To be furious with our surgery

You were calling for results for an 'annual' test so perhaps its not so urgent that you get the results immediately.

I have recently been working as a district nurse and I'm frankly astonished that despite everything in the news people still seem to have no idea of the pressure that the nhs is under. None of us want to provide poor service, we hate not having time to be able to do what we need to do but given funding restraints and it being impossible to recruit staff things are only going to get a lot worse.

So - in your 'mad enough for murder' moments op - please spare a thought for us working as hard as we can - in times of despair.

My GP yeaterday, discussing my chest X-ray, kept asking if I was sure I hadn't been a smoker. I AM sure! Feel a bit concerned as cough has been going on forever. I now have a cocktail of 6 steroids, 2 antibiotics and Omeprazole for (with!) breakfast. I've got my lovely little DGD today so won't start till tomorrow as I don't know what, if any, effects the meds might have. She will be here tomorrow morning too but Mum will be driving her home later. What has really annoyed me is that the GP seems very thorough and has asked to see me in a month. When I tried to book an appt at reception they said "June sheets are not out yet". Eh? She said to ring in 2 weeks. I said oh, so in two weeks I won't be told there are no slots, hopefully. She replied ( rudely, I thought) sorry, I can't guarantee that. I will summon up the energy to ring the Practice Manager on Monday to see how I can guarantee an "early June" appointment. It seems an odd system when you often wait 3 weeks to see a particular doctor but nothing is yet available for next month.

If this is a regular annual test and op left calling surgery
for 3 weeks presume it wasnt Of too much concern and if there had been a problem with result the surgery would have been in touch.
I agree with rizlett, the nhs is in big trouble and staff under enormous pressure. They do their best, in difficult circumstances.
My husband had a blood test on wednesday and by thursday morning our surgery were on the phone saying he needs to see the gp. We have an appt on monday. Feeling concerned.....but grateful.

The NHS is under such pressure that I worry for its future.
Our own previously very good GP surgery is awful now, no non urgent appointments in less than 3 weeks, often 4, but if we phone for a same day appointment which has to be on the stroke of 8am and you might get through by 8:25 we are grilled by the receptionist as to the problem and either told it isn't an emergency or, the golden ticket, given an appointment.I managed to get a telephone conversation last week for my H which was non urgent but needed to be dealt with in days rather than weeks.
Is it a lack of GPs? Will throwing money at it (if there is any!) solve the problem?
I have posted on another thread about our friend who had a massive stroke on Wed morning and died later that evening. The paramedics , ambulance staff, hospital staff were marvellous, he and his family couldn't have been better looed, after so some parts of the NHS are still wonderful, we must hope for improvement in the day to day aspects.

Interesting Anya I too, would love to know how much the same tests would cost for a human . £58 is probably worth it to put someones mind at rest or to get treatment started more quickly.

Receptionists don't give blood test results because they can show an anomaly, which if you read the internet will show you have various different conditions, but it may be that when properly interpreted, it can be ignored. It's irritating to wait so long but hardly worth murdering someone!

Gp's are leaving practices in droves and it is in reasingly difficult to find replacement doctors. Practices are closing down or if possible try to amalgamate with nearby practices. we may have to tolerate worse before it hopefully gets better. My own very lovely doctor leaves in the summer and i will miss her.
This is one reason why people are using hospital a and e departments not always appropriately, which causes longer waiting times. Problem is in the uk We spend less on our health service than almost every other similar European country, so no surprise really.

I have to have an annual blood test of my thyroxine levels and I've been told to assume they're OK if I don't hear anything. I have to believe someone reads them! (I'm sure they do..)

DH is going down to our local hospital on Wednesday afternoon to have blood taken. It means that all the results should be with his consultant before he sees him on Friday morning.

When he had some blood tests done that showed dangerously high calcium levels we had a call the same evening from an out of hours doctor who had seen them and wanted him to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Yes doctors are leaving, retiring, etc and not enough are being trained to replace them.

How crazy and short-sighted is this

"Official figures reveal that 770 students with three grade As or higher at A-level were rejected by medical schools last year due to a controversial Government quota system.
The Government says it takes £230,000 to fully train each doctor in the UK because of the higher costs of delivering medical education, and critics claim the number of places available at universities is capped to save taxpayers’ money."

I can't comment on private blood tests but I had an ultrasound carried out privately on Thursday at 1pm, 'free' lunch ordered for me by nurse, then consultant's appointment at 2.15 where he already had access to the scan and radiologist's report.

Our GP practice has become much more accessible since they employed an advanced nurse practitioner. You are almost guaranteed to see her on same day - she can deal with a surprising number of ailments and can also prescribe. The other practice nurse is currently on a prescribing course and she will be taking over the respiratory clinic after her course. Lots of good reports about surgery now after a dodgy couple of years when both partners were on maternity leave simultaneously!