Can I Please Ask You All To Sign This...........

[mandymoosie]

Petition. The government are thinking about cutting down the number of times that we can see our GP's 😞

How on earth they think they're going to work this I just don't know.

What about people with chronic conditions of which there are Billions of us ?:|

It's hasn't gone through yet so we have chance to let them know we don't like it.

Many thanks in advance for your time :-x

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/dont-cap-GP-visits#petition

[mandymoosie]

Oh sorry, I meant to say would you mind passing it on and sharing it wherever you can please.

Many thanks :-x

[1311rose]

I'd much prefer if they made GPs provide proper out of hours cover

[bitsnknots]

I've signed Mandy for both me and my mum.  

I agree that it is ridiculous.  It would be heaven help the likes of my mum who goes through spells of never being away from the doctors.

[mandymoosie]

Rose yes I fully agree with you there too 🙂 It's not good here either, plus they're always changing things so you never know where you are or what you're supposed to be doing.

Many thanks Chris to you and your Mum 🙂

I just don't know what they're even thinking of. How on earth can that work?? what are people supposed to do once they've had their quota of visits then??

This will just mean that more and more people will end up at A&E, which is crumbling already, because they'll have nowhere else to go. So how's that even going to be a saving ?? it's going to work out a lot more expensive in my opinion.

:-x

[captainbovine]

signed.

Its only someone who doesn't have to rely on the doctors for checkups etc that has thought this up I imagine.

I heard they were going to think about saying some things you could go NHS and other thing wrong with you you would have to pay for?

I expect it won't be long before the NHS collapses and we end up like the USA, having to have private insurance:-(

[kiss*my*pixel]

As I understand it, this is merely a topic put forward for discussion. It goes without saying it would be completely unworkable (and unthinkable) to attempt to put it into practice! Government take note!!

How on earth could a cap be put on GP visits? Everyone has different levels of health generally; in addition, as people get older, they naturally will need more visits to their doctor, as more things go wrong with their bodies. It simply wouldn't work. Also parents of young children - children get sick a lot - they are in constant contact with germs, parents worry about the slightest variance in their health. The Government surely would not dare to tell any of these people that their GP visits are limited. I really cannot see this proposal going any further forward.

It's a very silly suggestion, blown up by the media (as usual), and perhaps a little premature for a petition?  (I hope)!!

[merc1_clocks]

Signed :-x

[rhubarbcity]

Signed

[cat-knitter]

Signed & shared

I often wonder about how long it will be before we lose our NHS services  😞

[mandymoosie]

Aww you wonderful laydeees 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to do that 🙂

Yes I believe bit by bit, and via the back door too, so as they think we wont notice, they are attempting to move towards private medicine, they, of course, will deny that, but why else even think about this ?:|

Kiss well it may well be a bit early but I say to be for warned is to be for armed 🙂

Once again, many thanks :-x

[kiss*my*pixel]

I s'pose - will sign then, just incase! 😄

(Still don't think it will get anywhere though, but if this causes another obstacle  .....) :^O

[cat-knitter]

well they have more or less privatised dental treatment, at our practise only one dentist treats NHS patients & the cost is still astronomical 😞

[023mjc]

Signed.

That said, the way our surgery is run it's almost impossible to see a doctor anyway. You cannot walk in to the surgery, or make an appointment. You have to phone up, (lines engaged for hours)  tell the receptionist what's wrong ( yes - the receptionist!!! ), She tells a nurse who phones you back some time ( often several hours) later in the day. After you've repeated everything to the nurse, she then decides if you are poorly enough to need a doctor and if so , you get an appointment for 3 weeks time. If you say it's urgent and you need to see someone now you are told to go to A&E.

If  you are lucky enough to eventually see a doctor, you never see the same one twice, and each one changes what the one before prescribed. No confidentiality, no rapport, and no consistency or follow through. Abysmal !

The lady doctor that I prefer to see is brilliant, but it would be easier to get an audience with the Queen.

[mandymoosie]

Maz I know what you mean.

At our surgery it's at least a 2 week wait to see anyone and for the most popular doctors, the wait is more like 4 - 6 weeks 😐

They do do emergency appointments but that is after you have spoken to a nurse first.

I never, and would never, tell a receptionist what my problem is!! They shouldn't even be asking you that, it's confidential between you and your doctor, next time they ask just tell them it's private.....flaming cheek some of them have got X-(

Sadly long gone are the days that we had "family doctors" most don't even have a clue who you are, let alone the family. That personal touch has gone and I think it's a great shame 😞

Many thanks to all who signed, I'm most grateful :-x

[fishpieface]

Well how daft is that?!  I mean people don't ask to be ill or get conditions through no fault of their own do they?  Some people hardly ever see their doctor yet others have to see theirs regularly - how can anyone dictate stuff like that?

Controversial maybe, but maybe if they looked at the number of people who, through their lifestyle choices add themselves to the chronic or possibly terminal conditions statistics, and therefore to the most visits to the GP statistics, some changes and funding savings could be made there.

People who have conditions/illnesses through no fault of their own cannot help it, people who continue to do stuff to themselves that they know is proven to adversely affect health can do something about it, with help if necessary, but huge numbers of them choose not to - a massive drain on NHS resources.

I know what you mean Maisy about receptionists, some of them are the devils own job to get past when you need an appointment, but many are just trying to see if anyone else could help if the GP appointments are full.  However, it isn't their right to know what is the matter, we don't have to tell them and a good receptionist would take confidentiality seriously and respect a patient's right to it.

I think though that, like many other matters the powers that be have allowed to get to the state they are in, it's sadly gone too far for just a radical shake-up to improve matters.

[guardpig]

Am lucky - no problems with appointments, professional receptionists and nearly always see one of the 2 doctors.  Raised eyebrows when I turned up ill the other day.  Rarely go.  However collect all son and OH repeat scrips and take son for his appointments so i know them all.

Stupid idea mind you.  When you are ill you are ill.  You need to visit the Docs. 

[chickengrandma-2008]

But it's not really the doctors fault is it?  The number of patients on their books, more and more people coming into the country but no increase in the number of doctors training.  Our doctors went over to the 'No appointments' system.  You rang the receptionist and she got the doctor to ring you back.  Of course you then had to stay in unless you spoke to him on your mobile in front of the rest of the bus passengers or wherever you were at the time!  He decided if he needed to see you. He had to decide whether you were a drama queen and your 'excruciating stomach pains' were a bit of wind, or a stoic person whose 'bit of a pain in the stomach' was a burst appendix!!!  For some reason, they've just gone back to the pre-arranged appointments.  They either found it didn't work or people just complained too much.

I do think a lot of people go to the doctors (and even A&E) for no good reason.  At the very first sign of an ache or pain they're there.  If there was an initial payment, say just £5, it would stop a lot of people wasting everyone's time.  I know that's not possible because some people haven't got even £5 to spare, but something needs to be done to stop time wasters.

[chips-and-brown-gravy]

But it's not really the doctors fault is it? 

I completely agree with you.  There is little of no funding for doctors to train as GPs any more, and with the Working Time Directive limiting the number of hours a houseman can work the training they do receive in hospitals is a lot less than it used to be.

As for GPs taking back out of hours, this is just ridiculous.  It was fine when they just diagnosed and treated illness, but now with all the monitoring of long term conditions and box ticking many are working 12 hour days already. Do you really want an exhausted GP turning up to treat you.  I don't think so, it's bad for them and bad for the patients.  If having to do their own our of hours work becomes compulsory, watch them retire in droves. Then we really will have a crisis in the health service.

Many GPs are considering retiring because of the endless attacks on them from the press, worst of all the Daily Wail, and the government cutting their payments and increasing their hours and workload year on year.  You have to remember that as 'independent business people' GPs have to absorb rising staff cost, rent and rate increases as well as increased prescribing costs.  Yes they are well paid, but think about the 7 years of training, constant monitoring, Appraisal, revalidation, CQC, and the newly announced Chief Inspector of General Practice, seeing sick moaning people all day, and one mistake and you lose not only your job but your career - would you want to do it and all for less per hour than a third of what solicitors charge per hour!

Government can't have it all ways (nor can patients) they set a huge target for GPs to reduce heart attacks and strokes - GPs delivered extremely well, and Government are now complaining about the problems with an aging population, which of course has been caused by improved medications and treatment by GPs.

In years gone by diabetes care, heart failure and many other long term conditions were treated by consultants in hospitals, they are now treated in the surgery, which is great but the increase in workload is taking its toll.  Medical students are seeing this and deciding that General Practice is a bit too much hard work these days, so the problem of recruiting new GPs is a really serious problem.

We are in real danger of losing general practice more so under this government than at any time in the past, probably because the rot was started back in the Blair era when he and Cherie decided that a nurse could do a good a job, but for far less money.

[fishpieface]

No, it certainly isn't the doctors' fault, the pressures on them must be immense and it is no wonder that occasionally a mistake is made. 

Some people, as someone said, are at the docs for every tiny little thing when half the time there is no need to go and nothing they can do anyway.  Someone I know whisks their child to the doctor, or even to A&E, everytime the slightest thing is the matter with them.  My eldest son has never even met our GP and the youngest has only been three times in his thirteen and a half years.  We are lucky, we are healthy, but unless someone has an underlying condition that exacerbates a common condition like a cold/flu/tummy bug etc there is no need for the doctor to see it, all that does is spread whatever it is.

Most doctors and nurses work tremendously hard and it must be soul-destroying to continuously be the subject of complaints and cutbacks, when there are more and more people to accommodate, certainly no less.