Scaling back GP care

My GP has been fine, it’s my hospital that has completely let me down. No Rheumatology appt since March , no bloods , no meds nothing , and when I call I just get the answerphone saying they will contact patients in due course- seriously ticked off now!!!}!!

It took me ages to get through to order eye drops I was told I needed by the optician. The phone kept cutting off after 20 rings or else I got the engaged signal.

The local Boots is in chaos as they use locum pharmacists and the staff are rotated around the various shops. None of them have a clue where anything is so it’s a case of hunt the medication for every person in the ever growing queue outside. Once this is over I intend changing to the pharmacy a few miles away where the pharmacist and staff are the same every time. Shorter opening hours but we can work with that.

I am a retired GP who answered Boris's " call to arms " .
What ever anyone tells you or whatever your perception, I promise you that General Practice is up and running and working really , really hard, just as it always has.
You may not like certain aspects of your own practice. It is hard to please all the people all the time.
However, it is and always has been a demanding, exhausting and totally all consuming job for all concerned.
Please be patient and try not to moan as we try to cope with the extraordinary demands of normal health care combined with Covid . Many of us are at risk ourselves but still putting ourselves in harms way on your behalf.
The vaccine programme will be demanding and very difficult. The whole population ( or those who want it ) , which will be millions , needing a jab . This isn't as easy as you seem to think . We still need to ensure Covid security and patients need to be observed after the jab . It can't be done by any old person at all . The Government are expecting 12 hours days of vaccinating people for months.
I get really upset when I read such a lot of moaning.
We are blessed by the NHS in the UK. Its not perfect and it's certainly terrifyingly underfunded but those of us who work in it give our all for you .
Please be kind and patient.

Our surgery has turned in to Fort Knox and the guard is the ferocious receptionist who unfortunately has bought the house next door to my DD.

I wonder what our GP's are doing all day. We are allowed to phone them between 8.30 and 10 am. After that you've no way of contacting them. It took me 28 minutes to get through on the phone. If you don't get through you have to start again the next morning. As doctors are supposed to work all day, why are they not contactable all day? Makes me so cross.

So right Maddyone. All Gps have been working still seeing the patients who need seeing and phone consults for the others plus the dozens of other things they do.

It seems that surgeries differ. I am in a low Covid area. I should have regular blood tests. Had to request one after ten months. Should have had yearly “MOT”. Beginning of the year. Got it in September" Fortunately I have been fairly well.

No complaints about my Surgery. Have had a couple of phone consultations & my Flu Jab with no problems. Emails are answered with an email booking an appointment to talk to either the Nurse Practitioner or a Doctor.
One of my friends has a few problems with her Surgery but on the whole we are satisfied with all that they have done during Covid to keep us & themselves safe.

Teetime

My GPs have done very well - telephone requests have been dealt with promptly, I have had two successful telephone conversations, DH had his annual health check, prescription service working well, practice nurse gave me pneumococcus vac. No complaints here. If they are looking for retired nurse to give the new vaccine I'm up for it - dont want paying.

I too would willingly help give any new vaccines. Surely they could make use of us retired nurses.
The millions of vacs I must have given throughout my career!

Missfoodlove

Our practice has basically done nothing for 9 months!

They have hidden behind Covid.

It’s the nurses that administer the vaccinations, this job could also be done by pharmacists.

Pharmacists and pharmacy staff are already at capacity. The NHS, in general, is pretty much dumping on them. They're the end of the line, forward facing, can't hide between closed doors, available for everyone to simply walk in and expect a consultation. And that's on top of everything else they do behind the scenes.

Butter? Yes, a bit, can you tell?

My GP surgery has been amazing. I've suffered with various ongoing problems throughout lockdown & have always been able to speak to a Dr when I've needed to & have had several visits in to the surgery. At one point I was sent for an ultra sound scan which came through very quickly and on another occasion when the Dr discovered a lump, I was seen within the 2 weeks. I had been waiting since referrals in April to both gynae & colorectal departments & finally had a call from the gynae consultant this week. As a result, I'm now having a CT scan on Monday & was told by the consultant he wants to see me & will also chase the colo rectal department. I really can't complain, especially as I was called to the practice for my regular BP check & the nurse gave me my flu jab at the same time so I didn't have to attend the special out if hours "jabbing session" the practice had arranged.

Im afraid our GP service has been woeful. My OH should have been on the list of those vulnerable during the first lockdown. He has had his spleen removed and has asthma as well. We heard not a word from the practice. We can no longer access via their website to make email contact them - that facility has just disappeared. If you need to contact them, it is via telephone only. Then you have to stay holding on for over an hour before you get through to a human being. Their flu vaccine process was an absolute farce. We ended up getting our vaccines from the Pharmacist. In my opinion local Pharmacies have been the stars in all this. If they are not seeing patients face-to-face, it rather begs the question, what have they been doing?

I totally agree with MissFoodLove and our GP practice exactly the same.
Having worked in a GP Practice for over 20 years and have been totally 100% behind them I have been left very disappointed at at times almost anxious as I feel my GP Practice is also hiding behind Covid. I have tried twice to get to see a GP in the last 9 months and both times they phoned back (which i totally get) but both times I was so rushed in the call I felt even worse when the call ended. I have friends that have GP that are offering a lot better service and seeing patients, mine are like many still not seeing patients. Just worry what else they can cut back on to do the vaccines. Totally get that they cant cope with the vaccines and what they are are doing now - so they will have to get help from other sources hopefully.

My surgery were crap before covid and are even worse now. If it weren't for the fact that I'm on a waiting list for knee surgery I'd go elsewhere - but I don't want to lose my place.

Our practice has been working flat out during the pandemic. Phone appointments whenever needed, followed up by face-to-face when necessary. Flu jabs done, physio and other services all available. I wish I could hug all the staff and tell them how much they are appreciated.

My family have had great service from their GPs and in various different areas of the country. Cancer referrals, online consultations and flu jabs. As with many things within the nhs at the moment, it’s different but not necessarily worse and I firmly believe that in unprecedented circumstances they are, in my experience, all working very hard and doing their absolute best for us.

I support the triage system: reception, phone call, appt with doc if necessary. My latest experience seems to be of a quadrage(!) system: reception, call back, appt with practice nurse/who then has to liaise with different doctor after your appt and then you get another phone call telling you what the doctor has said. Then I ring back to speak to a doctor to query outcome. Frustrating and worrying. There are 6 doctors in our practice but you rarely see one - its always a locum/registrar/practice nurse.

I've had one phone consultation with my GP in June as I'm not allowed more than 28 days supply of Naproxen without being 'seen'. Result was I've now got enough to last until 5 December, without apparent need to be seen. Was invited to have a phone consult for asthma review end of September with nurse practitioner, but we discussed a severe back spasm/ sciatic pain leaving me barely able to walk that had started 2 days previously. Was offered phone consult with NHS physio, but would be at least a week. I declined.
I've now chosen to go to our local private hospital (as I've not improved)where I easily got a face to face GP appt (30mins) and an ortho consultant referral plus physio referral at same hospital. Had 2 physio face to face appts, which have helped and shortly to see ortho consultant face to face. Could have seen him earlier, my circumstances prevented this.
I don't doubt that GP surgeries are very busy with phone consults and as always the burden of paperwork, but doors shut policy is very off-putting to many. I must add my own GP surgery is keen to get me in for the flu jab, although not for back/mobility issues .

Fortunately I rarely need to see a doctor. However, I had a phone consultation a few weeks back and received a callback yesterday telling me of the next steps, all without needing to leave the house. I cannot fault the care we receive from our practice.

Think it’s very true that surgeries differ. I have seen my GP several times during lockdown. You do have to ask for face to face appointments but I’ve never been denied one. Having said that our surgery has introduce a form that you have to fill in asking for an appt be it face to face or a telephone appt. it’s a form introduced by the Government and I think most surgeries use it now. Most GPS including mine hate this system but are tied to it

Our surgery has been excellent. I have continued having my regular B12 injections and had a telephone consultation within one hour of phoning surgery followed by a scan within a week. Only delay was a blood test due to delays from suppliers so out of their control. Flu jabs were organised well. They have done brilliantly

My doctors are a disgrace. Done nothing since beginning of March. The practice administer is telling patients what they should and shouldn't be doing. If I ask for repeat prescriptions they usually come back with items missing
Am spending more time chasing around than enough

we can only speak as we find..

it would seem that some GP`s are still working with the patients..

MissFoodLove
said
Our practice has basically done nothing for 9 months!
same here MissFoodLove,
though I don`t dispute, as said above, some clearly are working , ie. seeing, even talking with their patients.

even before lockdown, ie. Nov/dec last year, I had a really bad fall, I actually got to see a doc, but he didn`t even examine me physically, just said.. huh!

so there are good and bad amongst us all..

and not just lockdown

My GP's are using Covid as an excuse to deliver sub-standard care. They used to be good, but now it is all telephone consultations and don't get me going on the flu jab! The sessions for injections were held at a theatre for God's sake which was 3 miles away from the surgery. Healthcare since Covid is a joke, and my cataract op was cancelled 3 times.

I work in a GP surgery in admin and we are run off our feet. We are short staffed and at times are working alone answering calls. We are struggling to keep up with the volume of work. Our doors are open as well.