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Doctors Surgeries and Not Seeing Patients Face to Face.

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During the pandemic doctors surgeries were instructed to only under certain circumstances see patients face to face if absolutely necessary . This changed when people started getting the vaccines and doctors were then instructed to see patients face to face rather than zoom calls or telephone calls. What I want to ask is my doctors are still refusing to see people but using the hiding that they decide if you require to be seen face to face . As a patient can you refuse to do a phone call or zoom meeting and insist on seeing who is calling you face to face.

stuartsmith544
over a year ago
What do you think of this?+20 points
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Chelsea0121

Annoys me that I have to have a telephone appointment when I need to see the doctor in person. I've repeatedly asked for face to face I get ignored

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stuartsmith544

Out of interest can you refuse though ? I ask as I called my doctors Friday and the receptionist asked me a bunch of questions .I answered them and the lady then said I will get the doctor to call you some point today . I then asked can I ask you some questions .The receptionist said yes and I said is it you that decides who I am going to see .they then said I go through questions in front of me to determine who is best to see and I said I need to see a doctor not do an exam . She insisted on me talking the doctor and I laughed and said isn't it odd before the pandemic doctors surgeries were complaining about being overworked but now I'm going to speak to a doctor on the phone and like always it will result in 2 things, 1 I will have to come in for a blood test and 2nd the doctor wanting to see me face to face . Doctor called me Friday afternoon and 3 guesses what I have to do tomorrow ?

The answer is go to the doctors for a blood test and the doctor wants to see me face to face .

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Chelsea0121

stuartsmith544 if I refuse I end up with no appointment at all. I need the moles on my back checking and their in awkward places so struggle looking and checking for them through mirror. According the medical know it alls that work on the phones at reception a doctor will be able to check my moles through the telephone appointment.

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Chelsea0121

stuartsmith544 if that isnt bad enough they point blank refused me my epilepsy medication at one point and went six months without meds luckily I didnt have any seizures in that time period.

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Lynibis

Chelsea0121 I have a growth in my eyelid and was asked to send a photo via email. I was then asked to come in later that same day. Can you send a photo?

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Chelsea0121

Lynibis finally got a face to face appointment with the doctors never been happy to go to the doctors surgery

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Lynibis

Chelsea0121 that's good news Chelsea, I hope all goes well for you, it is very important for all moles and growths to be looked at as photos can sometimes give an unrealistic two dimensional view.

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Chelsea0121

Lynibis thanks ❤️

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lilyflower

What annoys me is you can have an appointment with a Nurse or Nurse Practitioner but not a Doctor and they are all in the same building.

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Lynibis

It's almost as if the doctors have gone into hiding. All appointments and telecons I have had over last couple of years have been with nurse or nurse practitioner. Unfortunately due to them not doing my diabetic check last March my levels have gone way up and I am now on meds, good side is that it has given me a shake up to go back on healthy eating.

Around 6th they offered me 21st but will be in Scotland then, so she said ring when I return so will probably have to wait another couple of weeks then, but won't complain about that as I know some folk have waited far, far longer.

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angelik

My doctor's surgery is the same, you can still only get a phone appointment and the doctors will then determine whether or not you need a face to face appointment after that. They don't offer any kind of zoom/online appointments, so everything is pretty much being done over the phone. If you ask specifically for a face to face appointment, they tell you it has to be the phone appointment first.

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MrsCraig

I have never had a problem getting a face to face appointment with the Dr, even during the pandemic. Even before the pandemic our Dr would do a phone appointment before they would see you face to face. You can refuse to do a phone or zoom call but it might not be to your benefit. I know when our dr phoned it was to get information so that they were prepared for when you came in for the face to face.

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Leannexxx

I had to fight to get a face to face appointment for my 4 month old that was over a week ago she's not seeing them till this Tuesday

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Chelchel

I can't even get a call appointment, I've been told to have a review so I did the usual nonsense online form, told them when I can have a call, specifically told them no mornings as medication ko's me and guess what without warning/appointment the very next morning they tried calling me.

I'm now at back of line, I just hope they don't stop my meds as I'm a mess off them.

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cocolgooh

My GP surgery won’t even take phone calls to ask for appointments (or to request sick notes or repeat prescriptions when the pharmacy tells you to call them because the doctor refusing to issue it) anymore - you have to book online and the only option for appointments on the online system are telephone appointments - useless for physical in person tests.

It took me over 6 months to get an in person appointment (when I had worrying symptoms and was even told over the phone they needed to see me in person) because one receptionist repeatedly slammed the phone down if I asked for an in person appointment and then cancelled them if I got them from another receptionist because she didn’t believe I needed them and thought I was wasting their time. (I wasn’t, and the nurse I did eventually see told me I should’ve come in long before I did. I wish the receptionist had allowed me to!)

I can see why A&E visits are increasing so much - people can’t get to see their doctor so are left with no choice eventually.

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PhilipMarc

I know a lot of people can't afford private doctors, but they're seeing patients.

Some of those cancelations may come down due to being done for "free."

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cjevans

About a year ago my daughter had recurring eczema infections. Then she became quite poorly, she could barely open her eyes, was *****, feverish. I told the GP it wasn't eczema but he refused to see her face to face for 2 days, or video call as it was "just eczema" he finally gave in, and she was admitted to hospital, IV antibiotics and antivirals . Where the itching was that severe, she scratched her cornea and as a result now wears glasses as its scarred.

I think GPs should use there common sense, in this case, a hospital stay and impairing my daughter's vision could have been avoided.

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MichelleCockitt

I rang my doctors before and was told i could have a telephone appointment in 3 weeks. Which is so annoying as i am going dizzy all the time

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Bossclaz

If I can get away without going in I will so its good for me

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lilyflower

I got a letter this morning from GP asking me to make an appointment for blood review. I phoned and was told no appointments until October due to shortage of blood collection tubes. Why send the letter!

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stuartsmith544

I had something similar to that last year , week after week on a Monday I would get a text saying ring to book your flu jab , week after week on a Monday I'd call the doctors to book set flu jab only to be told there isn't any flu jabs in stock .Call back next week , then get my text on the Monday and the game plays again .Did that every Monday for 9 weeks .

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KatieBlue

I work in an opticians. We have been seeing patients face to face all the way through. The Optician has taken photos of growths on patients faces, and emailed them to their doctors, because they haven’t been able to see their doctors face to face. I have had more people than you would think, calling up, or coming to the door to thank him for spotting their Cancer!! So much will be getting missed because of this.

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Sammycb

My dad's ill at the moment and we've been trying to get a Dr to do a housecall for weeks now. Our surgery is constantly trying to palm is off to NHS24, not interested in seeing patients then have a cheek to take half days off for training??

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eyeballkerry

I have had problems getting face to face appointments with a doctor but I get called back from a nurse. I have had no problems getting hospital appointments.

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Mango4

My doctors claim they are only seeing a limited amount of patient's face to face . as they are still trying to avoid Covid infections at the surgery, which to an extent seems fair comment, suppose it's a difficult balance for them particularly in an health care setting where there could so many vulnerable patients. Personally in some cases I think a telephone call or video call may be appropriate but for the majority face to face is best . My biggest gripe thou is that it's the receptionists that are making the majority of decisions not the doctors, and I absolutely hate telling the receptionist why I wish to see a doctor , that's between me and the doctor .

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Leannexxx

Mango4 I went to my doctors before and told them I want appointment either phone or face to face and receptionist asked what was the problem she got told its nothing to do with her I'm not saying what my issue is with the waiting room full

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SilverSurfer

Overworked and underfunded I'm not shocked

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tumblespots

I have spoken to the doctor on the phone once in the 'covid times' which was fine for me - even though she was foreign and I couldn't understand a word she said..... but I got a copy of the MRI report and that told me everything that I needed to know. I have never done zoom and am not technically minded so it would be impossible, besides who wants to show the doc body parts on zoom when it could, in my view, be seen by 'others'!

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sarah4701

My son had four telephone appointments over 6 weeks, as wouldn't see him , doctor kept prescribing different creams took to chemist and they told me he needed antibiotics. We told the doc, we had seen the pharmacist, and what they said, and we had face to face appointment. Might be worth trying your local pharmacy.

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wibblewobble

not stepped in my doctors surgery in 18 months!! we don't even get zoom calls or phone calls, we have to fill out the eConsult form and then wait for a text message to see what treatment we are getting... it's absolutely cràp 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

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CarolBoardman

It is not true if you do not accept a phone call that is it no other option 😡

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esaa

Sometimes it is irritating when they can see u for 5 mins instead of making u wait on the phone to 111 and then a longer wait at an a n e

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