NHS Doctors not helping themselves?

I’m not sure why you’re blaming the doctors? Did you know that the average number of patients per full-time GP in England has risen from 1,938 in 2015 to 2,257 in 2025? And we are getting older as a society with most healthcare being needed by older people. Chronic disease management is being shifted out of hospital to primary care for everyone’s convenience apart from the GPs. Funding for GPs is complicated but GPs don’t have a guaranteed income (unless they are salaried), so practices are closing because they are not viable.

We are very lucky in our surgery ( Southend) you can get a morning or afternoon appointment.
And now we are going to have a new health centre in the town centre.
Open 7 days a week.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/25459450.former-argos-confirmed-site-southend-health-centre/

David49

I think they still have doctors at my medical centre, if I need anything I phone up, a doctor phones back and I get what I need. Other times I go for a blood test or vaccination but it’s always a nurse.
Very efficient even phone waits are short

Out of curiosity David, where are you from?
You don’t need to give your immediate location just the county will do.
I am from the SE, in Essex. Things are pretty grim here.

@Primrose53
You could be telling my story. I do sympathise. As if your DH and yourself haven’t been through enough.
As for reading discharge notes I had to take my copy in 3 times to reception because they were not prescribing the new drugs the hospital said he should be on, each time they copied the notes and each time they got it wrong. Eventually I saw an assistant physician who looked it up online and there were the discharge notes clear as day telling him which new drugs my husband now needs.
Is such an uphill struggle.

Doodledog

They probably double book, in the manner of airlines. If they know that X% of people won't show up they can make that number of 'extra' appointments to compensate.

My dd doesn’t. If there’s a no-show she uses the time to write up patient notes, send referrals and research more complicated cases that require more attention. If she’s lucky, she might even get half an hour in which to get her lunch!

Our gps have improved since covid...all appointments are same day...regardless of urgency....as long as you get on the queue at 8am you will get an appointment

Allira

Just to point out - General Practitioners are not directly employed by the NHS. They are contracted to the NHS and their practices are run as businesses.

This is true

I think they still have doctors at my medical centre, if I need anything I phone up, a doctor phones back and I get what I need. Other times I go for a blood test or vaccination but it’s always a nurse.
Very efficient even phone waits are short

Babs03

But do you see a GP after your long wait. We hadn’t seen a GP at our surgery for well over a year if not longer, we saw nurses, and assistant physicians but no GP. And after my husband had a stroke earlier this year and three bleeds on the brain it was still 5/6 months after his discharge before we managed to see an actual GP and he was a locum.

Same here Babs03. Seems after a stroke nobody cares. After 3 months in hospital my husband asked to come home as he was getting no physio. After a further month at home he had a few health issues so for the first time in our lives we asked for a home visit.

Receptionist said to take him to surgery. I said he cannot stand unaided, cannot walk and cannot get in a car. She said I wasn’t on the home visits list! She got the on call GP to ring me and she also tried to get me to take him. I explained it all again although they would have received all his discharge notes had they bothered to read them. She grudgingly came and wasn’t in our house 5 minutes.

Just to point out - General Practitioners are not directly employed by the NHS. They are contracted to the NHS and their practices are run as businesses.

No, Babs03, often it's a nurse practitioner.

But do you see a GP after your long wait. We hadn’t seen a GP at our surgery for well over a year if not longer, we saw nurses, and assistant physicians but no GP. And after my husband had a stroke earlier this year and three bleeds on the brain it was still 5/6 months after his discharge before we managed to see an actual GP and he was a locum.

They probably double book, in the manner of airlines. If they know that X% of people won't show up they can make that number of 'extra' appointments to compensate.

I wish it was three weeks here.

It's six to seven weeks wait unless it's an emergency but phone after 9.00 am and all the urgent appointments are taken anyway.

They likely don’t know if people cancel until they don’t show up.