What to GPs actually DO?

Candelle - well said.

'I think that variation around the country is huge. My GP, apart from the receptionists border guards is fine'
As a recently retired (early due to long covid) GP's receptionist I bristle at comments such as this.
But then I realised it's pretty accurate. They're there to do the doctor's bidding. If they appear to be a brick wall between you and the GP then consider that they are doing exactly what the GP has told them to. Granted, some of them do it better than others but they can't make appointments that aren't available. They can't do a lot of things as their hands are tied.
And they can't answer the phone any quicker than they already do!

Ali08

What does AC mean, please?

Adult Children.

(There’s an Acronyms list, see bottom of this page)

Ours is For Knox as well
Everything on line only, haven't managed to see an actual Dr for about 4 years.
Had to turn up to A&E 20 miles away for antibiotics for a bite on my hand - it looked like a boxing glove - worth the the 6 hour wait.

Candelle - great post.

I really think GP's need to get back to seeing there patients properly. It is OK if you are happy to do remote appointments but a lot of older people are uncomfortable with this and they could be suffering without anyone knowing if they can't easily make a doctors appointment.

In answer to the OP, nothing.

GPs do absolutely nothing.

They sit in their surgeries from 7.30 am to 9.00 pm (or later) doing nothing.

Of course, they may gleefully have a thought or two about the £350,000+ salary that is accruing in the bank whilst they sit and... do nothing.

Perhaps they may occasionally raise their legs from desks to stroll to the coffee machine to have another cafe latte but generally, they do... nothing.

Not.

Apart from running a 'normal' surgery, GPs have other responsibilities too. Paperwork has increased vastly in the bureaucratic nightmare that the NHS has become. There are clinics and small surgeries, previously undertaken by the local hospital. There are vaccinations, plus operating a hot or vaccination hubs. How about committee meetings to arrange the above? Have you considered all the ongoing (almost 24/7) 7-days a week telephone calls regarding patients from other offices, mental health consultations and on and on?

When will people realise that there is a crisis but this is not of GPs making. This has been coming for years and GP organisations have been warning the Government that there is a real crisis point coming and have been ignored.

GPs are leaving in droves because they cannot sustain the pressure. Their job, as with any doctor is making decisions, day in and day out. Theirs are crucial decisions. Could any of you sustain this pressure day in and out? I couldn't.

Replacement GPs cannot be plucked out of thin air. A current GP has undertaken eleven years of training and now GP training schemes are being developed with a shorter training period and only time will tell if these will be successful.

Of course it is more than frustrating not to be able to obtain the service one expects but please do not blame the GP. Write in the first instance to the Practice Manager and secondly to your MP.

Incidentally, I do understand the frustration of some posters who are not offered a decent GP service. I was once in tears, not being able to get through to my surgery ('you are first in the queue' after twenty-five minutes of holding on followed by a click and a dead 'phone) and can well remember how I felt. Since then I have joined the Patient Participation Group at my surgery and matters have improved immensely.

My surgery will see patients face to face (if deemed necessary - they have the right to decide and I agree with them).

I have posted before that I have an interest in this topic as my daughter is a GP. Her surgery is offering face-to face appointments now and..... only 50% of patients choose to be seen this way. The other 50% are happy with telephone appointments.

So, if you are unhappy with your practice, write to your Practice Manager, write to your MP, join your Patient Participation Group but do something! Moaning is cheap but ultimately pointless. Make your voice heard.

What does AC mean, please?

Doodle

Tea3 I bet they don’t. ?.
I imagine like most GP surgeries the rules they work to are set out quite clearly by the GPS. If they made up their own the GPS would be in trouble.
What usually happens is the ogre on the reception desk tells the patient the GP has no appointments or can’t fit them in. Patient eventually gets to speak to GP who says of course I will see you. Patient glares at receptionist as they go into the GP ‘S room. GP is nice as pie to patient. GP then rages at the receptionist for not telling the patient they couldn’t be seen.
You have no idea how many times that happens. ?

Our surgery is like Fort Knox but my DD’s less than 2 miles away, has been open for appointments for everyday ailments. They work out of a scrubby portakabin type building and our surgery is purpose built all singing, all dancing but unavailable to patients. Not difficult to work out which ones have a true vocation and which are greedy money grabbers.

It used to happen daily when I worked as a receptionist! Plus the patients who are rude and abusive to the receptionists then sugary sweet to the GPs.

Just imagine! 95% of patients were seen on the day they called! Occasionally evening surgery would run an hour over time but it didn’t allow a back log to build up that started as days, then weeks and now even months.

The first seven years were hectic but rewarding then, when the younger doctors came on board they, often their wives, wanted 9-5 hours with no pesky patients interfering after hours.

The day started at 8am for phone calls and paperwork, surgery from 8.30 til 11ish. Usually 1/2 home visits which the receptionist was blamed for, then they went home til 3.30-3.45 then back for evening surgery. Home again normally by about 6. They did a four day week and had massively generous annual leave and still complained they were hard done by.

We have mixed experiences with our GP practice. I have had the benefit of a phone consultation with a GP. Pros were not having to get to the surgery and sit in a waiting room full of people coughing and sniffing (as in pre covid days). Cons were not knowning when the call would be and therefore having to make sure I was at home as the conversation was about problems with my ladybits - not something to be talking about while going round the supermarket! Personally I've always found the medical staff to be excellent once you can get past the receptionist. The receptionists at the practice are variable, some friendly and efficient, others rude. Yesterday my DH had to go for clip removal from recent surgery and fresh wound dressing. The appt was somewhat grudgingly given I felt, then when we arrived my DH, whose mobility is still very shaky, wanted me as his carer, to accompany him. The receptionist was very terse to the point of rudeness and tried to refuse, but he insisted. The surgery is somewhat like the example in the piece which sparked the article in the Mail: it is still operating exactly as it did at the start of the pandemic - doors locked, a queue outside and no one allowed in unless for a visit to the treatment room. The GP I spoke to for the appt I have mentioned, was working from home, and the building yesterday appeared to only have the treatment room in use, none of the consulting rooms.
My husband's surgery (knee replacement) only happened because of follow up care from the hospital following admission for covid. He had been fobbed off 8 years ago by the GP (a locum) and told they would not refer him for surgery and instead put him on high strength ibuprofen, unmonitored use (which apparently was wrong) and which has led to other health problems. The covid discharge team looked at the x-rays for his knees back from when he was fobbed off and were appalled at the degeneration in his knees even then. It is fair to say that he had been contemplating not continuing to live because of the incessant pain and no quality of life because of his inability to work or pursue his normal activities. The hospital wrote to the GP in no uncertain terms regarding the need for his surgery to be progressed through referral, and now thankfully his first knee has been replaced.
I have looked at the practice's own website, and the NHS website for reviews of this practice, and all bar an isolated review, it is receiving only 1 star reviews, with many reviewers saying they wish they could award a negative star rating. This has been the case from before the pandemic and I doubt anything will change for the better.

Our GP practice has provided an excellent, responsive service. It has managed to recruit new GP partners and nurses, which makes a huge difference. We seem to forget that in order to have GP practices we need to train and recruit doctors. We also forget that these practices are, in fact, businesses. The doctors have shares in the business. I can imagine that in some parts of the country it is difficult to keep practices open. Several have closed near us and this is a pretty prosperous part of the UK

My son’s surgery is appalling. It would be easier to break into Fort Knox. I had every sympathy with them in the early stages of the pandemic and with the problems that a national shortage of GPS bring, but enough is enough.
Hospital and community staff/carers had no option but to provide face-to-face care.

There's an astonishing discrepancy between surgeries around the country it seems. And between the health care professionals. The nurses at mine have carried on as usual in the last two years - always pleasant and cheerful (and there!) And the receptionists as helpful and sympathetic as always - not easy when patients are clearly desperate and sometimes abusive. The doctors? They weren't in at all throughout the pandemic and are only just attending the surgery now. You could, if you could wait for three weeks+ have a phone appointment, but no face to face. Apparently they are more precious than nurses or receptionists (or transport and supermarket workers.)

I had to see the nurse last week after plucking up the courage to actually phone the receptionists after 5 weeks of an very uncomfortable rash because when you do they are so rude and make you feel a nuisance. I was the only person in the waiting room to see someone and we have two different surgeries in the one building. There are 8 GPs in one and 5 in the one I belong to, plus the nurses in the treatment room and no one else there to see any of them. What were they doing, just triaging on the phone all day??
I was told off by the nurse for leaving it so long to contact them as it made the condition worse. You can't win.

ExDancer I've cut to the chase and want to answer your original question: "What do GPs actually do?" As with everything in life there are bound to be a few rotten apples but I say "THEIR BEST!"

For years they have increasingly been expected to deal with too much, with too little support. Covid is just the last straw for many.

nana8 we do take our free health service for granted and forget that other countries have to pay every time they go to the doctor. Hope you are well. You sound satisfied with your standard of care, and that must be reassuring.

Surely the Practice Manager should employ more staff if they're overstretched instead of playing on our sympathy for the NHS? Recently it took me a mere 67 repeated rings, then put in a queue of 10 people and the phone answered just before the (newly instituted) cut-off point of 3.30pm for phoning the surgery to get a test result. I use Askmy GP now but it's not easy to get thru on that either. I sympathise with anyone having to deal with GP surgeries.

I did expect to see a nurse, I just asked for an appt to get my stitches removed. The reply I got was quite glib and seemed to have been learned by heart, she possibly has too repeat it several times a day, poor lass I did feel a bit sorry for her.
All the same, we are asked not to clog up emergency services - and what about the unnecessary exposure to covid from the waiting room?
I'm going this afternoon as these stitches look as though they're getting embedded.

Our GP surgery has closed its doors. Receptionist said this is for good and GPs would not be seeing patients. Telephone calls and photos only. The mind boggles when some problems are more intimate than others. I wouldn't be sending anything online. What if it went to the wrong person ?

Anything more urgent and we are to go to the local A&E. No wonder the hospitals are buckling under the strain. Why can my dentist and optician see me? I shall try to move to a new GP practice.

A repeat prescription which took 3 days to be signed pre-Covid now takes a week. Why?

Savvy

Your gp surgery should be able to tell you Tizliz

I am lucky as I have no problems, just thought it was typical ‘we offer a free service, but …..’

I only get phone consultations with the GP and then referred to X-ray or scan. Seems to work so far as phone consultation always happens the same day which is quicker than waiting for an appointment. I have also filled in lengthy online forms from GP surgery, including for mental health type issues, which is not so good. Doctor surgery is always almost completely empty whenever I pick up my tabs.
Often I go on internet and treat myself. If this is the future, we probably won't need to train as many GPs for those 5 or 6 years as, for us, they have become no more than a call centre service. On one occasion (pre Covid) they had a person (not a doctor, but medically trained) 'filtering' people on their 'queue up and you'll be seen morning' (subsequently discontinued) to see if you really needed a doctor at all. This was when my cancer was picked up as I was thankfully 'filtered' in the right direction!

We have had phone calls, video calls and photographic messages, all of which I have been happy with. The telephone system had to be replaced so we have had long, long queues waiting for that. Now I have rung and I can't even speak to someone because all today's appointments are gone and you don't seem to be able to make a routine appointment.

GP services seem to vary across the country. Since the pandemic ours have gone from being excellent to dreadful. Hard to get through on the phone, if you can get an appointment at all (2+weeks wait) the reception says its a phone appt but on the last 2 occasions its just been a text message from the GP. My referral to the privatised triage service for a degenerative condition which is worsening was lost so i waited 8 months just for a 20 minute phone appt covering the questions which in the past my GP would have asked simply to be told i would be referred to a specialist. To the poster who said we have too many people in the country, the issue is we have too few GPs, and the NHS funding has been eroded over the last 10 years. And money is wasted using private medical companies who make a profit from the NHS.

I think doctors’ receptionists have far too much power. I was refused a face-to-face appointment with my GP, was told by the receptionist that I had to have a telephone consultation. When I spoke to my doctor on the phone he asked me to visit the surgery in 30 minutes as he had no patients! He was a bit ‘cross’ when I told him that was what I wanted but the receptionist had prevented it.