I doubt this will be seen but as I am feeling better now, I wanted to respond, in particular to Growstuff
I absolutely understand what it is like to not be able to make contact with one's surgery, particularly when ill and feeling vulnerable. I have, a while ago when my practice had a wobble and was poor, been in the situation of not being able to speak to anyone at the surgery when I needed to do so and remember the frustration.
However, the constant ridiculous comments that appear on here, such as 'the surgery was empty', are very trying. For the avoidance of doubt, the surgery would have been empty because there is a pandemic. Apparently some Gransnetters are completely happy to sit in a small waiting room with other patients who have who knows what in the midst of a pandemic.
If a patient needs to seen, they still will be, however, a clinical judgement needs to be made.
If it is the contact per se that is the problem, I will repeat that one should email or write in to the Practice Manager (I am presuming that one can't get through by 'phone). I don't think I have mentioned this before but why not join the Patients' Association attached to your surgery? Once a member, you can actively engage with the Practice Manager and try to help the surgery to try and do whatever it is that you would like changed. Perhaps they don't have enough ancillary staff or telephone lines. Help sort the problem out.
However, please do not encourage criticism of our doctors. I have written before that from time to time everyone engages in 'bashing', this could be teachers (they only work from 9 to 3 and have umpteen weeks' holiday per year, don't they?!), or perhaps police (they sit in the police station all day as we don't see them on the streets) or ... doctors.
Certain newspaper love to sell more copies by whipping the public up, not understanding that the morale of medical staff is extremely low. Ask a medical student if they would like to train to become a GP and the answer is probably 'no'. They, on their secondments into surgeries have seen the hours that are required and many now re-consider their initial choice and choose a hospital post instead. I understand that GP training is being redesigned i.e. shortened. The Government are trying to recruit GPs but I would rather have one who has had a long and rigorous training as before, wouldn't you?
Read Mirren (30 June at 11.14), Saetana, 1 July at 16.44 or Maddyone 1 July 22.21 for some facts - the misinformation regarding the salary of a GP's and the way surgeries are run is just mind-boggling.
It is extremely easy to sit and bash off an inflammatory message on a forum such as this but all one is doing is upsetting people and spreading complete misinformation. There are a few of us who understand what is involved in being a GP and try to give some pertinent facts but hey, who wants to hear facts?
Growstuff, I was not confrontational, merely pointing out that comments such as the empty waiting rooms/doctors are paid hundreds of thousands a year/GPs only work part time on and on are untrue. Some of us need to refute these comments.
Patients will always be ill and need medical care but carry on with the way we are, including chronic under funding in every direction and there will not be any doctors for all of us.
Finally, there will, unfortunately be poorly run surgeries and poor GPs - they are just people, some competent, some not. The thing to do is to try and help these surgeries improve - vote with one's feet if necessary - or please speak to the Practice Manager or/and join the Patients' Association to help change things but stop bashing these extremely hard-working doctors.
Would you want to work the hours (often seven day weeks/working even when in any off time) that our GP's currently do? I wouldn't. Couldn't.