I have a face to face doctors appointment finally ????

Congratulations!! You have won the lottery!!

(I understand my doctor retired a year ago and I have no idea what my doctor looks like or whether its a he or she as the name doesn't give any clues!)

Well done, Sago. Perseverance paid of. Not right, though, is it?
Two GPs were interviewed on the Today prog this morning. They both said how hard they and their colleagues work and went on about the general abuse they receive at their respective surgeries. They said the extra money they are to get from the NHS is a drop in the ocean and will not improve the situation and it is almost impossible to recruit locums as there are not enough of them. Eventually the interviewer asked the question I was dying to ask myself - why is it so much harder to get a face to face appointment now than it was pre-Covid? Unfortunately no real answer was forthcoming.

DH has advanced cancer and hasn’t seen a doctor, face to face, (GP or Consultant), since March of last year. A GP phoned once, last year, to see how he was doing. He finds it difficult to use the phone as he has hearing loss, so I generally have to take the call.

joannapiano sadly exactly the same with my Husband. Oncologist is ringing tomorrow to report on the 6months of chemo and the results of a scan done in July! Last face to face with either a Doctor/consultant was before first lockdown.

anyway, it’s good to see that the GPs have got over their covid timidity to head to conference. .. hopefully that in itself will start to feed through into how they see patients.

I know how stressful it is waiting for that phone call. All good wishes to you and your husband for tomorrow.

Urmstongran, I’m afraid we have completely lost faith in the NHS.

Well done, Sago!

Shocking that you've had such a struggle.

joannapiano ?
My apologies for my flippant post. I hope it didn’t offend.

Joannapiano I’m so sorry, it is disgraceful that your husband has been treated so badly, I think my GP practice is on the back foot because I caught them out skewing the figures by saying a phone call was face to face!

It was however such a relief not to have to talk to hostile receptionists.

I know it is possible to email via the app but it’s box ticking and there was so much I needed to convey.

I am so relieved.

Not at all, Urmstongran.
Hopefully things will improve.

I hope so too. x

I had a telephone appointment with a new GP at my surgery last week. She prescribed a particular medication, sent the prescription electronically through to the pharmacy and my OH collected it later that day. I always read the leaflets included in medication, good thing I did too as an underlying medical condition is contraindicated. Clearly the GP had not even bothered to read my past medical history.

HI1954 Apparently many GP’s are working from home, they cannot access medical records from home!

Is that so?? How come I can access my own medical records from home then?

HI1954 Accessing your personal records is very different to having access to thousands of records.
This cannot be done without the security,servers and hard drives the surgery has.

Ten months for a suspicious mole! :-o I'm glad you're finally in but I wouldn't find that acceptable.

It’s been apparent for a long time that a large number of people, frustrsted at being unable in some cases to even get through to their GP practice by phone, turn up in desperation at A and E.

Most of these people of course shouldn’t be there, they should have been seen and treated by their GP but as we all know that’s becoming more and more difficult.

Let’s hope the government’s latest plan helps, for all our sakes.

GPS can access patient case notes from home, as GP notes are fully electronic - at least, I know that’s the case in Wales but I assume it’s the case throughout the UK.

I’m in Scotland and while initially the receptionist fields the call in my surgery the doctor calls back and if they think it appropriate ask you to come in. We have been extremely satisfied with our treatment since the pandemic.

Well done Sago! You have to be persistent.
No wonder folk are going to A&E.
We are very lucky. We are still getting same day appointments. The doctor who rang back about my ear problem today gave me advice but said it would be better if I popped in to see him!

Why did Sajid Jarvis refuse to address the GPs conference? He was supposed to give a video address but pulled out. Jeers abounded when that was announced. He is telling GPs to see more patients face to face but couldn’t face keeping his own appointments. Chris Whitty turned up and had. a good reception. Giving a few thousands ( not new money - taken out of other health services) to GPs to see more patients is derisory.

I am very happy for you and ashamed of the 'system' that has allowed this to happen to you. You have indeed had a win on the NHS lottery but I hope you have an even bigger one when you have a satisfactory outcome to your problem. So sad for the anxious frustration you must have suffered. What a shambles!

At my GP surgery instead of making appointments on line as before I now have to ring at 8am for on the day appointment. I rang on Tuesday morning only waited 5 mins in a queue and was given a face to face appointment that morning. I can’t understand why it’s such a different experience for others some of your stories are appalling. I wonder what each surgery is doing that’s so different and why it’s been allowed to happen.