Will G P Surgeries Ever Return To Normal?

[naomi24]

Disillusionment with the recently adopted and utterly hopeless system is an understatement!

Is anyone aware of an organisation that is campaigning to get GP surgeries working as they were pre-Covid? I want to join!

[Peter Pedant]

No they have gone - queuing at GPs surgeries on a bench,
and wont be back
just like Hospital Matrons ( they all died as spinsters)
and bargains at Lidl ( once they are gone they are gone)
BUT if as one poster says you are on radiotherapy
you GP shdnt be doing this 'oh touch me not, I am busy' routine - they have lists of 'vulnerable' patients - that is known to need greater access to care.

But there are advances. Manc - GPs have access to ( just about all ) radiology. 0915 ordered by the GP, and 11.15, walked into Mancester Royal and I was on their computer. Referred by the radiographer to the specialist pathway. ( who were a bit anal about sending me back to Christie, but you cant have everything)

[Peter Pedant]

o god sozza Naomi I know I should not ramble

[Vagus]

Our practice is pretty much back to normal, with the exception of phone consultations, which I love. If a face to face is necessary (decided by the phone gp then they call you in same day).
For example, OH rang at 8am today, got a face to face at 10.15am and was home by 11am with antibiotics and steroids.
Last week he had an afternoon phone appointment, which happened at 5pm, a prescription pinged through to the pharmacy electronically, picked up by him and home by 5.30pm.
No complaints here.

[choux]

naomi, I am just about to pour myself a drink (not coffee, either) - will you join me?

[naomi24]

Thanks Vulcan.

Thank you, choux. Delighted. Hic! :o)

[Peter Pedant]

yeah me too
AB makes me drink - but no one knows

[choux]

Well naomi, hope you have better luck with your Dr's Practice in future. Sleep well and remember, tomorrow is another day and some of us do give a damn ;)

[tomus42]

I think they quite like it the way it is now, ie only seeing people they want to, and even then after a few months notice with no loss of earnings. If one was a GP, one would wouldn't one.

[jourdain2]

I think our own, country, GP practice does very well actually. Maybe it's because I march in breezily with a lot of 'Hellos' and smiles. They do know us as individuals, perhaps because OH has been a patient twice a week since we returned from France and arrived in their waiting room in March 2015! We know the nurses and their families and dogs and problems etc..
They installed one of these screens where you can book yourselves in. We refused to use it and stood there patiently until the receptionist realised that we had to be booked in for our appointment by her, because the nurse did not know we were there. We had enthusiastic little talks given to us about new systems etc. until I pointed out that the word 'receptionist' meant 'one who would receive'.
Next week it was the usual 'Hello, Mr. & Mrs. J2' and a big smile. All is well. (They'd had a conference and decided that it was generational. I could have used the screen, of course- just wouldn't.)
Just don't play ball in small things as far as possible

[bednobs]

except of course, if you book in at the screen you don't have to stand and wait in a queue with loads of il people. Still if it gives you a sense of superiority or beating the system, more power to you

[bednobs]

i meant to add my surgery seems to have resumed normality but with the added bonus of phone calls if you want them (much more convenient if one is working) and a system whereby you can send the gp photos of ailments that are amenable to that

[New Judge]

//If one was a GP, one would wouldn't one.//

Yes, one would. But the issue really is why are they permitted to get away with such shoddy service? Whether or not they are "private contractors" is immaterial. They (are supposed to) provide the only "primary healthcare" that most people have access to. And they are being paid ridiculous sums of money to provide it.

There is absolutely no doubt that many of them are simply not providing such care. Even those who (seemingly) work at the surgery where their patients are registered are not cutting the mustard. But there are examples of them simply taking the ***. Here's one:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/patients-anger-gp-working-remotely-28612593

"Dr Justine Hall, one of three doctors working at Rudgwick Medical Centre in Horsham, West Sussex, now conducts consultations online after moving to Falmouth, around 265 miles away."

"CornwallLive called the surgery to speak to Dr Hall or one of her colleagues and was greeted by a phone message saying "This is Dr Hall" who then went on to say that the surgery was 'experiencing very high demand for our services'."

Well it's scarcely surprising, is it? Whatever arrangements the surgery in Horsham has had to make to deal with Dr Hall's absence, it's outrageous that they should be needed. What on Earth makes her think that she can act effectively as a GP for patients so far away?

The GP service was bordering on disgraceful before Covid, frequented by an unusually high proportion of crooks and charlatans. Now it is totally inadequate and unfit for purpose. GPs need to be stripped of their "gatekeeper" function which keeps patients away from the help they need. It is time an alternative system was devised so that they can directly access people who want to help them and who know what they are talking about.

[Peter Pedant]

And they are being paid ridiculous sums of money to provide it.
did a judge just write this?
yes m'lud
sounds like the politics of envy to me !

( but who reads let alone understands my little posts and jibes)

[New Judge]

The difference being, Peter, that judges working at (say) the Central Criminal Court in London, do not expect arrangements to be made so that they can live in Cornwall and conduct their courts online.

[Khandro]

The wider question is, & perhaps deserving of a seperate thread is, is Britain b gg rd ?

[jno]

we lose 2% of doctors abroad. More than a third of those left here trained abroad. Britain seems barely self-sufficient in too many things (we import about half our food).

But my GPs are okay. I can book ahead about two weeks online; if I think it's something more urgent I call the surgery and so far have always been called back by the end of the day, and told to come in to be looked at if the doctor thinks it advisable.

And the foolish doctor whose misprescription endangered me has left the practice. So I'm well ahead.

[jno]

well, if your case is to be heard remotely here's what to do

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-to-expect-when-joining-a-telephone-or-video-hearing

[New Judge]

//..well, if your case is to be heard remotely here's what to do//

Criminal cases (those held in Magistrates' Courts and Crown Courts - which includes the Old Bailey) are never "heard remotely". With the exception of those heard under the "Single Justice Procedure" they are all held in open court (with restrictions on that openness only in place for youth and family courts). Individual participants may be given permission to take part via video-link. But the principle participants - the judge or Magistrates, the prosecution and defence advocates - assemble together in court. In particular, judges (on whom PP seemed to be casting aspersions) do not operate hundreds of miles away from the "customers" they serve.

[douglas9401]

Work expands to fill the time allotted.

Doctors are every bit as capable of taking advantage of 'guidelines' as anyone else looking for an easy ride.

[jourdain2]

bedknobs 22.09 You misunderstand me and my motives. I had seem too many very old people standing, flummoxed and not liking to disturb the receptionist.