News topic re doctor's appointments and targets - Page 2

mez · 29-04-2005, 16:45

when i ring my surgery i always ask to see my own particular doctor & im not dissapointed,but getting through the receptionist's is the hardest work ever, i had to see a locum (my doc on holiday) 3 weeks ago, subceqently i was at b.r.i the day after with instructions from the doctor to ring him with the results, which i did, as soon as i got home, i was told, ring back at 4pm please, which i did & was told by a diff receptionist that the doctor would not accept the call, to which i said he was waiting for it, but no i could not get through, but i made an appointment for 2 days later & he hit the ceiling saying he'd wanted the results the same day, funny but i havn't seen that receptionist since.

lettie · 29-04-2005, 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

Tony Blair is gobsmacked because he had no idea that people couldn't make advance appointments!

.

I find it disturbing that our PM is so far removed from reality that he is oblivious to what is really happening in everyday life. It's all well and good setting targets for institutions like the NHS and schools, but when the meeting of those targets actually interferes with the care and education that the majority of people receive then they are not worth the paper they are printed on. As usual in an attempt to fudge the figures and make the government look good people end up suffering.

Billcat · 29-04-2005, 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by -pixie

Peel House is run by a set of complete muppets, masquerading as receptionists.

There's really no reason to go insulting Kermt and Miss Piggy!

-pixie · 29-04-2005, 17:42

True, but the censor won't let me type what I really think!

I just find it so frustrating! I have only been at Peel House for 18 months as I thought it best for all the family to be under one GP and I didn't want to travel to Darwen for all my ante-natal appointments. Previous to that I stayed registered at Darwen Health Centre and it was worth the two hour bus journey to see my own doctor at my own convenience. Plus the receptionists at Darwen don't constantly chew gum AND they don't take ages to sort out another persons prescriptions (eh Willow!).

Acrylic-bob · 29-04-2005, 18:20

When this topic was aired with the Prime minister on Question Time last night David Dimbleby asked him whether this was the first that he had heard of the problem. He replied that it was.

This evening on channel 4 News, they presented a report which revealed that the NHS issued a memo in June of last year criticising the 48 hour target and saying that it was being used to manipulate figures. And then...they also mentioned a letter written by Tony Blair, in October last year, warning that the misuse of the 48 hour target was becoming a problem that the government would have to deal with.

And yet, last night he claimed that he had not heard of the problem before.

WHAT A BARE-FACED LIE!

He was also asked a point blank question about a new rise in NI contributions after the election - he didn't say yes, he didn't say no, he changed the subject!

A vote for Labour is now plainly a vote for liars.

cashman · 29-04-2005, 19:24

do any of them tell the truth?it would be news to me!

chav1 · 29-04-2005, 19:44

every time i goto hospital and i am asked why didnt i see a doctor as soon as i mention peel house they roll their eyes and say oh i see

the doctors apart from 1 of them are great its just that you cant see them

i know of 1 person who turned up in the middle of having an asthma attack and was told he coulldnt have an appointment for at least 3 weeks as they were booked up and was sent away and colloapsed outside

the system has now changed but not realy for the better as all the appointments get taken up by those waiting outside in the morning and within 10 mins of the phonelines opening all appointmernts are gone

not everyone can get there early in the morning and wait outside

another thing wrong is that you cant order perscriptions over the phone anymore so now to get your stuff you have to walk down , fill a slip in then return in 2-3 days and hope its been done or take up an appointment slot just to get a prescription

again not everyone is good at walking and not everyone has time to waste making multiple visits for much needed things like asthma sparys etc

however..

a select few are given the privalage of been able to book appointments when ever they like and with their own doctor which should be the right of anyone under a doctor

i wish i could get to see my own doctor as i have now seen 4 different doctors with my problem and each time i have to explain it all over again and its as though i am starting fresh with treatment when infact i should have been seeing a specialist which i am now been refered to at long last

peel houses current system will kill somone one day

mez · 29-04-2005, 19:59

i thought i would just add that my doctor is not with any mentioned on here, so suppose im lucky, but the perscripition ordering is changing to the same as peel house in june, just hope they get it right, i even asked if i could e-mail them mine, but to no avail.

KiTChener · 29-04-2005, 21:10

If I may add my twopenn'orth...

I registered with Dr Tuxford when I first came over here 40-odd yrs ago, so, subsequently, have been with Peel House since it's inception.
In the intervening years, I can catagorically state that ALL members of my family, & close friends, cannot speak highly enough of the doctors & nurses based there.

It's the receptionists who appear to be the problem... maybe they are trying to 'screen out' the timewasters, but, with insufficient training, they are unable to separate the bad from the good, so to speak.

So, who is at fault for the current problems??

In my opinion, it is not the people,(doctors, nurses, receptionists), but the systems imposed upon them... By whom?? Why should any NHS worker have 'Targets' set... they are not bloody salespeople, why treat them as such?? Simply because, we have so many 'civilian' bosses who haven't a clue when it come to giving a service, which is, after all, what the NHS is there to provide.

I'll never forget the phrase uttered to me by (the great) Dr. Bill Turner,during one of our frequent consultations, when he was wrestling with the same system I am using now (the infamous keyboard...like him, I am a one-fingered user!)........

"I didn't go through years of training just to join the NHS and become a bloody typist!!"

Think that says it all!!

Good luck & best wishes to Lettie & co.... It can only get better (can it?)

WillowTheWhisp · 29-04-2005, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by -pixie

Plus the receptionists at Darwen don't constantly chew gum AND they don't take ages to sort out another persons prescriptions (eh Willow!).

Of course it didn't help that he didn't seem to know what he wanted and was more interested in the firm Busman works for and whether or not they had any connections with a night club in Darwen!

She never did go and find someone else to deal with us like she said she would did she?

entwisi · 29-04-2005, 21:23

I'm registered at Oswald medical centre. They too have a ring up on the day policy although I believe they keep teh odd appointment for advance booking.

When I was little you just went to the doctors and queued for about an hour, job done.

Ian

Gobsmacked · 29-04-2005, 21:59

Would that be when doctors knew your name and the names of the other members of your family and their ailments? How have we managed to deteriorate like this?

Gobsmacked · 29-04-2005, 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

Tony Blair is gobsmacked.

Just thought I'd like to clarify in case anyone wonders. I am not Tony Blair.

entwisi · 29-04-2005, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gobsmacked

How have we managed to deteriorate like this?

This is getting scary,
We are now asking more and more often how we got in this mess. I asked the same question in another thread. I'm starting to wonder what I have brought my beautiful daughter into?

WillowTheWhisp · 29-04-2005, 22:23

I was only saying to Busman the other day that way back in the 50s and early 60s scifi films about the future all painted a rosy picture of technological development making life much easier and better, everything clean and efficient. Then along came a different viewpoint with all the depressing films about environmental contamination and depletion of resources. In those films the future looked bleak but we never believed that was likely to happen. How could it?

Just look at it now. Which version are we closer to?