Thoughts about Doctors....

I was just thinking about doctors, and wondering if they have all been vaccinated. If so - and I assume they all have, pretty much, seeing as they are doctors and all their receptionists and associated chemist staff have been vaccinated - when can we start seeing them face to face again? Is this ever going to happen, or are phone calls and photos the "new normal". Frankly I would rather not have to discuss medical stuff over a phone, and think that photos of whatever ails you, is really not sufficient evidence to make a diagnosis. How can they be trained for 7 years and medicate you based on a photo?

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Looks like its the New Norm Pixie, reception staff are being trained for Triage duties.

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Oh really?? I didn't know that. Well I hope their bedside manner is better than their phone manners! I'm sure some of them think they are actually doctors, the amount of questions they ask you!

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I've seen my doctor face to face during lockdown, my doctors surgery have been good of they felt it necessary to see the patients face to face they have done. I've also seen a nurse there for my B12 jab.

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Not just surgeries but hospitals too.

Last week Tony had a follow up phone call after having a minor procedure done at hospital 6 weeks ago. Normally they would have seen him. They had to talk to me & I answered as best I could..

He has also had a telephone check up from his Alzheimer's doctor.

I asked him what was the point in that? I reminded him we saw him in person 6 months ago so why the telephone now?

I pointed out they couldn't see if he was unkempt or the dead look in his eyes.

He replied with some mumbles excuse that I didn't understand. I think he was just opting out..

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I don't think it'll ever go back to how it was. Also, bear in mind that the e-consult system was introduced way before the pandemic reared its ugly head. Our surgery was one of the first to jump on that bandwagon. It's been around for some years now, but I believe all NHS GP practices were given a deadline to have the system in place (not sure about that, correct me if I'm wrong).

So no, I think this is here to stay. We can either ring the surgery and hang on for an hour or so waiting for a person to answer and tell us the doctor will ring us back, or we can use e-consult, with exactly the same result.

Can't help wondering what the doctors do all day now - if they're talking to patients on the phone instead of seeing them, surely that must speed the process up? Will local surgeries as we know them eventually become a thing of the past?

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I have lost faith in doctors now. If I needed a doctor myself, I would demand to see one.

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You are so lucky, LQ...when i went for my blood test, I had to go to the local hospital, not even the GP nurse was available to do it at the time.

Carol that's awful. So much is being left to the family to try and deal with, with less and less support due to the virus, and so much is lost by not seeing folk face to face....other signs, like body language, the eyes as you say. I really hope its not going to be the norm.

Oh I hope not, Bathsheba.....I don't know what e-consult is...I assume we have something similar here in Scotland but maybe called something else. And yes, what ARE they doing all day if they aren't seeing anyone, because there is no way a phone call lasts as long as an appointment does.

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Good luck in getting past the receptionists first then, Mags, with their 20 questions about "why do you need to see a doctor?" and "Did you know that pharmacists can help you with your query and administer medication at the minor injuries clinic - try there first, ok? Bye now"

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e-consult is an online 'service', whereby you log in and describe all your symptoms. At some point in the future, someone will read your submission and make a decision about how to respond. If you're lucky you'll get a doctor ringing you back the same day, but it could be the next day... I don't believe I've come across anyone who has managed to get an actual face to face appointment this way.