If only 😏

My surgery is excellent. You can have a same day call back from a doctor and usually you can get a same day face to face. I’ve had late morning call backs and then been seen that afternoon if the GP needs to see me. The receptionists are lovely and very helpful. The doctors and nurses are all brilliant. My only question is, why is it so good? Some other practices in my town aren’t very good at all. Surely surgeries get pro rata funding? So why are some so rubbish? I’m guessing that ours is just very well managed!

A prescribing paramedic can be as effective as a GP. Calls are normally triaged according to their severity so pratices with paras can free up GPs to deal with the more complex cases. Paras can also do the majority of house calls. Please don’t underestimate the importance of health care professionals in the healthcare system. Each play an important role and often take a lot of flack from inpatient patients.

M0nica

M first port of call these days is 111. You tell them your symptoms and they direct you where to go and tell wher ever you are going they ahve sent you there. It means that at A&E I had a na greed appointment time. GP saw DH, immediately and promptly dispatched him to hospital and in another case their response was 'paramedics and ambulance are on their way.

I cannot sing the praises of 111 too highly

I have only attempted to call 111 once, I went online first and no matter how many times i started again it never led me to an answer. So I tried to call, I was told they were busy and the wait time would be 30 minutes, one and a half hours later my battery on the phone died. So I went on Facebook and a local nurse told me what to do. I don't have a good opinion of 111 at all.

My god daughter, who has had multiple worrying symptoms over sevral years and has lost 3 stone in weight and looks frail and emaciated had some tests done, and was referred to a specialist, has been told that the wait for an appointment is over 70 weeks. She could be dead by then.

welbeck

i'd go private with that waiting time, grannybuy.
could you afford to?

So would I. It sounds like something that needs treating now and not 6+months time. Grannybuy can you not ask to be referred to a dermatologist privately as then you’d know what you were dealing with. I couldn't/wouldnt wait twenty six weeks.

The one rreason we still live in this town is because the healthcare is really good . We can phone up and speak to one of the GPs if needed and if they deem it necessary somone will see you that day . to have a face to face meeting with a doctor you especially want to see will take 2 weeks but if you really need to be seen you will be. All the reception ladies are friendly and helpful so I will put up with not living where I would have liked to live just to have peace of mind at our age now .

i'd go private with that waiting time, grannybuy.
could you afford to?

We have e-consult at our surgery. It works well, in that we get a reply the same day. A couple of months ago, I had a blistery patch on my nose, which then bled. I emailed pictures of both situations. I had a reply within about two hours, from a
‘ physician associate ‘. It was brief, stating that it looks suspicious and that a referral would be made to dermatology at the local hospital. Two weeks later, I was pleased to receive a letter from said dermatology department. However, it just told me that I was on the waiting list, and to email the department to see the waiting times. This I did, and learned that urgent appointments were twenty six weeks, and non urgent ninety four weeks. When I called the hospital, I was told that I was on the urgent list. I haven’t heard any more.

My GP told me he was referring me to the local hospital to see a cardiologist as he could hear an unusual murmur. He said the appointment would be about 4weeks away. That was October 31st last year, I got a letter a week ago asking me to ring the hospital. I was asked if I thought I still needed the appointment or had I gone private as it was so long ago. I said still wanted to see someone in the cardiologist department, to be told I would probably be waiting a long time. I wonder how long a long time is lol.

M first port of call these days is 111. You tell them your symptoms and they direct you where to go and tell wher ever you are going they ahve sent you there. It means that at A&E I had a na greed appointment time. GP saw DH, immediately and promptly dispatched him to hospital and in another case their response was 'paramedics and ambulance are on their way.

I cannot sing the praises of 111 too highly

I’m glad some of you are getting a far better service than we are.

DH has had long covid for about 6 weeks now. It has affected his arms and hands which are dreadfully painful, his sleep is very disrupted. He still has not seen a doctor but was allowed 20 mins with a physio who has forwarded him to another town to see someone who deals with carpal tunnel but says it isn’t that ☹️.

We have been forced to go private and he is having help and advice from my acupuncturist, someone who gives advanced clinical massage and he starts with a private physio this coming week. I’m so grateful we can afford this but we feel sorry for those who can’t.

I am not a luddite and use the internet for various things. However I strongly object and resist this two level NHS that this country is now promoting. We all pay stamps etc and should be given appointments according to our needs and not our bank accounts. There are people who do not have phones, or laptops, and who definitely cannot have the option of choosing to go private if they want to. Why should the fact that you have money allow you to jump the need queue and be dealt with before others whose need is greater? I have only had private medicine once when I was living abroad and there was no option. Other than that I have always been an NHS patient. I and all my family have paid their stamps etc and do their best to keep as healthy as we are able to , when it comes to trying to keep fit and eat sensibly etc. But I do not think I would be alive now without the care I received when I had cancer. I tried to give a bit back by spending 3 days a week for 10 years being a volunteer driver for the ambulance car service and met all sorts of people in all kinds of situation, and can say that the greater majority of people do not abuse the system and only make contact for genuine reasons. A couple of years ago, I suddenly had a problem with my leg. For no apparent reason it became so swollen that I had to take off the trousers I was wearing and could not get my foot into a shoe. It was in the covid time and I had moved and this was my first contact with the new surgery. I rang and explained I needed to see someone and the receptionist tried to put me off, but I said it is friday pm and I think it will be better to be seen now than have to have the emergency ambulance out etc, and she could see from my card that I have had very little request for help. After some toing and fro ing I had to get a friend to take me there as by now could not have driven with leg condition , and was taken to the surgery and I was checked over and immediately sent to the hospital , as it was cellulitis. Something that I had not heard of nor had any dealings with before. I ended up having to have treatment and antibiotics over several days but ,by going when I did ,was able to stay at home and not become an inpatient. A receptionist could not have known how to deal with this and it is is not their job to make such decisions. I was very polite but knew that there was something quite wrong very quickly and therefore was able to insist on seeing a doctor, and a good job too. If I had left it it would have been problems over the weekend and more than likely having to call an ambulance and become an inpatient. We should be pushing for better service for everyone, One possiblity might be a triage doctor in an area so that there would be a knowledgeable person who could give some guidance and direction that people would believe in. The pharmacists are now being asked to do so much more and they have their onw specialist knowledge that is needed to be used to check such things as the effect of one medicine on another. We should not be propping up this 2 level service and putting patients at risk I know many patients who would say they wont make a fuss etc when they need to be seen . I , personally think that all the doctors should not be doing private work and if they were all in the NHS full time then more people would be seen and those with the greatest need would get the priority and not those with the deepest pockets.

Looks like some of you have an excellent service. We are moving soon to Brighton and hope we have better luck down there. Our GP surgery is lamentable and so are most of them near us.

Reading all comments, I must add that appointments bookable online were disabled at the start of the pandemic and haven't returned.

During 2020 my hip 'gave up' so I saw a private GP who referred me to a consultant and I have subsequently had 2 private THRs. Back to my NHS GP: I haven't seen her, or any GP colleagues bar one flu injection in 2021, since 2018.
In 2020 I had a telephone consultation with the nurse practitioner who could only offer me advice and a telephone consultation with a physio in two weeks time. Hence my seeking private help.
In 2021 I had a prompt telephone appointment with my GP, resulting in antibiotics being issued. I have had a couple of telephone reviews with the pharmacist who now seems to be attached to the practice as I now only use the surgery for obtaining my medication which is an inhaler and Naproxen plus Omeprazole.
On the plus side, recently both DH and DS were invited for face to face appointments, within the hour, following telephone consultations!

I recently contacted our surgery about a recurring problem and was asked to send a photo which I did. I was told to come in asap and went straight in. The doctor had already informed the hospital that I’d be going in and she just wanted to see me to explain. So, within the hour, I was waiting to see a specialist. Pretty good, eh? Perhaps it’s different here up North. Problem …all sorted.

I’m very fortunate that I belong to a brilliant health centre. Recently I typed in about something I was really worried about. Within 10minutes they rang me and asked if I could come straight to the surgery. I was seen by a doctor who ordered tests and I saw a consultant at the local hospital the next week. (I was fortunate that it turned out to be anything serious) They are so helpful and pleasant too.

I just sign in online and it shows all available appointments for the next 2 weeks, so I can pick and choose, if it's urgent and there is an appointment available with a different doctor then I can choose that one. If no appointments show up at all for that day, and it's urgent, then I can phone in and they can usually fit me in. Absolutely perfect surgery.

Cagsy start a thread asking about travel insurance, it's a problem lots of people have had and you will get many suggestions 🙂

My GP retired about 8 years ago and I have no idea who is there now as fortunately I’ve not needed a GP for about 10 years. Started having a few problems recently and decided after a while that I really should contact the surgery; rang at about 08.20 one morning, phone triage and told GP would ring me back. He did about an hour later and after a discussion arranged for blood tests which I had about 5 days later with results on the NHS app within 24 hours. Another GP rang next day prescribing some medication and referring me for further tests. A week later I had an ECG, ECHO and saw a Cardiologist, was then diagnosed, meds prescribed and further tests booked. I am gobsmacked that this was all done within 3 weeks of first contact and all NHS, so they certainly are getting some things right. Just hacked off now that my usual travel insurers won’t cover me!

So agree with you.
I had to fill in a form asking me the name of my GP? Don’t know who it is! Can’t remember the last time I saw a GP!
Always online forms? Always telephone consultations!
And they obviously don’t read the online forms as they ask ‘what is wrong with you ‘?
Why are you contacting us?
Then I get an online questionnaire asking ‘how did we do’? 😡😡😡😡😡🥵🥵🥵🥵😳😳😳😳😳

With the GP being over the internet it soon won't be a doctor that answers you but an automatic answer generated by AI.

I have recently changed surgery because, for the past two years, I’ve only ever had appointments with a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician’s Associate, not once was I able to see an actual GP.

Skydancer

We do an e-consult. It’s excellent. We are guaranteed to receive a response the same day and we do. If it’s urgent we can ask for a same day appointment. No complaints whatever from us.

It’s the same with my GP practice. It’s actually improved since they started it. I had pneumonia and stupidly waited until the Monday to contact them. But they sent a doctor to my house two hours later! I was much too ill to get to the surgery it was such a relief. They prescribed a five day course of antibiotics but I didn’t feel completely better so contacted them again, a couple of hours later I was with a nurse at the surgery who got me an extra two days worth. If our practices can do it efficiently then all practices should be able to in my opinion.

At a gp surgery near me, although not mine, thankfully, there were no doctors' appointments either face to face or by telephone at all the other day because several doctors were on holiday and the ones who were supposed to be covering for them were all off ill! A total disgrace.