Change for the better .!

[Scrumpy]

My little doctors practice is closing in a couple of weeks so I have had to register with a new practice in the town.
At my old practice there was just one  room where the patients sat along side the reception. There was only ever six people waiting at any one time. The doctor would come out of his room and call his patients in by there first names ..
The doctors practice that I was at this morning had many waiting rooms . I was in waiting room numbers 1 to 10 ..It was full. I never found out where the toilets were.. I never saw a doctor because they were running an hour behind .. Because of parking and running late I made another appointment ..
I came away feeling very sad .. I miss my little practice down the road that I had been using for many years ..

[zoony]

I know what you mean about an old practice Scrumpy..It doesn't seem that long since my local practice was in a glorified lean-to but my doctor knew me and my family well..On the positive side, you were able to find a GP. Quite a few can't these days and have to use A&E..

[crabbyob]

spot on Scrumpy... welcome to the NHS as we know it
a sterile service where no-one knows you, they rarely even talk to you
your old Doc used to feel your nails, the ridges or lack of them told him something
he had a good look in your eyes then asked to see your tongue..
now they hardly even look at you, their eyes glued to their computer monitor
they might ask a question as the type away...are they typing in your report, or the previous
patients? we will never know...

[peterpensioner]

Has anyone tried Push Doctor - an online GP service that claims you can "see" a GP at a time of your choice for a cost of £20. Your "consultation" is done via Skype or any other face to face service. Any prescription needed is sent electronically by the GP to a chemist of your choice. Sadly this is the future !!

[zoony]

I'm sure you're right PP...but it won't be our future. I've an idea that the Skype generation might prefer it. I prefer a phone consult with my doctor, in most circumstances, to traipsing to the surgery and if we agree that I need to be seen, I am.

[Alfred]

Yes without doubt trying to see a doctor or even a nurse that you've got to know well when you arrive at the surgery your faced with locum doctors, and different nurses,


its seems more like a Russian roulette saga  where your lucky if you survive the first round, and even receptionists are for ever changing well they seem to where i live, never knowing who we're going to see,.


Nothing at all like the old days where the same people were in the surgery for many  many years even up to retirement, yes without doubt change is getting worse,not better im sorry to say,.


i feel sorry for people unable to get to the surgery for what ever reason, so for them it must be like a bad dream, what do you do to see a doctor is getting to be like a lottery win................??

[sparky]

By comparison to some of the tales I read, we are lucky, although seeing my named doctor could take over a week, I can see a doctor within a day or so, and same day if urgent, and the receptionists are friendly and helpful, an added bonus is the surgery is 4 houses away from my house.

[Sheila]

The doctors and nurses at our surgery are brilliant but getting an appointment is often a problem.  You start phoning at 8.00 a.m. and may get through at about the 30th attempt to be told that there are no appointments left and to phone tomorrow.  That is no good when I know I need antibiotics urgently (I have bronchiectasis and asthma). 

Next time I see the respiratory consultant I am going to ask her about having a rescue pack so that I can sort myself out. 

It's strange that, when I visit the surgery, there are hardly any patients in the waiting room although there are about ten doctors in the practice.

[crabbyob]

sounds like my practice Shelia, ten doctors names = ten salaries
but they are also named in other practices, does this equate to 'other' salaries?
if you go in now, there might be three people waiting, but at least twenty will have phoned
this is why A&E get chock-a-block... but of course you can always see the practice nurse
who can now prescribe...

[cheddar-caveman]

We, NHS emergency services, are already utilising Skype in some circumstances during a 111/999 call. This is especially useful, for example when a person reports someone with "severe bleeding". This very often turns out to be what we'd class as a scratch!
I think there is a very real place in today's world for an extension of internet services.

[crabbyob]

it was funny down the pit C.C. if you got nicked you bled like a pig
if you have any temperature at all the blood flows copiously
so a scratch might seem life threatening to the untrained, so Skype might just be a big help...
 

[cheddar-caveman]

It's being trialled in certain areas at the moment and yes, I think it could save a lot of unnecessary Red 1 (life threatening) call outs.