Doctor never got back to me

this meeting and we record it right. Hello, Mike. Hello there, Paul. Hello

Thank you for speaking to me. Uh uh. Basically, I'm just really insisting to find out about your recent experience of any GP surgery, um, appointments or or visiting the GP or any kind of, uh, contact the the service

Um, well, I I found it quite isolating, because when I've tried to make an appointment, you're not allowed to go to the GP service, and it has to be done over the telephone. And the issue with that is it can take a long time. It can take months for him to get back to you

Uh, and sometimes the doctor hasn't got back to me. Well, that's happened a couple of times, and there've been I I would say, very important phone calls for him to get back in touch with me. And when I tried to phone the GP surgery, you're on hold

You could be literally on hold for hours so you could be, like, number 12 or 13 or 14 in the queue. And then sometimes the phone could just cut off or just before it. It's your turn

It can just it. The phone's cut off in the past. Um, so, yeah, I just found it very isolating

And I've lost my my trust and faith in my local GP surgery. And I haven't bothered to try and make a appointments since then. Yeah

Yeah, and And what's the sort of What's the impact of that on on you, Mike and your kind of life? Um, well, I've had a few issues recently which are quite important, and it's been taking a long time. And eventually I've I've had phone calls back from the doctor. I've had a message saying that a doctor will call me between, say, two and, um, say either in the morning between, like, eight and 12 or in the afternoon between one and five

So I've got to make sure I have the phone with me. So I don't miss the call, which, you know, can cause quite a bit of anxiety in case I missed the call because the number is always on a number, So I don't know if the doctor did try calling me, and I did. Recently, I'd say about a month ago I did receive a phone call over something that's quite important, which, under the hospital, over at the moment

And, um, they just told me that it's it's quite serious, and I asked you to be worried about it, and they said, Well, I'm not sure. And then, you know, I'm just back in the system now, taken a long time. Uh, but they did say that they would try and rush it ahead so it doesn't get lost in the system with me, but, uh, but, yeah, I found it very isolating whenever I've had to, you know, speak to the doctor over anything or, you know, yeah, but anything like that

So I I just haven't since then. I haven't wanted to contact the doctors over anything anymore. I'm sorry that's happened to you, Mike

Um, when you have got through and you are speaking to a doctor, is that been on the on the telephone? Well, you when you phone you never speak to a doctor, you've got to speak to reception first, and then they make an appointment. So the process is a long time. Um, I was told that I could say it's an emergency appointment, but sometimes they can, you know, they ask you what the appointments for, which can be intrusive

Really, because it's it's private. Um, and then they don't always say that is an emergency. And then you still wait

One of the particular phone calls was three months for him to get back to me. One of the phone calls was, I've just been That's just too long that Yeah, And when you have spoken to people, what's that experience been like for you? Um, well, at the do you mean at the surgery, either or either either on the phone or at the surgery? Very isolating because it's not face to face and you're at home. And I just think that you need that face to face contact and the reassurance which in the past, especially before everything that was, you know, happening in the pandemic, um, did feel better

Did feel as though I was listening to, and I have mostly stayed with the same doctors over the years. But recently, uh, the doctors left, so I've been passed around to different doctors, and it's not the same. It doesn't feel like they they care

As much as the doctor and I have spoke to other people, in similar situations that I've said the same as well. When you say isolate him, Can you kind of impact that word a little bit? What? What does that mean for you? It it doesn't feel like there's proper help out there. Um, doesn't feel like no one cares, I suppose

You know, uh, my problems, our conditions are not bad enough for me to ask for help, uh, to ring the doctors. Um, and I have put that off, and I think it's got worse. Like one of my conditions has got worse, because I've put that off ringing the doctors

And now I've been having to go to hospital appointments. And when you have been to the surgery, have you have you been Have you been to the surgery? I suppose, And when you have, What's that experience been like? Um, yeah, I have been to the surgery, and obviously we've yes, the restrictions and and everything there, it's it. It's been isolated there at the surgery because, you know, there's been no one there in the waiting room

Uh, the the process of how everything is done, you know, hand sanitizers, face masks. It's quite, um, I don't know an alien experience. If that's a way of wording, it it's not nice

It's not a pleasant one. Is there anything positive from the experience, Particularly when I suppose, comparing it to before covid. Is there any anything that's sort of changed within your experience of GP services that you would say has changed to the positive and if so, what? And why? Yeah, nothing's changed

It just feels as though it's got worse. It for me, I'd say. When I changed doctors, I was with the same surgery for most of my life

And then I moved unchanged and er, and that's when he had the same doctor and they had, like, regular appointments. And I found that quite positive and helpful. And, you know, the doctors did help me and, like, Sign post me, um, for for, like, service users and organisations to help, you know, with the issues they needed help with

And then that just slowly changed over time and, you know, the dots left. And then I was passed on to another doctor, Um and then he left. And then you know, there's two different complete doctors at about like the same issue So I had to explain everything again and with one of the doctors that it was a return phone call for an appointment, which he knew what it should have been about

And he didn't have, um, all the details up, and then he asked me what What was it I wanted? But it was a return like appointment call. So the doctor should have known. And then they had to explain everything again, which was, you know, it wasn't a nice experience

Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. I can absolutely see that

Thanks, Michael. I'm gonna I think Is there anything else you'd like to say on this subject before we stop the recording? No, I think that's everything. Really

Thank you. Brilliant. Yeah

Thank you. Now.