Scaling back GP care

I did need two face-to-face consultations a few weeks ago. The GP made the second consultation while I was sitting in the surgery. He logged on to the booking system. All the GPs were on the spreadsheet and nearly all their slots were booked. I assume they were a mix of telephone consultations, face-to-face consultations and visits.

The GPs might not be so readily accessible, but I don't think it's true that they're not working, albeit behind closed doors.

My GPs' surgery has been struggling for a couple of years, but it's been nothing to do with Covid.

Missfoodlove

Maddyone, I am not a liar.

I’m sure your daughter and son in law have provided a fantastic service.

My practice have not.

Not every practice is the same!

We can't know for sure, of course.

But I would like to know how you have evidence of what they have been doing, or not doing, over past few months.

How do you know they have not been doing the same as Missfoodlove's DH and sil?

biba
Have you mixed me up? It’s my daughter and son in law who are GPs and have been working throughout the crisis, and I outlined what they have been doing over the last nine months. They may have been doing other things, I just listed the things I know they’ve been doing.
Missfodlove claimed that GPs have been doing nothing.

The issue is that GP services are to be scaled back to cater for the vaccine program. It would be interesting to know what plans have been put in place to ensure that the benefits of the vaccine don't outweigh the cost. The waiting lists are growing on a daily basis there's a real human cost here.

maddyone

biba
Have you mixed me up? It’s my daughter and son in law who are GPs and have been working throughout the crisis, and I outlined what they have been doing over the last nine months. They may have been doing other things, I just listed the things I know they’ve been doing.
Missfodlove claimed that GPs have been doing nothing.

Oh I am so sorry- been out at a meeting and just seen this. Of course I mixed you up with Missfoodlove.

OH has kept in close touch with his colleagues and we are both so aware of how hard they have been working recently- from receptionists, to nurses, cleaners, and GPs - all of them as a fabulous team- in such difficult circumstances.

Apologies again maddyone, and best wishes and thanks to your daughter and sil for all they do.

No 2 surgeries are the same, they’re as good as the management team running them. Our GP practice has been pretty dire for a few years now. Someone up thread mentioned “The Marie Celeste”, a perfect description of ours. There were never any appointments available but an empty waiting room - presumably because the consulting rooms contained no doctors or nurses! Bizarrely its actually been marginally better since March, possibly due to lowered expectations as much as anything else!

That said I’ve spent hours this week jumping through online hoops whilst trying, unsuccessfully, to book a telephone consultation. I’ll have to put on my big girl pants tomorrow and brave ringing the surgery, deep joy!

Oh thank you biba. As I thought, a simple mix up.

This week I've had three significant medical appointments. All arranged by my GP, all took place within a short timescale. I'm due to speak to the GP next week for the result. Yes I'd rather see him in the surgery but we are in lockdown with high rate of this virus. I'm clinically vulnerable, so phone discussions works for me.

DH and I have not see a GP this year, I have been seen once by a nurse for flu vaccine.
DH had to phone surgery over and over begging them for an appointment for his injection, basically life and death to him.
Our surgery have not followed up letters from consultants which led to failure to prescribe increased drugs and DH's PSA leapt up alarmingly.
Reception desk will not put you through to a GP so despite best efforts no telephone consultation or face to face possible.

Maddyone,well done to your daughter and son-in-law, but this is certainly not true of our GP practice. I do not know of one single person who has seen an actual GP face to face since March! My 86 year old mum found a breast lump (my sister died from breast cancer age 52) . She had a phone consultation and was prescribed antibiotics. What she needed was to be examined to set her mind at rest.
My husband has a heart condition, was having 6 weekly bp checks and blood tests. Since covid....absolutely nothing! He has been waiting over a year for heart surgery.
Sorry, but it seems to me that unless you have covid, the NHS is simply not interested.
And dont tell me the hospitals are bursting at the seams. Our hospital wards are practically empty.

I have just actually read every comment on this subject, and what staggers me is the difference between surgeries! If one surgery is still offering bp checks, bloods etc why arent the rest? Makes no sense to me. Our local tesco workers have to wear a mask all day and sit inches away from you (for a minimum wage) yet our GPs can not wear a mask and take your blood pressure! Why?

I haven't seen my GP in years, so I wouldn't know.

My surgery is excellent but takes an hour and a half to answer the phone! Calling at the surgery to try and make an appointment, I just get told I must telephone. Why can’t the person telling me this, answer the phone too!! Very frustrating especially as they contacted me first to go for a pneumonia jab!

maddieone they are NOT lies! How dare you?! Your surgery,/your daughter's practise may be functioning normally, well great and I'm pleased for you!
I'm another who only got regular vital blood tests done two months late after having to pester for them and had to ring myself having heard nothing, to find out that one of the tests was outside the normal range and have had to ring back twice to secure a retest for which I have to wait another two and a half weeks!
Have the civility to not call people liars whose experience has differed vastly from yours and consider yourself lucky to have continued to receive a good service. Many of us haven't and we're NOT liars just because our experience differs from yours! I am incandescent with rage at your sanctimonious attitude!

An interesting story. OHs hip has been causing him pain. He engaged-consulted his GP who replied the same day and told him to go for an X-ray. He did this a couple of days later. GP contacted him with results a day or so later and said he had contacted local hospitals. OH arranged an appointment for yesterday. He spent 20 minutes with surgeon who put him on waiting list for hip replacement in January/February 2021. Not bad. In the meantime OH looked into going private as he had heard hip waiting lists were enormous. He is still waiting for a call from the local private hospital!

I work in a GP surgery in admin and we are run off our feet. We are short staffed and at times are working alone answering calls. We are struggling to keep up with the volume of work. Our doors are open as well.

My GP's are using Covid as an excuse to deliver sub-standard care. They used to be good, but now it is all telephone consultations and don't get me going on the flu jab! The sessions for injections were held at a theatre for God's sake which was 3 miles away from the surgery. Healthcare since Covid is a joke, and my cataract op was cancelled 3 times.

we can only speak as we find..

it would seem that some GP`s are still working with the patients..

MissFoodLove
said
Our practice has basically done nothing for 9 months!
same here MissFoodLove,
though I don`t dispute, as said above, some clearly are working , ie. seeing, even talking with their patients.

even before lockdown, ie. Nov/dec last year, I had a really bad fall, I actually got to see a doc, but he didn`t even examine me physically, just said.. huh!

so there are good and bad amongst us all..

and not just lockdown

My doctors are a disgrace. Done nothing since beginning of March. The practice administer is telling patients what they should and shouldn't be doing. If I ask for repeat prescriptions they usually come back with items missing
Am spending more time chasing around than enough

Our surgery has been excellent. I have continued having my regular B12 injections and had a telephone consultation within one hour of phoning surgery followed by a scan within a week. Only delay was a blood test due to delays from suppliers so out of their control. Flu jabs were organised well. They have done brilliantly

Think it’s very true that surgeries differ. I have seen my GP several times during lockdown. You do have to ask for face to face appointments but I’ve never been denied one. Having said that our surgery has introduce a form that you have to fill in asking for an appt be it face to face or a telephone appt. it’s a form introduced by the Government and I think most surgeries use it now. Most GPS including mine hate this system but are tied to it

Fortunately I rarely need to see a doctor. However, I had a phone consultation a few weeks back and received a callback yesterday telling me of the next steps, all without needing to leave the house. I cannot fault the care we receive from our practice.

I've had one phone consultation with my GP in June as I'm not allowed more than 28 days supply of Naproxen without being 'seen'. Result was I've now got enough to last until 5 December, without apparent need to be seen. Was invited to have a phone consult for asthma review end of September with nurse practitioner, but we discussed a severe back spasm/ sciatic pain leaving me barely able to walk that had started 2 days previously. Was offered phone consult with NHS physio, but would be at least a week. I declined.
I've now chosen to go to our local private hospital (as I've not improved)where I easily got a face to face GP appt (30mins) and an ortho consultant referral plus physio referral at same hospital. Had 2 physio face to face appts, which have helped and shortly to see ortho consultant face to face. Could have seen him earlier, my circumstances prevented this.
I don't doubt that GP surgeries are very busy with phone consults and as always the burden of paperwork, but doors shut policy is very off-putting to many. I must add my own GP surgery is keen to get me in for the flu jab, although not for back/mobility issues .

I support the triage system: reception, phone call, appt with doc if necessary. My latest experience seems to be of a quadrage(!) system: reception, call back, appt with practice nurse/who then has to liaise with different doctor after your appt and then you get another phone call telling you what the doctor has said. Then I ring back to speak to a doctor to query outcome. Frustrating and worrying. There are 6 doctors in our practice but you rarely see one - its always a locum/registrar/practice nurse.

My family have had great service from their GPs and in various different areas of the country. Cancer referrals, online consultations and flu jabs. As with many things within the nhs at the moment, it’s different but not necessarily worse and I firmly believe that in unprecedented circumstances they are, in my experience, all working very hard and doing their absolute best for us.