Actually saw my GP for the first time in over 3 years.

We ve been able to see a doctor all the time It’s a very big practice but they are brilliant and you can get a same day emergency appointment if necessary
Bl…. Statins I would avoid unless absolutely completely and utterly necessary Life or death I think they are given out far too easily
I m glad you’ve got the right information out there now sago

Thats a disgrace. Glad you are now being treated correctly. Wonder how many more victims are out there.

In my town they have been brilliant, I have been having face to face all this year with the same Dr and at one point she sent me a message to say she wanted to see me, face to face, so all is well here

My non-smoking father had smoking as a secondary cause of death on his death certificate. He had smoked a little during national service (2 of his 90 years), but at his time of death had not smoked for nearly 70 years! We could not get it changed as death certificates once issued cannot be changed!!
Well done at getting a face to face GP appointment!

Face to face appointments are unheard of where I live. Husband has stage 4 cancer and hasn’t ever seen a gp and very rarely sees the oncologist. He is seen by chemo nurses and mri or ct scanning staff. It is all done by telephone - he had a scan last Fri and a telephone consult appointment with oncologist due end of November. It is ridiculous.

We have annual MOT's but that may because I'm over 70?

Its a postcode lottery, isnt it?

Totally wondering how it ever got on your notes,Sago.

That is disgraceful. I too am concerned that I am on a raft of drugs which are not monitored in any way - they just arrive every month.

I think things are probably OK - but wouldn't it be nice to know that someone qualified is checking it out properly?

I have just received this month's medicines and one of them has changed - I am guessing that the new version is cheaper (which is fine; do not want NHS wasting money) but this change results in a smaller dose. I will have to ring the surgery tomorrow and make a phone appointment with the pharmacist (no doubt several weeks hence) to check this out, as I am on two drugs for this condition and one depends on the other. It is so tiresome.

My neighbour has a medical problem at the moment. The next appointment (phone only) is in 5 weeks. She badgered a bit and got a phone call with Taurus (which is a private company who covers some NHS stuff round here). The doc she spoke to said she needs blood tests and a proper physical examination NOW. She went for the blood tests this morning and the person doing it had no idea what she was meant to be asking the lab to test for. And she still has to wait weeks for face-to-face.

When did phone calls and weeks of waiting become the norm? So much will be missed.

We have annual MOT's but that may because I'm over 70? - I wish. I am 74, ands nothing doing here.

A friend of mine told me that she’d been put on statins but was told to take Co Enzyme Q10 with them to counteract any side effects.

Can I just ask out of interest, is it people in country areas having such a hard time to get to see GP's? (or totally crushed overworked inner city practices?)

I'm in the country and pleased to say that after a horrendous two years with our local surgery - long waits on phone, no face-to-face appointments, three weeks wait for a call back appointment etc etc - there has been a massive improvement and we can now usually see a GP the same day if an emergency or 7-10 days ahead if not. Appointments can be booked at the health centre or on-line. And best of all it seems all the staff have been sent to charm school and are now happy and smiling instead of grumpy and unhelpful. Win-win.

Mine is in the sort of average but not posh suburbs - ie a higher % of patients manage their health a bit better than the inner city areas - but I think what has made the difference is more likely that it was excellently managed long before covid and continued to attract new GP's when other practices struggled. That said, there are waits for non urgent but anything really important does get sorted. But..its a city in the North of England, attractive to live in for professionals, housing not expensive, ie a good place to settle for them and have a family etc.

I live just outside London in a small town and have not seen my doctor in person since the first lockdown. Phone appointments are a 2 week wait and I spoke to her once. Otherwise it’s doctors I don’t know and assume are new.
Pre COVID the surgery was always really good but can’t say that now. They close down the e consult option every day, don’t like phone calls and I have been ‘told off’ for writing a letter which is often the only way I can get in touch.
Really disappointing.

Same here. Like Luckygirl my meds arrive every month with no check ups etc.

Wyllow3, we had yearly MOTs as well (once over 60) but I've not had any appointments for three years - just have to send in my bp readings. I'm glad I refused the statins when suggested 'as a precaution'! I believe they lowered the safe total cholesterol level - and I was then slightly over. I suppose the checks weren't really necessary, just 'a precaution' too. My bp was always high - until the day I took a cab there, instead of rushing up the hill from the station. 'I can't believe it's normal!' said the doctor.

Never had a yearly MOT - wouldn't know my GP if I bumped into her in the street as I have never seen her. Face to face appointments are rarer than hens' teeth - you have to have a telephone "consultation" first, which entails a 3 week wait. IF one of the GPs agrees to see you - that is a further 2 week wait at least. (saying you have been in pain for several weeks is treated as a "routine" telephone appointment!)

We have an annual ‘MOT’ with a Practice Nurse, any problems and she will refer you to a GP, or she can prescribe for you if it’s some problem that you already have.

When I went to the Surgery for my appointment it was eerily empty, just me and one other and I heard the Receptionist tell a telephone caller that most of the GPS are now Part time or working from home. There were plenty of Nurses around though.

And don’t ever put anything negative on their FB page or you will be ‘removed from our Patient lists’.

We see our GPS face to face but we have to pay. Usually around $50 a visit which I think is appalling. We get about $30 back from the $80 dollars up front cost. It means you wait to see if things improve before you go , wastes valuable time.

Just got latest batch of drugs and my calcium and Vit D tablet has changed resulting in a reduction in the amount of calcium that I am getting. Rang surgery - all patients on this have been changed to the new one. Not negotiable. How is it that I suddenly need less, whilst on treatment for osteoporosis?

I feel as though no thought has gone into individual patient need.

We seem to be able to get nurse appointments (health checks, ECGs, blood tests, vaccines etc) OK, but I had to insist on a face to face GP appointment for our disabled son after waiting months for the practice to 'get back to us' for a deteriorating condition (several letters and phone calls from me). Oddly when I went in yet again, prepared to be insistent- the receptionist gave him an appointment without quibble- at last! Things might be looking up?
We live near a small market town, -semi urban area.

I believe statins are the biggest con ever perpetrated by drug companies. When a heart consultant tells you to stay off them you know something is wrong.

My mother died in her sleep age 69 some years ago . an autopsy was performed as she was not ill... it was found she had arterial sclerosis... and left ventricular heart clot.

I take simvastatin 20mg and feel if my mother had the chance to be tested and take them she would have had many more years

Totally agree MerylStreep not the first time I’ve heard this either! And so bad Sago glad this has been sorted out for you and about time too

lemsip

My mother died in her sleep age 69 some years ago . an autopsy was performed as she was not ill... it was found she had arterial sclerosis... and left ventricular heart clot.

I take simvastatin 20mg and feel if my mother had the chance to be tested and take them she would have had many more years

Exactly- it depends so much on your family history, not just your cholesterol levels. And you BP and familial risk of heart attack or stroke.

MerylStreep, do you really think all doctors are crooks, and are 'bought' by Big Pharma? I know several of them who have chosen to take Statins due to family history, because the prospect of having a severe stroke is not very appealing?