Contacting the doctor

We have resorted to writing to our GP about my DM who is 102. The only way to get a response I have found. The econsult forms are available at 8.00am and are limited in number.

Dickens

growstuff

The triaging service my practice uses is directed some remote call centre somewhere. So it's not even staff in the practice who decide if you get seen

That call centre could - in theory - be anywhere in the world... anywhere where it is cheaper to employ people and train them to read from a crib sheet...

Or some kind of voice recognition software!

Meanwhile, if you have a spare few hundred pounds, you can go and see the GPs who have set up a private practice, who until a couple of years ago, worked in the NHS.

growstuff

The triaging service my practice uses is directed some remote call centre somewhere. So it's not even staff in the practice who decide if you get seen

That call centre could - in theory - be anywhere in the world... anywhere where it is cheaper to employ people and train them to read from a crib sheet...

Our GP practice in central London hassle us to visit the surgery a lot. Texting us non stop to visit the surgery but, never see a doctor. Always junior staff for blood tests and vaccines. They phone or text every day for us to have a flu jab. I had a flu jab at the local chemist as it’s just up the road, unlike the surgery which is a long journey.

The triaging service my practice uses is directed some remote call centre somewhere. So it's not even staff in the practice who decide if you get seen

growstuff

Spot on Dickens. It's precisely what the government wants. It's even in their forward planning document.

Matt Hancock - July 2020

Unless there is a ‘compelling clinical reason’ to see a patient face to face, all GP consultations should be carried out remotely going forward, health secretary Matt Hancock has said.

Of course - he and his ilk will be able see a GP F2F as he has the funds, whether the reason is "compelling" or not.

I am under the care of the John Radcliffe in Oxford. They have been treating me for over 2 years now via telephone appointments - at my request, it is too far to travel. However, they have demanded that I now have a physical appointment.

I asked them why it was necessary as they had all the blood test results and reports via an agency that delivers intravenous nutrition in my home environment - all good results, all good reports.

The doctor I spoke with said, and I quote (because I always type-up - I'm a touch typist - the conversation whilst it's in progress)... "we need to see you because there's a lot we can tell just by looking at you - your colour, your eyes, your movements, your responses, they all tell us things we can't detect over the 'phone"

And we all know that's true. And it's always been true. But Hancock knew better. It's all part of the Tory agenda to ultimately privatise health care, stealthily... the boiling-frog syndrome, we are being 'acclimatised'.

Spot on Dickens. It's precisely what the government wants. It's even in their forward planning document.

And a couple of questions about preferred doctor and when you're not available

To be fair, the sytem my surgery uses doesn't have loads of questions.

There's a box for your symptomes, then a couple of questions. The first is "What are you worried about?" and the second "What action do you want from us?"

I've discovered how the waiting lists for surgery are manipulated.

When you phone to find out how many more years you'll have to wait for surgery, you're told you're not on the list, they forgot to add you.
🙂

Callistemon21

^It really shouldn't be so hard to get care when it's needed^.
I agree.

So do I.

And the postcode lottery is ridiculous.

I know surgeries are free to run their outfits as they want or as best suits the needs locally, but there should be a mandatory requirement for all practices to allow patients to see a doctor - or at least have a telephone appointment - outside of this blasted "call on the day" system.

And don't get me started on that online e-consult... pages of questions - often asking the same question. Fortunately my surgery does allow you to complete a simplified version online where you just answer a couple of specific questions but can then free-type your concern... but it is specifically for those with non-urgent symptoms. How long they will allow this is anyone's guess. There are many pensioners where I live and they cannot get to grips with the e-consult - so the receptionists have to complete the forms for them over the 'phone. I know the forms are designed for easy triage... but if the ambulance service system can categorise on a few simple questions - surely these forms can be more user friendly? Just a few simple, specific questions, then allow the patient to describe their ailment. And why can't the system operate outside of surgery hours?

I think we are being weaned of GP consultations - especially F2F appointments. In the end there will simply be a system like the 111 where everyone has to either fill in a form or describe their symptoms to a call handler, and will then be directed to a pharmacy, get a call-back from a doctor, or be told to go to A&E. That will be what is known as 'primary care'.

Forsythia

Is it possible for you to change your practice?

We worry that if we changed at the moment Mr A might end up having even more problems with the changeover and things would get delayed again.

It really shouldn't be so hard to get care when it's needed.
I agree.

Gagajo, My immediate thought was shingles, the symptoms seem to fit with the tingling etc.

However, as someone mentioned hand foot and mouth disease is around now, it made me wonder if your DGS had been unwell, even mildly, and it could be that?

growstuff

Eeeek! That sounds horrible. You shouldn't have had to go to all those people. Have you discovered anything more about your bumps/rash? I'm amazed they didn't swab it because they would have been able to target the antibiotics better.

I'm OK now, thank you!

They think it was shingles. But the main issue was a big infection. It has a huge necrotic black scab on it now. But at least the infection has gone.

It was the inability to access care that was the most worrying thing. I'm proactive (learned the necessity when I had cancer), but not everyone is as persistent or as flexible (I'm self employed, can drive, IT literature). It really shouldn't be so hard to get care when it's needed.

Ours did. Before this system, it was only really possible to get same day appointments on the phone. There was another triage system (which was clunkier than this one), which I always used to make appointments because I haven't needed an urgent appointment since my children left home.

I don't mind seeing a nurse, if it's appropriate, and telephone appointments can be OK. There was no point ringing up for blood tests and diabetic reviews because they weren't emergencies, so I went online to book. Thankfully, I can now get my blood test results online, so I wait for them to come back and if they're OK, I don't bother making an appointment for a diabetic review. After a while, I get a stroppy phone call about not making an appointment for a review, so I get them to make an appointment then.

It was common for people to be told by 8.30 that there were no more appointments of any kind and to ring back next day ... and the day after that ... and ...

Ours didn't work like that. It still doesn't if you can eventually get through.

Urgent face to face appointments are given for that day or the next - the receptionists have been trained (well, most have!) to ask you certain questions to assess if you need to be seen or a telephone appointment will suffice or if you could see a nurse.
Non-urgent appointments can be made for about 4-6 weeks ahead.

Elusivebutterfly The idea in my practice is that people don't get through on the phone. The practice wants all patients to come through the triage system and actively discourages phone calls. The system is switched off for most of the day and patients are told to phone 111 or 999 for emergencies.

TBH I don't think it's any worse. It was common for people to be told by 8.30 that there were no more appointments of any kind and to ring back next day ... and the day after that ... and ...

My surgery does not have a triage system but does have an online consult system for non urgent issues. This is really complicated with lots of pages of similar questions to complete.
The last time I used it for an issue I have had for a couple of years, it told me I needed to see a doctor urgently and would not let me complete the query. I knew it was not urgent and had to book a face to face appointment instead.

Having a receptionist complete a triage form on the phone seems very inefficient as it means even less people can get through on the phone.

Just wait until GPs start the new 9 to 5 schedule they have apparently voted for 😮
This news horrified me.

Is it possible for you to change your practice?

I think I’m really lucky.

You certainly are. We have to wait 5 weeks in between each contact with the doctor, and then it's a telephone call and wait 5 weeks for a follow up visit.

We don't often have to see a doctor (it's been 9 years since my last visit, 12 years since Mr A had to see one) and we live in a reasonably affluent area. It wasn't too bad at first, but Mr A has now been waiting nearly a year after having X rays that showed he has (probably) some sort of arthritis in his hip. He's in quite a lot of pain, can't sleep much and is finding driving more and more difficult (I can't drive because of my eyesight). After 3 months he finally got to see some sort of specialist who reviewed his X-rays and told him he should be referred to a consultant immediately. Sadly our GP doesn't seem to be able to do referrals - apparently their system doesn't communicate with the new hospital system so although they tried it kept failing. No one had the sense to actually ring the hospital and talk to someone, and no one told Mr A what was happening. It was only after we complained to the surgery by email that we finally got a doctor to speak to Mr A (after 5 weeks of course!), explain what was going on, and promise to deal with the referral. 3 months later Mr A has finally spoken to the hospital himself, asking the specialist he saw to deal with the referral (which he has). Mr A is now on the referral list and will be contacted in about 5 months to see the consultant. Maybe.

It’s a lottery, some people can see a doctor, others have as much chance of reaching the moon on a moped of doing so.

Eeeek! That sounds horrible. You shouldn't have had to go to all those people. Have you discovered anything more about your bumps/rash? I'm amazed they didn't swab it because they would have been able to target the antibiotics better.

OH sent an engage consult message this morning at 8 am. His GP rang at 1 pm (OH asks her not to call until the afternoon) and he was offered an appointment this afternoon. He’s there now.