The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Sylvia on September 29, 2012, 08:30:06 am
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I go to the doctors very rarely, I am an ignore it, it'll go away person as a rule but being worried about a swollen eyeball went in to make an appointment with my GP(by the way, the last time I went to do the same I was told that my, then GP, had retired seven years earlier!) to be told that Dr. A. had a THREE WEEK!! waiting list and did I think I might live that long(well, I made that last bit up but was asked could it wait that long) I don't know, said I, my eyeball is swollen, so an appointment was made with a different doctor for the next day.
This got me thinking about the appointment system. Just supposing I had been on the verge of suicide and had summoned my last, tiny bit of courage to go to my doctor. Don't you think that to be told there is a three week waiting list to see him and couldn't it wait and, why did I want to see him, that my small flicker of hope may have gone out and I might have gone home and hung myself?
Could I, do you think, bring this up, somehow and how would I go about it? Maybe an "emergency" letter box, just inside the door, for things that you can't, somehow bring yourself to say face to face?
What do you think?
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I think you could be right. But it's all in how the practise staff handle the situation. The practise I go to are excellent - you never ever feel that you couldn't see a doctor right now, but are gently led into saying it'll be okay tomorrow, or next week, whatever, if in your own estimation it isn't so urgent. And you'd be offered a nurse if no doctor was present and you weren't sure whether it could wait, or a doctor or nurse on the end of the phone if you're phoning in and uncertain.
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I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait. My friend had a problem with her ears last year - no balance, impaired hearing, definitely not able to drive to work or even work in the house let alone on the farm - she was offered an appointment in 17 days' time. Only after she protested, she was offered one a bit sooner - still a few days' wait. Turned out to be labyrinthitis, and she was off work for several weeks. Maybe, if she had accepted the first offer, she'd have permanent damage now. And I think that is exactly what happens a lot. Sick people have to wait for so long that proper healing becomes impossible.
Which reminds me of something that's a long time ago now - about 30 years, in fact. A friend of mine from Australia was sent to GB for her "practical" part of the course in medicine she was doing. She said they liked to send students to Britain for that because the waiting times here were so long that they could see complications they wouldn't see in any other "civilised" country. Looks like nothing much has changed.
I'm sure individual staff in the NHS are very good at their jobs and do their very best - but I don't think it's the brilliant system it's always been pictured as. Personally, I'm grateful for every day I don't have to have anything to do with them.
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our surgery allocates the days appointments on the day, you have to be on the phone at 8.30am prompt, spend ages trying to get through, and if your one of the lucky ones you can get an appointment that day. they also do a drop in after 5 for emergencies. otherwise its 3weeks or even longer.
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DITW, the surgery where I was previously adopted the appointments on the day system also but after about 18 months found it wasn't working so went back to the old system where you could ring for an appointment in a few days time if that suited you. As far as I was concerned that worked much better, especially if you have to arrange around work also.
Sally
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When we were in the UK, if OH was ill with his chest, he always made me phone the surgery as soon as it opened, and I could usually get him in that morning. That was because he has a replacement knee joint, so any infection he gets has to be treated as soon as possible. If you were really poorly, you could usually get in within 24 hours, albeit with the least popular doctor in the practice. What used to annoy me was, if you saw a doctor and needed a blood test, you had to make a separate appointment with the nurse which could be a week ahead. Too bad if the doctor was waiting for the results before he prescribed anything! Then it was another week for the results of the test, then another few days to get back and see the GP.
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Am I just lucky? Our surgery is great :thumbsup:
Mind you I did have to make a BIG complaint 7 years ago so maybe they're scared of me :innocent: :roflanim:
There have been plenty of upgrades recently to bring them into the 21st century and what is to be a GP-lead Health Service.
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I often feel tempted to all the vet when I have a problem
Like you I seldom see the Dr, but every time I try he is on holiday. Maybe he could prescribe me one of those.
We have to ring at 8.30am on the day for an appointment. Then if we get one we wait 2 hours to be seen by a miserable arrogant GP who seems to think I am wasting his time. Good job we occasionally get a good locum. I am still waiting for results of a scan I had 3 years ago. is that a record? See you've got me on one of my favourite topics Sylvia. :rant:
But seriously, a swollen eye could be an emergency and the receptionists should know that. You are allowed to go straight to casualty with something of that nature.
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Not to worry folks , the nhs is being sold off/got rid of ! The same as the post office , the benefit system and the welfare state in general .
There will be many who leap up and say good job too , let the lazy unemployed get a job , but , what about pensions , child benefit etc etc .
The deliberately inept nhs is a time limited service , the eu have declared it so , as they did with the po and the welfare system .
Remember , it doesn't affect the millionaire club , or the government as we call them , they all have private healthcare and a very good pension , ooh yes , paid for by the tax payer !
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Our surgery has the opposite problem. If you phone up and ask for a non-urgent appointment in advance (say for a day in two weeks time that you know you're not working), you're told that they only book appointments one week at a time.
Needless to say, when you phone up that week, all slots are already taken. >:(
Mind you, they probably come out really well on the NHS metrics "Yes Mr Auditor, nobody ever waits more than a week to get an appointment with us" :innocent:
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At our surgery you can get an appointment with the main doctor the same day if he is in (he only works four days) but he is awful. Doesn't listen, asks the same question several times and doesn't seem to know what to do when he finally grasps what you're there for. The are three doctors who do a day or half day each and they are always booked up at least two weeks in advance.
This week I had the hospital appointment that I've been waiting for for nearly three months. I need to be referred to another department (another wait) but the doctor I saw wanted blood tests so the results would be ready for when I'm seen in 2-3 weeks. My appointment was not at the actual hospital but in a building some miles away that the NHS use as the hospital isn't big enough so I asked if I could have my blood test at the GP's surgery which was fine. I rang the surgery to be told that it would be the week after next as they were in the middle of flu jabs. Obviously no one who needs to see the nurse is being seen while the flu jabs are being done. I had visions of the hospital not getting the results in time for my new appointment but just said casually that maybe I ought to have my flu jab at the same time. Oh in that case we'll fit you in next Wednesday. ::) ::)
My theory is that there is an NHS directive stating that waiting lists should be as long as possible in the hopes that people will have either got better or died in the meantime, putting less pressure on NHS. ;D
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I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait.
Yep it's terrible that you are not seen immediately in a system that's free at the point of delivery (and thus unconstrained demand). Doctor's should work every hour god sends so that they can deal instantly with everyone's problems.
Oh yes, I forgot, that's why my wife a GP said 'stuff it' and gave up being a GP to live on a smallholding in Wales because she was working ridiculous hours.
Time some of you folk spent some time in the third world to see how good the NHS really is.
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agree big time with you henchard, the NHS today is not designed for the 21st C, when it came in to being it could not cope with the amount of work then let alone now with all the new treatments, or number of people trying to use the service.
The vision was good but that is all it was a vision (it was not planned how to pay for it and its development).
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I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait.
Yep it's terrible that you are not seen immediately in a system that's free at the point of delivery (and thus unconstrained demand). Doctor's should work every hour god sends so that they can deal instantly with everyone's problems.
It's not free - we are all paying for it through taxes. In other countries the system of payment might be different (and I'm talking about comparable countries here, not developing ones), but the system of delivery seems to be more efficient. And I do know that doctors and nurses and everybody else who works for the NHS work very hard - that's never been my problem with it, and I'm very grateful for them doing it. But something must be wrong with the system if it so obviously doesn't deliver what it was designed for!
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I have to say I must be really lucky as altho my chosen doc works part time so i cant always get him, I can always seen 'a' doctor at our surgery the same or next day.
And they have always been kind caring and competent, to date!
However this is in Scotland, and I wasnt so impressed at the service in the Home counties at our old place.
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Our surgery has about 8 doctors and an excellent automated booking system. About half the appointments are available for advance booking, the rest held back for demand on the day, with some held back for the afternoon. I can always get to see a doctor on the same day, or I can wait a week or so for my doctor. And they have one doctor on at 0700 for commuters
Our nearest casualty department is the Luton & Dunstable which is dire. But there's a nurse-led minor injuries unit in St Albans which is first class. I've been there a dozen times in the last few years and it's quick, friendly and capable.
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Our surgery is generally good and you can get seen pretty much the same day....IF ,IF you can manage to get connected to the Surgery switchboard at 1 second past eight when they open...even then you might be #16 in the queue....but anyway, that's not my biggest gripe...
I have real issues with the Pharmacy next to the surgery that offers Methedone "therapy" on a daily basis.... BEFORE anyone jumps an a high horse, let me tell you that I have no isses with addiciton, or people suffering from addicition, I have issues with how the process is managed....the following really grip my sh!t.....
1. Why are there always people waiting outside while their pals are in getting their daily prescription. It can be intimidating for folks going in or out ?
2. Why do I have to wait to receive my kids / parents / family prescritions while folk can walk in and stand in the middle of the shop and get their daily dose first?
3.Why can't the Pharmacy dispense Methadone at a specific time of the day, rathen than on a drop in basis (I could be wrong, persons may have an allocated timeslot)
4.Why should I have to attempt to descibe what is happening to my children?
And finally, why am I the bad one for asking these questions in the Pharmacy???
Business is business, I understand...but I now use another pharmacist who does not subscribe to the program, albeit a bit further away....So what's the point you may ask?, it's your choice not to go...and of course, you're correct. I really do hope that folks who are trying to kick the habit, "get it" and managed to recover.....it's not the people, it's the process......
Thanks for listening...... :innocent:
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Henchard, I'm not knocking the NHS at all, I lived for years in the Irish Republic where you had to be in a bad way to get free medical treatment.
My question was, what if someone plucked up the courage to go to the surgery and asked to see a doctor and was met with the receptionist, be she ever so nice, who told you that there was a waiting list and what did you want to see Dr. about and this in a waiting room full of strangers. Someone at the end of their tether or with embarassing symtoms may well not stay to explain.
I was asking what folk thought about a simple system whereby people could by-pass the receptionist and the doctor could know about things before he saw you. You could write a little note and put it in a post box just inside the waiting room, then get your appointment.
Omnipeasant, the receptionist did take my swollen eye seriously, did I want to see another doctor later that morning? I hadn't fed my pigs yet, so ::) ::) ::) I did get an appointment for the next day where a doctor took my eye very seriously and I have to go for tests early next week :o :o I am trying NOT to google swollen eyeballs now :-\ :-\
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I hope everything is okay with your eye.
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It's not free - we are all paying for it through taxes. In other countries the system of payment might be different (and I'm talking about comparable countries here, not developing ones), but the system of delivery seems to be more efficient. And I do know that doctors and nurses and everybody else who works for the NHS work very hard - that's never been my problem with it, and I'm very grateful for them doing it. But something must be wrong with the system if it so obviously doesn't deliver what it was designed for!
I did not say it was free. I said free 'at the point of delivery' thus there is virtually no limit to expectations and demand.
The NHS is unsustainable in it's current model. You only have to look at the current obesity crisis let alone technological advances. There is no way we will be able to pay for the costs that will fall on it in the future in it's current form. But no politician is honest enough to say so.
It's time for society to ask serious, if unpopular questions, about exactly what should be funded especially when a large proportion of the community do not look after their own health. Just look around any town centre at the amount of people who are obese and who will all be demanding their weight loss surgery, diabetes treatment, joint replacements and other related conditions during their lifetime.
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Seriously sick people can go to an Out of Hours facility or A&E.
Our Gp has a PA and she takes the details of patients who are too poorly to wait a week but not ill enough for an 'emergency' appt same day. The PA then has a meeting with the person's GP and we receive a call back , same day, to offer us an appointment that has been decided via a triage system. Works well for us.
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Our surgery has about 8 doctors and an excellent automated booking system. About half the appointments are available for advance booking, the rest held back for demand on the day, with some held back for the afternoon. I can always get to see a doctor on the same day, or I can wait a week or so for my doctor. And they have one doctor on at 0700 for commuters
Our nearest casualty department is the Luton & Dunstable which is dire. But there's a nurse-led minor injuries unit in St Albans which is first class. I've been there a dozen times in the last few years and it's quick, friendly and capable.
This sounds like an excellent system and I have known others like it. I think, like in everything, you get good and bad. I've very grateful for the NHS. I would never have been able to get private health insurance for my son to have artificial arms when he was born without a left hand, for example. I just don't like the surgery I am with. I ought to change really. There are others around so it is my own fault.
Wouldn't mind a surgery like on Coronation Street. Someone says, I think the doctor ought to take a look at you and, within a few minutes, they are being seen by the doctor. If he's called out, he is there almost immediately (despite all these people going for last minute appointments) and, for good measure, he's pretty dishy. :D
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Goldcraig are you ex forces by any chance?
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what as being ex-forces got todo with it...........
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Gow about this?
No appointement, seen within 5 mins, chest x-ray, ultrasound on the heart, blood tests then drugs given to us over the desk.
DOG is fine now !!!!
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Goldcraig are you ex forces by any chance?
No....Although I have worked overseas for many years, it's just the little things that annoy me :innocent:
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But, how much did it cost you? ;)
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The Dog costs? - I did not mention that the dog had 8 blood tests so that they could monitor the results of a machine that they used to draw off his blood, remove excess fluid and return it. they have their own blood analysis machines. Cost was 210 Euros so about £180 ish.
I had a chest infection and had to pay 2.07 Euros when I collected the prescription for anti-biotics on the day I called for an appointement.
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sylvia, how is your eye now?? :tree:
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sylvia, how is your eye now?? :tree:
Have had blood tests, results later this week, then have to see the doctor again and she will make an appointment to see a consultant. Why does everyone always have an aunt/sister-in-law/friend that................... :o :o :o :o Still not googling!!!!
I know there are medically minded folk out there. When I asked what blood tests would reveal I was told Oh, liver and kidney functions and such. Would my liver or kidneys or such be affecting my eye? Best to discuss that with Dr. O, I was told.
I know what my concerns are and would rather have a straight answer so, what else would blood tests show?
Thanks for your concern,Dave and OmniP.
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Sometimes I think they test things like liver and kidneys as routine while they are taking blood for other tests. Mine seem to be tested regularly.
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In 2004 I was taken in to hospital in Stockholm with acute abdominal pains. Before admission I had to pay about £6 and then got to lie on a trolley in a corridor for 4 hours until a nurse finally gave me some painkillers. These were so strong that I felt great, discharged myself and went to dinner with some friends. They drugs wore off at about 2am despite half a bottle of red so I was back in hospital at 3am, paid another £6, and finally got to see a doctor at about 6am. Gall stones, big ones.
The surgeon thought he'd be able to operate in a couple of weeks so I asked if I was fit to fly. He said OK so I got on the next BA flight home having been stuffed full of happy pills. I got a taxi from Heathrow straight to the local A+E where I waved my Swedish case notes and scan. These were very helpful as the NHS ultrasound machine wasn't working and the words were similar enough for them to guess, apparently.
In retrospect one of the stupidest things I've ever done. The painkillers were strong enough for me to have flown without the plane and I didn't tell BA I was sick. That could have ended badly. But I was damn glad to be in the hands of the NHS despite its failings.
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In 2004 I was taken in to hospital in Stockholm with acute abdominal pains. Before admission I had to pay about £6 and then got to lie on a trolley in a corridor for 4 hours until a nurse finally gave me some painkillers. These were so strong that I felt great, discharged myself and went to dinner with some friends. They drugs wore off at about 2am despite half a bottle of red so I was back in hospital at 3am, paid another £6, and finally got to see a doctor at about 6am. Gall stones, big ones.
The surgeon thought he'd be able to operate in a couple of weeks so I asked if I was fit to fly. He said OK so I got on the next BA flight home having been stuffed full of happy pills. I got a taxi from Heathrow straight to the local A+E where I waved my Swedish case notes and scan. These were very helpful as the NHS ultrasound machine wasn't working and the words were similar enough for them to guess, apparently.
In retrospect one of the stupidest things I've ever done. The painkillers were strong enough for me to have flown without the plane and I didn't tell BA I was sick. That could have ended badly. But I was damn glad to be in the hands of the NHS despite its failings.
It probably was pretty stupid but I can understand it.
My son worked in East Timor and had a mini bus drive into his motor scooter. He sustained a fractured collar bone, his passenger had multiple fractures including hips. When the 'ambulance' arrived, cunningly disguised as a transit van, Richard and friend had to prove they had insurance before the drivers (not paramedics) would do anything. They got a wheeled stretcher out of the back and hoiked friend on it, screaming in pain but couldn't get the legs to fold so put it in the van as it was. Richard objected as the poor bloke's nose was practically touching the roof and there was no means of securing it. They got it out again and attempted to fold the legs by kicking at them until it collapsed. It's amazing that Richard's friend was still conscious by this time.
Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for in this country.
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I do agree. My "will you still be alive by then" was a joke(almost!)
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Goldcraig are you ex forces by any chance?
No....Although I have worked overseas for many years, it's just the little things that annoy me :innocent:
'Grips my sh1t' is a very forces expression, would easily have transferred overseas ........ Haven't heard it for years