An everyday story of St Marks Medical Practicee

[Kritou]

My wife is lying in bed with a bad back issue:

At 0800 I call the above practice and am informed I’m number eighty in the queue

At 0843 I’m told “no appointments left today” so I ask for one tomorrow .. “appointments can only be made on the day”

“OK, I will take her to A&E”

“No, that is for emergencies only, call 111 for advice”

I have previously spoken at length to one of the doctors about this and he was adamant that a lack of NHS funding meant they had insufficient doctors

So, should a practice be allowed to have an unrealistic number of patients on their books or should they cull the numbers and have their funding yet further reduced?

Here we go round the mulberry bush .........

[Kafoozalum]

Don't worry it won't be long before Boris, Damien & their pals have sold it all off & you will be fine...... if you've got plenty of wonga. The Yanks & Branson are licking their greedy chops in anticipation.

[Ric]

St Marks have nearly 15000 registered patients, the more they have the more funding they get. Sadly this goes to shareholders of the practice rather than providing better healthcare.

[Alikado]

Don't worry it won't be long before Boris, Damien & their pals have sold it all off & you will be fine...... if you've got plenty of wonga. The Yanks & Branson are licking their greedy chops in anticipation.

Where have you been, most of the NHS has already been sold off to big companies, 40 years ago most GP's & Dental Practices were one man bands or Partnerships of 2 or 3, now most are big companies in comparison many of which are part of a large group some owned by multinational companies. It is also creeping into other services, physios, District Nurse services around here to name name but 2.

[local]

St Marks struggles with its migrant responsibilities .

I used to be registered there and left after the Doctor explained their problems.

[TownieChap]

My wife is lying in bed with a bad back issue:

At 0800 I call the above practice and am informed I’m number eighty in the queue

At 0843 I’m told “no appointments left today” so I ask for one tomorrow .. “appointments can only be made on the day”

“OK, I will take her to A&E”

“No, that is for emergencies only, call 111 for advice”

I have previously spoken at length to one of the doctors about this and he was adamant that a lack of NHS funding meant they had insufficient doctors

So, should a practice be allowed to have an unrealistic number of patients on their books or should they cull the numbers and have their funding yet further reduced?

Here we go round the mulberry bush .........

To be number EIGHTY in a call queue is just ridiculous. The system should reject calls after 10 or 15 callers are in wait and add new callers to the system on a call-by-call basis. Who on earth wants to wait for 79 callers to be dealt with, not me. (Also, St Marks should really get rid of that bloody awful music that they use, a simple ring-ring would do).

A surgery receptionist cannot tell you not to go to A&E. The receptionist cannot see your wife, they can not diagnose your wife, they have zero medical qualifications and so should not be instructing anybody further than appointments, blood test results and general NHS information. If you believe your wife is in pain, distress or danger regarding a medical complaint you should absolutely take her to A&E immediately.

St Mark's is the town centre surgery and so the town centre residents are the main bulk of patients. The town centre is largely populated by immigrant families. I am willing to bet that 45 to 60 percent of St Mark's patients are made of these immigration families. It is these families that take their children to see the doctor for a sore throat or a runny nose, they queue outside the doors of St Mark's from 7am onwards to ensure that they are seen to. Before the doors of the surgery have even opened they are almost fully booked for that day.

[Derek H]

St Mark's is the town centre surgery and so the town centre residents are the main bulk of patients. The town centre is largely populated by immigrant families. I am willing to bet that 45 to 60 percent of St Mark's patients are made of these immigration families. It is these families that take their children to see the doctor for a sore throat or a runny nose, they queue outside the doors of St Mark's from 7am onwards to ensure that they are seen to. Before the doors of the surgery have even opened they are almost fully booked for that day.

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

[said]

To be number EIGHTY in a call queue is just ridiculous. The system should reject calls after 10 or 15 callers are in wait and add new callers to the system on a call-by-call basis. Who on earth wants to wait for 79 callers to be dealt with, not me. (Also, St Marks should really get rid of that bloody awful music that they use, a simple ring-ring would do).

A surgery receptionist cannot tell you not to go to A&E. The receptionist cannot see your wife, they can not diagnose your wife, they have zero medical qualifications and so should not be instructing anybody further than appointments, blood test results and general NHS information. If you believe your wife is in pain, distress or danger regarding a medical complaint you should absolutely take her to A&E immediately.

St Mark's is the town centre surgery and so the town centre residents are the main bulk of patients. The town centre is largely populated by immigrant families. I am willing to bet that 45 to 60 percent of St Mark's patients are made of these immigration families. It is these families that take their children to see the doctor for a sore throat or a runny nose, they queue outside the doors of St Mark's from 7am onwards to ensure that they are seen to. Before the doors of the surgery have even opened they are almost fully booked for that day.

True! I have been registered with St. Marks even long before when it was the Surgery in church Street. I have never had so much trouble getting seen as in the past decade, and I am one of those who rarely goes to a doctor.
Because of the issue over phoning in, my neighbour who attends the same surgery decided to go to the actual surgery to make an appointment. She has great difficulty in walking distances but struggled into town. When she went into the reception area, she was told very sharply by one of the reception staff 'We are closed for training, we cannot deal with any enquiries or appointments' That was before she had said anything. For heaven's sake - do the receptionists get to decide how urgently you need to see a medical person?
Another friend of mine had tried to phone through to the surgery on several occasions, always just missing out on an appointment time. But he rang through mid morning one day and said that it was an emergency, but that he could not get to the surgery as he could not move. He was told a doctor would come out to him. At 6pm a doctor turned up to find him in agonising pain - he was immediately transferred to hospital given morphine and had major surgery. The situation had grown much worse because he could not get an appointment to see a doctor.

[TownieChap]

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

I would be very careful before labeling somebody a racist, very careful indeed.

[Derek H]

I would be very careful before labeling somebody a racist, very careful indeed.

I asked a question and guessed the reply. I note you deftly refrain from answering. But your comments speak for themselves, do they not? (Not that I expect you to answer - although you might well respond). I think the labelLing can be seen in what you wrote.
And if you dislike what I wrote, report my post and ask for it to be deleted.

[said]

St Mark's is the town centre surgery and so the town centre residents are the main bulk of patients. The town centre is largely populated by immigrant families. I am willing to bet that 45 to 60 percent of St Mark's patients are made of these immigration families. It is these families that take their children to see the doctor for a sore throat or a runny nose, they queue outside the doors of St Mark's from 7am onwards to ensure that they are seen to. Before the doors of the surgery have even opened they are almost fully booked for that day.[/QUOTE]

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES![/QUOTE]

No! You have to look at the wider picture here. If you have ever been to a free bar, you will find that everyone at that bar will try to obtain as much as they can without considering the other drinkers around them. British people are aware of the NHS and the pressures that they are under and will not in general, attend a medical centre unless it is necessary to do so - the NHS is not free. Only foreign people to the UK find it a novelty to obtain health care 'free' and take advantage of it, without considering other people. Very often, they attend when they have minor problems such as colds and cuts etc., to keep testing the system preventing those who have more serious problems from getting seen to. You really need to be present to witness this for yourself as many of us have.

[Derek H]

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

No! You have to look at the wider picture here. If you have ever been to a free bar, you will find that everyone at that bar will try to obtain as much as they can without considering the other drinkers around them. British people are aware of the NHS and the pressures that they are under and will not in general, attend a medical centre unless it is necessary to do so - the NHS is not free. Only foreign people to the UK find it a novelty to obtain health care 'free' and take advantage of it, without considering other people. Very often, they attend when they have minor problems such as colds and cuts etc., to keep testing the system preventing those who have more serious problems from getting seen to. You really need to be present to witness this for yourself as many of us have.[/QUOTE]

But you (plural) keep saying that the receptions are a battle to deal with. Haven't they the ability to differentiate between "foreign people" who only have a cold and "British people" who really needs to see a doctor? We have lots of immigrants who use my GP and his colleagues. They don't act the way you say they do in the UK. But an appointment with a doctor here costs about 25 quid (until you have paid about 280 quid in the year) - is that the difference?
Are all GPs "overrun" with immigrants in the UK?
PS Appointments for kids a free of charge here, naturally!

[TownieChap]

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

No! You have to look at the wider picture here. If you have ever been to a free bar, you will find that everyone at that bar will try to obtain as much as they can without considering the other drinkers around them. British people are aware of the NHS and the pressures that they are under and will not in general, attend a medical centre unless it is necessary to do so - the NHS is not free. Only foreign people to the UK find it a novelty to obtain health care 'free' and take advantage of it, without considering other people. Very often, they attend when they have minor problems such as colds and cuts etc., to keep testing the system preventing those who have more serious problems from getting seen to. You really need to be present to witness this for yourself as many of us have.

Quite right. However, if the bar staff working the free bar were under pressure I'm sure we would not ease up in our demand to be served

[Derek H]

No! You have to look at the wider picture here. If you have ever been to a free bar, you will find that everyone at that bar will try to obtain as much as they can without considering the other drinkers around them.

Quite right. However, if the bar staff working the free bar were under pressure I'm sure we would not ease up in our demand t be served

I lived in Singapore for a few years in the early 1970s and had lots and lots of cocktail parties to attend, sometimes three a day. They all had free bars. But I think I can say that all of us, irrepective of nationality, acted in a manner that was expected of us. Are you saying that Brits have no manners when it comes to alcohol and the like? If so I think many should be ashamed.

[local]

[QUOTE

St Mark's is the town centre surgery and so the town centre residents are the main bulk of patients. The town centre is largely populated by immigrant families. I am willing to bet that 45 to 60 percent of St Mark's patients are made of these immigration families. It is these families that take their children to see the doctor for a sore throat or a runny nose, they queue outside the doors of St Mark's from 7am onwards to ensure that they are seen to. Before the doors of the surgery have even opened they are almost fully booked for that day.

Are you a racist? Do have problems with immigrants? My guess is that the answer to both questions is a resounding YES![/QUOTE]



It is in perhaps unfortunate language but the gist of the observation is true I was a patient there and one of the partner GP's explained their problems and apologised for them.