GP surgery's are a complete joke

Trying to make a appointment for my wife to discuss her medication for her mental health. She has previously signed to say I have the authority to speak on her behalf. We have to phone at 8 am to get a phone appointment to speak to doctor who can then invite us in for a face to face appointment. Then if he is unsure she will be referred back to the specialist who initially prescribed the medication. Is it any wonder that people don't get help for mental health issues. I know for a fact if she had made that call she would just give up as the anxiety of dealing with it would be too much.
So now I'm going to have to get my mum to phone (as I'll be at work and have a daily meeting at 8am) explain that they need to call back after 3pm. So a doctor can speak to me so I van request a face to face to appointment for him to probably get in touch with the doctor who prescribed the medication to start with.
Honestly they just dump people with mental health issues on tablets and then wash their hands of them.
If you know anyone with mental health issues please offer them support.

 

Huddersfield Road surgery were terrible for my Mum & are now as bad for my Dad. (I had to livestream on Facebook outside the surgery to let my Mum in. When finally admitted she was diagnosed with type 4 bowel & liver cancer). She had been trying to get an appointment for months, until I took it into my own hands. She died 2 months ago, a year after her diagnosis. Macmillan & Barnsley Hospice on the other hand were great.

Same thing with Dad, who is deaf & has 4 chronic illnesses. They have cancelled his last 4 appointments for vital blood tests on the morning of the appointment.

They may as well put a moat outside the doors with sharks in.Utterly pathetic.

 

Our nhs is so underfunded and GPs surgeries so badly run that in my experience it's the same with physical health too.

I had a problem last year and had to call my doctor at 8am which actually meant trying from 8am to 8:45am only to be told they were full and to call back the next day. Called back the next day and tried again from 8am to about 8:50 and eventually got a telephone appointment with a triage nurse. The time came and went for the appointment with no phone call so u called them 'sorry we got behind, you'll have to call back tomorrow '.
Tried the third day and got told the same thing, triage nurse on the phone. Guess who didn't call for? Yep the nurse.
So I called 111 (I think that's the number). They booked me an appointment at a walk in centre for 20 minutes after the phone call. Went down and got seen at the exact time.

Walk in centre was brilliant. Helpful, gave good advice and explained things properly and gave me some medication. Said if it didn't sort itself out with the medication in 7 days to call my doctor's and tell them Dr so and so at the walk I centre had left notes on my record instructing them to refer me to the specialist at the hospital.

So a week later I called my gp and explained to the receptionist. 'sorry we dont look at notes left by doctors outside of our surgery, you'll have to call for an appointment '. Fine. So I called for an appointment, took another couple of days of trying and again got the triage nurse promise. This time I told them I'd make a formal complaints if they ignored it. Triage nurse called me, I explained, she said I needed a doctor phone call appointment. I said I'd seen a doctor. Tough you need one, it'll be tomorrow. Next day doctor calls. Oh you need to come in. Went in day after and got told exactly what the walk in centre had told me two weeks ago. Was told they'd refer me to specialist and would be contacted in so many weeks

Those weeks past, no contact. So I called Barnsley hospital. Guess what? No referral... They looked at my notes though and took the referral from the walk in centre and booked me in for 6 months time. 8 months past and eventually I got the appointment.

Guess what? Permanent damage caused due to delay in seeing a doctor. I was so angry I could have killed someone

 

Where I live the area is getting destroyed by development & part of that plan is to build hundreds of new homes in the area, however I believe there are no plans to build extra surgeries or dentists or schools for that matter & trying to get an appointment at the doctors is already nigh on mission impossible , I shake my head thinking about what it is going to be like when people move into the area & put more strain on services which are already near breaking point .

 

GP’s are a good example of what we would get if the NHS is privatised totally.
Sounds like yours is same as ours, where nigh on impossible to see a Dr, if it can’t be done over the phone you get sent to the walk in centre at Hospital.
Ours are still citing COVID restrictions as reason, though oddly enough if you are willing to see a Nurse you can.

 

The OP and replies to this are absolutely ******* beyond belief.
Recently, I have been having chronic itching all over my body, to then point where I am in constant pain and waking up several times a night. I was reluctant to ring the Doctors due to them probably being overwhelmed and not giving me anything, but seriously, this has made me more determined than ever to ring them and get the care I need.
I get the staff are just employees doing their jobs but **** me blind just help people.

 

I have given up ever trying to get through on the phone they never seem to answer, I always walk to the surgery & ask politely for an appointment , still get turned down but at least I have spoken to someone , last time I went I had an ear infection & the receptionist offered me a phone appointment to which I reluctantly accepted, when the doctor rang & I told him my symptoms he said " I need to see you & look in your ear " I said " thats what I said to your receptionist " & the circle had begun

 

Sorry that sounds like an abysmal experience. GPs surgeries are beyond a joke a lot of the time.

I know from my missis so much is getting missed in terms of mental health. So many people are not getting the support they need and then they end up in crisis and on the wards. Then they have the problem in reverse when people are at a level that they could with support leave hospital there is no support there. This all leads to intense pressure on the wards people leave and cannot be replaced.

It’s just all so terribly depressing. Quite often the missis is the only qualified nurse on her shift (which goes against all guidelines) and she probably ends up working 2 hours extra a day for free. There not sustainable and like all those who’ve already left she will burn out.

You seem to be offering real support and that’s brilliant but remember to look after yourself too.

 

We also have a system where you can message the Practice, bizarrely you can only send a message during set times like 7.30-10am though.

 

Huddersfield Road Surgery is a pile of ****. Absolute waste of space, going to transfer to Penistone Group instead as I've had enough of them- and only registered with them last summer!

 

Thanks, the wife on the whole is doing so much better than a year ago I just want to make sure we stay on top of things. The medication she is on has a lot of side effects and she is keen to discuss weaning off and seeing how she feels. Now it may be that she needs medication permanently but maybe not. But as I say I can't imagine how some people would deal with it alone.
The post from @John Peachy above shows how dire the consequences can be.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with you about Huddersfield Road Surgery. They don't ever respond to complaints - just ignore them or say they never received it.

 

It didn't used to be too bad, but they're milking the covid situation to the hilt. It would be interesting to know how many people they actually deal with now per day compared with say 2019.

 

not seen my doc in years, just get the practice nurse now, which is fine to me
other week whilst sat in waiting room a lady entered asking to book an appointment for but told to call or book online at 8am next day, she argued that she'd been doing that for 3 days, no answer to phone and online slots for a call back all went very fast then she had to start work!
honestly this tory gov is trying to kill all the working class folk off so we don't hit 65/67

 

I can’t believe how horrendous some of your doctors are! I’ve been really insulated from it as we can book appointments online or walk in and book for days in advance rather than doing the whole 8am thing. I start work at 7:45am and have to be supervising students so there’s no way I could ring at 8am if needed. I don’t know if mine’s better because the books are full of students who never visit the doctors or what but the few times my husband of I have needed them it’s not been a bother.

 

You are very lucky indeed. I remember when I could book appointments online and others had to do the 8am scramble. But eventually my Doctors succumbed then Covid hit and things got worse and they have not gone back. I'm am convinced these policies will have cost lives.

 

to be honest, even pre covid it was difficult to get an appointment, the wife used to walk in and ask, if nothing for a week or two she would simply say
"ok, i'll have to go to a&e then" but they always found a slot

 

I've tried saying that previously and just get told "that's your choice to make"

 

Our health service is being starved of funding by our government in order to get people to think it's a waste of time and ultimately stand aside and watch it replaced by an American-style health insurance system.

By contrast, here in Spain, my wife had dizzy spells 2 weeks ago and my sister (who lives here) took us to Granada hospital. Anne had had similar attacks but more severe previously, the last being in April last year when she spent 24 hours in hospital under observation, she had no diagnosis and no treatment. She had a letter a couple of weeks ago inviting her for blood tests in relation to that incident - a full 12 months after the event. In Granada, she was seen in A&E inside 5 minutes, had CAT scans (which were never an option in the UK), blood tests, ECG etc and saw a specialist 3 times in 5 hours, the last time with all the results. She was diagnosed with inner ear problems and otherwise given a clean bill of health. She has now completed a course of drugs which has been successful.

The contrast in care between here and back home is stark.