In despair with GP practice .....

[LUCKYGIRL3} feel your weariness and your frustration.. I also have genetic hyper cholesterolaemia for which I now take a statin - often thought how does this tiny 5mg tablet make me less vulnerable to another stroke as have also had an episode of tachycardia last year and ended up in A&E where I was seen and treated quickly…it’s dire when you feel at your lowest physically which affects you emotionally

{URMSTONGRAN} your post resonated with me and sure other GNs have had terrible ordeals .. I also now move slowly and carefully with every movement..limit myself to going out every other day unless its for medical/blow dry appts

This is an appalling situation for you, Lucky! Is there any way you could manage to go to the surgery and insist on speaking to the pharmacist and refuse to budge until you can? I know this sounds horrendous itself but it's as if you're banging your head against a brick wall already.

Ideally, having someone go with you would help. And taking a packed lunch.

A formal complaint, as others have suggested, also seems necessary. The ridiculous bureaucracy is making a bad situation worse.

Yes. A letter to the practice manager is needed outlining exactly what has happened and asking for an explanation.

I know you live in a rural area but if you drive I would ask your friends and maybe Nextdoor for recommendations for a more amenable, flexible GP practice. Even if it means getting taxis it would be worth it for your peace of mind.. Can you get to your nearest town for example or would that be out of area? I would doubt that your own Practise is going to change from what you've written..

The whole situation is utterly atrocious and very wrong. I do not need to see a GP (might be wasting their valuable time!) but need referrals to specialists in the local hospital.

Moved from Sussex to Norfolk in April. All notes from previous GP sent in a timely fashion to new GP. Never read. Yet they sign off my repeat prescription requests without wondering why this patient is taking that med! Are they professionals or not?

I had a heart attack and a stent as well. Have asked the surgery four times for a referral to cardiology at N & N. Nothing. Wrote to the practice manager stating that CQC would be my next move. He rang the same day! And had the audacity to wonder why I was cross. He hadn't read anything I had written. IQ of a park bench, frankly. And I enclosed a letter from cardiology in Sussex following their telephone consult two weeks ago.

How time-consuming can it possibly be to email the local hospital? This is my life that these people are dismissing/playing with.

Oh, I was also told that noone now has an allocated GP. You can have anyone or a locum. That will work well, then. Joined up care.

pascal30

I know you live in a rural area but if you drive I would ask your friends and maybe Nextdoor for recommendations for a more amenable, flexible GP practice. Even if it means getting taxis it would be worth it for your peace of mind.. Can you get to your nearest town for example or would that be out of area? I would doubt that your own Practise is going to change from what you've written..

But you can only register with a practice if you’re within the area of it? If you are outside the area a GP is not obliged to visit you if necessary. Mind you, I am going back a few years to a time when GP’s did visit patients.

Yes MayBee I agree... which is why I asked if the nearest town, which would hopefully have a choice of GP practises, would be out of area.. It's difficult isn't it?

So very sympathetic Luckygirl for your present situation. My late DH and I went through very similar circs. The sad truth is that if you're really ill nowadays you need someone healthy to be able to fight your corner and that is not always possible. I have just checked online with my surgery and the first available appt is in 4 weeks time and that is with one of the trainee GP's that are often working there for short periods. After a disastrous previous experience with a couple of these I would have to be paid to see another.
In spite of not being able to see a doc I have recently been invited for my annual asthma review with a nurse and also yesterday had my first ever health review again with a nurse. I understand surgeries get paid an extra £24 for each of these extra checks!!!

It is very difficult reading of all the problems GNs are receiving (or not) I am thankful that we have a brilliant health service in my area. I am looking to move house but am looking carefully at the health care provisions where I want to move to as my first priority..

Sorry so many of you are having such problems, I can't fault our surgery here in Wales or the pharmacy, recently our lovely pharmacist was concerned about my husband taking folic acid 6 days a week, she talked to his doctor who checked with the consultant and it's fine (because he's on methotrexate he needs it) and then phoned to let him know, all without being asked. I think we are just lucky

It makes you wonder how many people "fall through the net".

I feel your pain! We cannot make appt. to see a GP! They will phone you and if 'clinician' thinks you need to see a GP they will phone back. It's a complete disgrace. I too have a heart condition so I totally understand. Have you contacted your local councillor/MP? I would. Good luck

Where i live in South Wales we have a very good health centre. If you ring on the day you can usually see a GP. And one of our lady doctor's does a well woman clinic once a week, you can spend up to half an hour with her. All the GP's are very approachable and friendly. Something needs to be done about GP practises that are not offering the service they should. Any concerns you could contact your local health authority, and even your MP.

I know it won't help with your immediate personal issue, but has anybody ever reported any of these problems to these people:

www.healthwatch.co.uk/

I know they have just produced a report about the dangers of online-only "consultations".

It seems to me that the modern method of "triaging" is very hit and miss and I can't really see that it saves anybody anybody any time because patients end up having to explain the same problems multiple times - surely more clinical time is taken up listening to these problems over and over again.

My other big concern is the lack of continuity of care. In some ways I'm lucky because I have a diabetic nurse, who is very conscientious and does refer me directly to doctors if needed. However, I have the same problems as everybody else if I want to see anybody about anything not related to diabetes.

PS. I'm considering sending a report to Healthwatch and will see whether there's any response.

I’d start with an email stating all your concerns to surgery’s Practice Manager, that way you have a record of what’s what rather than phone calls where advice and instructions can later be denied. If no luck with this you need to go higher and copy in the surgery , again via email so you always have a record.

I was removed from a GP practice in Ipswich that I live close to after decades on their books. A few days after I refused a covid vaccination second vaccination,in fact I never has a first. Explaining the situation to alternative practices I eventualy found a GP practice that accepted me.
I wonder how many GP practises are receiving annual payments for people who have left the country? My second wife years ago visited the GP and the doctor referred to the number of children she had,she did not have any,clearly looking at my first wife records even though they were promptly advised first wife had returned to Canada

I'm in a rural area too and our local surgery is beyond incompetent, I'm really sorry to hear all you're going through.

I feel as if our GP surgery totally lost the plot during Covid. It was all tele-appointments and phone consultations. I find these very unsatisfactory, as I usually miss out something that might be important. Then, to cap it all, the best GP in the practice had to take leave because of family illness, and announced he was leaving when he came back. The phone was clearly being ignored by reception staff, at one point I started off as ‘fifteenth in the queue’ and just hung up! A new GP ‘practice director’ has no been appointed, and it does feel as if she cares what sort of service patients are getting. She has appointed various para-medical staff who can issue prescriptions if needed.

I absolutely hate the online prescription system, I’m on so many different meds for diabetes and arthritis pain that the house looks like the back room at a pharmacy when my orders arrive! At one point, I ran out of a drug that I shouldn’t miss taking. I contacted NHS 111 online, who were able to provide an emergency prescription which O had to collect at the nearest Boot’s. After a lot of hanging around, they were able to dispense a week’s supply to tide me over.

My sympathies to everyone who’s caught up in GP difficulties - it’s obvious the system has broken down under too much pressure during Covid. Apparently there’s a large queue of people who are fed up of being put in a queue to speak to a human being!

The trouble is, when a person is at a really low ebb, feeling very unwell, and has no support, it all seems insurmountable.

I had an appointment at my GPS where I saidc"Look, cancel all my appointments and I'll just phone for an ambulance when I'm dying, because that is what's happening, I'M DYING, and nobody is helping me!!!"

So the gp prescribed antidepressants!!

I feel for you Luckygirl3, my husband has heart failure and takes a lot of medication but we are fortunate that he is properly monitored by our GP practice. I was concerned that when we moved he might not be monited so well by a new practice, but he was put under the care of the cardiac department at our new local hospital. He regularly saw a cardiac nurse who monitored him along with our new GP. The practice has several very competent practice nurses and employs good locums to provide enough appointments.
There are several practices sharing the facilities in the GP surgery building and it is quite noticeable that there are always queues of discontented people at the desks other than ours. One of the other practices has been declared to be inadequate and we know that patients there are very unhappy.
I really don't understand why practices (who presumably are receiving much the same money per patient) can operate at such different levels.
If I were you I would push to be put under the care of a the hospital, I would expect that there is a part of the department with a senior nurse who can keep track of you. I think that there are also often cardiac nurses who work in the community, this was certainly true where we previously lived and she kept track of my husband for the first few months until they were happy that we were managing his medication properly.
The suggestion that you speak to the practice pharmacist seems to be a good one. Most of the drugs that my husband takes for a condition that sounds very like yours are in common use and I've always understood that if you have a regular prescription they can anticipate you needing the drugs.
I would also consider changing practices if this is at all possible. We chose our practice after asking our local pharmacist which local GPs he would recommend.

I am also lucky to have a really lovely GP practise with a named GP who I can see with an appointment made. the receptionists, nurses and on-site pharmacist are also helpful and friendly.. It seems that if staff have a good well run practice that they stay..
I am horrified at the majority of Grans seem to be having such poor and negligent experiences.. This thread really is an eye-opener...

I would definately ring 111 and they will contact the GP or Paramedics . Our family has used this route to care several times.

It makes me so angry when I hear of surgeries that treat their patients so poorly. In a recent survey of surgeries in Essex my local surgery received 99% customer satisfaction. It is a very busy surgery with thousands of patients so if this surgry can do it why can't others.

Casdon

Unfortunately if it’s a poor practice the likelihood is that the practice manager is part of the problem. I suggested a formal complaint because I think you’ve had really shocking care Luckygirl, despite being proactive, and going formal is the best way of ensuring you are heard and action is taken.

This was certainly true at our last practice. The practice manager had no previous experience and, as he was also responsible for all the online services, he was a total disaster. He used to allocate password for their website but not save them, so most people had to visit the surgery to order prescriptions rather than do it online. This led to long queues and people missing appointments because they could not sign in for their appointments. Eventually he was removed from his post to somewhere where he could do less harm.
Being a practice manager can be a very stressful job and, dare I say it, many are defensive when they receive complaints are or asked for help.