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Anyone seen a GP lately ?

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  • Speaking with a bit of inside knowledge. 

    The new masterplan is to end the old face to face system - the punters can’t be told directly about the plan because we all go crazy if anyone tinkers with the NHS of old. 

    Fact is, it has to be adapted for the real world, so Dr’s on the phone, pharmacists and 111 can deal with far more people than the old “Doc can you have a look at this rash on my knee” style. 

    Minor injuries - go to the service called that. 
    Emergency - go to A&E

    As for the poor receptionists who take all the flak, please can we bear in mind that they are trying to get you sorted - not trying to be obstructive. 
    In many cases, there aren’t any appointments because there aren’t any GPs in the building, but they are trained to “signpost” you to getting a solution - just don’t expect this to be a GP face to face, as these are becoming as rare as a Charlton goal. 

    Don’t shoot me, I’m only the piano player. 
    Sounds great to be honest. The time when I got the best support, found it easiest to talk to my GP and actually got a longstanding health issue under control was during Covid, which is ridiculous. It was such a better system though; fill out an online form, get your symptoms looked at and an online phone consultation booked, often the same day. You could send in pictures of whatever you had to help with the assessment and get a callback once they were received. Much quicker, much easier, no need to book time off work and allowed you to be seen quicker. I'm all for it, as long as there's some time put aside for people who can't use technology as easily to still be seen in person.
  • edited December 20
    I don't know how the elderly and/or some disabled people cope with this.
    I read about a 90 year old who not unsurprisingly had a challenge with online nature of all this and was told he could go to the surgery to collect a form. So he had to get a taxi to and from the surgery just to get and complete the feckin form to request to see a doctor, which assuming (and hoping) he got the required appointment, he'd have to go back to the surgery again.

    And it could get worse at surgeries that aren't exempt from the NI hike 

    Whereas a little guidance from a non medical support worker would have probably resolved the difficulties with the online process and the overwhelmed system would have functioned better.
  • edited December 20
    The main problem is that GPs are, and, to a large extent, have been for the past 20 years or so, little more than social workers for the bored, lonely, paranoid and abandoned elderly. Add an increasing waiting list from expanded catchment areas, surgeries closing, drain on the NHS as skilled resource moves abroad as soon as practically possible after qualifying and the unattractiveness of General Practice to newly qualified doctors in comparison with, say, a surgical specialisation or consultancy residency and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that somebody needs to act as a shit filter. Receptionists (who, in my experience have almost without exception been sour-faced, miserable old cows anyway) now have a much harder job to do - stands to reason they'd be even more ornery than they were before.

    My sympathies - but all of this boils down to the same thing: Pay more tax if you want better services. It's not rocket science.
    Lovely. I do like a rational unbiased assessment.
  • Darenth is no better 
  • lolwray said:
    It seems to me that if you are in a more densely populated area you have issues seeing a GP .I have no problem, I live a couple of miles down the road from @LargeAddick in rural east Sussex ,having lived in Sidcup and Chislehurst previously ( even 6 years ago it really wasn't worth the bother calling them) 
    It's an absolute disgrace that people can't see a doctor when they need to 

    Don't know what surgery you are registered at but ours is getting to be like the one in the OP. It too runs a triage system where the list closes when it's full, could be as early as 10am, and once it's full you have to try again the next day. In my experience though once on the list you do get a call back but normally from a Nurse Practicioner etc, very rarely a Doctor. Must say though that the Receptionists are very helpful but obviously there are some things you may not want to discuss with them.
    Martins Oak ..Battle High Street, admittedly you do have phone them early but compared to some of these horror stories it's a walk in the park. Aneurin Bevan will be turning in his grave 
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  • lolwray said:
    lolwray said:
    It seems to me that if you are in a more densely populated area you have issues seeing a GP .I have no problem, I live a couple of miles down the road from @LargeAddick in rural east Sussex ,having lived in Sidcup and Chislehurst previously ( even 6 years ago it really wasn't worth the bother calling them) 
    It's an absolute disgrace that people can't see a doctor when they need to 

    Don't know what surgery you are registered at but ours is getting to be like the one in the OP. It too runs a triage system where the list closes when it's full, could be as early as 10am, and once it's full you have to try again the next day. In my experience though once on the list you do get a call back but normally from a Nurse Practicioner etc, very rarely a Doctor. Must say though that the Receptionists are very helpful but obviously there are some things you may not want to discuss with them.
    Martins Oak ..Battle High Street, admittedly you do have phone them early but compared to some of these horror stories it's a walk in the park. Aneurin Bevan will be turning in his grave 
    When they tell Bevan about organ replacements, pacemakers, IVF, gender reassignment and bionic limbs - he will be spinning like a dentist drill. 
  • I have found a way round the econsult, I have the medical centre's email so I send one for the attention of Dr ...... my GP and tell him my problem, if serious he sees me. Also our receptionists are called care pathway coordinators!!!! - you couldn't make it up
    It doesn't say whether the path they offer is towards care or excuses though does it. Plenty of room to coordinate unwanted stuff in that name.

  • I saw one today…….walking across the surgery car park and getting into his car.
  • Two of the GPs who used to be at our surgery in Farningham have now started working privately. One is up the road from the surgery and the other is in Sevenoaks. Sad state of affairs. And I think if I was really worried about a health issue and wanted to see a GP I might have to book in. 
  • farningham you say … that might explain a lot that’s is/was my surgery 😱
  • A horror story that touches on much that has already been discussed on this thread:

    https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/health/my-odd-symptom-cancer-gp-30627262

    Including some helpful advice on how to circumvent the obstructive GP Receptionist.
  • A horror story that touches on much that has already been discussed on this thread:

    https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/health/my-odd-symptom-cancer-gp-30627262

    Including some helpful advice on how to circumvent the obstructive GP Receptionist.
    It's all very well blaming others for not taking his symptoms seriously, but this man does say that 8 weeks before his ordeal began, he used the NHS bowel cancer test kit which gave a positive result, but he chose to ignore it as the accompanying literature stated that there was only a 1in10 chance that it indicated anything serious. Had he not ignored the test result, his problems would have been detected earlier.
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