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GP Surgeries - What is your experience like?

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High Dyke

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I can relate to the kafka-esque tale related earlier. I try not to visit the GP unless it's important. My last experience, a couple of years ago, was equally challenging.

Me: I'd like an appointment to see my GP.
Them: Why? Are you ill?
Me: Yes.
Them: What's wrong with you?
Me: I don't know, that's why I wish to see the GP.
Them: Well the doctor is busy for two weeks, and then on holiday.
Me: Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise ailments were affected by the calendar.

I refused to debate the point any further with them, and left. Luckily it wasn't anything serious.
 
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duncanp

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I can relate to the kafka-esque tale related earlier. I try not to visit the GP unless it's important. My last experience, a couple of years ago, was equally challenging.

Me: I'd like an appointment to see my GP.
Them: Why? Are you ill?
Me: Yes.
Them: What's wrong with you?
Me: I don't know, that's why I wish to see the GP.
Them: Well the doctor is busy for two weeks, and then on holiday.
Me: Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise ailments were affected by the calendar.

I refused to debate the point any further with them, and left. Luckily it wasn't anything serious.

What is annoying, but entirely predictable, is that the British Medical Association have criticised the government's plan, announced today, to try and increase capacity for GP surgeries over the winter by giving them an extra £250 million.

You would think the BMA would be pleased at the extra money, but no they aren't because the plan includes publishing data on the performance of GP surgeries. Heaven forbid that the government should try to ensure that the £250 million is spent where it needs to be spent, and actually produces results.
 

ainsworth74

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What I tend to find is that, on the whole, the medical side of the GP service (i.e. the GPs, nurses, healthcare assistants and whatnot) are fine. Some are better than others but I've never had a complaint about the actual care that I've received from a medical professional in my GP surgery. However the admin side is almost always terrible either because you've got staff who seem to hate the very idea of dealing with people, you've got the Kafkaesque procedures or both!

My own GP surgery for instance appears to only have a phone system capable of dealing with eight calls at a time. Two people being spoken to (you can tell because you can hear another call in the background) and then six in the queue. If anyone else tries to call at that point you just either get a busy signal or it doesn't even try to connect the call. I'm assuming it's six maximum in the queue as I've never had a higher number than "you are number six in the queue". So your only hope is to hammer the phone calling again and again and again and again. I've had to make over 100 calls before I finally got connected. Now, to be fair, there was by some miracle an appointment still available the same day to speak to someone but good grief spend a few quid on getting a phone system that can hold more than six people in a ruddy queue!

I deal with various other GP surgeries in the day job from time to time requesting medical records and some of the admin staff are fine but others are an absolute pain and react as if you're asking them to handwrite these records rather than just, you know, login to their system and press print... That's assuming that they they don't try and charge you for something which is now free since GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (they don't like it when you point them to the British Medical Association guidance explaining there's no charge). Or then break the law by sending you hundreds of pages of data that you explicitly didn't ask for (presumably in a fit of pique at being told they can't charge you for it so decided to just drown you in paper instead) - needless to say the gentle note the practice manager point out this issue resulted in a panicked phone call from the manager apologising for breach.

Anyway. GPs and medical staff never, in general, had a problem with them and have a lot of time for them. The administration side of GP surgeries however? That's where the real scandal is for my money.
 

Ediswan

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but good grief spend a few quid on getting a phone system that can hold more than six people in a ruddy queue!
Assuming this is IP telephony, the suppliers have a 'nice little earner' wherby they charge according to the maximum number of possible simultaneous calls, including those held in a queue by a local PBX. These charges are not trivial. Anybody interested further should lookup 'SIP Trunks'.
 
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