp appointments are emergency only
same week is urgent
non urgent no appointment

Same

Frustrating as it is for you , on the day are for emergencies. I'm a GP receptionist yesterday the phones went on at 2pm and all appointments were gone by 2.07 we were also redirecting people and advising call backs for Monday.

Do you know my GPS? I actually have managed to get same-day appointments until this one, they will do a phone assessment sometimes or say come in depending on issue.

I don’t assume anything where my health is concerned and sometimes I just want reassurance. It could’ve been a hernia as I couldn’t feel it lying down.

That’s what I thought too as it can’t be felt lying down. But she didn’t think so at the walk-in.

My GP says ‘urgent’ - surely emergency is for A&E - chest pain etc.
And, more generally, if it’s not a life and death situation but you can’t wait two weeks for an appointment (or sometimes there’s no appointments to book which is often the case), what do you do? There’s a big gap between emergency and routine. A rash, lump in breast (may not want to wait two weeks but won’t die that day) etc.
In the ‘old days’ there was always appointments on the day reserved for these types of issue if you called at the appropriate time.

Sorry, but that really is ridiculous. Emergencies are for A&E. A GP’s job is to get in there before it’s too late, not to close the stable door a week, month or year after the horse bolted. Just telling people to keep trying, day after day, or to go elsewhere for help if they personally deem their situation to be desperate, without the GP ever talking to the actual patient, is a gross failure of care. To behave in this way means the GP has zero knowledge of who or what they are actually turning away. They are not seeing the emergencies, they are seeing the people who won the phone lottery (or who are able bodied and well enough to queue up at the relevant time and stand belligerently in front of the receptionist). If GPs dealt with emergencies, then they would be letting people turn up and sit there for hours until the GP could see them, as per an emergency service, but they are not doing that, so they patently are not dealing with emergencies, nor do they have the faintest idea which cases are genuinely urgent.

My GP only does same day appointments unless it’s a follow up.

Even more ridiculous, I’ve known people be contacted by the GP surgery to tell them they must make an appointment to discuss test results, or for asthma or diabetes checks, or smear tests, etc, and then when they ring up still be told there are no appointments available for these things and to try again the next day, ad infinitum. So even the surgery itself telling you that you must go in to see them does not get you an appointment to see anyone at the surgery. It would be farcical if it were not also dangerous. Also, regular prescribing mistakes, partly due to patients who need reviewing never actually being seen.

There just aren't enough GP appointments to go around. Simple as that. Where I live, 9000 new houses (mostly 4 & 5 bed so family homes) have been built over the past 2 or 3 years with 4000 more planned. To date, not one additional GP has been recruited to the area. The local practices were full before these new homes were built.

I work in a GP practice on the management side. It's a very large practice so there's not just one practice manager, it's spread across several roles. We operate same day appointments only at the moment. We have 30000+ patients (our ICB will not allow us to close our books) & start each morning with maybe 120 GP appts & 60 ANP appts. How should we allocate these if not by the first come first served method? I'm not looking to argue, I would genuinely be interested to hear opinions.

If we saw everyone who wanted to be seen each day we would need maybe 400 appts (each day is a little different). There just aren't that many GPs. We are trying to recruit & not having much luck on top of which, existing GPs are cutting hours due to stress!

I would suggest that if the GP has contacted the patient to tell them they need to be seen, that they ensure that this is actually possible as a starting point. Not allowing any bookings for appointments in the near future is insane when the surgery already know they have to see somebody, and expecting such patients to call at the same time as the patients seeking emergency appointments is idiotic in the extreme. Also, knowing it is dangerous to keep prescribing when essential checks have not first been made is negligent, so should not happen - if a patient needs their medication to be reviewed, they need an appointment, not to be told to try again every day at 8.30am, as though they are not going to be sacked for hanging on a phone every day when they are supposed to be at work. Also - when an elderly patient supposedly on palliative care is trying to be seen, don’t tell them to queue up outside the surgery at 8.30am if they are having trouble getting an appointment on the phone…

Agree. It’s all wrong.
I wouldn’t mind waiting a few days for an appointment but now often you call for a routine and there’s nothing at all to book.

its Awful. I actually do live in a newish house, but there were flats here previously so I don’t feel like we added to the load, but there’s been more building on previously unbuilt-on land recently.
We have a closer surgery, but that was full 10 years ago, so we joined the next-nearest (12 mins walk as opposed to less than 5 mins).
Luckily we are reasonably well off and could afford a private GP appt if necessary, but that’s creating a two-tier system. What happens to those who can’t afford it?

@Walkaround - none of it makes sense at all! Plus you go to walk/in and there’s no continuity of care. I was seeing a great long-term locum for an ongoing issue at my gp and he said he was leaving so that was that, he was making some good suggestions as to treatment and then another GP has a different idea…

It’s not serious and it’s not urgent. You’ve been examined by a medical professional who isn’t concerned. The best thing you can do is leave it alone for a week and see if it goes away. Maybe make a pre-emptive GP appointment for a couple of weeks time so you can see a doctor if it doesn’t go away. Honestly though, there is no serious urgent illness which has “groin lump” as a symptom. Even if it is a hernia, that’s not urgent.

Getting GP appts sucks these days.

As has been mentioned up thread, there's not enough GPs to go around in some areas.

I live in an area that has been 'gentrified' over the course of the last 10 years and building still ongoing, so all our homes are newbuilds, there's been tens of thousands of new multiple occupancy homes built and there's also swathes of high rise student accommodation -but- there's not a single GP in the area.

My conclusion is we all have to learn to self-manage and self-diagnose as much as we can (despite what GPs say, this has served me well).

In your case, I would look up as much info as to what a lump in the groin could be and check anatomy / biology sites to see if it's a swollen lymph node. If there's no pain and no serious symptoms relating to bladder / bowel and you don't have any unusual fever or diarrhoea then it can probably wait a few days until you can see someone. But if you start to get strange symptoms and feel really anxious, ring 111 and ask for an urgent referral to get checked out.

To be fair to OP, not all things are properly checked out.

My mother was having severe fever, diarrhoea and chest pain and was turned away by her GP who fobbed her off saying it was probably an 'infected milk duct gland' in her breast. She was 76 FFS of course she didn't have an infected milk duct gland. But she was gullible due to a severe M/H issue.

Anyway she's dead now, she died 36 hours after seeing the GP, of a heart attack induced by the stress of an asymptomatic chest infection. A simple antibiotic would have saved her life. She was fit and healthy with no physical health problems, not even any heart issues.

There isn't anything else they could do, the GP surgery has no appointments and being seen as a walk in could rule any immediate issues out and then the advice to be checked out again by a GP unless it self resolves is sensible. Yes there is a chronic shortage of GPs, blame the government. The NHS contract just keeps getting progressively worse to the point many are leaving to either work abroad, work privately or work in a different role altogether. Training is also a shitshow, many doctors apply for GP training but there's a bottleneck of places so we end up in the ridiculous situation where there are plenty of qualified doctors who have completed foundation training and are wanting to be GPs but can't get onto the programme. These issues have been aggravated and worsened by the government instead of being resolved, it's only going to get worse.

That depends completely on the surgery. My GPs surgery only does on the day appointments, for nurses as well as Drs.

The only things you can book an appointment for in advance are smear tests, and childhood vaccinations. It's a nightmare because anything else, even something where you could happily wait a couple of weeks, requires you to go through the rigmarole of calling at 8am for days on end until you get through.

Our walk in closed 3 years,ago It was great so be grateful