New system at GP surgery.

Our surgery has a triage system. Phone any time of morning or early afternoon and get a call back that day. Some issues can be resolved over the phone, others need an appointment which is offered for that day. Fantastic surgery.

Reading the comments - it's really a post-code lottery isn't it? Some appear to have an impeccable service whilst others can't get a F2F appointment for love nor money.

So long as it continues like this, A&E departments are going to be continually swamped.

As for 111 - I've called them 3 times in all now, and each time have been advised to go to A&E. The last time I said to the medic who called me back, "look, I'm talking to you in order to avoid clogging up my nearest A&E" (Royal Gloucestershire, which is completely overwhelmed). Yes, I understand he said, but you need to be checked over by a doctor.

... for heaven's sake - I called 111 because I couldn't get 'checked over' by any doctor at my surgery. And no, I'm not blaming the doctors.

There are too few of them, too many patients, too much "you-have-to-do-this-before-you-can-do-that protocols and procedures, and - according to one nurse practitioner I did eventually see - too much paperwork and form-filling which is generated by the very systems which are supposed to make things easier.

And for goodness sake - what is the difference between phoning for an appointment and going into the reception area to ask for one.

I heard, I think it was on GN some time back, where a patient had tried to make an appointment at reception and was told it had to be done on the 'phone. So she went outside and called reception to make an appointment... she could quite possibly have been able to see the person she was talking to - talking to her! Ridiculous!

What amazes DH and me is, that when you do finally get an appointment, the waiting room is empty!

At the moment I can't get past the screen to order a new prescription online. Have used this for years without any problems, enter email and password and get sent a code to my phone, enter the code and then order repeat prescription. Now I'm told I have to download some authentication app first. There are several of these and I have no idea which one I'm supposed to use or how to download, ended up phoning the surgery to ask for repeat meds.
Recently rang surgery asking for F2F or phone appt and was told GP would ring me back. Then had texts from the local out of hours service telling me to download pics of problem as they would be dealing with it. I had no idea why I was being fobbed off to these other people as opposed to my local surgery and was not given an explanation. Just wonder what on earth my own surgery does do nowadays! They used to be so good but nowadays it's 3/4 weeks to get an appt.

HouseplantQueen On a lighter note; it has been suggested on FB that Border Force employ GP receptionists....then nobody will get in

Love it!!!

My surgery is awful to get an appointment you have to wait a month,
And what I find extremely dangerous is that receptionists who have no medical training are deciding if your request is urgent and if and when you can actually see a Gp.

NotSpaghetti

nipsmum

I can only make an appointment by phoning. The last time I tried I was 17 th in the queue and waited on the phone for 45 minutes to get an appointment for a. phone consultation. I live next door to the surgery.

I was told "if you come in at 8 we can usually sort an appointment"
Can you pop round?

You're not allowed to do that at our GP surgery. They have signs all over the place telling you that you can't make an appointment in person and have to phone instead.

Perhaps if we all ignored the GP's and instead went to the A & E someone, somewhere may just do something about it because as far as I am concerned, the GP's are neither use nor ornament.

When the GP's realise their wages will be stopped as they are no longer having patients come in for medical checks etc. they may go back to what they are paid for doing and that is seeing patients

At our surgery we arrive any time between 8am and 10am and will be seen by a gp or appropriate health professional. System works well. A phone call between the same times is required for a home visit request if unable to get to the surgery.

Babamaman

Hi, I have a spot on my back which has grown & is painful!
My surgery has the online system which I filled in. I didn’t get a text back until I reminded them by text!
I had an appointment with a “ADV nurse practitioner”! Saw her yesterday ? She took 2minutes and said it was a ‘black head’ ! It’s on my back! No advice as to what to do and how to get rid!
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Doctor at the surgery! Even though I have type 2 diabetes, under active thyroid, high blood pressure & chloresterol?
Used to have annual reviews! Not any more?
Just reissue prescriptions ! Hate it.

I have not seen a GP since before the Covid pandemic. After the pandemic was more or less over, I started being ill, back pains, I could not breathe so I rang the GP, hung on for nearly an hour and was told there were no appts. for three weeks. I told them I would be dead in 3 weeks so I was told to ring 111. They sent out an ambulance as they could hear my breathing was bad and I was in hospital for a week, on an IV drip for antibiotics as I had double pneumonia (in two lungs).

We should just do away with GP's and put the money they are paid into the hospitals so they have more staff to deal with A & E patients.
W

Babamaman

Hi, I have a spot on my back which has grown & is painful!
My surgery has the online system which I filled in. I didn’t get a text back until I reminded them by text!
I had an appointment with a “ADV nurse practitioner”! Saw her yesterday ? She took 2minutes and said it was a ‘black head’ ! It’s on my back! No advice as to what to do and how to get rid!
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Doctor at the surgery! Even though I have type 2 diabetes, under active thyroid, high blood pressure & chloresterol?
Used to have annual reviews! Not any more?
Just reissue prescriptions ! Hate it.

My diabetic nurse is very conscientious and orders HbA1c tests every six months (three months if there are concerns). She sees me every year without fail. To be honest, I find that she's the gatekeeper to other appointments. I have problems with my hip, which prevent me from exercising as much as I'd like. As exercise is one of the main ways to control blood sugar, the diabetic nurse referred me to the GP. I also had to be referred to a GP for painkillers for diabetic neuropathy, which was affecting my sleep (and my blood sugar). My cholesterol and blood pressure is tested once a year and I get asked to submit interim blood pressure readings taken at home.

annsixty

On another thread someone has posted about appointments at the surgery.
We have a new system now where everything has to be requested online.
Until recently we had the mad scramble of ringing at 8 am, getting in a queue and maybe getting an appointment or ring to try tomorrow.
Now on ringing we are asked if it is urgent?
Then ring 111 or go to A&E!!
If not urgent fill in a form online and they will get back, maybe that day but within 24 hours.
I at 86 am computer literate, many are not.
I did this the other day and got a call back at 5:30pm.
I was told I could have a phone consultation with a pharmacist.
I said well actually I should prefer to see, face to face, a Dr.
I haven’t seen one since I was 79 and I would quite like the luxury.
One has been made for me next week so I look forward to the experience.
Are all surgeries like this now?

I was the person that posted on another forum about the new system for GP surgeries.

I will see how it goes, but no-one in the NHS has mentioned the poor people who cannot use a computer, or do not have any kind of technological systems in their home. I expect they hope their family will step in, that is if they live near enough to their parents to sort the problem out.

Are they trying to make life more difficult for the old and infirm, I definitely think so.

I put myself in their position when I heard about this and thought that if I was ill, and I could not use a laptop whatsoever, it would mean ringing 111 all the time and hoping for the best. It is frightening.

We are encouraged to see the pharmacist, I did so and was told that a spot on my lower lip was an ingrowing hair. After a week I wasn't happy and saw my GP who photographed it and sent it to the Max Fax department at local hospital, the net wek I was at the hospital to have that spot removed as it was a squamous cell carcinoma, a huge wedge of my lip was removed. Lesson - never, ever trust a pharmacist again.

My daughter phoned surgery after spending weekend with on/ off ache in breast area and back. Was told to fill form in on line, she did this and received a reply that a phone appointment had been made for her for the Saturday morning, this was Monday morning. On the Tuesday she still felt ill phoned 111 an ambulance was sent out, she had suffered a mild heart attack, she is in her 30s. When I phoned surgery and asked how they decided what was urgent from e mails was told the receptionist read e mail and decided action to take

We are very lucky in our town, as our surgery has set up an emergency hub which is manned by at least one doctor all day. No matter what time we ring ( if it’s an emergency) we get an appointment for that day.
This has been set up because our town has almost doubled in size, with new house building, and there was too much waiting time for an emergency appointment.

nipsmum

I can only make an appointment by phoning. The last time I tried I was 17 th in the queue and waited on the phone for 45 minutes to get an appointment for a. phone consultation. I live next door to the surgery.

I was told "if you come in at 8 we can usually sort an appointment"
Can you pop round?

DamaskRose

Germanshepherdsmum

If someone were suicidal I doubt they would be around to try again the next day.

I well remember being bullied into tears by an overzealous receptionist back in 1976 when I was really ill with asthma during that long hot summer and needed steroids. When you are ill you just don’t have the strength to stand up to the system.

You’re absolutely right GSM.

That's disgraceful. Our surgery is forever issuing statements on the village FB page that they are closing on Friday afternoon for staff training. Presumably instruction in different ways to say sorry, we don't have any appointments, call again tomorrow.

On a lighter note; it has been suggested on FB that Border Force employ GP receptionists....then nobody will get in

Making it difficult as they are on golfcourse

Hi, I have a spot on my back which has grown & is painful!
My surgery has the online system which I filled in. I didn’t get a text back until I reminded them by text!
I had an appointment with a “ADV nurse practitioner”! Saw her yesterday ? She took 2minutes and said it was a ‘black head’ ! It’s on my back! No advice as to what to do and how to get rid!
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Doctor at the surgery! Even though I have type 2 diabetes, under active thyroid, high blood pressure & chloresterol?
Used to have annual reviews! Not any more?
Just reissue prescriptions ! Hate it.

Our surgery started this system on July 1st. Please note pharmacies will not deal with a UTI if you are over 65!

I can only make an appointment by phoning. The last time I tried I was 17 th in the queue and waited on the phone for 45 minutes to get an appointment for a. phone consultation. I live next door to the surgery.

Urmstongran

"I suppose UTIs and tonsillitis can now be prescribed ABs by your local pharmacist. That’s the plan now apparently for seven ‘common’ ailments."

Not for UTIs if you are older than 64. Pharmacies can only prescribe antibiotics for uncomplicated UTIs for females age 16-64, under the pharmacy first scheme.

Rather reluctantly, I started to use the apps that my surgery recommends, either Dr.IQ or myGP and was pleasantly surprised to find that they work well for me. I log-in at 8 am and always have some sort of appointment, on-line or face-to-face, the same day (that took a bit of getting used to as I was used to booking many days in advance). This is in central London.

I suffer from frequent ITUs so a pharmacist will ring me (usually just after 8 am) and will prescribe antibiotics, and then I take a urine sample into the surgery. On one occasion the sample showed something they weren't happy about so I was then investigated thoroughly. It is usually the same pharmacist who rings me so I like the continuity of speaking to the same person.

Last week I emailed a referral from an Optometrist that had to be processed by the GP surgery. I was then rang just after 9 am on Saturday morning and a copy of the GP referral emailed to me first thing Monday morning.

It is understandable that some patients would rather use the telephone system, but I can't comment on how this works as I don't have cause to use it.

Ours is the same. You have to phone at 8.30am - the lines are constantly engaged - then if you do succeed in getting through, all 'emergency' appointments are invariably gone for the day. And even if you say it is an emergency, you have to wait for the doctor to call you back before they decide if you need to be seen in person. You can't even book a 'routine' appointment - which seems to be utter madness to me. I have a couple of things I'd really like to see the doctor about - but they're not 'emergency' issues, so I've been going round and round in circles trying to get a routine appointment.

I am just so lucky, my GP system works perfectly.
Online appointments can be made with your own GP about two weeks ahead.
Urgent appointments are given on the day by lovely reception staff with a phone system that doesn't keep you hanging on. Face to face or telephone, your preference, with the on call doctor.
I've got major health issues and the on call GP diagnosed another issue last week which could have caused blindness. My own GP rang to follow up with treatment and urgent referrals.