A doctor question

Phone your surgery.

Hot hubs have been set up, so that those who really need to see a doctor can be seen. Otherwise you ring 111 and press the relevant numbers when asked.

Just phone your surgery. Normally a doctor will ring you back and a prescription, if necessary is sent to a pharmacy.

Yes, you phone your surgery. Unfortunately, they still work by the same old rules. You'd have to see a GP, in person, to get a new prescription. Some of us would rather not do that, unless it's absolutely essential!

Dadd you need to go onto your surgery’s website to find out what they are doing. My understanding is that the majority of surgeries are offering online triage which can the be followed by a return phone call from a doctor if appropriate and maybe a video consultation. Both my dh and myself have had telephone follow up calls ( one with GP and one with PN) to resolve certain matters successfully. They have redesigned their website to help direct you into the appropriate area.

Daddima DD had a medical problem as the doors locked. It needed urgent treatment.

She rang 111, they agreed that she needed urgent treatment, so she was sent directly to an out hours clinic. The doctor there examined her agreed on the urgent need for treatment and the need to find the cause of the problem, so referred her for tests. She was then referred to a telephone discussion with her GP, who agreed with the tests and in the meanwhile sent a prescription through to the pharmacist she used, which she collected.

The drugs have worked, so the tests are less urgent, but are still needed in case there is an underlying cause that needs treating. She is hoping that the worse of the Covid is over before she reaches the top of the list as she doesn't want to risk getting it by going to a hospital.

In my area the doctors are continuing their usual practice of triage. I spoke to a local GP yesterday who was concerned that fewer people than usual are asking for appointments or calling for advice. If people do contact their GP in the usual way Daddima I'm sure they will be dealt with appropriately.

You do not have to go to your surgery to get antibiotics. That would be silly.

Ring your gp!

If your gp thinks you need them by having a talk to you on the phone, and maybe looking a photos you send, a prescription can be sent to pharmacy. He/she might want to see you but will avoid it if at all possible.

If they do want to see you, it will probably be 'out of hours'.

I know of people this has happened to.

My husband has had two telephone appointments with the GP recently and then collected a prescription from Boots.
Very efficient service.

Thank you all. As I said, I don’t need a doctor, and would ring the surgery if I did, but I was just wondering.

A friend’s daughter recently had a really bad sore throat. They contacted the GP and sent photos of her throat and the GP prescribed an antibiotic to be collected direct from the pharmacy.

Daddima
My daughter is a GP so I know the answer to your question. GPs are working as usual, and so if you have a problem, you ring your surgery as usual. They will either give you
a) a telephone appointment
b) a video consultation
c) an appointment at the surgery, but when you see the doctor they will probably be wearing PPE (just in case you’re Covid19 positive but not showing symptoms)
Hope that helps.

The pharmacist will tell you whether or not your the medicine you need is as prescribed or not.

The pharmacist cannot diagnose.

My GP practice is giving advice by email with no suggestion of further follow up.

I had to phone my doctors yesterday as I developed cystitis over the weekend - very painful! A delightful practice nurse phoned me back, asked me some questions then sent a prescription for antibiotics direct to the pharmacy.

Very efficient and a lot easier than previously when appointments were like gold dust! I've now got a painful earache so goodness knows what is happening to my body!

Daddima, knowing you are in the Greater Glasgow area, I can tell you that GP surgeries are open. You will be triaged and a doctor or practice nurse will phone you back.

If you are sheilding, under no circumstances should you be going to a GP surgery anyway.
I have had a couple of phone consultations and prescriptions sent to pharmacy.
When you phone, firstly explain that you are sheilding and whoever you speak to will be able to guide you..

This happened to us last Wednesday , my husband who is shielding. (COPD) , playing with cat, cat bit his hand which flew out pushing cat off. Within short time hand aching and sore, swelling badly .Now Easter so didn't know what todo, he wouldn’t phone111 as scared it would hospital,alreadyhad isolation and oxygen in hospital for a week in mid March, discharged with medication and pneumonia diagnosed. TG he was recovering up till cat incident, By yesterday very worrying (no bite mark) but very achy, not sure if it could be whip lash type wrist/hand injury, Phoned surgery ,doctor phoned b ack, chatted,sent prescription to nominated pharmacy, 2 antibiotics and ibuprofen rub delivered by lunch time, now beginning to look a bit better so hoping for better result soon, although painful still. Good service, didn’t realise we could have phoned over weekend or wouldn’t have waited.
Think different plans all over the country. Still very worrying but not sure what else to do. I understand it’s still reasonable to go to A and E under emergency circumstances,however we can’t do that as he is not really well enough to drive and I am unable to. Sorry about long winded post but thought it might help if in doubt about accidents.

Definitely ring the GP. Ours have loads of slots for telephone consultations and will prescribe over the phone. If they need to see you they take adequate precautions.
I had to go to the vet yesterday. I waited outside, then she came out discussed the problem, took the dog from me using the 2 metre rule then brought him back out with medicines.

Btw I am shielding but needs must.

Phone surgery. Many GPs are doing phone consultations and have a system like Skype in case they need to see something eg a rash. Of course you'll need a mobile or wifi for that.

You simply phone your surgery!

You phone your surgery and they decide if you need to see a doctor. Our surgery is doing video calls.

If you need a repeat prescription there will be a dedicated number which you should get from the surgery website.

You may also find that your GP's have a contact us section whereby you can receive a remote consultation.

Check your surgery website as they are all likely to be different.

But mostly don't worry unnecessarily about these things.

Our surgery give telephone consultations. However a neighbour had a surgery appointment. She was told to put her car in the doctors car park. Doctor came out into her car. I don’t know what was wrong with her but another neighbour said it was a good job she didn’t have to undress.