Are GPs as busy as they keep telling us they are?

Our surgery recently adopted a new triage system which is put on the NHS app. The idea is that the receptionists no longer have the responsibility of deciding who will be seeing a doctor. They advertised it for ages sending us texts and emails. They offered to help patients set up the app and showed them how to use it. These help sessions were numerous. The system started at the beginning of October. So far it is easy to use and replies have been prompt. It’s run by an American business called Arcxx (if I’ve got that right). You get a phone call from a doctor but you can be seen if it necessary. Seen one doctor several times last year when I had an ongoing problem.

CariadAgain

missdeke

emmasnan

Both the large waiting rooms in my surgery are almost empty and the few people in there are usually waiting to see a nurse.

I feel its such a waste to be heating and running such a large practice to have it almost empty. They appear to be doing flu jabs but not Covid.

The nurse at our mid sized practice said they were unable to do covid jabs because of the difficulty of storage, especially as different covid jabs are developed for different ages etc.

When you asked what the reason was for them giving different Covid jabs for different ages - what did they say that reason was and what agegroups they split people into?

Certain ages are unsuitable for some types of jabs, certain people have had bad reactions to some makes, it depends how the vaccine is produced apparently.

Catterygirl

Aged about 45 I caught chicken pox from my husband who had shingles. I also got the flu for the first time ever so was quite ill. When I requested a home visit all I can remember was someone laughing. Nobody came.

I was really poorly with chickenpox when I was eight and off school for about a month. I can remember the doctor coming to the house to visit me and looking at my hand to check that it was chickenpox rather than smallpox. This was in 1973.
Fast forward to this summer and my lifelong very bad hay-fever, which has been well controlled for several years with strong prescription only antihistamine tablets, flared up quite badly again. I needed to know whether I could double my dose of antihistamines and use a mild steroid cream on my face, as my eczema was also causing me problems (I have much stronger cream for other areas of my body if I need it). I could hardly keep awake because of the hay-fever. I asked a pharmacist first, but was told I needed to speak to a gp as my medication was on prescription. I rang the surgery and was quite happy with the telephone appointment l was given as it hardly warranted being seen. However, I was not very happy about the fact that the first appointment they could give me was over a week later. When I finally spoke to the gp, she was lovely and very helpful, but the entire appointment lasted less than two minutes. Surely, there could be some other way for simple enquiries like mine; perhaps pharmacists could be given permission to use their professional discretion in cases like mine. I realise that it was hardly a medical emergency, but I was left in considerable discomfort nonetheless

When my grandson was two years old, towards the end of lockdown, he had repeated high temperatures, white spots on his tonsils and was very unhappy. My son was told to take him to the doctors by 111, which he did after making an appointment. He was outside the doctor's door when his phone rang. It was the doctor asking him where he was with 'this child'. My son told him he was outside his door which then opened with a totally masked up GP (fair enough there was a pandemic) who said 'put him on the bed, I don't want to get too close as I don't want to catch anything.!
My grandson had severe tonsilitis, his sixth bout, and was sent away with more antibiotics. How he diagnosed from a distance I'll never know. My son kept quite calm but exited with a rude remark.
Apparently, he'd had quite a few rude remarks and complaints and left the practice a year later.

In our surgery there are 5 doctors, all working part time. I know this because I have a friend who works there. We also have 3 doctors in the wider family who also all work part time. The family doctors are all in their early to late 30's. I live in central Scotland. I have wondered for a while if we have a shortage of GPs or if they are mainly working part time. I believe the part time work is covered by locums as my DH has complained he never sees the same GP whenever he has an appointment.

My surgery doesn't make house calls any more and at the moment they are also working to rule. If you do phone you hear a message about how they won't stand for any inappropriate language to the reception staff followed by another message that says after so many phone calls each day all others will be routed through to an out of hours service for a response. Can't even get a phone appt for around 4 weeks but they are very keen on the annual asthma checks and have started doing 5 yearly health checks - all things they get extra payments for. All the GP's are part time and they always have a few trainee GP's who are there for short periods and it's their names that pop up on the list of face to face appts that can be booked. Goodness knows what the permanent docs do!

I never phone my surgery for an appointment or for test results. I go online to do these things. If you are able to post on this forum surely you can use the NHS app or in our case Airmid.

I think the problem is they spend too much time on paperwork ! Many years ago I was practice manager of a very large 8 doctor (full time !) partners. We employed admin staff to do the majority of the paperwork to leave the doctors time free for seeing patients. Now everything is done on computers they spend most of their time facing a screen instead of patients

I did have a home visit in 2012 which resulted in my being admitted to hospital but since then I thought that GPs no longer make house calls. Tbf, I've no idea if they visit care homes or not. During the pandemic I received telephone consultations and went twice to the surgery for flu injections, although I had to go to a pharmacy for Covid vaccinations.
Over the last couple of years I have phoned twice for an appointment but the receptionist was unable to provide me with even a telephone consultation, just told to phone back at 8am the next day!
Reviews for my asthma have been by telephone with a pharmacist since 2020. A few days ago I was told by text to complete an online questionnaire re asthma review and having done so was told by text to book a telephone consultation. Windows for the phone consults are several hours long and we are told they may be from a withheld number.
I order my few regular medications online and they arrive at the local pharmacist.

My GP surgery does not and never has offered extra services such as phlebotomy.

If I have felt that I needed medical assistance since 2020 I have gone privately. I have had two hip replacements privately in 2021 and 2024 and although letters have gone to my GP surgery regarding these, I have never heard from them.

CariadAgain

Jaxjacky

Ours spend that time on home visits, triaging econsults, discussing caseloads and making phone consultations. They open for covid and flu jabs last week, queues were snaked outside. Our last few visits, four this year between us, the waiting room was busy reflected by the full car park.
We are very happy with our surgery.

Re the "open for....jabs" = what type of staff were doing these? Was it nurses? doctors? some other grade?

A mixture of the doctors and nurse practitioners, no other appointments that day, why?

Cannot wait two weeks for an appt for my ear issue! Going privately on Friday to see an ENT specialist ! My surgery has never been this bad to be fair

Spencer2009

Pre covid our surgery was packed, now you only see a few patients in the water room. Our GPS don’t do home visits anymore. I felt so unwell a few months ago, my gp requested I go down to the surgery to see her - it was as much as I could manage to bath and get dressed to go to see her.

At that point I must admit I'd have stayed exactly as I was - ie unwashed and in my nightdress and dressing gown and called a taxi to take me. Then walked in to see them looking unwashed and in my nightwear (cue for first sentence of "I'm usually more presentable than this - but I felt too ill to have a shower and dress I'm afraid").

missdeke

emmasnan

Both the large waiting rooms in my surgery are almost empty and the few people in there are usually waiting to see a nurse.

I feel its such a waste to be heating and running such a large practice to have it almost empty. They appear to be doing flu jabs but not Covid.

The nurse at our mid sized practice said they were unable to do covid jabs because of the difficulty of storage, especially as different covid jabs are developed for different ages etc.

When you asked what the reason was for them giving different Covid jabs for different ages - what did they say that reason was and what agegroups they split people into?

I live in Scotland...same here...empty waiting room...not there very often but past few years anytime I've been its empty or at most another 1/2 people

Pre covid our surgery was packed, now you only see a few patients in the water room. Our GPS don’t do home visits anymore. I felt so unwell a few months ago, my gp requested I go down to the surgery to see her - it was as much as I could manage to bath and get dressed to go to see her.

Jaxjacky

Ours spend that time on home visits, triaging econsults, discussing caseloads and making phone consultations. They open for covid and flu jabs last week, queues were snaked outside. Our last few visits, four this year between us, the waiting room was busy reflected by the full car park.
We are very happy with our surgery.

Re the "open for....jabs" = what type of staff were doing these? Was it nurses? doctors? some other grade?

There's no doubt that the government should improve the GP service with more doctors rather than paramedics.

I am sorry to say that I do not think GPs are working as hard as they say. I have had experience of visiting the local surgery two or three times recently and there has been no medical practitioner on the premises, only receptionists. normal appointment time mid-morning, Practice supposed to be open 8am-6pm. The Practice has recently expanded, but definitely not in terms of service.

RakshaMK

lixy

Yes, they are.
GPS do home visits out of surgery hours, telephone consultations and a mountain of the dreaded paperwork.

Some enlightened practices now have a time dedicated to telephone consultations rather than each go trying to squeeze them in between face-to-face consultations; maybe you were there while this was happening?

Home visits? Don't make me laugh.
My partner has been basically chair bound for a year. He begged for someone to come and see him, he's very pale and feels basically very unwell although he can't put a finger on it, he does have pains which migrate round his body, spent 3 days in hospital because he was taken into a & E by ambulance and they couldn't find suitable transport to bring him home.
24 hours after arriving home he developed a painful itchy rash.
A Nurse practitioner was sent out...

I’m sorry to hear that your partner is poorly rakshaMK and I hope he is feeling better soon.

PreCovid I remember waiting rooms full of people with infectious diseases, coughing and sneezing in a warm, usually damp, crowded room. We created a germ soup - if you weren’t ill when you went to the surgery you usually were afterwards. I think the streamlined system resulting in emptier waiting rooms is a welcome improvement.

Mirren thank you.

emmasnan

Both the large waiting rooms in my surgery are almost empty and the few people in there are usually waiting to see a nurse.

I feel its such a waste to be heating and running such a large practice to have it almost empty. They appear to be doing flu jabs but not Covid.

The nurse at our mid sized practice said they were unable to do covid jabs because of the difficulty of storage, especially as different covid jabs are developed for different ages etc.

A GP was on TV a few weeks ago explaining that he saw 20 people a day, plus wrote referrals, dealt with his mail, followed up on test results, liaised with fellow GPs, nurses and reception staff, and a host of other little jobs. He said that when he was on call his face to face patients numbers would increase as he ran the emergency surgery as well as doing house calls. He also had to sort out all requested prescriptions for the day. This on top of the other 'little' jobs.

DH's surgery never seems to have many people waiting but that's because they run a triage service as well as a 'see a doctor' system. Today he made an appointment for triage at 9.10am. The GP actually phoned him at 9am. After a short chat the GP arranged to see DH at 11am. There were some people in the waiting room but not as many as you used to see. This is because the triage/see a doctor system allows the surgery to be more organised.

maddyfour

I am disappointed with my (has always been very good) surgery, because until recently I could make an appointment to speak to my GP, or a nurse practitioner, online using the NHS app. Okay, it was usually about a week to two weeks away, so I used it for none urgent, but necessary consultations. It was a phone consultation but that was okay. Suddenly that facility has been removed and there is simply a message saying ring the surgery for an appointment.
I have no idea why this has been changed.

You see this is what most people wish for, you just cannot please everyone, we all like it differently. They must work how suits their business best and yet cover as many patients as they possibly can.
They are struggling and near burn out. I am on the PPG and see it every month, they are asking volunteers to help out with a lot of menial tasks now, including open nights, to educate their patients what it happening within the surgery. They are very open to help and suggestions at ours.

Ladyripple

The GP Surgery where I go rarely has anyone in the waiting room.Nigh impossible to get an appointment.A neighbour has just had a toe amputated because he could not get a Dr appointment.

Oh my goodness! That is APPALLING! I am not normally one of the ‘sue everyone for all you can get’ brigade, but this case needs to be taken further!

I had a blood test on Tuesday with the nurse. Was sat in the surgery with about 6/8 people . In the 30 minutes I was waiting only people getting called in were for nurses no-one seemed to be seeing a Dr.

travelsafar

I need to see a gp for a couple of things, one being of a personal nature but the hassle involved I just can't be bothered. Wrestling with the reception really puts me off.

Then don't wrestle, tell her what she wants to know and she can help you better. It is their job. You can always ask to be seen in a private room, that is your right.