Our really good GP's have set up a new NHS system edoctor so expect a lot of others will do the same if they haven't already. We now must go online and do a form to say whats wrong and then will be contacted same day or next day. I'm not one to normally moan about them but with a GP shortage is this the way its going to go all over ? I wonder if Covid has highlighted that many people go to GP's which don't need to? But my concern mainly is that it says a clinician (could be a nurse/paramedic/ prescribing nurse etc). will respond gone is the see a doctor for continuity of care. We're looking around as a few private GP's have surgeries in local hospitals or are they our GP's who now are all part time. Makes me think !
Diagnose yourself now?: Our really good GP's have set... - NRAS
Diagnose yourself now?
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medway-lady
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My GP uses a similar thing called Ask my GP, you can choose who you want to answer your question a GP ( you can ask for a certain one) or anyone. So far they have responded very quickly to any contact I’ve had with them. Within the hour. Like you I hope this isn’t going to be how it carries in from now on. I will wait to see.
It sounds a smilier thing so as I have no need to see the GP at the moment I'll have to wait to see if it works. Ironically I am seeing a private consultant tomorrow evening quicker than the GP and you get a cup of free coffee. lol x
Kitty J
Askmygp is great!
Saves the sore thumb with the repetitive hit of screen on the call back button then loudspeaker
Only downfall I’ve found.You describe all your symptoms ask questions but they never give you a written reply it’s all done verbally
What I’ve found is it’s always been a Dr Pinocchio you have spoke to previously when you recall what was discussed the next time you chat
Would be far easier for the patient to recall the advice and diagnosis and revert back online at there leisure
Once again great way but strange !
That's odd, I can get a written reply via email, it do you mean that if you choose to actually talk to a human GP then they should be able to write something down for you too to refer back to?
Ah so that’s how you get the reply?Why thank you happy tulip!
Just thought they should jot things down for you online in that days application as there going along with the telephone consultation Chuckling away here.There you go I couldn’t see the forest for the trees!
Stay safe
Neither my rheumy nurses, nor my GP practice will communicate with patients by email. As you say...when you are feeling bad enough to actually contact them.......you aren’t exactly running on all cylinders & I don’t know about every one else..but I don’t always take in all I am told Verbally when I’m feeling ill enough to call.This morning I await a call from my rheumy nurse...requested 5 days ago......they now only call back on Fridays. I expect I will be booking another private appointment to get things sorted.
So you're only aallowey to get sick on a Friday?
Yep...sitting here now waiting for their call!
Same here! Friday is call back day from my rheumys.
Yes my rheumy nurses only really do Friday phone calls and I’m waiting too myself today. Could be next Friday I hear though. Although my own nurse is excellent they don’t always get the messages from the secretary and the secs don’t always listen to the helpline answerphone. There is an email facility to rheumatology but you can’t email about your issue if you’ve already spoken about it to someone else so it doesn’t get duplicated, they say! It’s limited too at the moment and you understand that, but when you take a high spec med or any med that can cause you major side effects/problems you do sometimes need their expertise advice/support.
Well it’s my lucky day , they called back .....an hour after they said they would ...but they have to liaise with the Biologics nurses who control the spaces in the chemo clinic.....& I got a date for the Rtx infusion that I cancelled to have my Covid vaccination....so it was worth the wait......just got to check with the rheumy pharmacist & get a Covid test & I should be all set.🤞
Glad it’s sorted for you. I’m just about to phone my GP practice manager to try bring my second vaccine forward, as I’ve got a letter of support from another consultant to do that. I’ll not hear from my rheumy nurse today though, but it isn’t urgent for today.
I agree, not being someone who is a surgery ‘regular’ and who only calls when things are dire it. I find it hard to be treated like a hypochondriac.
Jacobite I’ve got email replies before, it gives options of how you want them to contact you. A call, text or email.
Why kitty Ole dip faeces here has finally taken note of the probably complete obvious way it can be used
I’m awffy slow sometimes!
Thanking you kindly ma’am!
Knots o laughter here!
😂
I asked for a call back from my GP whilst in the throes of the reaction I had to the Covid Vaccination ...first call was from the nurse practitioner......who couldn’t get me off the phone fast enough having given me no advice/reassurance whatever. I am not a regular GP goer...she had no idea what sort of person I am....& the symptoms I was describing really did need advice.....they were really scary. About an hour later I had another call...not from the GP practice number but from a mobile number said he was a GP... I did not recognise his name...maybe a locum ......he listened to what I was experiencing & as soon as I said I was very dizzy....he announced “oh you’ve got Labrynthitis” & started telling what meds he was going to send me & wouldn’t listen to anything else I said.
I told him I’d had Labrynthitis a few times before & what I was experiencing now was nothing like that....he then repeated the practice mantra “well let’s wait & see”.
After those two experiences, plus a completely useless response from111, I contacted my consultant for a private consult .....& his investigations are ongoing.
Sadly it looks like the excellent GP services most have been used to are a thing of the past ....like the millions of office workers who are now saying that don’t want to go to work daily....but want to work at home....looks like GP’s are going to do the same.
I know what you mean, it seems many surgeries are now e-consult. I can only think that if you fill in the form for a call-back , it gives you the option to put the GP you would like to call you back? Not sure as I haven’t tried it yet.
Will wait and see if it works. x
My surgery uses the e-consult service if you want to contact your GP about anything that isn't a dire emergency. In my opinion they are using it as a "sieve " to screen out patients' attempts to contact the surgery for information or advice. OK that could be a good thing but it's very frustrating if you want to speak to your GP, even very briefly.I have tried to use it a couple of times and found it a nightmare! It takes forever to complete and asks lots of random questions including about your smoking habit and alcohol consumption.
I have taken to writing a letter to the GP and delivering by hand several times recently and that has worked really well.
Ha, ha, I’ve done that too.
Short cuts are happening everywhere. Our local MP asked us if we would like to set up street watch with a possible rota for policing the streets due to a massive increase in car theft and burglaries. It’s all hypothetical he said ... why do we pay taxes if we have to police or as you say self diagnose.. for me this is a worry that many will fall through the gaps .
Ask MY GP is great. I was dreading it being installed. But I can email them at 7am when I wake up unwell, explain the problem and they are either on the phone, video call or email by about 9am. I was dreading it but I was very presently surprised.
It also means that you avoid going through the reception team and the endless hanging on the telephone.
I’d never used it before moving to a new practice and like you was concerned but I agree it’s great and so far the response has been really quick.
Quite a good self-discipline thing to have to sit down and write out your symptoms/issues as it should help to clarify your thoughts about whatever it is that's bothering you, and enable you to be sure you have mentioned everything you need/want to. Ideally, though I would like a written response, perhaps in addition to the verbal one. However, I often record these interactions on my phone so I can refresh my memory about what was said/agreed.
The final part of the process ought to be feedback from you to nurse/doc/HCA saying how satisfied you were with the process/diagnosis/outcome.
Still who would want to live in an ideal world?
😆
We have Ask Your GP and they had to turn it off overnight and only have it on during working hours as they said people were contacting them at night but by next day problem had gone 🥴
So far I like it
Soon, we will all be given a package of different drugs so that we can self diagnose and treat. 😜
😁😜
🤣🤣🤣 don’t joke about it - it could easily happen.
😥
I have used it for a skin blemish on my face. Told them my symptons and sent a photo. Within a couple of hours I had a diagnosis and prescription left at the chemist . You have to jump through lots of hoops to get there .
We had a friend who had a skin rash and contacted their doctor by email. I asked if he sent photo s of his rash and the answer was ‘No, the doctor sent some photos of rashes and asked which one was most like his’. That was the first I’d heard of contacting your GP by email.
Think it’s a fantastic idea. Years ago I was part of the project team to bring telemedicine in to the NHS and consultants and GPs pushed back so it failed. Now they have had no choice because of Covid and it’s proving to be a real hit. Reducing wasted appointments so that people that need them are not waiting forever. Saving time for the patient for routine appointments and no hanging around and parking fees. Doctors spend more time with people that need them. Less waste, less impact on the environment. Best thing that happened that at long last, the NHS has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
One of our predictions back in 2006/7 was that GPs would not be part of any system by now. That hasn’t happened. Not yet anyway, but I don’t think it will be far off until we go straight to the expert rather than a generalist. It’s an exciting time to be working in healthcare and for patients as the advances in medicine now are huge. Plus consideration given to environmental factors and impact on health.
Sorry, that was a long comment. Can you tell I’m passionate about this 😂😂😂
you know our GPs was doing this way way before covid, you were lucky to see a GP
Trying to get a f2f with a GP is diabolical now. Ours call you back to triage you but then mainly just say ‘up the painkillers’, ‘oh they make you constipated, I’ll send you some laxative’ ‘ring 111’. I actually got to see a GP yesterday after 3 weeks of trying but only because 111 sent me to A&E the day before and the doc there said my GP would have to change my medication.
I hope that you are feeling better now. It is a worry and my experience since Christmas has been that our new GP's refer to a hospital instead of seeing people.
Now a ‘sensible’ GP has told me to start taking pain killers again, I was told to stop because I got a rash after taking Zapain, at least I slept for 4 hours at a time last night instead of 2. I still hurt but you can cope better if you've slept. I was fine on co-drydamol but they stopped me taking those as well and paracetamol just doesn’t touch it. So back on co-drydamol as long as I don’t get a rash. Fingers crossed.
Sounds like heaven to me to be honest ! I’d much rather get a quick prescription out of a computer than have to hold on listening to a ring tone for up to an hour just to give all my personal details to a receptionist. Computers have been proven to be much more accurate in diagnosing illnesses and, if the government takes over and uses the money saved on more testing facilities, scanners etc I think the future looks bright.
But as a victim of a medical injury caused by a medication is this the ultimate 'we not responsible if something goes wrong' it was the computer. It reminds me of David Wallaims " The computer says" . Personally computers can't see a level of pain and so it seems to me to be fraught with issues. Not all technology is a way forward and I think it'll increase the number of people using A&E. I did a dummy run yesterday asking about a chest infection ( it has the facility to do a practice run) it took me 20 minutes to fill in the form and I can touch type. My husband would take years to fill in the form and what about shared email addresses? It seems to me to be a useful tool but around here its going to be first point of contact for all. Not sure thats good and god help us if we get the police going online. x
Don't get me started on shared email addresses. I booked my husbands covid vaccine and when he turned up they had no record. When I checked, it had booked in my name, even though I'd had mine weeks before. I had to set up a separate address before I could book his jab.
We have an consult system, - a long, drawn out, repetitive process that simply cuts off at the end and tells you to call for immediate help if you have anything that needs more investigation. It takes about half an hour to fill in all the minute details. I'm not impressed with it at all, or the length of time before they call you back - up to 48hrs.
A few months ago I got lost in this system of sequential requests for help through econsult, and ended up in hospital for a week. I first contacted the surgery 2 weeks before and was passed between receptionist, practice nurse and doctor numerous times, before having to almost scream at them 'I'm really ill, I need help!'
In my view econsult is unsuitable for anything other than the most minor or routine appointment. It suits the practice though as they are over subscribed and don't have enough doctors for the catchment at the best of times. Maybe online access works well in an efficient practice, but only with patients who are articulate enough, computer literate, and well enough to sit through the process. The whole online system makes contact with GPs very hard to come by, and practice nurses are not a substitute, and in my case were a barrier to help.
I think your right it does sound like the same system as I did a dummy run and it took forever. Very confusing to use its probably ok for certificates and routine stuff but infections and emergencies its not good.
I totally agree, people who need help will refrain from seeking it and may finish up being more ill because of this.
Absolutely fascinating reading the wide range of responses here. It shows what a postcode lottery health care is in the UK. The system Ask My GP sounds great - with a choice of doctors! Unbelievable. There is no choice of Drs, ever, at my surgery! It's nice to hear there are good practices around, or maybe they're the ones who get more funding. Incidentally mine has just changed from being run by one of the large national providers (thought it pretty bad then) to being run by a private consortium of local GPs. Ironically it's now much worse.
Interesting to hear about your experiences : as you say, a wide range of responses here. Worrying to surmise that even electronic systems could vary from great to horrendous!
Our surgery uses an e mail system where questions get answered quite quickly usually same day but not always by a dr who knows you & with a lot of long term conditions it is so important to have continuity & that’s where it falls down. They look at the problem but not at your history. Ours has been horrendous to navigate throughout lockdown as I’ve been really ill throughout & needed a lot of appointments which I didn’t get or saw some junior who hadn’t a clue. I was eventually diagnosed with Epilepsy privately in November having managed to get only one face to face appointment all year. Last week I had symptoms of a UTI called surgery as was hospitalised with severe kidney infection in 2019 & this was similar passing a lot of blood spoke to receptionist who rang back about 3 hours later to say a prescription had been issued. Hubby got my tablets but I continued to get a lot worse with a temp of 39.8 & was so unwell with pain everywhere. The next morning hubby called at 8 promised a GP call back waited an hour nothing so called again told the same then at 12 a GP I’ve never heard of rang & said I needed to be in hospital for IV antibiotics & the tablets I’d been given were for a UTI & I had a kidney infection so the tablets I had were no good. I’m now home on oral antibiotics but if only I had managed to speak to my GP or one who knows me then non of this would happen. It scares me so much. Whilst I can see it working for some it certainly didn’t work for those with a complicated history in my mind.
I hope you ok now and feeling a lot better. I simply think for people with no long term conditions it'll work well. But for those with diagnosed medical conditions needing to speak to a doctor if it's necessary that it won't work.
Thanks for your reply. Thanks I’m doing ok 👌 Sorry I got carried away ( I could go on a lot more, but won’t). But that’s Exactly what I meant. . We can but hope. Take care x
My husband recently got a prescription through a skylight window. He knocked shouted his name, and they threw it out. He was very upset and felt like a leper.
Thats dreadful, I'd have been upset too. x
Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they weren’t your former GPs. Depressing isn’t it!
I wouldn’t mind emailing in my problem, unfortunately we don't have that option, it would mean you could put down everything you want to say and there’s a good chance they might read it all.
I hate initial telephone consultations, I’ve had some where I thought the GP was speaking to someone else in the room, another where I didn’t feel she listened or perhaps she only heard what she wanted to hear. I just don’t think they always hear what you’re saying to them. So an initial e-consultation would be ok for me.
I found the online zoom type consultations I had with a physiotherapist were ok. And when I think back to when I used to go to the endocrinology clinic I would have been quite happy to have bloods taken the week before at my GP then have an online or even a consultation because basically they had decided what they were going to do from what they found in my bloods. I very much doubt if anything I said would have influenced my treatment.
I agree, emails mean you can write everything down - you only hope they read it all before they reply. Although I suppose the downside is that everything you write can be seen by all and sundry in the practice. Maybe one day we’ll be able to do that at our surgery. I can but hope. Last time I booked an appointment online it asked if I wanted to put down any information. I wrote out the history of what was wrong etc. In great detail. When I finally met him after a two week wait! The doctor passed a comment about how detailed the information I gave him was - seems most people don’t - I’m not sure I got any better service having given him so much information though.
Same here. I am in Medway and a triage system was adopted via the receptionist during Covid and I imagine this will be the way they are going. Our doctor sadly retired four years ago and practice was taken over by healthcare company with five practices all over the Southeast. It also trains doctors so we never know who will be dealing with us. I am afraid that the family doctor who would know his patients, has sadly gone.
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