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[Sir Tigger KC]

I tried to book an appointment to see the Dr this morning and was offered a telephone consultation next Tuesday.   

According to Worldometers the UK recorded 2524 new Covid infections today and 33 deaths.  I'd wager that more people died in RTA's today.....    Although if they'd had a positive Covid test within the last 28 days they'd be one of the 33 Covid deaths...... 

It's getting ridiculous! 

Sigh..... 

[dave the builder]

getting an appointment to see a GP was just as bad as your example BEFORE Chinese Virus .

though the last year has made it very difficult to actually see a doctor face to face

if you are worried you could speak to 111 or A&E

[Rangie]

getting an appointment to see a GP was just as bad as your example BEFORE Chinese Virus .

though the last year has made it very difficult to actually see a doctor face to face

if you are worried you could speak to 111 or A&E

.   


111 are a complete & utter waste of time  , when my wife was taken ill with a kidney infection they insisted on asking me the most ridiculous questions finally I'd had enough I said she now has chest pains & an ambulance arrived within ten minutes they had previously told me that none were available total liars, and don't seem to have the slightest inkling of medical knowledge.

[Sir Tigger KC]

getting an appointment to see a GP was just as bad as your example BEFORE Chinese Virus .

though the last year has made it very difficult to actually see a doctor face to face

if you are worried you could speak to 111 or A&E

Not here, you could always get a same day appointment if you phoned about 8am.    The difficulty was if you tried to book an appointment for a couple of days time on your day off or something, but I think that was standard everywhere pre covid. 

I think I made the mistake of telling the receptionist that it was not particularly urgent, and now I have to wait a week to speak to the Dr on the phone and he'll decide if he needs to see me in person.   

I should have blagged it for a same day face to face appointment! 

[STEMO]

My brother has been having trouble getting an appointment at his gp's for a long time now. He finally got an appointment in November after telling the receptionist it was urgent and he would have to go to A&E if they wouldn't see him. He told the doctor he'd been passing blood for a good few months and had a pain under his rib cage. The doctor gave him some anusol for piles and said his 'chest' pains (they were not in his chest, they were just under his ribs) were anxiety. When the passing of blood continued, he asked to be referred for a colonoscopy, but was told they were only doing inpatient emergencies due to covid.
Cut to three weeks ago, when the pain became so bad, he went to A&E. They kept him in for a week, did a colonoscopy, then a liver biopsy (the pain under his ribs) and a blood test, then sent him home to wait to be called for an appointment. He went in today for his results, he has bowel cancer which has spread to his liver and a few polyps in his chest. They told him how long they thought he had left, which he didn't want to share with me, but it's not years.
You can praise the NHS to the rafters for what they did with covid but, basically, it is a failing system with a significant minority of people working in it that are either inept or just do not care.

[STEMO]

Albs will back me up on that, btw.

[dave the builder]

Sorry to hear that Uncle Stemo 
there are some good people who work for the NHS,
sadly there are also people who don't give a monkeys and want to do as little as possible, clock out and cash the pay cheque 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Sorry to hear about your brother Uncle Stemo. 

When all this unravels, the excess deaths from late and missed cancer diagnosis and other untreated conditions like heart disease will dwarf the deaths of people who died for any reason within 28 days of a positive Covid test. 

[Rangie]

Sorry to hear about your brother Steve it is awful how folk are just ignored when they know something is definitely wrong with their health symptoms like that should not be ignored by those in whom we put our trust.

[STEMO]

Thank you all, it's appreciated. When I spoke to him today he was quite calm and lucid, probably hadn't even realised what he'd been told properly yet. But I reckon the next few months will be up and down. I texted him every night while he was in hospital, and covid has just knocked the whole system totally out of kilter. Lad in the next bed to him had been waiting for three days for a blood test, but didn't want to make a fuss. When our kid asked one of the nurses what was going on, there was a lot of muttering and shrugs of shoulders. They'd literally forgotten all about him. Just brought him food every day and assumed someone else knew about him. I asked him what the doctors thought he was doing there on their ward rounds, but he said there were never any doctors on the ward, just nurses.
Apart from anything else, just how much money is this costing?

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Albs will back me up on that, btw.

Absolutely. Have had this kind of thing time and time again over the last 15 years. My faith in the NHS and many of those who "work" in it was completely destroyed a long time ago.
If it wasnt for the free health care that goes with my job, I seriously believe my wife may well have been pushing up daisies by now.
Some great people in the NHS but also some who vary from lazy, inept, uncaring through to downright cruel.
Im so very  sorry to hear about your brother Steve, but sadly Im not at all surprised.

Labour MP Ann Clwyd had similar experiences.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-20643259

[Varche]

My brother has been having trouble getting an appointment at his gp's for a long time now. He finally got an appointment in November after telling the receptionist it was urgent and he would have to go to A&E if they wouldn't see him. He told the doctor he'd been passing blood for a good few months and had a pain under his rib cage. The doctor gave him some anusol for piles and said his 'chest' pains (they were not in his chest, they were just under his ribs) were anxiety. When the passing of blood continued, he asked to be referred for a colonoscopy, but was told they were only doing inpatient emergencies due to covid.
Cut to three weeks ago, when the pain became so bad, he went to A&E. They kept him in for a week, did a colonoscopy, then a liver biopsy (the pain under his ribs) and a blood test, then sent him home to wait to be called for an appointment. He went in today for his results, he has bowel cancer which has spread to his liver and a few polyps in his chest. They told him how long they thought he had left, which he didn't want to share with me, but it's not years.
You can praise the NHS to the rafters for what they did with covid but, basically, it is a failing system with a significant minority of people working in it that are either inept or just do not care.

I too am sorry to hear about your brother. I lost my younger brother to bowel cancer which spread to his liver 8 months ago. He lived in an area without multi disciplinary  teams. In other parts of the country they treat cancer patients differently. For example zap the bowel and cut away the affected part of the liver. The liver is one of the few parts of your body that you can afford to lose a big chunk of as it can regenerate. Worrying time for you. I hope he or his partner have been asking the right q’s rather than just being resigned. It could-be that he is shielding you from the full extent of the problem. In my brothers case he was midway through treatment and had been given positive progress until the halfway scan showed that it was spreading throughout his body.  That was four months from diagnosis, treatment , to the end

[Shackeng]

Very sorry to hear that Steve, sadly, IME, those who shout loudest are treated soonest. 

[biggriffin]

Take 2 paracetamol. Or if it's lower down ask Opti for a blue tablet.

[BazaJT]

Sorry to hear of your brothers illness,I hope he receives the treatment he needs as soon as possible.One of my older brothers was diagnosed with bowel cancer but by the time they'd done so they told him it was too far gone but with chemo etc they could possibly prolong his life for a short while longer.He turned that down[where was the point of prolonging the pain for longer was his take on it]so just took the pain killers they gave him and he passed away just over a year ago at the age of 71.