I’ve just had covid and collapsed in the bathroom my husband dialled 999 as I had passed out on the floor. Ambulance people came within 5 minutes I was just coming round. I had dangerously low blood pressure. They couldn’t access my GP details. They rushed me to hospital where a stayed for most of the day having tests. My GPs now say go on line and fill a form out and will be triaged but it has to be before 10:15am. They say you can go in and speak to reception but then they say fill a form out tomorrow morning! filled a form out on line and had a telephone call from one of the doctors who said he would see me that afternoon. He said come in the back way but ring reception and tell them you are there and I will let you in (because I had covid) so we did this and it said ‘you are 9 in the queue’ the time went over so my husband went in reception to find one receptionist and one patient waiting to be seen and no one on the phone. I was let in and saw GP. They had just stopped my painkillers with no explanation or informing me and said he couldn’t understand why the ambulance people couldn’t access my records. He was very understanding about me going into hospital and spent sometime talking to me through things which I was grateful but this new system is terrible for people. I know they are too busy and overstretched but the accident and emergency departments at the hospital are taking all their pressure now as well as their own. When I was released after tests and observations we walked through A&E and it was bursting at the seams. Has anyone else’s GP surgery changed to this where you can’t ring you have to fill a form out on line and in a small time window to do this? I used to be able to send a message asking a question and would just get a text answer back if it wasn’t urgent but they’ve stopped that too. Not everyone has an iPhone computer or the internet my mother is 94 years old.
GP Surgery changed access to get help! - British Heart Fou...
GP Surgery changed access to get help!
I think it’s how your surgery uses the new system. My surgery had a difficult time changing over but I haven’t had any problem. In fact it has helped me a lot. They use a triple system now. PATCHS combined with their own website, telephone triage and personal visit to reception. It’s excellent when it works but it did take time and effort to get it right.
My surgery switched to the new system a couple of months ago, and an instruction to use it has been added to the preamble one listens to if one rings up. (It soon gets boring.)
My own trip to Casualty last week ended with a recommendation that I get a further blood test from my GP, so I tried the system for the first time on Friday. Being pedantic by nature, I thought that the various forms didn't really suit my needs. I filled them in as best I could and thought that the chance to add a little extra info was a bonus, rather than ringing up, finally getting my call answered, have a triage nurse call me back and listen to my woes - and nearly always grant me an appointment that day.
Within an hour I had a text saying a doctor wanted to see me and to make an appointment on-line. - the first available slot was on May 13😆. My first reaction was that I just want a test, which now is unlikely to take place until around the 20th-21st, thankfully in time for the results to be available for my haematology appointment on the 31st.
Under the old system I could have had a chat about this with the very efficient practice nurse.
(I try to be very understanding of the NHS and its difficulties, but its step-by-step approach can be a little wearing: seek an appointment; get an appointment date; wait for it and get told one needs a further test which will be arranged; wait for a test date and so on.)
Hello 
A lot of surgeries are now doing this and personally I think it is a nightmare
They have not took into account that not everyone has the internet for a start , older people as well as not all of us are technical I find these things hard
We also now have a new saying from the receptionists at our Doctors if you can phone in as you think it is an emergency and need to be seen that day and that is we are full to capacity all appointments have gone either phone 111 , 999 or go to A&E and I always reply they are full to bursting and I have a surgery that is open and you are throwing us over their way I think it is getting more than a joke now and it worries me at times
Also like you have said my Husband will go up to the surgery and this can be when you have been told they are full to capacity and cannot see you and there is not one single person in there !!!!
I remember the old days the Doctors would open you would que up get your number sit in the waiting room and when it was your turn you would go in you could go as many times in a week as you needed to if you wanted they seemed to cope fine but now well I am not sure what is happening
I am sorry you have been ill and glad you did get to see a Doctor and they seemed to give you the time and sort things out x
thanks for replying I think it’s ridiculous to be honest. I get that they have too many patients but I think they are going too far with it now. Why couldn’t they change things in steps to help people get used to it I’m sure that would have gone down better with patients. What I was really cross about was when I put my prescription in which included full strength co-codamol which I only take when I’m in pain with my back or anything else that might be as painful and because I hadn’t reordered it within a 6 month period they took it off without consulting me and they’ve always known I take them as and when I need them. How can they just do that to people without giving warning. While having covid I had a terrible headache and went looking for them and I did have some in the cupboard but not many left hence ordering them again. After I collapsed due to my very low blood pressure I looked up the 3 heart tablets I’m on and asked Google if it’s ok to take these tablets with codeine in them but on the Bisoprolol tablet it came up that you shouldn’t take them as it can lower blood pressure with the combination! That’s what could have caused me to pass out and end up in A&E by ambulance. I’ve now asked the doctor and he says I can still take them and has put a smaller packet of them on my repeat as it was always big boxes. I asked if there was an alternative painkiller that wouldn’t react with my tablets and he said no so I’m just left now knowing the next time I’m in pain I will be scared to take anything. Don’t know what the answer is Im afraid. Hey ho. X
Just checked my NHS app and I've been given a specified 10-minute slot for my telephone appointment on May 13 - with the latest of a succession of GPs. OK, compared with some patients I'm lucky to get that, but I wonder how long he'll devote to looking at my extensive records of the past 16 months and how much of a concise verbal summary to give him.
(I'm all for these telephone appointments, even though the surgery is less than 15 minutes' walk away. I still recall with disbelief a receptionist ringing to say the GP wanted to see me and giving me a face-to-face appointment time. The GP asked if I'd heard back about a referral she'd made for me, I said "no" and that was that! My office was 40 miles away at the time. IIRC I took a half-day's annual leave, allowed an hour for the appointment, including travel to the surgery and back, and made up the rest with a longer working day - which is more than most/any of my colleagues would have done.)
Sounds horrendous! I live in a rural area in Argyll..though we are surviving on locum GPs atm you can get an appointment or phone call same day usually!
Hi
If we want an appointment with gp we habe to ring between 8.30 and 10.30 in the morning. Some days we just cant get through,or if we do the appointments can all be away by 9.30!
Hope you are feeling better now. Jules x
Gosh what a muddled time -consuming system especially for older people. I live in France and there is a site called Doctolib and you make an appointment on line ( and also receive repeat prescriptions) to see the GP. No triage etc. I am usually able to see the dr within a couple of days face to face ( there is a facetime option too). Of course there are problems in France too but I am just grateful for the moment it isn't too complicated to get to see my GP as I am rubbish at IT .
But they have a different and better funded health service (by taxpayers) so you cannot compare the two. We have to accept that we need to pay more taxes if we want a health service such as in Germany etc.
I think the problem in the UK is all the administration that is bogging the system down. Yes in France we pay more social charges at the end of the month . They grumble here ( french have that down to a fine art 😄) but if you want decent healthcare it has to be paid for and you have to force people to pay so it is taken off your salary.
According to the latest OECD data, the UK spends 5493USD per year per patient; has 3.2 doctors and 8.7 nurses per 1000 patients. France spends 6630USD per year per patient; has 3.4 doctors and 9.7 nurses per 1000 patients. Which country is getting better value for money? An overly simplistic question I know as none of the above relates to healthcare outcomes.
Two of the more interesting statistics is that Germany has 14 nurses per 1000 patients AND more interestingly 8 beds per 1000 patients: THREE times the UK figure. It spends 8011USD per year per patient.
Are you talking about EConsult? My surgery has been using this since 2020. It works well when patients do not need a face-to-face consultation. It is a pretty simple system to use on a computer or Pad.
This does appear to be a national trend and reflects the digitising of society. It's not suitable for all though.
Our practice is due to introduce this system next month and it has caused a bit of a 'kerfuffle', involving our MP.
In principle, it seems designed to remove the telephone bottleneck (especially on Monday mornings) and also enable a triage to be carried out quickly and more effectively by a doctor (not receptionist). In some cases, patients could be referred for a blood test without first seeing a doctor (with the attendant delay that involves).
As with others, our practice will complete the form for patients who are unable to complete the triage form.
I'm sure there will be teething problems and it's not a panacea but I guess time will tell!! I just hope our practice will respond quickly to any glitches.
In the few face to face and telephone appointments I’ve had with a GP I normally find that I’ve forgotten to ask some questions and give all of my symptoms, I knew something was wrong, my BP sometimes heads of to dangerous territory around 220 / 110 for no reason, so I resorted to putting it in a letter addressed to Doctors, left it with the Doctors receptionist, ended up with loads of hospital tests and scans culminating in a phone call on a Sunday morning from the cardiologist, booked in the next week had 2 cardiac stents and six weeks later two more, the doctors didn’t seem upset that I’d put the questions in a letter so that seems to be the best bet, best keep it to one page, put your NHS number, Name etc and keep to the point, it worked for me.
I found this online in the Birmingham Mail paper
“A new NHS change will make it easier for millions to book GP appointments. GPs will be forced to allow patients to book appointments over the phone, under a new contract starting next month, it has been confirmed ahead of April.
GP practices will be ordered to allow patients to book an appointment over the phone under new NHS contracts for surgeries. Practices will be told that they need to give the same level of service to anyone trying to make an appointment – whether they walk in, phone or use online services.”
I for one am please about this. When our practice introduced the online form, they sold it on the basis that you could use it at a time that suited you and you could raise non urgent issues that didn’t necessarily require an appointment that day. In reality, they set a maximum number per day, which is usually reached at about 8:15am and after that you simply get a reply which says it’s too late to have someone look at your urgent request and that you need to fill in another form tomorrow.
I am fortunate that I rarely need to see the doctor. Our surgery is literally a 5 minute walk away so it will be interesting to see what happens when I call in next time to book an appointment.
yup! They want you to fill in an E-consult form. The snag is that you have to be up before 7am to do this , and I’m not, usually. When you do try to phone, there’s a message telling you that there’s no need to wait; there’s a quick and easy way to access the surgery. Lies! And then they patronise you by saying ‘if you can’t do it, a friend or relative will help’. I have to say, though, that if I do manage to fill in the form, a doctor always rings back. But it was so much better the old way. And I think research has shown that outcomes are better if patients can talk to the same doctor all the time, to establish a relationship. Sorry for the rant.
I'm lucky always to have had good access to a GP, but the one I have a telephone appointment with next Monday the 13th is the latest in a succession. All I want is an appointment for a blood test as recommended by a Casualty doctor, so it shouldn't take all the allocated ten minutes, and I should be spared summarising my various woes of the last 16 months. I can't see him having the time to assimilate all the info on my records.
I called with severe bradycardia 30 bpm and was told t ring tomorrow. Next day 8am phone call, seen at 12. GP said ECG and bloods next week,?despite showing him rhythm strips from my I phone. Next day admitted to CCU with bigeminy, hypertension and collapse. I’m an experienced nurse and was dismayed at the lack of engagement and referral. I have no faith. Took myself to overstretched ED whereas Friday GP could have made a direct referral to Cardiologist. Poor patient experience. Thankfully CCU UHW were superb and I am now discharged in NSR.
So sorry to hear how you were treated it’s terrible. I have Bradycardia low BP Bigeminy arrhythmia and hypotension. It’s scary when you are dizzy, faint and feel sick then you are sick. It’s a good job I wasn’t on my own when I passed out my husband worked at home to be with me when I started covid symptoms so I’m very lucky he can do that. He’s got to go in work from next week though and I get really anxious when I know I will be on my own. He works 2 days a week in London and the rest at home. Hope things get sorted for you. X
It is scar and feel the anxiety also comes from not being listened to. Self care is all that can be done. Sensible approach to any dizzynessv I feel for you. I’m home alone tomorrow. Take good care of yourself
I must be one of the lucky ones here in dear old Huddersfield with my GP Surgery. Yes, you still have the online form to request appointments but if you feel you need an urgent appointments you can just ring. Soon as you mention 'Heart', bang, you're in straight away. Stark contrast to my previous GP on the Yorkshire Coast when we're always unwilling to actually make a decision for themselves. Once requested a repeat script for Colchicine. Insisted on seeing me then insisted I went to A & E. They promptly went ballistic and I came away with the Script after a 12 hour wait. System is a mess
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