NHS=Negligent Health Service

What the hell is going on with GP appointments at the moment? I just tried to get an appointment with my GP and this was the conversation:

Reception bulldog - Can you please describe the issue?
Me - I have multiple sclerosis and am having a flare up at the moment that is affecting my eyes. I could do with having someone look inside my eyes and see whether my optic nerve bundle is inflamed.
Reception bulldog - Would an optician not be more appropriate?
Me - No, an optician will send me straight to you and anyway, they can't prescribe steroids which I may need
Reception bulldog - Is it a medical emergency?
Me - Well, no, I'm noy dying. I just can't see properly
Reception bulldog - It might be better if you go to your local minor injuries unit
Me - It's not an injury. It's my MS flaring up. Can I just see a GP please?
Reception bulldog - NHS 111 might be better able to assist with this
Me - NHS 111 will send me to you or to casualty, look. I'm a high-risk patient due to my MS, can I please have an appointment to see a GP?
Reception bulldog - I can offer you a telephone consultation
Me - I'd prefer face to face as I need someone to look inside my eyes and they aren't going to be able to do that over the phone
Reception bulldog - Can you email a photo of the issue?
Me - I don't have the equipment to photograph my optic nerve bundle. Can I please have a face to face appointment?
Reception bulldog - I'm afraid not. We only offer telephone appointments. If the GP decides that you require a face to face appointment then they will book one for a future date. If you need to be seen today then you will have to go to your local minor injuries unit or to accident and emergency.
Me - Fine, I'll take the phone appointment.

FFS, it's no wonder A&E are so stressed when GP surgeries are sending people like me down to them.
 
That sounds like a nightmare call to be on. Thankfully in AU the GPs are under a bit less time pressure - you get seen.
 
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Oh, it gets worse. A GP just called me now......... and has sent me to casualty.
She says - and I quote "Things have changed here now and we can't can't deal with issues like this. You will have to go to the hospital to get proper treatment".

What the hell is the GP for if not for things like this?
I'm not going to bung up A&E over this. I'll just live with it. It will clear up on its own in a month or so.
 
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So i had my own experience of NHS hospitals over the last few days. Totally not doubting anyone elses experiences, i believe its a post code lottery tbh. (getting to see a GP however was impossible)

Early hrs of Thursday morning i woke up and was blind for 2 mins, all bar a bright light. i had migranes as a young adult but never like this..... i could see nothing and it came on seemingly immediate.

Friday i filled in an econsult (cant see a gp where i am without one) this told me to phone the surgery and say it was emergency... i did that and was told i would get urgent call back, got a call back friday afternoon (so over 24hrs later..... this part was the worst part of the whole experience. had it of been an emergency i would have left it too late.

After speeking to the doc on the phone he said i had to go to hospital for tests but i was not to drive a car (understandable), and said to expect a call from the hospital... this came a few hrs later around 5pm on Friday, they gave me a 9:30am appointment sat morning. (spent almost all saturday in west suffolk hospital having tests....... and the final conclusion was probably a rare form of migrane.

I had an ultrasound on my neck, then had an MRI of my head (that was a strange experience... had one on my knee before but never had to fully go inside the machine before) and also various blood tests and hand eye / balance tests.on the bright side, my blood pressure and colesterol levels are both ok. i was worried about the colesterol check and have put off having one for some time.... so that was nice to be in the clear there at least.

i wont lie............ bloody terrifying experience, i was essentially fully blind for a few mins (well other than a bright light). i am used to aura migranes but this was a different beast entirely. I asked what if i was driving and it happened and he believes it only seems like it came on immediately and it probably built up whilst i was asleep and i woke up at the peak, so if i was awake and it happened again i would have a warning so not as to crash my car.

The point of my post.......... I have got to say I was impressed with west suffolk hospital (well its falling down so that is not so good) but i was expecting bedlam but it was all organised and i was seen the morning after talking to the doctor on the phone (which was the slowest part of the whole thing)... i was at the hospital for 7 hrs... would have been in and out in under 3 but just before i saw the consultant to discuss the results there was a massive issue at A&E and it was all hands on deck, which meant waiting well over 3 hrs for that to sort out...... this sucked but end of the say, someone somewhere was having a far worse day than me so it was what it was.

Whilst waiting in the stroke clinic i was keeping half an eye on the staff treating the patients who were in the hospital, and they were amazing... Totally different experience to how i saw my grandad treated at a different hospital when he was end of life (i wont name and shame the hospital but some of the nurses there were horrible letting the patients mess them selves and ignore their calls for help and this was 7 years ago long before the pandemic or current issues).
 
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It's a fob off of course but essentially your GP no longer have resources to act as a GP in the literal general sense, just for the older folks needing upkeep who won't go to hospital and emergencies. Anything else ==> pass to someone else. #VoteCons.
 
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Rilot said:
What the hell is going on with GP appointments at the moment? I just tried to get an appointment with my GP and this was the conversation:

Reception bulldog - Can you please describe the issue?
Me - I have multiple sclerosis and am having a flare up at the moment that is affecting my eyes. I could do with having someone look inside my eyes and see whether my optic nerve bundle is inflamed.
Reception bulldog - Would an optician not be more appropriate?
Me - No, an optician will send me straight to you and anyway, they can't prescribe steroids which I may need
Reception bulldog - Is it a medical emergency?
Me - Well, no, I'm noy dying. I just can't see properly
Reception bulldog - It might be better if you go to your local minor injuries unit
Me - It's not an injury. It's my MS flaring up. Can I just see a GP please?
Reception bulldog - NHS 111 might be better able to assist with this
Me - NHS 111 will send me to you or to casualty, look. I'm a high-risk patient due to my MS, can I please have an appointment to see a GP?
Reception bulldog - I can offer you a telephone consultation
Me - I'd prefer face to face as I need someone to look inside my eyes and they aren't going to be able to do that over the phone
Reception bulldog - Can you email a photo of the issue?
Me - I don't have the equipment to photograph my optic nerve bundle. Can I please have a face to face appointment?
Reception bulldog - I'm afraid not. We only offer telephone appointments. If the GP decides that you require a face to face appointment then they will book one for a future date. If you need to be seen today then you will have to go to your local minor injuries unit or to accident and emergency.
Me - Fine, I'll take the phone appointment.

FFS, it's no wonder A&E are so stressed when GP surgeries are sending people like me down to them.
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this is incredibly similar to my experience last week when trying to see a gp..... the hospital were fantastic when i got there but gettign to see a GP was impossible and took me over a day to get phone consulatation and referal to hospital. When i spoke to the receptionist she said......... if you have had a stroke phone 999 and obviously dont drive.... but the ambulance serice is very stretched so dont do this unnessecarily... I said i wasnt qualified to make that call hence wanting to see a doctor. took over a day to talk to the doc on the phone despite her putting on my notes it was a priority.
 
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At ours you have to ring at 8am and try and get in a telephone queue. If you’re not through by 9 there will be nothing left. I have managed to get appointments recently though as our Doctors is now a group of surgeries so if you can travel around Telford it’s a bit easier. Still far more of a pain than it used to be and with the rapid housing expansion happening here with no new doctors it’s bound to get far worse.

It’s wrong that a receptionist basically decides if you need to see a Dr and then just sends you to A&E to cover their asses.
 
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It's perhaps no wonder GP's refused the government's requests for data on how many face to face appointments they were now carrying out.

The local business man who ploughed a fortune of his own cash into a new medical centre in the next village has put in his memoirs that it is a decision he now deeply regrets as it is all but impossible to see a GP there any more and there are rumours of the site being sold off for other uses and a huge profit, against his desires.

The place looks as if tumbleweed will be blowing about soon. Patients are told to get to another town some 7 miles away for the very limited appointments now offered.

Rilot, I hope you insisted their refusal of a face to face be put on your records immediately??????
 
I did not Chris, but I probably should have. I will try and go to a drop-in Eye clinic at some point this week.

What is irritating is that if GPs are not going to be able to be GPs then what is the point of them? Our entire medical system is set up to have GPs at the center. You can't do anything without a GP referral etc. Why not just cut out the middle man and get rid of them alltogether?
 
dave28 said:
if anything very serious happens to my house mates i will drive them myself to a hospital straight away without any delay if i can move them.
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This. Or a taxi.

I never get it when people just sit and wait if they can do something about it. Obviously they can't always.
 
It's amazing how GP to GP can be so different.
All through COVID I was able to see a GP and more recently two phone call appointments were upgraded to a visit.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
It's amazing how GP to GP can be so different.
All through COVID I was able to see a GP and more recently two phone call appointments were upgraded to a visit.
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i guess it is like a lot of things... schools, gps, hospitals, dentists............... they are all struggling but depending on where you live it can be better or worse. Completely unfair of course. Everyone should be offered the same facilities and basic quality of service no matter where in the country you live.
 
I had a routine blood test, PSA, the end of last year and after three weeks I got a letter from the hospital saying the doctor had referred me due to increasing level. I got a telephone appt, which was OK as all that happened was the doctor told me the level was high and I was being sent for a scan at my local hospital in Livingston. Two weeks later I got an appt. Three weeks after that I got a letter from the first hospital(Edinburgh) saying a biopsy op had been arranged at a day clinic. Three weeks after that I got a letter back saying no cancer. I cannot complain at the service, it was excellent.
 
Rilot said:
Oh, it gets worse. A GP just called me now......... and has sent me to casualty.
She says - and I quote "Things have changed here now and we can't can't deal with issues like this. You will have to go to the hospital to get proper treatment".

What the hell is the GP for if not for things like this?
I'm not going to bung up A&E over this. I'll just live with it. It will clear up on its own in a month or so.
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This is blood boiling stuff. Could you go to a private GP as a one off? I imagine though, they'll say it's an ongoing, known condition so they won't see you and you need to go to the NHS.

Reminds me last year when I was having diarrhoea (TMI, I know) on and off over the course of a couple of weeks (not just acute food poisoning), my GP reception said I should just buy some Imodium or call the pharmacist. I obviously said that won't do and the cheeky git put on my notes that I "refused help". Was angry for 10 mins then rang the pharmacist and described my symptoms. He said he was "extremely concerned" and needed to be seen by a GP immediately. Needless to say I was in the GPs office later that afternoon and was given a cancer test (thankfully wasn't an issue).
 
Rilot said:
What the hell is going on with GP appointments at the moment? I just tried to get an appointment with my GP and this was the conversation:

Reception bulldog - Can you please describe the issue?
Me - I have multiple sclerosis and am having a flare up at the moment that is affecting my eyes. I could do with having someone look inside my eyes and see whether my optic nerve bundle is inflamed.
Reception bulldog - Would an optician not be more appropriate?
Me - No, an optician will send me straight to you and anyway, they can't prescribe steroids which I may need
Reception bulldog - Is it a medical emergency?
Me - Well, no, I'm noy dying. I just can't see properly
Reception bulldog - It might be better if you go to your local minor injuries unit
Me - It's not an injury. It's my MS flaring up. Can I just see a GP please?
Reception bulldog - NHS 111 might be better able to assist with this
Me - NHS 111 will send me to you or to casualty, look. I'm a high-risk patient due to my MS, can I please have an appointment to see a GP?
Reception bulldog - I can offer you a telephone consultation
Me - I'd prefer face to face as I need someone to look inside my eyes and they aren't going to be able to do that over the phone
Reception bulldog - Can you email a photo of the issue?
Me - I don't have the equipment to photograph my optic nerve bundle. Can I please have a face to face appointment?
Reception bulldog - I'm afraid not. We only offer telephone appointments. If the GP decides that you require a face to face appointment then they will book one for a future date. If you need to be seen today then you will have to go to your local minor injuries unit or to accident and emergency.
Me - Fine, I'll take the phone appointment.

FFS, it's no wonder A&E are so stressed when GP surgeries are sending people like me down to them.
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Being honest that probably is best seen by an Opthalmology doctor in Emergency Eye Clinic which is often based in ED.
Most GPs won't be able to tell you reliably if you have optic neuritis.
 
MOOGLEYS said:
At ours you have to ring at 8am and try and get in a telephone queue. If you’re not through by 9 there will be nothing left. I have managed to get appointments recently though as our Doctors is now a group of surgeries so if you can travel around Telford it’s a bit easier. Still far more of a pain than it used to be and with the rapid housing expansion happening here with no new doctors it’s bound to get far worse.

It’s wrong that a receptionist basically decides if you need to see a Dr and then just sends you to A&E to cover their asses.
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It does make me laugh when I moved to Telford I signed up at the surgery 30 seconds walk from my house...I have never been able to get an appointment there but like you say luckily I can drive so going to another one in the group isn't a major issue.

I've got access to the Aviva digital GP through work so tend to use that these days, appointment generally within the hour.
 
Dis86 said:
@Rilot Youre obviously lying. All appointments are face to face.
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say what? is this some sort of dry humour i am not getting? given i had a telephone appointment on Friday just gone after going through an online portal i can confidently say you are wrong, i was given prescriptions for tablets as well as referred to hospital all without a face to face....... different GPs have different rules.

(or are we both lying?)
 
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