What is your preferred way of communi... - Research Opportun...
Research Opportunities
What is your preferred way of communicating with your Doctor/ healthcare provider
Would be nice to actually get an appointment in a timely manner
I have not had a face to face appointment since 2016 with my GP, although I have talked to him on the phone. Apart from PMR, in that time I have had two new hips and an op to put back a hip that dislocated, plus all sorts of heart and other tests at a secondary level. In addition various blood tests. A friend of mine tried to see him recently, but could not get an appointment, so went privately. He opened the door to the private doctor and who was sitting there??? You guessed it, my GP.
Appalling! Sounds even worse than mine who referred me to a private guy to get my gall bladder removed who charged me a vast amount just to see him when he didn’t arrange to do it!
Our doctors all suggest we go privately and give us the contact of doctors they know!
After the lowest dose of Bisoprolol proved too much for me to take daily we were fortunate to find an EP we saw privately (found through the Atrial Fibrillation Association) who, having introduced me to having a smart phone and the Kardia and app and I’d sent him a reading of my heart in AF sent a prescription to my surgery for Flecainide. Since I’ve taken it regularly I haven’t had an episode for well over a year and that last one was ended in a few hours as I’ve mentioned here many times before! Too many perhaps but at 80,I don’t think I could cope with the ops that aren’t always successful as I’ve read here.
But getting an in person appointment is extremely rare. We have to send an e-consult in and the answer to this is usually by message telling me that the Dr will contact me by 18.30 the following day. This contact is usually a message or occasionally a phone call from the receptionist.
I think why I like to see in person more is so they can see how much pain am in and it’s more validating for me. Other than that I feel on the telephone they can’t see you and make assumptions about you and if you talk normally they think it’s like in you head . Plus they can’t see you grimace or rocking in pain. Or curled up in a ball in bed. I mean when I would be in that amount of pain and not being able to walk my neighbors or friends would take me to a and e or the gp do they could see I needed help in the moment. This is from my own personal experience and quite often I realise over the years I’m more validated now as I feel looking back have been medically gaslight by professionals and also lack of training and negligence so when I did eventually get diagnosis of a couple or more conditions I unfortunately had the severest form of endometriosis and also carpel tunnel syndrome with sever muscle wastage in my dominant hand as I was always told too young yourll be fine move on . So on both occasions for both conditions had an internal in my early twenties and also steroid injection in my twenties too told far too young to have a co condition that effects middle aged women or workers . Thankfully I’ve had surgery for both now and my hand has slight muscle wastage but the muscle over the past year and a half nearly two years has actually grown back a little so my hand a are stronger than they were . X
Always face to face, the Doctor can actually see how you feel, look at you, most likely see your general state of health, I am not a doctor, he/she will be able to diagnose you for symptoms you have might never heard of
However, these days it happens very rarely at my surgery. The last two calls I have had were from doctors at my surgery I have never met!!
I prefer in person because I'll communicate more with him and will be able to discuss things in details. If getting an appointment to be in person is taking time, then I can go with email.
I prefer not to meet
I only have the choice of phone for face to face as my GP does nothing online, you used to be able to order scripts online but it's been broken for about a year so now you can only order on a special voicemail that's only open working hours and even takes a lunch break meaning it's incredibly difficult to order your meds if you work. I would absolutely love an online system
I think I can say in more directly in an email and then have a follow up face to face appointment if needed. I'm the kind of person who can write it better than saying it directly
If I'm asking to see my doctor he still has to call me first to assess the situation. He doesn't hesitate to call a patient in if necessary.
Currently, due to being still very unwell, and my GP not knowledgeable enough about Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, it is much easier for me to have a phone call. I have done the appointment in person thing many, many times to no avail. My GP only offers in person or phone call. They send me texts if they want me to contact the surgery.
They do not have email option. However, when my mother was bedbound, my GP, at that time, allowed me to email him directly with any concerns. This was brilliant.
I don't think they consider Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism as a serious enough health condition, or, a different GP, at the same practice, works differently.
I understand people preferring a face to face so GP can see for themselves how your problem affects you, however, in my experience, due to seeing a new doctor, he has no idea what I was like before, and, being a young GP, I sense ageism may be a contributing factor. I.e. everyone who is 'older' gets problems, when there's no cause!!!! Here's another pill, live with it.
I thought at age 73, and having had an emergency pacemaker fitted, I thought I would have been able to see a doctor. But they only seem to want telephone calls.
The last time I appointment I needed to be referred to audiology, of course I had a nightmare trying to hear the dr as my hearing aids weren’t working !!!
I would prefer f2f but the only way to get an appointment at all is to use the econsult and hope someone gets back to me …🤞🤞🤞
There are clearly times when it’s appropriate and convenient to communicate with skilled healthcare professionals other than a dr. However, I believe it essential that all patients initially be triaged by a fully qualified medical general practitioner. They are the experts with a depth and breadth of knowledge in medicine, undifferentiated diagnosis etc like no other. There’s no getting away from the fact that their numbers are decreasing in the primary care team (government planning) and are being replaced by various other professions eg nurses, physios, paramedics, pharmacists etc. Whilst vital to multi-disciplinary working, these professionals should never be actually replacing drs. My biggest concern however is the proliferation of ‘ physician assistants’ who are increasingly being used as dr replacements even though we’re being told they have to work under the supervision of a dr, they cannot prescribe and are not as accountable as a dr or indeed any of the other healthcare professionals. They’re often sold to patients as being “just like a dr”. They most certainly aren’t! In many instances, pts aren’t even being informed that they’re not actually consulting with a medical dr. This fly’s in the face of essential informed consent. This is a huge concern to many of us, both as patients and as professionals.
Hi
But surely if they don’t have ‘Dr’ in front of their name then they are not a doctor.
I agree with your sentiments to an extent but it is also up to patients to be aware of who is treating them and to actually question if necessary…
There’s clear evidence that some professionals are using the title Dr in a workplace setting even though it’s not a requirement nor is it appropriate to the role they’re employed in eg they have a Phd doctorate in some subject. but they are not medical drs. This is being reported as misleading and confusing to pts. It’s the responsibility of the professional to make absolutely clear to pts the role they’re employed in and whether or not they’re a medically qualified dr. The onus should not be on pts. Again, there’s considerable evidence now building up of pts being misled and confused over whom they’re seeing. We mustn’t forget that not all patients will be vocal enough or feel in a strong enough position to ask for specific details on who they’re seeing. What about those more vulnerable people? Elderly, mental health problems, learning difficulties, very ill, fragile, emergency situations. Not all pts are in a position to check out who they are entrusting themselves to. Informed consent is so very important, as is clarity in times such as we’re in right now where dr’s are increasingly being replaced by others.
Are you a doctor by any chance?
No, I’m not a medical dr but I’m both a healthcare professional, a patient & a carer. There is currently huge concern amongst various professionals, pt groups etc about the decreasing number of drs and their replacements.
it would be nice to be able to sit with somebody to discuss your difficulties and emotions. In dealing with your ongoing condition. And how it has affected your outlook on life. As they say, it’s good to talk
The system here, in my new practice, just does not physically work - eg my GP has sent me a letter (why a physical letter when they have my email and text details to use E consult I’m not sure) asking me to ring to make an appointment to see her to discuss post chemo treatment etc & the contents of a letter she has received from oncology. I’ve now been ringing the surgery many times over 3 weeks - every time I’m told that there are no appointments in the next 4 week block (that’s as far as you can book ahead) try again another day . So you can’t even get an Appt when your GP wants it! Why they don’t offer you an appt which to have to accept or change like hospitals do?
I would like to raise another importance issue for cancer patients (& other serious ongoing conditions) to do with consulting GPs.
In the past recurrence year Admin staff have been offering me appts with a range of GP’s many of whom are at the practice for a short time/whom I have never seen before. However I am restricting myself to 2 GPs who have more knowledge of my case otherwise most of the 10 min Appt (& there now seems to be no time before appointments for GPS to read notes etc) is spent with the GP reading about me on the screen while I am trying to discuss the issue! I am convinced that mine cannot be the only case where lack of continuity of care has resulted in serious mistakes being made.
For me my recurrence was missed till my tumour on my liver) was 5cm as I had seen a different GP who didn’t read what type of OC I had (mucinous & endometroid) and that a raise in CEA was I red flag (even if CA125 was ok) & I should be retested after a few weeks to see if it had just been a blip. At the time I was just told by the practices results line that a GP had reviewed the results & all was fine. A year later, my annual test showed a further rise with yet another GP referring me to look for bowel or colon cancer still apparently unaware of my OC history.
Most of my appointments with my Psychologist are by phone and I really dislike that, much prefer in person.
I get anxious and forget the important things I want to say and don't remember everything that's said, so a wroth record is invaluable. I also think it's more likely to receive a prompt reply.