Doctor's appointments

I went to our GP surgery yesterday morning to see the practice nurse for pare-booked blood test.

On the Reception desk was a large poster. It stated:

SEPTEMBER and 89 appointment slots were missed because patients did not turn up.

I was quite shocked. Who are these people who can’t even be bothered to cancel an appointment so that someone else could use it? Selfish buggers.

@rosie1959. I think it depends on where you live - as with other services, diabetes care is patchy depending on area. My husband has diabetes and is mainly dealt with by his GP except for his annual review with the diabetes care team, and unless there is a specific problem. His routine blood and urine tests are dealt with by his GP and all his medicines are via GP prescription.

@growstuff. I know what you mean. My faith in GP’s was well and truly shaken after my husband died a couple of years ago. He had been having bad shoulder pains for which his GP diagnosed a trapped nerve and prescribed painkillers.

A couple of weeks after first seeing his GP he fell and broke his leg, and after discharge from hospital he was finding it difficult to cope because he had developed chest pain and was troubled by increasing breathlessness. We called out the GP twice in one week and after examination on both occasions she assured him that it was probably the effects of the fall and that his chest was clear.

Two days after her second visit, my husband collapsed and was taken to hospital - on admission the attending doctor said he had one of the worst chest infections she’d ever seen and asked why we hadn’t called our GP. After I told her the GP had visited two days before, for the second time, she didn’t mention it again. He ended up in intensive care on a ventilator and died a few days later after a CT scan revealed a large tumour in his lung, which is what had caused the shoulder pain. The GP had been treating him with pain killers for months, during which time the tumour had been growing and spreading to his spine and bones. It was also considered to be the main reason he broke his leg so easily - although the hospital also missed the tumour on the pre op routine chest X-rays.

At no point did the GP order even a simple Xray, let alone a CT scan. At the time I had the sense that there was a reluctance to make any kind of referral for him - as though the GP thought she had things under control, when clearly she didn’t, and she obviously didn’t connect any of the symptoms with the possibility of cancer. Looking at the shambolic system we have now - a couple of years on from my own experience, it doesn’t bode well for the future.

I know a fair bit about diabetes Growstuff not through my own health but with my daughter since she was small but hers is Type 1 and the GP has nothing to do with the care of her condition it is dealt with by the diabetic care team.

rosie1959

Surely multiple problems could be linked and without a full discussion with a GP something could be missed

In my case, multiple problems are linked, but they all need separate appointments.

Pammie I sympathise. The system means that GPs are taking over treatment from hospital consultants, but I have also found that they sometimes don't have the expertise and/or knowledge. I'm not blaming the GPs themselves, but the system is crazy.

Anybody who knows anything about diabetes knows that it causes a multitude of problems affecting different organs - liver, kidneys, eyes, feet. I have foot/leg problems, which are linked to poor circulation, which are linked to a previous heart attack. I also probably have a problem absorbing Vitamin B12 caused by Metformin, one of my diabetes medications. One of the GPs was dealing with me before she started maternity leave and lockdown kicked in. I need a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach, which the one appointment/one condition can't cope with. It's not immediately life threatening, but most of the problems I have will get worse and need treating, which they're not.

I do what I can to look after my own health, but there's a limit to what I can do. I need my feet to be investigated or there's a high chance I'll end up with amputation. I've been very patient, but my patience is running out.

Surely multiple problems could be linked and without a full discussion with a GP something could be missed

@growstuff. Interesting point about multiple problems as we get older. Our GP practice seemingly has a policy of ‘one appointment for one problem’. I was expecting a phone call from the GP regarding test results and on commenting to the receptionist that I would ask him about another problem while he was on the phone, she huffily told me that I couldn’t do that and would have to make an appointment for anything else. There used to be an old joke about either being dead or better by the time you got to see a doctor. I fear that more and more, that’s becoming a reality.

@SusieB50. I had a similar experience to you. I was recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and after overseeing the start of methotrexate treatment, my consultant asked my GP to take over - the request was refused, as a blood test is needed before each monthly prescription. This was eventually sorted but my GP surgery no longer do blood tests. A centralised phlebotomy service at a local clinic is now in operation, with no direct phone number, so all booking has to be done online and appointments can only be booked up to two weeks in advance. Obviously, as everyone is in the same boat, appointments are booked up well in advance, so basically if I can’t get an appointment for a blood test, the GP won’t issue the prescription and my RA goes untreated. So I find myself spending a lot of time on the booking website trying to find an appropriate slot so I can get the treatment I need. It’s ridiculous. Before commencing the methotrexate, the consultant asked my GP to give me the pneumonia and shingles immunisations as the treatment would affect my immune system. The GP refused, as I was not in the appropriate age group for these jabs and they said they did not have the ‘extra’ funding. They eventually relented on the pneumonia jab, but I was told if I wanted the shingles vaccine I would have to go private. So basically to save the cost of a vaccine I am left open to contracting shingles and possibly hospitalisation as a result, which will cost the NHS far more. Very short sighted.

SusieB50

I worked in the NHS for 40 years in various nursing posts , so not GP bashing at all .Whilst I understand and appreciate that there are not enough GP’s and that this government is running the whole system down which makes me very angry , I am still frustrated at the inability to speak or see my GP practice . This week I spent an hour waiting to get through to book a telephone appointment to discuss some new medication I have been prescribed . It was working well but as it was new I couldn’t request a repeat without speaking to a doctor apparently. When I did get through to the surgery there were no telephone appointments available so I asked if I could drop a note into the surgery . Not possible said reception I have to use eConsult! It took three attempts to get into the system , then had to go through a number of inane algorithms before I could write what I wanted to say. Then low and behold 48 hrs later I receive a text with a telephone appointment with the GP that day, suddenly an appointment is available . Such a waste of time for everyone including me ! Sorry about the rant but have just received an email asking me to review my eConsult experience?

Interesting! I seriously wonder if the triage system does actually save time. I have a good friend, who is a GP, and she thinks the same. Quite often what should be a very quick appointment turns into a hassle for everybody and more time is involved.

maddyone

Doodledog, I’m sorry if I didn’t make it clear, but you are absolutely correct that patients shouldn’t have to wait weeks for an appointment, and we know that unfortunately because of Covid and the GP staffing crisis that some patients have suffered serious illness and even death due to this. We all want an excellent NHS and in the main it does deliver exactly that. On a personal note, both my GPs and the hospital staff were excellent when I was so ill with Covid. But complaining on Gransnet, or on the television, or in the papers doesn’t help. What it actually does is demoralise GPs further, and they are already struggling to deliver the service they want to deliver and struggling with demoralisation.
I think the answer must lie with patients becoming angry with those who have caused the problem, and that is the government, not the GPs.

So how do you suggest people do that? I have never voted Conservative and it's useless writing to my elected Conservative MP.

justwokeup

Our doctor, who had seen 30 patients that day, explained to us that ailments don’t go away- patients now had up to 6 things, all valid, to ask him about. Will the people who complain about the service also complain about taxes going up to pay for a pandemic and contribute towards future health and social care? Of course they will.

No, I won't. I understand that less is spent on health care than in many other developed countries.

What do you suggest people should do, if they have a number of problems, as many do especially as they get older?

I hear you, SusieB50.

justwokeup

Our doctor, who had seen 30 patients that day, explained to us that ailments don’t go away- patients now had up to 6 things, all valid, to ask him about. Will the people who complain about the service also complain about taxes going up to pay for a pandemic and contribute towards future health and social care? Of course they will.

I'm not sure what you are getting at here, justwokeup.

'Complaining' about the service is not the same thing as not understanding the reasons for it being less good than it was, and does not make people any more or less likely to object to paying taxes, except inasmuch as those who voted for 'the party of low taxes' (hollow laugh) also voted for the cuts, and not particularly indirectly - it was spelt out before the election that they would come to pass under a Tory government. I guess that this will make those people more likely to complain than those who voted for higher taxes but better services?

I worked in the NHS for 40 years in various nursing posts , so not GP bashing at all .Whilst I understand and appreciate that there are not enough GP’s and that this government is running the whole system down which makes me very angry , I am still frustrated at the inability to speak or see my GP practice . This week I spent an hour waiting to get through to book a telephone appointment to discuss some new medication I have been prescribed . It was working well but as it was new I couldn’t request a repeat without speaking to a doctor apparently. When I did get through to the surgery there were no telephone appointments available so I asked if I could drop a note into the surgery . Not possible said reception I have to use eConsult! It took three attempts to get into the system , then had to go through a number of inane algorithms before I could write what I wanted to say. Then low and behold 48 hrs later I receive a text with a telephone appointment with the GP that day, suddenly an appointment is available . Such a waste of time for everyone including me ! Sorry about the rant but have just received an email asking me to review my eConsult experience?

Believe me, I am angry with the government.

Complaining on GN, or to 'real life' friends is a way for people to let off steam, sometimes. I don't suppose that anyone expects that it will make a material difference to the situation, but it can help to know that we are not alone in our frustration.

As you say, voting against parties who are selling off the NHS is the way forward, but many of us tried that, and were outvoted. It couldn't have been clearer at the last election that the NHS was under threat, and whilst Covid was still in the future, it wouldn't have taken a soothsayer to work out that any sort of crisis would push it over the edge. Knowing that we were warned about the cuts, but that people ignored the warnings doesn't exactly make me feel better ?.

If we didn't let off steam about the things that bother us, places like GN would die off. Not only that, but GPs' switchboards would be clogged by older women complaining about rampant feelings of homicidal mania?.

Our doctor, who had seen 30 patients that day, explained to us that ailments don’t go away- patients now had up to 6 things, all valid, to ask him about. Will the people who complain about the service also complain about taxes going up to pay for a pandemic and contribute towards future health and social care? Of course they will.

Doodledog, I’m sorry if I didn’t make it clear, but you are absolutely correct that patients shouldn’t have to wait weeks for an appointment, and we know that unfortunately because of Covid and the GP staffing crisis that some patients have suffered serious illness and even death due to this. We all want an excellent NHS and in the main it does deliver exactly that. On a personal note, both my GPs and the hospital staff were excellent when I was so ill with Covid. But complaining on Gransnet, or on the television, or in the papers doesn’t help. What it actually does is demoralise GPs further, and they are already struggling to deliver the service they want to deliver and struggling with demoralisation.
I think the answer must lie with patients becoming angry with those who have caused the problem, and that is the government, not the GPs.

I could only repeat what Doodledog has written.

In what way is the out of hours service in this country excellent? There isn't one in my area, unless you mean dialling 111.

Doodledog, you have made valid points, but the fact that there are too few GPs and too little money are the reasons behind the difficulties. And sadly some posters (not you) have indeed been extremely disrespectful on a good many threads about GPs. Too much pay, going to play golf instead of seeing patients, GPs too frightened to see patients and therefore hiding behind locked doors, and that there are no or few other patients waiting in waiting rooms (during a pandemic!!!) and some posters appear to expect a service similar to that in the 1950s where GPs were dragged out of bed in the early hours to go to see a patient who became ill in the night (we do actually have an excellent Out of Hours service in this country, so it is completely inappropriate in my view, to expect GPs to see their patients in the middle of the night.) All of these complaints and more have been made on Gransnet over the last year or so.
But I thank you Doodledog for understanding some of the points I have made.

Incidentally I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, if you persist in using the chemist shops to get your flu vaccines, you are in a small part contributing towards the end of the GP Practice as we know it. GPs initially pay to buy in the vaccines for their eligible patients, and they in turn get paid by the government to administer the vaccines. They do not receive this payment individually (as some people apparently believe) but their practice receives the money. This money goes towards funding everything the practice needs such as maintenance of the building and other support staff (nurses, receptionists, practice manager etc.) When you go to Boots or wherever to get your vaccinations, Boots gets the money, not the GP Practices. Boots is owned now by an American company, and so you are contributing towards the profits of an American company in America. The payment is not going into the NHS as it should, it’s feeding the company profits of an American company, in the case of Boots (other chemists may be owned by British companies.) This is how our NHS is being starved of funds and gradually possibly creating a private and for profit Health Service. Is that what you want?

People who say it’s too far to go to the GP Practice to get their vaccine may very well be the same ones complaining that they want a face to face appointment with their doctor. Ironic isn’t it?

I completely understand that - as a mother myself, I really I do. But people are not saying that GPs are lazy and overpaid. They are saying that they aren't able to see them when they need to.

I can only speak for myself, and I am in no way attacking the role of GPs, nor suggesting that they are lazy. I am saying that the telephone appointment system is not appropriate for a number of patients, and that having to wait for weeks to even speak to an GP is potentially dangerous.

I'm sorry if that is upsetting for parents of GPs to read, but it is how I feel. I know from talking to friends who are GPs that many of them feel the same.

When you have an adult child who is part of a profession, in this case, a GP, seeing endless GP bashing in the media, especially The Daily Mail and The Telegraph, and endlessly it feels, on various news programmes such as Jeremy Vine and Sky News, and then that parent comes on here and sees the many comments that disrespect doctors, asking questions such as ‘Why are GPs hiding behind closed doors?’ or ‘What are GPs doing all day?’ or even ‘Why are GPs paid so much?’ and complaining about anything and everything to do with GPs, then that parent feels like their adult child is being attacked, and that’s exactly what is happening. I wonder how many Gransnetters would rise to defend their adult child if there were many threads attacking the job their child does, implying that their child is lazy and overpaid!