Why flu to GP?

I do think Dr's should charge if people make appointments and then do not turn up or cancel the appointment. In my small GP surgery they count the number of missed appointments every month and put the number on a chalk board. I have seen it at 235. I think these people should pay £20 for wasting Dr time especially when it is often hard to get an appointment.

I have had a horrible virus and really felt unwell as asthmatic but just stayed in bed so I would not infect others in house, slept sitting propped up with pillows, took hot lem/blackcurrant sips, monitored temperature twice each day, had plenty of fluids including iced water, sucked Strepsils, ate a little ice cream to try to numb my sore throat, took cough medicine and after about 6 days felt a little better so went down and rested on sofa. No point going to Dr with a virus as there is nothing they can give you that you can't get from chemist yourself. Now finally well again.

There are vulnerable groups such as my husband who if gets flu causes infection to the heart and he has to be hospitalised. So his flu symptoms can be life threatening to him.

Oh Readymeals, I totally agree with ‘draining’ if you are ‘chesty’ or have a mucous type cough. My lovely Pa suffered from Bronchial Asthma for many years when he was alive. He spent some time in Benenden Hospital and was taught the ‘draining’ technique, which he did religiously every day. I have a lovely mental picture of him laying front down, over the edge of the mattress, book on the floor, and he stayed there for 30 mins each day, with Mum thumping his back periodically! I’m sure that this contributed to his long(er) life.

I'm not suggesting that patients should diagnose themselves, only that they will usually recognise when their symptoms are getting worse or different. Maybe I'm expecting too much body awareness but I'm surprised if I am.

Keep away from the docs - it is the germiest place in town!

But I do wonder how working - folk are to get their sick notes - over the phone maybe?

I have been told that a chest infection could be very serious for OH so we are being very careful what we do - he does not go out at all, but I am studiously avoiding anyone with a cough when I am out.

I got the aussie flu in the second week of December and there was no way I could get to the surgery. My GP told me to stay in bed with plenty to drink and to keep in touch. My Christmas and New Year were wiped out as this virus is a really nasty one, it got into my joints, muscles everywhere and I'm still very weak going into week five. My hands were too swollen to use phone and I now have to ban anyone with cold/cough symptoms as my immune system will not cope well if I get an infection in my chest. GP is keeping in touch by phone. Still on bed rest and lots to drink. I think GPs are doing home visits if symptoms deteriorate, they want to keep ppl out of hospital as much as possible. I certainly am more comfortable at home with none of the stresses of getting laundry done (my clothing, bedding changed often as get drenched with perspiration) BTW every patient at our surgery has a telephone consult by a GP before a physical appointment is made. They would be screening out any obviously very ill with flu.

I agree with roysmokie. Patients should not be expected to diagnose themselves. The 111 service has a diagnostic algorithm which is good, and which the receptionist is properly trained to administer.

You can bet that people who can pay for the best private care get a Dr home visit for a 'feverish chill' or whatever.

Presumably we've all had colds including bad colds so we ought to know what to expect of colds. It's when you get symptoms on top of 'normal' cold symptoms and they don't go away after a few days or they get worse that you need to see a doc. Not beyond the wit of most people, I'd have thought.

roysmokie, having a shortness of breath episode that frightened you qualifies as needing a doctor. I think you were and are 'qualified' to work that out and go to your GP to get checked over.
Is your name a clue at all? That you are or were a smoker? COPD is common among smokers. Forgive me if I have assumed too much.

Some folks need proof in the form of a doctors note as their employers don't believe they are ill

In my family the DH and the DD are doctor botherers and my DS and I keep away as much as we can so the poor overloaded GPs can deal with the really sick folk.

The DS has a doctor friend who tells him if any symptoms are serious and they never have been. The last time he saw a GP was over a decade ago. I have to go every six months to get my HRT prescription and they won't give you that without a blood pressure test and some reassurance that you are fitter than Superwoman.

The DD and DH have more medicines, pills and potions than Boots and at every cough think they are dying.

A word of warning, I agree that too many people may go to their GP with flu like symptoms but how do we know it isn't something else? I tend not to go to the doctors very often and usually whatever was wrong has passed on its own. I moved house in 2010 and registered with my current surgery, in those 7 years I have been to my GP 5 times. About 3 weeks before Christmas I had an annoying persistent sore throat and chesty cough and woke up coughing one night and couldn't catch my breath, I was honestly frightened but it passed. I mentioned it to my daughter the next day, she made me an appointment for later that day. After examining me my GP gave me a nebuliser and called an ambulance. I spent a few days in hospital on IV antibiotics and steroids. It seems the persistent cough is COPD and the shortness of breath was due to an infection on top of COPD (which I didn't know I had). I have had tests with a respiratory technician and have to see the consultant in a couple of days. My point is although I avoid going to the doctor with trivial problems, I am not qualified to decide what is serious or not, I hadn't realised how bad my chest was getting as it happened gradually but since having daily medication things have improved a great deal. COPD is incurable but managable
ONCE DIAGNOSED. Sorry for the long rant.

Agreed, Teddy123

Maybe, just maybe, the current flu epidemic could have been less severe if we had been given the more efficacious inoculation which helps avoid 4 flu strains as opposed to the 3 flu strain version. The 4 strain one cost an extra £3.00. I wish I'd been given the option to pay for the better one.

I suspect that these days many people expect that any problem can be 'fixed' by the GP giving them medication of some sort. I think that patience is a virtue which is in short supply.
Also, some folks are scared of taking time off work because of the pressure that you must 'tough it out' and not go off sick unless it's really serious.

The minute I heard on the news that doctor's receptionists were going to ask your symptoms then decide who you ought to see, I knew that GPs were doing less and less. No home visits, no Saturday surgeries, no slightly later evening surgery on one day a week. Home visits were a regular occurrence when I was a child and family doctors ALWAYS delivered your babies in hospital or at home as well as follow up visits. Now they get paid well over £100k pa and we get a much worse service.
My surgery still does a drop-in every weekday from 12.00-13.30 for 'urgent' cases or if you have a sudden bad nose bleed or such like as they can refer you to the cottage hospital which is right next door.
The thing is, that if you DON'T need to see a doctor for 2 years they can take you off their list.

Maybe a charge for missed appointments? There again, people will have reasons which are valid. For example, they tried to 'tough it out' with the flu, and ended up in hospital!

Charging for gp appointments worries me for several reasons. I think certain people will have even more expectations of having instant attention because they have paid for it - putting even more demand on the doctors. There will inevitably be those who should see a dr who will not have the ready money to do so or feel that it would be a waste of money. It will also add hugely to admin costs.

Frankly I feel that bringing in charges for going to your GP is a very bad idea, as it may well prevent people from being diagnosed in time for serious conditions.

Likewise as others have said, unless you are yourself a medical professional it can be very difficult to be sure that you are "only" suffering from the flu and not, say, from pneumonia. So fine, if you are sure, it is only a cold, or the flu, stay at home and don't risk infecting others or wasting your G.P.'s time, if not do consult your doctor.

hereshoping I wondered that too. Just how do they measure the ‘flu numbers when most people cope at home without a GP visit? Perhaps they estimate that 12% will visit will visit GP and extrapolate from there???.

I would just like to issue a warning not to ignore flu like symptoms if they get worse over a period of a few days. My son in law came down last November with what he thought was flu - aching muscles, headache, general feeling of malaise although no cold like symptoms. He went to bed rather than go to the GP and over the next four days got progressively worse so he could not even get out of bed. My daughter took him to the out of hours doctor on the advice of the NHS helpline as it was a weekend and he ended up in A and E. Diagnosed with stapphyloccus aureus which had caused him to contract severe pneumonia. After a few hours he had got so much worse and sepsis had set in. After numerous CT and MRI scans and a chest drain over the next week they eventually discovered the staphylococcus bug had lodged in his heart valve causing endocarditis and had pumped the bug around his body. Over a period of less than one week he had 4 life threatening illnesses and was critical. He was in hospital for 7 weeks and only released on Christmas eve. He is still not back at work now and facing a long recovery.

There has to be a balance between self diagnosis and going to bed and not infecting everyone else at doctors surgeries but if my son in law had left it another day before going to out of hours doctor he would not be with us today. The hospital consultant told him that.

Received a letter from surgery yesterday asking me to make appointment for important (their word) annual vascular review. I also have chronic asthma (controlled) but am allergic & couldn't have flu jab. No way am I visiting surgery until main risk of contracting flu from other patients has passed.

Barmeyoldbat: In France if you have any chronic conditions you do not pay the doctor upfront nor for treatments or medication. We all pay a top-up insurance (varies according to what you decide you want to cover - rather like holiday insurances have additional categories) and for non- chronic conditions pay 25 euros upfront to the GP which is reimbursed via the health service and the insurance. Low wage earners / benefit recipients are exempt.
This ensures us a same day appointment, specialist appointment usually within the week (same day if deemed urgent) and scans/surgical procedures within weeks at a time and hospital of your choice.
All the records appear to be computer linked so the hospitals can access your previous treatments immediately. We receive copies of all specialist reports and x-rays before leaving the specialist clinic and are responsible for retaining these for future appointments. Your GP also receives copies.
Yes, we pay and this is accepted if such a health service is to function and people take far more responsibility for their own health and the pharmacist is often the first port of call for minor ailments. I have had to visit A &E on two occasions and waiting time was minimal - friends have had similar experiences.

Listening to More or Less, the programme about statistics on Radio 4, makes me suspicious of all these pronouncements put out in the media. For instance, they explained on the programme that missed appointments don’t cost what the media reports say it does. I always wonder who is behind them amd what the real purpose is behind the stats. -usually to put the blame for problems on the users. Like others have said, people with flu are too ill to go to a surgery, 111 often tell people to go, workers need sick notes and in any case, who can ever get past the appointment systems in many GP surgeries where, if you are lucky, you’ll see a nurse practitioner (who may then have to consult a GP or pass you on). Just making the call, being kept in a queue and getting through requires more energy than anyone with flu will have.

Our doctors used to have a daily "walk in" surgery. It started at 8 am until 12 noon and was very busy. If you were unable to book a regular appointment with your own GP you would check in at reception and then wait your turn. Depending on the amount of patients your wait could often be up to two hours as there was one GP and a Nurse Practitioner who dealt with these patients. The system seemed to work very well, then around three years ago they stopped it. Our surgery became part of a group practice with three other surgeries in the town. Now it is often easier to book an appointment with a GP but not necessarily one at your own surgery but at one of the others within the group. Don,t think everyone's happy with this, but if you,re ill surely it's better to see who you can than have to wait ages to see your "own" named GP.