Just how arm's length and offhand can GPs get?

I had my flu jab at Boots recently and the practitioner insisted on taking my blood pressure although I told him it was normal. I do have a home machine and check it very occasionally. On this occasion it was very slightly high, no wonder as I’d been rushing around town. He informed me it would go to the GP. A day or two later, the surgery texted me with much the same wording, asking me for 7 days reading.
What a faff it would have been if I had not had my own machine.
I suspect this is the current ‘thing’ with the NHS and you’ll all be getting a request.

Seems fine by me. Obviously the GP surgery is wanting to start monitoring her as she's now over 50. It's in her interests to make this tiny effort on her own behalf. It would be useful for her medical notes to have a baseline BP for future reference. Not sure why you are so cross about it.

I agree with Aveline it’s for her benefit why would she not be pleased that her GP surgery is wanting to monitor her BP? She can probably use a monitor at her GP surgery or pharmacy. I believe at 50 yrs old GPS are asked to give a health check which maybe why they are asking.

A few years ago it was all about checking for pre-diabetes. I figured the GPs must have received extra funding for it.

I was diagnosed twice as a pre-diabetc and then once told I was diabetic. The result? Nothing. I don't even know the result of my last blood sugar because no one told me.

Last week in the chemist I was asked if I'd had a BP check in the last six months and said no. They offered to take it and rather stupidly I agreed. The chemist asked me if I had a BP machine at home- why would I have one of those? I asked him, as I've never had problems with my BP.
He told me my BP was high, gave me a print-out and suggested I made a GP appointment as I might need some pills.
Luckily the nurse wasn't busy and took my BP a few minutes later. I suggested she take it in the other arm. It was normal, but a little on the high side so she suggested I come back in a few weeks and have it checked again. I thought that was sensible and made the appointment for just before Christmas.
This morning I had a text message telling me to make a Drs appointment to discuss my recent high BP reading.

I have ignored it as I intend to keep the appointment made with the nurse.

I suspect there has been an allocation of funding to GPs now to monitor the nation's blood pressure and so I take all this intervention with a pich of salt.

* Monica* do you think the email might have been intended for another patient, and not your daughter? 🤷🏼‍♀️ A clerical error perhaps?
I think I would have contacted them to ask why I had been asked to provide the information.

I receive emails like that possibly twice a year. I really don't see the problem. My home readings are just as likely as the surgery ones to be accurate. Why would I want to lie if I knew I had a problem? I also receive requests for blood glucose readings. These requests save the surgery and me time.

GPs seem to have been obsessed with BP readings for several years now. Exactly why is anyone's guess, unless it helps them to get the handouts & freebies dished out by the BP drugs companies (cynical - moi?!). I'm now on 4 different BP tablets, with apparently no thought given as to WHY my BP is high. Of course, it could be due to the BP monitors they use - I, and several others I know, have been diagnosed with "white coat syndrome", which means we send our own BP sky-high just worrying about having our BP taken! You couldn't make it up. Maybe if they went back to the old puffer-type BP monitors (which didn't make you feel as though they're trying to break your humerus), the situation might calm down a bit. Or maybe the drugs companies' freebies are too good to miss? I wish a GP would answer this question honestly - then we might get a real answer to the "national BP crisis" which we can believe.

keepingquiet

A few years ago it was all about checking for pre-diabetes. I figured the GPs must have received extra funding for it.

I was diagnosed twice as a pre-diabetc and then once told I was diabetic. The result? Nothing. I don't even know the result of my last blood sugar because no one told me.

Last week in the chemist I was asked if I'd had a BP check in the last six months and said no. They offered to take it and rather stupidly I agreed. The chemist asked me if I had a BP machine at home- why would I have one of those? I asked him, as I've never had problems with my BP.
He told me my BP was high, gave me a print-out and suggested I made a GP appointment as I might need some pills.
Luckily the nurse wasn't busy and took my BP a few minutes later. I suggested she take it in the other arm. It was normal, but a little on the high side so she suggested I come back in a few weeks and have it checked again. I thought that was sensible and made the appointment for just before Christmas.
This morning I had a text message telling me to make a Drs appointment to discuss my recent high BP reading.

I have ignored it as I intend to keep the appointment made with the nurse.

I suspect there has been an allocation of funding to GPs now to monitor the nation's blood pressure and so I take all this intervention with a pich of salt.

It's been happening for a few years. I really don't see the problem if issues are identified. some people might not even know they're not as fit as they think. As somebody who had a heart attack out of the blue after ignoring requests such as these, I'm very happy to think I'm being monitored with minimal bother.

It's to prevent strokes and heart attacks.
Personally think having your own bp machine and taking readings when asked by GP is a very good idea.

keepingquiet Your blood sugar result should be on the NHS app and/or any system your surgery has in place. I wish I'd been more pro-active when I was first diagnosed as diabetic. I wouldn't have half the problems I now have.

Simple answer they get paid to submit certain stats about patients, by doing this they can tick a box and they have met their target. I used to work in a GP practice with 2 GPs and a practise nurse, we were on a big housing estate , morning surgery was open no appointments required, we were busy most days they used to see 20/30 patients each. Afternoons appointments could be made and inbetween they would do house calls and paperwork . It worked , what has changed? The senior partner knew his patients and their families they appreciated this.

keepingquiet

A few years ago it was all about checking for pre-diabetes. I figured the GPs must have received extra funding for it.

I was diagnosed twice as a pre-diabetc and then once told I was diabetic. The result? Nothing. I don't even know the result of my last blood sugar because no one told me.

Last week in the chemist I was asked if I'd had a BP check in the last six months and said no. They offered to take it and rather stupidly I agreed. The chemist asked me if I had a BP machine at home- why would I have one of those? I asked him, as I've never had problems with my BP.
He told me my BP was high, gave me a print-out and suggested I made a GP appointment as I might need some pills.
Luckily the nurse wasn't busy and took my BP a few minutes later. I suggested she take it in the other arm. It was normal, but a little on the high side so she suggested I come back in a few weeks and have it checked again. I thought that was sensible and made the appointment for just before Christmas.
This morning I had a text message telling me to make a Drs appointment to discuss my recent high BP reading.

I have ignored it as I intend to keep the appointment made with the nurse.

I suspect there has been an allocation of funding to GPs now to monitor the nation's blood pressure and so I take all this intervention with a pich of salt.

The chemists will have notified your GP of your results. Whoever does it gets paid so your GP will now try to get you to go to their surgery for paid follow ups.

GPs don't get paid every time they take somebody's blood pressure. However, if a patient is know to have high blood pressure (as keepingquiet does), it's the GP's responsibility to treat it. They will only get paid if the blood pressure comes down.

It's everybody's right to refuse recommended treatment, but hopefully they won't blame the GP, if they then have a medical issue as a result.

keepingquiet's "first pre-diabetes and now BP" comments really struck home with me. I've been through exactly the same process. My GP recommended that I should use some sort of free group-meetings kind of therapy, to find out how to reduce and manage my pre-diabetes. OK, thinks I, I'll give it a go. Weeks later, I got a leaflet through the post "inviting" me to attend one of their meetings. Couldn't find the place, so I looked at the leaflet to find a phone number/email address where I could get in touch and apologise for my absence. No contact details whatsoever on the flyer, which I thought was odd. Another month later, I received a no-reply email thanking me for attending and asking what I thought of the session! Again, I couldn't get in touch with them by phone, text or email. Maybe it's some kind of scam to get government funding for a one-horse set-up somewhere in someone's back bedroom. That was weeks ago. Haven't heard a thing since. I don't want to bother the GP with this fiasco, so I'm dealing with my own sugar levels through diet & exercise (which I suspect is what the meetings would have been telling me to do anyway). I suspect that patients are fed useless non-treatment like this all the time, but what can we do, other than clog up the GP system even more than we already do?

62Granny

Simple answer they get paid to submit certain stats about patients, by doing this they can tick a box and they have met their target. I used to work in a GP practice with 2 GPs and a practise nurse, we were on a big housing estate , morning surgery was open no appointments required, we were busy most days they used to see 20/30 patients each. Afternoons appointments could be made and inbetween they would do house calls and paperwork . It worked , what has changed? The senior partner knew his patients and their families they appreciated this.

But, to get paid they need to show results ie bring down the BP (or, at least, make an attempt to do so).

I get text from time to time to supply BP SPO2 and PF ( for asthma). I haven’t seen a real life asthma clinic since before Covid. I hope my equipment is accurate!

NonGrannyMoll It sounds as though diabetes education has been outsourced to some inefficient numpty. If you can afford it, maybe you should buy yourself a BP machine and a blood glucose kit with lancets and testing strips. BP machines are quite cheap, but diabetes testing strips are expensive, but you wouldn't need that many after testing yourself intensively for a few days. You can Google the most effective way of home-testing.

I got a text recently asking me to check my blood pressure on a daily basis and report the findings online. I suspect keepingquiet is right that it is a new initiative funding the GPs. There was no mention of how I am supposed to do it or who to report the details to.

I've ignored it.

AreWeThereYet

I got a text recently asking me to check my blood pressure on a daily basis and report the findings online. I suspect keepingquiet is right that it is a new initiative funding the GPs. There was no mention of how I am supposed to do it or who to report the details to.

I've ignored it.

It's not a new initiative. I've been doing it since before Covid.

So GP emails daughter to suggest taking blood pressure reading.
Daughter knows her reading or can use parents' device.
Daughter decides GP should call her in to do it even though she is capable of doing it herself.
Mother comes on Gransnet and rants.
Ridiculous

growstuff

AreWeThereYet

I got a text recently asking me to check my blood pressure on a daily basis and report the findings online. I suspect keepingquiet is right that it is a new initiative funding the GPs. There was no mention of how I am supposed to do it or who to report the details to.

I've ignored it.

It's not a new initiative. I've been doing it since before Covid.

I expect a lot of people who have illnesses of one sort or another have been testing at home for years. But I'm not ill (to my knowledge) and haven't visited the doctor in years other than to get a blood test. Nor has the doctor ever shown any interest in me in the last 30 years other than to recently start asking me if I want various vaccinations.

growstuff

62Granny

Simple answer they get paid to submit certain stats about patients, by doing this they can tick a box and they have met their target. I used to work in a GP practice with 2 GPs and a practise nurse, we were on a big housing estate , morning surgery was open no appointments required, we were busy most days they used to see 20/30 patients each. Afternoons appointments could be made and inbetween they would do house calls and paperwork . It worked , what has changed? The senior partner knew his patients and their families they appreciated this.

But, to get paid they need to show results ie bring down the BP (or, at least, make an attempt to do so).

GPs are not paid on results.

Government money is allocated for various initiatives which GPs can choose to focus on, particularly if they are based in areas where there are common health issues like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, smoking, mental health etc.

They set targets to show how they have reached them but it is mostly a paper exercise. They don't need to show if the initiative has been successful or not, just that they've spent the money.

This is why governments always say they've made money available for certain things but often it gets spent on leaflets which no one reads.

My dh has had a few requests over the years to take his bp over a periods of a week and send back. We assume that’s because he is on medication for it.They have never asked me, I am not on any bp medication.

Dh gp suggested he get an BP machine and we did , Lloyds chemist £15. . We also have an oximeter (the thing the doctor puts on your finger) just a few pounds and both items very useful.

Blood pressure , high or low thyroid ,cholesterol and diabetes
often show no discernible effects for the patient until …. they do.
I was asked in for blood tests a few months ago and having mentioned a couple of things was tested and I have two diagnoses that need medication.
It seems for some that the doctors are wrong if they ignore you and wrong if they try to take preventive action.