GPs have voted to reduce visits to patients' homes, saying they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. Doctors supported the proposal at a meeting of English local medical committees in London on Friday. It means British Medical Association representatives will lobby NHS England to stop home visits being a contractual obligation.
An NHS spokeswoman said GPs would still visit patients at home where there was a clinical need to do so.
Outrageous for those that need it ridiculous.
I wonder how they intend to establish a clinical need. Sounds like another ‘lessons have been learned” case coming up! Oh, sorry, there was a clinical need. LHBL.
"An NHS spokeswoman said GPs would still visit patients at home where there was a clinical need to do so."
I thought this was only ever the case.
Sounds like its coming from the mouth of the same person that says patients must not take ABs excessively, when in UK its the docs that prescribe them.
I thought it always was and likely always will be on a Needs Must basis, after all they have signed up in the medical profession to save lives.
I’m sure you are right about it always being so. That begs the question why do they want the obligation removed from their contract? I smell a rat.
It looks as though they are only formalising what my practice at least have 'not' been doing for years.
Well we will just have to wait until we are better and can get out before going to see a doctor! x
Take a sleeping bag and bed down in reception when you feel you are going to be poorly. 😉
😁💤 x
Leave enough room for me too. Should I bring my 3 man tent &thermos flask? 😂😂😂💞
Ooh yes please 😃 x
One time, I went to my surgery with a high body temperature as no home visit, and curled up on two seats and fell asleep. That got me seen a lot sooner!
Ooh naughty you,dear @Ergendl and I'd never had put you down as a "loiterer"(probably no such word, but you get my gist ... in jest obviously). Have a good Sunday🐿💞
I'm Australian and my mother was bed-ridden. After the local doctor left, I could find no one to come and visit. We went through the medical centres and individual doctors and the further the distance away from us, the quicker the "No". A few months later someone put me onto a doctor who visited someone in our area. He reluctantly agreed. He was 15km away (approx. 9mls). However he was kind and helpful.
First do no harm, I wonder if dr's remember that oath ? I'm getting slightly disgusted with this greedy, complaining "it's all the governments fault" militant membership and leadership , they seem to forget they are here to help ,heal and reasure THEIR patients and not everything they want is whats best for patients, just stick to your contracts ,treat every patient as an individual and realise you AREN'T special .
I Totally Agree Hun, Everyone Blaming the Other. xxx
My surgery employ someone called a paramedic practioner. He is really good. He came round to check me for a chest infection as i didn't fancy my chances of getting to the surgery. He prescribed antibiotics. I think they probably do more home visits by using him
That is a good idea. There are not enough doctors and the time spent driving from patient to patient is not being used . If i say wasted time you will shout at me!
If necessary the paramedic can refer to doctor and give antibiotic when necessary or even give emergency care before calling an ambulance? I have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment or use the system introduced now and go and wait in the surgery breathing in more bugs! There are not enough doctors Staffing ing NHS is atrocious and has been declining many years . I have been retired over 20 years and in the laboratory we had to employed unpaid school -leavers to do the "fetching and carrying . Remember work experience ?This freed the qualified staff to carry out the diagnostic work. The work load increased more and more as hospitals developed new techniques and population increased. The lab diagnosis has become more automated but staff didnt have any more time , less in fact . I am referring to a microbiological laboratory .I have no experience of the other departments.
This workload has increased generally but we are apparently 150, 000 nurses short .! I havent seen how many doctors we need.
Doctors take a long time to train and all our doctors are continually under strain. A practioner paramedic is a really good idea in my view. I would like to know what the general doctors think of this
I am just listening to BBC 4 on radio saying this is already in use in some surgeries Sat 17.20 as it has been refused by the government
We have several paramedics at our surgery. They deal with some patients and can fast track them to a doctor if need be. They also do some of the house calls
So they were visiting until now when there wasn't a clinical need? Just randomly drop in on people? Maybe there was nothing on TV s they thought they'd pass the time by visiting people for the heck of it? Or were they out of coffee so dropped in on old Mrs Smith from down the road because she can always be guaranteed to have the kettle on and some biscuits in the cupboard? Really?
(And yes I am at work and getting irate in the office)
As a housebound person with multiple complex condition, the very idea of this scares me.
Sounds like a contradition in terms. Not to be contracted to do home visits but an NHS spokeswoman saying GPs wuld still visit patients at home where there was a clinical need to do so. Just heard on the radio one of the GPs at my surgery saying it was a privilege to visit patients in need at home, so why are they trying to take the obligation away from themselves.
M Hancock has just said this will not happen but the GP’s are really causing anxiety to those most in need.
How times change: I recall myself and my Mum having flu at home at the same time - my Mum’s weight went down to 6st). Our GP not only came out but when my Mum heard the milkman was outside she couldn’t get out of bed to tell him how much milk we needed. No problem blilliant GP opened the window and shouted down the order. Now I don’t expect that but I do find this incredibly worrying.
People wanting a home visit are vetted by a GP on the ‘phone in any event, so those able to visit the surgery would be weeded out so to speak.
It should absolutely remain part of their contract, if not, whose!
Cx
I live in Michigan USA, and I haven’t heard of doc home visits here! Sick? You drag yourself into ER, doc’s office or a walk-in clinic! You have been very fortunate!
Our GP Practice stopped home visits a few months ago and they have a paramedic who does these instead.
Also some Practices now have a 'doctors assistant' who have more training than a practice nurse or paramedic but have not undergone full medical training. A young friend is a doctors assistant, he did an initial degree, worked as a social worker for a couple of years and then did a second degree to be a doctors assistant.
I was very surprised recently, when I requested a home visit, there was a lot of reluctance from GP on the phone, although he agreed I needed to be seen, he offered me appointments all over the place a d I kept repeating I couldn't get there until my husband came home, he wanted me seen sooner!
Get a taxi he said, to which in tears, I referred him to my notes about my anxiety and panic attacks, when leaving house. I'm OK with hubby, but struggle with strangers.
All of a sudden he changed, and said I'll contact someone they will be in touch soon to tell you what we are going to do.
Next thing I know a lovely doctor is coming in the back door.
I didn't realise at first, but she was from a neighbouring practice and had agreed to see me, wonderful cooperation, that I didn't think was possible.
Hi @MANDY121 and what excellent co-operation between the two GPSurgeries to liaise and get a doctor over to you. Thats given me a glimmer of hope but i wonder why on earth the government wouldn't give this scheme of sharing surgeries or having a paramedic available to visit those who just cannot get into thr surgery? What with a General Election around the corner, any party that backed this and put it near the top of their Manifesto would no doubt get more votes?
I couldn't agree more, our surgery has many faults on admin side mainly, and they do try and sort things out. We are lucky we have a paramedic working in the practice as well as specialist respiratory nurses, so I feel well looked after at the moment. I hope th ey can keep it up.
You are a very lucky girl @MANDY121 to have a double whammy at your GP's:- a paramedic and a respiratory nurse! WOW could i be so bold as to ask which part of the UK you live in?💞
I'm in Dorset, just outside Christchurch.
Hi again @MANDY121 and the reason I asked what part of the UK you lived in was nothing sinister but merely to see if the theory of postcode lottery,also just like getting your child into a good school,the same seems to be with doctors and their Surgeries. Wrong in my opinion but our little voices are not taken into account. The difference between your GP and additional staff who can do home visits and dedicated respiratory nurses is one end of the scale (the good one), whilst others,similar to me are lucky if they even know what COPD is!!!💞
I don't think even all of Dorset gets the service we do. Small village practice amalgamated with large town, we now get best of both, but it has taken a while to settle down.
Definitely a post code lottery, I hope your improves soon. Lot of elderly The area too.
My wife and I decided 5 year ago to sell up and move the house we have purchased isn't as good as our other and unfortunately cost us more to buy ,crazy I hear you shout but as I've lung disease and obviously it's not going to get any better and neither is our NHS . This latest move by our Doctors legitimates our decision to move to a location that is 3 minutes walk away from a very large up-to-date medical practice ,we had to put health before finance and space it's ridiculous that we felt we had to do this we are not in the bracket of well off pensioners and made ourselves even poorer by doing this but needs must at least we can get there and luckily our practice can give us same day appointments.
Oh my! 😪thank goodness you were able to make that decision but it does make one think about our health and the long term ramifications of folk loosing money to sell their house so as to be nearer to a better health centre.
My gp hasnt done home visits for years, even when I brought my mum home from Spain when she suffered heart failure, I had to get a taxi to the doctors.
I have a choice - have a phone consultation or call an ambulance. Actually the first often leads to the second. I can't get out especially in the winter and the weather has a big effect on my breathing. I imagine the doctors sitting in their lovely warm offices and being very nice to the poor people who come to them to be made better.
When my children were small all doctors would come out to see sick people, none of this struggle to the surgery. It seems that progress does not make anything better for the poor sick patients. Hope the doctors get sick and old and realise what they have done.
The only time our family has had a home visit by a GP was when my husband was literally dying cancer. Once by a temp GP and once by his own GP. The latter was also visiting another terminally ill man. She took his dog for a walk as he had no one to do it. When my husband went into a hospice a couple of days later, she went to visit him in her free time. She also phoned me to make sure I was OK. This was 7 years ago and she said that we were not in their practice zone and wouldn't normally get a home visit.
She has since retired - what a pity
Number of visits to GP to be capped ?
Towards More Effective Remote Consultations
