Bonkers new rule at our GP surgery

Email the practice manager and copy in your MP ….that’s totally ridiculous…..at my son’s surgery they won’t let you book in person, you have to phone…so when he tried to book they made him call even though he was in the actual surgery as he made the call and it was the receptionist on the desk who answered and booked!

I've actually been able to get an appointment throughout covid up until now.

It's the admin side of things I have had problems with, but of course, not the gps fault at all, I'd imagine.

I can understand that they are over subscribed and need to triage appointments and lots can be sorted over the phone , but sending a letter seems a bit crazy. Do people post them? What happens to the letter once they receive it ? What happens in a postal strike ? I’d have thought a telephone request to be looked at by the surgery so they can triage it to the right person would do the trick . Are other patients struggling ? Chat to the patient liaison at your CCG ( called something else now )

I used to work often the same kind of hours, actually, on minimum wage.

I don't expect that to be accounted for, however, but I do object to being somehow "entitled" for a perfectly valid request for an appointment, if necessary, with a gp.

Also Candelle please don’t insult our intelligence with claims of poverty regarding GP salaries.They earn plenty.

Candelle does your GP family member who works 14 hours a day actually see many patients in a day?
Because most GP’s seem to prefer running a phone call system and not face to face.
Some people haven’t seen their own GP in a few years.Others struggle to even get a phone appointment.
They aren’t all working 14 hour days or even seven hour days.

So what exactly is the problem with discussing it sensibly, since everyone is coming from the same basic start point.

A gp wants their patients to be listened to, helped to manage problems, and have access to appropriate assessments and treatments.

That is exactly the same as patients want.

Oh dear, this seems ridiculous!
I had cause to phone our surgery for an emergency appointment last week. I was expecting to be told someone would ring me sometime during the day & then I might just possibly get to see someone as well. I was quite shocked when the receptionist asked if I could come & see someone at 10am. The car park was very busy & it was obvious that things had returned to the previous pandemic norm, with drs coming into the full waiting room to collect their patients.

If some posters think that Maddyone has been a little brusque, it is no surprise. She has lost her daughter and grandchildren to the other side of the world purely because they were almost burned out working here.

Maddyone is absolutely right in her assertions that there are just not enough doctors and that most do not want to enter the GP profession as they see the pressures that those staff work under.

I will put my hand up to one of my children being a GP. She works regular fourteen hours a day. She barely saw her children during the tough two years of Covid. Just take a few seconds to understand what that must have been like for her - and them.

My daughter now works a four day week (totalling 56 hours) but... works much of her 'day off' when at home, too. When with her at a weekend, her mobile is often ringing with calls from psychiatry hospital departments. Or, I look at her and she will be texting - work related.

I have not mentioned the extra time necessary to run her practice, the two-day weekend planning meetings or the sessions inoculating patients with Covid or 'flu jabs.

Many of the tasks previously undertaken at a local 'cottage' type hospital were sourced to GP's but of course, there were no further hours in the day that could be fitted in. You require, for example, minor surgery? Yup, the GP has to do that too as the cottage hospitals have probably all been sold off.

The population has grown, so list sizes have increased.

Treatments are more complicated now and rightly so, but there are not enough staff to administer them.

Patients and shout away if you must - are more 'entitled' than previously. I am not suggesting a return to the deference previously shown to the medical professional but the 'I know my rights' brigade insisting, for example, that paracetamol should be prescribed instead of having to purchase them, are rife or some of her patients (having thoroughly researched their condition) insist that they be referred to x, y or z when in fact, they are incorrect. All time taken from a patient who does need help.

The NHS is creaking at the seams and it pains me to admit this. It has been run down and we believe there is a hidden agenda to bring in the American system of buying an insurance policy to cover health care. If anyone has even a rudimentary idea of how this works, be very afraid.

Finally, if my daughter was to calculate her hourly rate it would be less than the minimum wage so please please, do not believe all the waffle in the press about how much doctors are paid.

Most GPs work as they love their patients, want to help society and make a difference but goodwill has run the NHS for several years now (in most areas, not just GPs) and it is paper thin and will tear very soon. Be prepared as there is no quick fix. We shouldn't steal staff from deprived countries, we have not the number of trainee GP's coming through and money itself is not now the panacea. There is no easy solution and we are in for a few rough years.

If you aren't within walking distance to hand in a letter and have to use postal service patients will have to wait for days before getting a phone call. Absolutely ridiculous.

Candelle

'Freyja
I don't know what the real problem with the GPs is but as we are paying these doctors £85000,00
to do the job so they should do it. Yes, they can complain and make excuses but at the end of the day they are suppose to be professionals. I haven't seen my allocated GP for 6 years. I thought she had left. I think I am entitled to have a moan, as a pensioner, I have paid my stamp all my working life and have never been ill. I am now paying twice, and have to spend the 'cost of living allowance' to get medical attention I am entitled too.
So have to cut back on the heating.'

Gosh, Freyja. Could you please tell my family where to apply for these £850,000 posts. They'll probably be stampeded in the rush.

I think you have been misinformed.

I’ve been sent letters and text reminders for reviews for various conditions. I phoned for an appointment yesterday morning only to be told that they no longer book routine appointments nor appointments in advance. Oh and there’re no appointments available today l. 🤣

An example of odd GP surgery rules. Neighbour had a face to face appointment with GP. All clear and GP said make another appt for 3 months on your way out. Neighbour goes to reception and is told "we don't make appts here anymore because we minimise traffic in reception" (at the time there was nobody else waiting). "You have to phone for appt when you get home". Neighbour reluctantly agreed, dreading long phone waits on hold. Decided instead to phone on mobile from surgery car park on way out. Got through immediately!

HousePlantQueen

Update: DH has just come back from his little walk to the surgery, he went in to hand over letter and was asked ' Would you like an appointment?'. This despite several posts on our local FB page telling people that they must not drop in to the surgery to make an appointment. It seems that having a letter in one's hand is not construed as a personal visit. Sounds as if the staff training is going well........

We are supposed to phone for routine appointments and results, but there's usually a queue at the reception of people who can't get through or whose call gets lost in the phone system.

maddyone

Our surgery always responds to contact on line, and although it’s difficult to get through in the morning, it’s usually okay in the afternoon. Whenever I have needed to see/speak to my GP, I have managed to do so. I can make an appointment for a phone consultation usually a week or so later. If it’s urgent, the GP will see you, as happened when I had a kidney infection.

Oreo I may well be overly defensive but I don’t understand why it’s too difficult for the population to understand that over the course of the pandemic we lost 2000 GPs. We also have an increasing population. Fewer GPs are being trained because it’s a very stressful job and doctors don’t want to go into it. We can’t force people to choose that speciality over others. We have too few GPs, it’s that simple. We cannot attract doctors into that particular speciality. Given the constant complaints, I’m not really surprised.
It would be pointless to write to your MP because the government are trying to attract more people to train as GPs but they just don’t want to. Have you ever wondered why?

The government puts a cap on the number of medical school places.

I have had terrible trouble with our surgery. It started a year ago when I had a fall . Unfortunately for me I could not get an appointment to see the doctor or nurse for the same reasons as discussed. 3 weeks later in desperation I went to A&E to be told my elbow as broken. Over the coming year I have had various problems associated with the fall and still I have not seen or spoken to a doctor.
The last straw came when a month ago I had an ear infection, same problem, so cut out the middle GP and went to A&E then spent 4 days on a drip. Still no contact with my surgery.
Two weeks ago I tried phoning etc, even tried econsult because of very high BP. After one week the doctor phone whilst I was dealing with another call. Contacted the surgery to rearrange, and to date have had no phone call from the doctor.
As my BP was very high I went to a private doctor, was seen straight away, given blood test etc and had a complete check up. just like on the old days.

I don't know what the real problem with the GPs is but as we are paying these doctors £85000,00 to do the job so they should do it. Yes, they can complain and make excuses but at the end of the day they are suppose to be professionals. I haven't seen my allocated GP for 6 years. I thought she had left. I think I am entitled to have a moan, as a pensioner, I have paid my stamp all my working life and have never been ill. I am now paying twice, and have to spend the 'cost of living allowance' to get medical attention I am entitled too.
So have to cut back on the heating.

Sorry to hear about the doctors receptionist not being very helpful. That is rediculous, I am very,very lucky - My doctor visits me at home regularly at least once a month. I am 84 years old, with several health problems.

Just for balance I would like to say that my local GP surgery in Sussex has had face to face doctor appointments throughout. Appointments were made by ‘phone and when waiting for the appointment had to wait outside until called instead of being in the waiting room.
In the last couple of weeks we have now returned to being able to make appointments online usually to be seen within two days. Seems as if my surgery is now running totally pre Pandemic and I know we are very lucky.
I have also had two oral knee replacements on n.h.s. In the past year and various scans, very, very lucky and extremely grateful.

We are still buzzing through 2 doors if you get an appointment as we have an hour to phone in the morning and sometimes the slots are away in half an hour. We then wait for a phone call from a doctor all day just to get triaged by them before they decide if they want to see you or sometimes you have to send a photo of the problem.
I've to get my Covid booster and flu jab next Sat morn. It's for all 50-59 year olds in our large town and we have to queue outside, no appointments given and it's just for 2 hours. If it's pouring down dear help us all. The other doctors set up an appointment system in an unused shop in town for their patients. Our doctors don't seem to think things through at all. My friends 87 year old mum stood in a queue for over an hour 4 weeks ago, no seats for them, nothing.

Just recently DH used our blood pressure monitor because he was feeling a bit dizzy and we noticed that his pulse rate was very low. To cut a long story short he has now been advised to stop taking bp medication and pulse rate is returning to a more normal level. We have an oxymeter (got during lockdown) and at one stage his pulse was 41 - he is not an athlete BTW! What worries me is that if we hadn’t done the bp check he might still be walking round with a dangerously low pulse rate. The moral of the story at the moment is, I think, that we all need to be extra aware of anything slightly out of the ordinary health wise. He was one of the people ‘jumping the queue’ as someone put it, standing at surgery reception and insisting he needed to see someone. Mentioning dizziness seemed to press the right button.

My surgery has the 'AskmyGP' system. If I have a problem I email. Have choice of type of reply...email, phone etc. Usually have call within an hour. If needed face to face appointment next day...once was within an hour. The system is amazing. Surgery is in a small town and covers outlying villages.

I popped in to see receptionist at our surgery to ask for the results of my recent blood test …..” I can’t tell you that face to face , you’ll have to phone in “…… so I took my mobile out of pocket and went outside the door and phoned and asked for results., she told me “ no action needed” I said thanks, and waved to her from the door! Is the world of doctors really gone that bonkers!

There are plenty of good reasons to complain about Brexit but inefficient GP behaviour isn't one of them!

Receptionists haven't been called receptionists at my practice for some time. I've forgotten what their job title is - triage facilitators (or something).

What appears to have happened now is that the triage system has been outsourced because the telephones couldn't cope. The expectation is that it will be mainly online, so I have no idea where the people reading the online forms will be situated ... it could be Timbuctoo for all I know.

At the moment, there are usually three receptionists sitting at the desk. I'm sure they do other tasks other than answer phones and triage people, but I'm not sure what. There's a team of practice managers and admin people in another room. From the message we all received, it looks as though they're keeping one receptionist, but I don't know what's happening to the others. Maybe they'll be assigned other duties.

The whole practice is being reorganised - hopefully for the better, but time will tell. I've read the NHS's documents about forward planning and it looks as though my practice is following the guidelines.