Doctors And Surgeries Getting Lazy.

[derfblade 10]

Yes i know we have had or are having a pandemic buteveryone is trying to get back to some form of normality and it seems (especially at my surgery) that it's almost impossible to get to see a doctor. At mine you ring for ages then on getting through the receptionist is asking "What is wrong with you?" orif it's urgent they say "I will get the doctor to ring you in the next few hours". Today my wife was quite ill with an infection so the Doc prescribed her antibiotics over the phone. She became worse during the day and on ringing back she was told if it was an emergency to go to the Walk In as they had  no appointments.

I think that Doctors have got into the comfort zone and prefer to carry on doing their work over the phone. Patients need to be seen and not dealt with over the phone. Someone is going to suffer through their reluctance to get back to some sort of normality.

[Tipstaff 159]

Mine has at least eight consulting rooms, five of which are empty most of the time.  Most of the GP's work part time (and perhaps even less hours than any visiting Locum!)  As per usual, there is one receptionist who is kind, friendly and very helpful. The other is abrupt, unhelpful, rude and has a personality which is second only to an aged corpse!

 

I'm not having a dig at any of the doctors personally you understand.  It's just the system is geared up purely around their personal lifestyles.  With practice nurses, practice managers, finance managers, secretaries, administrators and the cleaner to accommodate and pay for in every surgery,  the individual practice can't afford the full compliment of doctors anymore...... or so it seems!?

[Guest busdriver1]

My local doctors have not had any staff in regular  attendance for a year now. 

Even the receptionist is working from home. 

I needed some antibiotics for an ongoing issue so was prescribed some over the phone. 

They made things worse as they were not suited to my condition,  and I wound up calling 999 with severe breathing difficulties ( not covid) . 

I have given a urine sample ( they open reception for an hour a day for this)  

I am still waiting the results a week later and am in pain .

We need something doing, people are getting more ill as a result of this. 

In a global pandemic where people are getting ill shutting down the first medical point of contact is not a clever idea. 

We need steps putting in place to keep doctors safe but they need to see people. 

Edited September 11, 2021 by busdriver1

[Foot and Mouth 24]

At my surgery, even just to gain access it's like Fort Knox...telephone appointments only, all doors, means of entry are locked, theres an intercom to speak to the receptionist who will then come to you at the door, masks; obviously, I fully understand that bit, its ridiculous. All I wanted was an A4 sheet of paper signing by a GP for something I won't bore you with...and I paid £20 cash for that. That was given to them on Tuesday 31 August, as of today I still have not received the signed sheet back. Despite visiting once and telephoning twice, made to feel quite small as being told; 'It'll get done when it's done, we'll notify you.' Now that one sheet of paper is holding up something that is very important to me and could improve my life for the better. So i haven't even got any ailments and they're being difficult in my opinion...they've had it easy for far too long, lets get back to normality.

[Janus 28]

I fully agree with what has been posted so far. I don't believe that these are just isolated cases. 

 

The problem is that there does not seem to be any consequences for the surgery staff-they will probably be getting their salaries as usual. Of course, joe public the patient, continues to be unnecessarily   inconvenienced without good reason, while the doctors and staff sink deeper in to  their confort zones as mentioned. It is time for the public to take action.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Janus

[dave_the_m 61]

There was a shortage of GPs even before COVID hit. The ones that are left have had to cope with 18 months of pandemic, and are now having to deal with an 18 month backlog of non-COVID stuff, while still handling all the extra precautions and workload of COVID. The ones who haven't taken early retirement because of burnout have had to take on their workload too.

 

I think the idea that GPs are work-shy is nonsense.

 

Which is not to say that there isn't the occasional lazy GP or awful surgery receptionist, but they aren't the norm.

[nightrider 13]

14 minutes ago, dave_the_m said:

There was a shortage of GPs even before COVID hit. The ones that are left have had to cope with 18 months of pandemic, and are now having to deal with an 18 month backlog of non-COVID stuff, while still handling all the extra precautions and workload of COVID. The ones who haven't taken early retirement because of burnout have had to take on their workload too.

 

I think the idea that GPs are work-shy is nonsense.

 

Which is not to say that there isn't the occasional lazy GP or awful surgery receptionist, but they aren't the norm.

Getting an appointment at our surgery has become a nightmare - my wife found she had to be really pushy even to get a doctor to phone her (took more than 1 month).

 

OTOH we know a GP and he says many GP have left the profession and the ones left are trying to pick up the pieces - but there is just far too much work for the GP's left. With the result we are all seeing.

 

[Funky_Gibbon 42]

This notion that we're "getting back to normality" is great for the politicians and tabloids but GPs and hospitals live on the frontline of the real world rather than in the fantasy world of pretending that it's all gone away even as we're getting a few hundred thousand registered infections per week and 1000+ deaths a week over Summer and hospital are again planning for the expected surge as everyone crams together over the colder months.

[HeHasRisen 3,398]

Honestly say I have had no issues getting in touch with mine, between Xmas and NY I went from ringing up at 0830 to having a prescription in my hand by 1030, and more recently I have had no issues. Must depend on who you are with 

[Kidorry 189]

I can say that I have had no problems booking a telephone appointment with my doctor and if he thinks it is necessary I get an appointment the same day. It is the same if I want my prescriptions, always on the dot. They are great. 

[crookesey 633]

My problem is that I actually consider that I am wasting my GP’s time. I have rheumatoid arthritis and have to make regular visits in order to continue my medication. The Hallamshire Hospital has now placed me on ‘telephone appointments’ why my GP can’t do the same I don’t know.

[Anna B 1,414]

According to an article in today's paper, people are under the misapprehension that GP's surgeries are all part of the NHS but they're not. They are all small private businesses. And they are being bought up en masse by American conglomerates.