View Full Version : A visit to the Doctor
ian@huth
01-02-2005, 10:25
I have to visit the Doctor regularly and today was one of my visits. Appointment was for 9:10 and arrived just before 9:00 getting the last parking spot that was anywhere near the surgery. Went to the reception desk to sign in and found them writing appointments on a sheet of paper. The computers were down and had been since Saturday with no access to appointments or medical records kept on the system. Doctor called me at 9:45, 35 minutes late and told me that it was a waste of time seeing me as he needed computer records to do a medication review which was due. Not only had he no access to my computer records but they couldn't find my paper records either. :Yikes: He asked me to phone for a new appointment tomorrow or Thursday if the systems were still down in the morning.
Getting an appointment is a work of art in itself. They have very few slots that can be filled in advance of the day and they are usually all filled. They ask you to ring first thing in the morning to get an appointment. They start answering the phones at 8:30 but you are lucky if you get anything but an engaged tone. Quite often by the time you get through all the appointments for the day are gone and they ask you to call back the following day. It's not so bad if you are willing to see any doctor but with my conditions my doctor doesn't want me to see another one.
The health service appears to be getting worse all the time. I can't understand why it takes so long to fix problems with computer systems at the doctors. Maybe they would get them sorted quicker if NTL maintained them. That isn't being funny as NTL have always been out and sorted problems I have had within the day.
When I moved house, I tried to get a local GP sorted out. We spanned a 5 mile radius from where we live and not one single surgery was accepting new patients. In the end we had to contact some medical board who forced a surgery nearly 4 miles away to accept us. That in itself is bad enough, but whenever you have an appointment you WILL be kept waiting at least an hour and a half to see the doctor MINIMUM. It get's that bad that I have to schedule 3 hours off work for a simple checkup :( What really rags me is that there is a health centre literally 2 minutes walk down the road but they refuse point blank to accept us.
.......and yet Gordon Brown is giving how many billion to Africa? :rolleyes:
Oh dont get me started on Doctors surgerys.
You are exactly right. I too have to wait absolutely ages and end up loosing more time. The phone is always engaged when I try to phone up and then when you are given an appointment its at an absolutely mentle time. And then you have to add another 40 minutes wait on top of that time before you actually get seen to.
.......and yet Gordon Brown is giving how many billion to Africa? :rolleyes:
I don't mind him (us) helping out the (far) less fortunate, an hour and a half sitting is a surgery I think is a small price to pay if it ends up feeding someone who's starving to death, dont you?
The annoying thing is that you end up waiting that long to then be given a ten minute apointment.
Sounds hardly worth going in the first place.
gary_580
01-02-2005, 11:32
.......and yet Gordon Brown is giving how many billion to Africa? :rolleyes:
Dont get me started on donating money to other countries! :mad:
I put myself as a contractor forward to do the3 days a week IT support for my local Surgerys IT systems. (its what i do as abusiness). I didnt get the job, as they gave it to someone less qualified but was a mature lady so they thought the admin staff would get on better with her. I have since been chatting to the admin staff as this lady aparently causes ,oretrouble than she is worth and keeps doing the wrong things. No I am all for different ages etc.... My dad is 60 and know's more about the IT industry and comutingsnd the various systems than most people I know put together.... Surgeries have some highly advanced IT kit, yet they are left in the dark about how to maintain and use it, and what or who they require to do the job...
My gp place is okay never runs on time but runs nicely...note i shall keep its location top secret ;)
As for money to other countries keep giving it, and give us some too...whats so hard help everyone :D
Scarlett
01-02-2005, 11:54
When I moved house, I tried to get a local GP sorted out. We spanned a 5 mile radius from where we live and not one single surgery was accepting new patients. In the end we had to contact some medical board who forced a surgery nearly 4 miles away to accept us. That in itself is bad enough, but whenever you have an appointment you WILL be kept waiting at least an hour and a half to see the doctor MINIMUM. It get's that bad that I have to schedule 3 hours off work for a simple checkup :( What really rags me is that there is a health centre literally 2 minutes walk down the road but they refuse point blank to accept us.
We had this problem when we used to live in Northampton. we had 3 surgeries in the area, all of whom were refusing to accept new patients claiming that we were in one of the others catchment areas.
We then back to our nearest one and told them that we'd rung the NHS help line and they told us that we should go to them... Got in! (took over 4 weeks to get the intital appointment though :( )
Scarlett.
Mind you they were absolutly sh*te the local hosptial had a MAJOR go at them for making my G/f (now official other half) walk home and call a taxi when she had a blood clot on her lung (altough we didn't know that until she got into hospital) rather then get an ambalance... Thank God we moved away after 6 months...
Whats hard is that we do lots for other countries but our own country is becoming a dump and a total mess up.
Why dont we just let everyone flock into England and just let the NHS keep filling up withj backlogs, prisons get over crowded, crime on the increase, jobs becoming rare and being handed to everyone who steps over the port at Dover, etc.
We need a big shake up I'd say.
Dad is sent home from hospital as he is in good health...
Dad is retired from work due to ill health.
Dad is kicked off sick due to good health.
Dad is rushed into hospital due to severe ill health..
we move towns
A completly messed up system. Exactly.
Mr Blair and his team need to come out of dreamland and see whats really going on.
Mr Blair is currently in MIchael Jackson theme park. He was moved there due to insanity and being a total berk.
He shall remain there till further notice and the tellitubbies will now run the country.
ian@huth
01-02-2005, 13:03
The appointment system at our doctors was changed so that the time you had to wait to see a doctor was reduced to fit in with government targets. Yes, the recorded waiting times possibly did come down but most never get on the waiting list as they are told to ring back the next day and they are never recorded as waiting. :mad: :mad: :mad:
I don't mind him (us) helping out the (far) less fortunate, an hour and a half sitting is a surgery I think is a small price to pay if it ends up feeding someone who's starving to death, dont you?When you put it like that it makes me sound a tad unreasonable. But we arent just talking about you waiting a little longer to see your GP, we are talking about people being turned down for drug treatments because their health authority can't/won't pay for them or massive waiting lists for surgery 'cos we don't have enough specialists (we could use that money to expand medical schools and train more). Pensions could be put up so that pensioners could have some sort of standard of living........
I see this country as something like a family........it would be rather odd for the head of the household to give away a portion of the income to charity and then turn to his/her kids and say to them that they can't see the dentist 'cos there isn't any more money. What parent would do that?--Our govt does it to us.
My gp is normally pretty fair but you make a appointment go in and forget the appointment your never seen then its more book in sit there and wait your turn in appearance of turning up.
I like my doctor, she understands alot of my ailments best, and has been there to save my mothers life after a doctor at hospital said nothing was wrong with her, and this gp took my mother personally in her own car to hospital because she had gal stones.
I only wish everyone had access to such doctors in this world... :( sometimes when in chemist or gp I think we call this place so much with waiting at hospitals etc..yet think about the other places on this world...with kids dying how much would they think of such a place...
Sometimes we need to be grateful even for the bad service we get, and the long waiting times.
Ah you have a female doctor. You are lucky.
To get to my surgery I have to take two buses there and back,or take a taxi there and back or get up early and take hubby to work just so I can have the car.It takes me less than 10 minutes there and back by using our car,about the same plus waiting times by taxi.However by bus it's anyone's guess as I've not had the courage to try.I reckon it's going to be at least 2 hours.
I was told I couldn't move to the nearest surgery but when my husband left the navy and needed to sign up to a surgery he just walked into the nearest surgery and was accepted on the spot. :mad:
However because it's such a faff to see a doctor I hardly ever go.Last went when I had a severe bout of tonsillitus 18 month ago and I'd gone deaf.I reckon the less time in the surgery the less time being in contact with sick people and their germs. ;)
Before I say this, I have to put in the disclaimer that I am aware that Grimsby / Cleethorpes isn't exactly the biggest area in the world, and I do have a car.
However.
We moved house just over a year ago and now live in Grimsby (we used to live in Cleethorpes). My girlfriend (who has lived in Cleethorpes for almost all of her life) has her doctors surgery approximately a 5 - 10 minute walk from our house. My doctors is in Cleethorpes, which was convenient when I cream-crackered my knee, because it was literally round the corner from my house.
When we moved, I thought it would be a good idea to change doctors to the surgery my girlfriend goes to, purely because it was a lot closer but, when I enquired, I was told that they would only take me on if I had just moved to the area. How mad is that? They're willing to take new patients but only if they've never been registered in Grimsby before! Needless to say, I hope I never do anything else to my knee, 'cos I'll be stuffed if I'm walking the 4 miles to my quacks in the rain!
Would it be possible for people to refrain from blaming the ills of the NHS/Government on the miniscule amount of our GDP which is spent on foreign aid. If we cancelled debt these countries would no doubt not need our 'charity'.
The NHS is in a mess because of decades of under-investment, the lack of standard systems throughout the organisation and vested interests protecting their own. Having had a heart attack and cardiac arrest three years ago I've seen both sides. Excellent acute care, disastrous post-discharge care, disastrous primary care, reverting back to excellent rehabiltative (once I'd found it) and outpatient check-ups (but hey, sometimes I have to wait beyond my appointment time. I can live with that.
NHS primary care is improving through initiatives like walk-in centres and NHS Direct - both excellent resources which, amazingly enough, were conceived and implemented by this Government. The GP service here is OK without being spectacular and without doubt could be improved. A great leap forward would be a central computer system so that hospitals and GPs can access patient records promptly; they're still working with slate and chalk - after I was discharged it took 10 days for my records to arrive at my doctor's.
My biggest gripe? Receptionists. I don't think I need say more.
ian@huth
01-02-2005, 16:59
I have to agree with andyl about the length of time it takes for information to pass from Specialists in hospitals to your Doctor. It's ridiculous in this day and age that it takes a fortnight, if you're lucky, for the Doctor to get the Consultants notes.
As for receptionists, I don't want to overwork the swear filter. :)
I have to agree with andyl about the length of time it takes for information to pass from Specialists in hospitals to your Doctor. It's ridiculous in this day and age that it takes a fortnight, if you're lucky, for the Doctor to get the Consultants notes.
As for receptionists, I don't want to overwork the swear filter. :)
Actually, although this is nearly 10 years ago, I was very impressed when I needed the operation on my knee. I hurt it at the tail end of October, saw the doctor within 2 days, saw the consultant within a fortnight, and had the op about 6 weeks after injuring myself in the first place.
Having said that, my knee's still knackered, but maybe I'm asking too much :D
I see this country as something like a family........it would be rather odd for the head of the household to give away a portion of the income to charity and then turn to his/her kids and say to them that they can't see the dentist 'cos there isn't any more money. What parent would do that?--Our govt does it to us.
Which party have plans to scrap overseas aid until we all have everything we want Rammy? :confused:
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<snip> My biggest gripe? Receptionists. I don't think I need say more.
A voice of reason, thank you. :D
On the note of receptionists, little Hitlers (most of them). I was with my Granddad the other week waiting for him to come out from seeing the nurse and there was a lady talking to the receptionist. I couldn't help overhearing (As I was sat 2 yards away) that she had just had a pacemaker fitted about a week ago and that she was having trouble with it and her breathing. The receptionist told her that there were no appointments available and she would have to call at 8.30 tomorrow to get an appointment that day.
Now if you ask me she should have checked with a doctor if he was willing to see her there and then or at least if it was o.k. for her to send the lady away. Who gave her the right to make potentially life and death decisions about patients, after all she's not even a nurse! :mad:
Edit - Saying that she had commented on how quickly she'd had it fitted!
greencreeper
01-02-2005, 18:04
Can you tell me the name of your surgery? Just out of curiosity - might be one that I support :D
Largely due to my practice's nurse giving out the wrong info, I found myself in ASDA last night, trying on a pair of ladies mule slippers. My life huh - could make a film out of it :D
My doctors are good. They have an open surgery policy in the moring so you can just pop in and then appointments in the evening from 2:30pm til 6pm. I tend to try and go in the morning because it is agony trying to convince the receptionsists that I actually need to see a doctor. Once last year I needed a house call becasue I don't drive and I had a severe kidney infection. Rang the surgery in the morning, explained, was told I wasn't ill enough. So I quickly learnt to bypass that by talking to one receptionsist who knows me and my case, I asked to speak to her was put through to the practise nurse and had a home visit that day.
If the receptionists were more adept at using the new IT systems as someone else mentioned in this thread, and more adept at booking patients in then the Gp's surgeries wouldn't have a problem.
Someon ealso mentioned the post code lottery in this thread regarding drugs :) we get that down here as well. I wanted to try beta interferon and was told it would cost me £12,000 a year. I can't work unfortunately thats why i plague the life out of all the peeps on here ;) so i haven't got that amount of money to invest in a drug that gives bad side effects in any case! Its madness it really is. I don't mind sending aid to other countries either but I wish we would sort our own out first and make sure our people are ok and looked after.
Sian
aliferste
01-02-2005, 18:12
The annoying thing is that you end up waiting that long to then be given a ten minute apointment.
Sounds hardly worth going in the first place.
If you are that bad then i am pretty sure even a long wait will be worth it to see a doc :)
Chimaera
01-02-2005, 18:16
:cry:Oi you lot, I used to be a receptionist for our local GP and at the local A&E department! :cry:
And, for what it's worth, when I left both jobs (which I liked!), both of my employers said they were sad to see me go. I left because I wanted one full time job - and I was fed up with being threatened by drunken yobbos at the hospital. When one of them pulled a knife on me, and his mate pointed a gun in my direction......I handed my notice in the following day :( The hospital receptionist job was by far the best job I ever had - not for the money either! :)
:cry:Oi you lot, I used to be a receptionist for our local GP and at the local A&E department! :cry:
And, for what it's worth, when I left both jobs (which I liked!), both of my employers said they were sad to see me go. I left because I wanted one full time job - and I was fed up with being threatened by drunken yobbos at the hospital. When one of them pulled a knife on me, and his mate pointed a gun in my direction......I handed my notice in the following day :( The hospital receptionist job was by far the best job I ever had - not for the money either! :)
Ah the exception that proves the rule!! :)
Seriously though fully take on board what you say and I would most definitely not want to work on A&E reception, especially not on a Friday/Saturday night (mind you wouldn't want to be working anywhere on a Friday/Sat night!). But my experience with GPs receptionists has generally not been good. They appear to be trained to keep you out of the surgery rather than help you. And some definitely over-reach themselves - one at my local tried to interpret my blood test results and clearly didn't know what she was talking about. But I don't deny that it's a tough job.
Chimaera
01-02-2005, 18:49
We used to 'squeeze' people in that needed to see the doctor urgently - not my decision! We used to ask the doctor and he would always talk to the patient to see how ill they were - I don't remember him turning anyone down for a visit either! He was always reasonable with the patients and got very few problems in return. He's a single handed practice and runs 2 surgeries - I wonder if that has anything to do with it? :shrug:
A Doctors day must be so stressful. When they think they've finished for the day and then have to fit in the extra patients and do house calls too.
I lift my hat off to them.
They are great, its the system that isnt.
due to my practice's nurse giving out the wrong info, I found myself in ASDA last night, trying on a pair of ladies mule slippers.
And that's your excuse and you're sticking to it...! :D
A Doctors day must be so stressful. When they think they've finished for the day and then have to fit in the extra patients and do house calls too.
I lift my hat off to them.
They are great, its the system that isnt.
:rofl: OMG I've never heard anything so funny in my life. Having worked in a surgery for over 3 years I can guarantee doctors have the life of riley. Don't be fooled that they have an hard life ;) They are the most tight fisted, stingy, lazy group of workers I have ever met. bb31 I'm sure will agree :rolleyes:
However have to agree with Chimmy that a minority of patients can be horrendous, can't remember how many times I had to ring the police for someone to be there when the surgery closed cos the druggies weren't allowed their script and so threatened to be waiting for us when surgery closed. At least one off the top of my head was a convicted murderer :erm:
Oh right. They certainly make us believe otherwise then.
ian@huth
01-02-2005, 22:43
A Doctors day must be so stressful. When they think they've finished for the day and then have to fit in the extra patients and do house calls too.
I lift my hat off to them.
They are great, its the system that isnt.
You must be joking, doctors these days don't work half as hard as they used to do. When I was young the doctors used to be on call day and night seven days a week. If you rang for a home visit you got one and if it was for a young child or someone with known health problems it was top priority for them. Nowadays if you try to get a doctor outside surgery hours its the ansaphone with the number of an emergency doctor or details of where you can go.
greencreeper
01-02-2005, 23:12
I deal with receptionists and practice managers all day long. I've reached two conclusions - firstly, like a well trained pit bull, receptionists only worry patients; and secondly, like a not so well trained pit bull, practice managers worry anybody, particularly those who say "No - can't help you there".
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