Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

I can't see how the doctors in my health centre can diagnose anything..there is a 10 minute slot..after that it is byeee!!

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

We only get 5 minutes barely time to say hello how are you and take a seat.

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

This I have heard before lilac and also that they will only discuss one problem only.

We have as much time as is needed to discuss any problems.

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

Yes..you have enough time to tell the doc what is happening...and how you feel..it is like a self-diagnosis...no examination..watching the clock go to 9 minutes..and come out with a hastily scribbled prescription!!

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

let's get on an even keel shall we and we can only speak as we find. I have an excellent doctor, he has a jovial manner and I always manage to come out with a laugh - he sits infront of his pc and has my full medical history before him - can read it accurately and very quickly - I don't go to see him for counselling [he has a counselling service attached to the practice for that] - he deal with my immediate medical concerns - he only needs 10mins as I do to update me and he also runs a busy practice and has lots of others to see who are anxious to see him. A counselling session usually takes between 30-60 mins because of the nature and need of that interaction - doctors do medical not counselling

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

we have a ten minute slot but we can make a double appointment when necessary which I did recently, it gave me lots of time to talk to him and I had a lot to say!

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

Who said anything about counselling ? 5 minutes isn't long enough to deal with even a medication review

I have meds for High blood pressure, allergies including epipens and steroids and anti histamines, anti shaking tabs, painkillers, vitamin K and hormone meds. Most lately my appointments have been about fibroid which is making my life bit of a misery. I don't want a chat although a hello please take a seat seems minimum of politeness, not asking for anything other than medical advice and to know the meds I am taking are still needed.

I haven't seen anyone else here say anything about counselling either !

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

At the surgery that I go to it's the same - 10 minutes only and that's supposed to apply to just one ailment but I think that all depends on the workload and the amount of patients either in the surgery or due-in for an appointment, although how they actually get appointments is a mystery to me at times!

I obviously do not know about other practices, apart from my wife's, which is different, but everyone that I know says that their doctors restrict the time allowed so I actually asked one of the nurses that came yesterday and she said that as far as she knows, 90% of GPs do this in Milton Keynes.

With my own doctor and the practise that I use they do have a lot of problems with some patients from foreign countries.

We have a large number of Bangladeshi people around here and many of them come from rural parts of Bangladesh where doctors are a luxury so when they get to the UK, the more recent arrivals will trot along to the doctor for simple ailments that most of us self-medicate, like coughs and colds, mild eczema, and athlete's foot.

My doctor' actually told me that and he said it's very difficult for some of them to understand the principles of asking someone other than a doctor for minor ailments and - strangely - they tend to trust doctors far more than anyone else!

My doctor's Bangladeshi - from Glasgow! - and he is pretty good and his "bedside manner" is better than some I've met, including his own father but the problems of patients who go along about minor ailments is quite serious to both the practises my doctor attends.

Both practises are at the top limit of patients and many, many other practises are the same in MK, so much so that some are not accepting any more patients at all so the pressure then reverts to the one hospital we have - which was originally supposed to handle just 70,000 people!

We have something like 220,000 here now so it's only going to get worse! stevmk2

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

This concept of alotting only a specific and limited amount of time per patient is foreign to me. Here, the doc's office manager schedules appointments for the day.. You go at your specified time and usually you end up waiting an hour to see him. BUT once you get into his office, you take as much time as you need, and you get to discuss anything and everything that is of medical concern to you. There is no specified amount of time. The doc stays until his waiting room is empty and no more patients are scheduled. So seeing a doc and getting the Bums Rush is not something I have dealt with. Sure.. it's a pain to sit and wait, but knowing that when I get to see him I will have the time I need to satisfy my health concerns is worth the wait.

Re: Doctors - do you trust them?

We still have to wait ! last time I was there I waited 3/4 hour for my 5 minutes. Yes they stay until finished but they don't arrive on time usually so we are always running late.