Health hubs

It is so difficult to get a gp appointment that I believe they have a 'GP' hub at our hospital now. I have seen the gp sign in the hospital.

Just another stage to add to the stumbling blocks to actually see a GP.

We have the same happening where I live, and I can walk to it😊
This is what we should have been doing for years. How many of us have been in a Drs surgery and you just know he/she just doesn’t know what you’re talking about.
This isn’t a dig a Drs. Not one of them can be an expert in all medical fields.
Only this week the nurse who gave me my B12 injection advised me to see a certain Dr because in her words he’s the one who knows all about that
This is why receptionists ask you what the problem is, so they can direct you to the appropriate Dr.

Our health centre has been using this system since Covid emerged. It’s a rare occurrence to actually see one of our doctors everything is telephone consultation only. An appointment for telephone consultation can be a three week wait.
The local walk in centre is overwhelmed with referrals from our doctors. Patients are referred back to the doctors as they don’t deal with particular health issues.
I have an ongoing health issue and have been for tests X-rays scans not once have I seen an actual doctor. I am not alone it’s a common problem people feel as if they are going around in circles.
It’s no wonder A&E departments are overwhelmed people are panicking they just want to see a doctor. There was nothing wrong with the system as it was there is no shortage of doctors at our practice.

There is more to being a doctor than having technical expertise. A good half of being a doctor is your understanding of psychology and how to read and understand your patients. What used to be known as having a 'bedside manner'.

My FiL's Parkinson's disease was diagnosed because his doctor knew him and kept on insisting on checking his medications each month, until FFiL finally broke down and told the GP all his problems and fears.

Patients have died because doctors did not have this skill. I get on very well with one of our GPs and, if I see a doctor, want to see her. She knows me well enough to listen to what I say as well as examine my symptoms.

I have had medical problems this year exacerbated by a doctor who saw me merely as a collection of symptoms needed to confirm her diagnosis.

This is a reworking of the old polyclinic model a version of which in the USA I was despatched with team to observe during the 90s. We recommended it to our authority but the GPs were unwilling to participate.

It must be the way forward but I miss the gp who knew me and my history, knew dh, the children. There was a sort of shorthand there and nuances that could be missed by a doctor just skim reading the notes at an appointment.

There is more to being a doctor than having technical expertise. A good half of being a doctor is your understanding of psychology and how to read and understand your patients. What used to be known as having a 'bedside manner'.

This week I had a two consecutive appointments, routine bloods and COPD review, which progressed in to a much needed and unexpected heart review.
At the conclusion of it, I was advised by the nurse practitioner, that a GP would see me right after it and I was not to leave the surgery, without seeing him.

I cannot fault the care I had and the GP took time to listen to all my concerns without rushing me, examine me and bluntly , rather matter of factly advise me of what was happening. Rather than a ten minute, rushed appointment, I was in the surgery for over 90 minutes.
At the end I was given an A4 sheet of paper, asking me to rate my experience. I could only rate excellent for every question, for the experience was indeed excellent and pre-empted ( I hope) a hospital admission, when I did not realise how unwell I am.

This is exactly the opposite of my treatment during Covid. I was shielding and I had no contact at all with my GP surgery the whole time, despite having been in hospital with a heart attack and having multiple comorbidities. No-one bothered to check up on me.

This one stop shop model has certainly worked for me, I am actually very surprised at my experience, for I had lost faith in my GP.

But there’s also an opposite of that Kittylester a new doctor may see something a doctor who is used to you is missing, fresh eyes and all that
Personally I think it’s a very good idea Triage is a must, how many appointments are using doctors time when they could easily be seen by a nurse or other heath worker
Unfortunately our ‘cottage’ hospital ( which was originally a general ) is still standing rotting after it was sold on to a private buyer about 10 years ago however my doctors which is a large surgery has a good triage system with nurses, paramedics and health care assistants as well as about 10/12 doctors

This happened to me a few months ago, I had been back and forward to the surgery, but was not getting any better. I saw a trainee GP, who took the bull by the horns and phoned (while I was sitting there) the professor, whose research I was taking part in. Two days later I was admitted to hospital. It just needed a fresh pair of eyes.
She achieved in ten minutes, what no-one had managed to do in a year.

Refreshing and glad for you marydoll.

I like the idea. I have long felt that the NHS has suffered because of the 'shared care' system where GPs almost immediately refer patients to hospital departments and specialist consultants who don't have a real overview of their overall health.

I have been seeing a respiratory specialist for over 3 years now. He has, of course, been concentrating on my heart and lungs, but I now believe that there is a definite possibility that my problem is haematological. I asked my GP for a full blood count, which confirms my suspicions, and luckily my GP is willing to go along with my suggestions on a 'can't do any harm' basis - I am supplementing with various vitamins and we will see what happens.

I have everything crossed that I am right and that the diagnosis I am waiting for from the pulmonary chap is not the one he suspects, based purely on a process of elimination after numerous expensive and worrying tests have shown up nothing (I find out in a couple of weeks). At the same time I am fuming that I have lost 3.5 years to severe breathlessness which could potentially have been cured very simply if I'd had a targeted blood count done at the start (the usual FBC doesn't include the factors my own research suggest I am lacking).

I have gained weight, am deconditioned and have been taking potentially unnecessary drugs all this time when I should have been enjoying my early retirement. Obviously I have also got 3.5 years older, which will make it more difficult to get back to the relatively fit and much slimmer person I was at the start of this process.

If health hubs can prevent this sort of thing they get my vote.

As a health care Professional I agree with this concept.
In my speciality Cardiology we have done "one stop clinic" for about 15 years this is a following step, in GP land.

If it doesn't work, don't worry it will be binned.
We have tried may way believe me of increasing patient flow and lots of walk through processes.
Any significant snags it will get dropped.

GP's hopefully will be able to see patients with bloods etc done, once they have been Triage to the correct GP specialist.

I worked in a system similar to this 15 years ago, towards the end of my career. The deprived estate where I worked lost its last GP and the rest of the doctors in the large town were over-worked.
So a small team of nurse practitioners ran a triaging system. I thought it excellent. We had direct referral to hospital for urgent cases, a GP 3 afternoons / evenings a week. Direct referral to physios, dieticians etc. and for some diagnostic tests. We were all nurse prescribers, and during that time, became independent nurse prescribers (I actually did the first 'independent' course).
We had the time & space to look at patients holistically, and we knew the area well. When I left to work at CAMH, we had a 'quick referral' system to offer parents support whilst waiting for a full referral.

This is a fairly common system in many countries, especially in remote or difficult areas. I welcome it, as long as it is funded & supported properly (but wouldn't hold my breath!)

What bothers me, is that systems are set up that are admirable, but fairly soon afterwards corners begin to be cut systems begin to fall apart.

I have osteoporosis, it was flagged up a year ago after a scan for something else. I have been further scanned and it has been confirmed. I was told I would be put on medication, but none has happened, My GP, in a phone call, said it was the hospitals responsibility.

I had an appointment to see the specialist, it was turned into a brief telephone call. Four months later, with no medication or contact from the hospital I flagged up my concern. I was offered an appointment with a doctor, that too has been cancelled and replaced by a phone call in late August.

With the junior doctor's strike. I expect that will be delayed further.

These new systems have meant that in the 18 months since it was noticed that I have a serious bone condition, I have not seen a single doctor, nor been assessed for any medication.

I am left wondering why they ever bothered to flag the problem up when no one is interested in doing anything about it.

I might add I am not alone. I have a friend in a similar position with a different medical problem. We are palmed off with phone calls with vague concerns, but no one can be bothered to see us when they can just give you a quick call and then move on.

I feel the same way, M0nica. A 5 minute call every three months with hospital tests in between is unlikely to get to the root of a problem. Often the tests I had were completely out of synch with the telephone calls, too, so by the time I spoke to someone things could easily have changed.