Your experiences of using health services

i contacted gp service today over my ear infection / respiratory infection they wont see me not even with a mask on eg ffp3 mask so still only phone appointments

Michael Carers UK
What Butterfly and myself are saying is that we should be getting good help and support from our GP’s we are both ill and caring.
AND dealing with complex care issues, the GP should be on our side making sure we are getting the help we carers need with our illnesses and our caree’s complex issues.
The GP should be talking to Social Services, there is supposed to be “joint Working” ,health and social services should be working as a team.
It is clear in both cases, that Continued Health Care should have been in place and as Bowlinbun says Fast Tracked by the GP.

My GP has said unpaid caring, nothing to do with him but unpaid carers strategys are saying that the GP is a leading part of a unpaid carers advice help and information.
I cannot access any health services Corona or no Corona , my relation with my GP has broken down, I just don’t bother anymore talking to or seeing my GP despite my complex health issues.
My caree died last year despite asking no help or support was ever given by the GP or any service, I am still upset grieving, not sleeping properly.
But I am still unpaid caring with no support.
We unpaid carers are supplying the majority of support and doing the hours that the paid staff won’t can’t don’t do, we should be as the government says, recognised, valued and supported.
Both Butterfly and myself just don’t know where to go, any contact is instantly plagued with problems, the organisations that are paid to help us come up with all these rules we can’t do, don’t do that but their sole purpose is to help and support us.

I will never get Carers allowance but every day I am caring and not getting paid a penny, I probably shouldn’t be caring but what choice do I have. That’s what the Care Act is about choice and control, that Carers have a choice to care or not.

Paid carers can pull a sickie as you call it, and don’t have to care for the day, I do even if I am ill tired sick, I still have to care, there is no one who will come along and take my place for the day or week.
And especially now with the corona virus, we are living with our carees 24/7, we cannot have a break, go on a cruise, we can’t do anything.
I have been told I am ineligible for support by the council, but I am supporting others, a crazy kind of logic, how can I be ineligible for support when there are statements proclaiming that we will support ALL unpaid carers. We will make sure carers stay healthily, where, how, do we access this support, I haven’t got a clue?

I had a really good experience on Saturday morning. A large swelling came up on my cheek, not a dental abcess, but tender in the same way. In our area, all the GP’s have “The Surgery” at our local hospital to do out of hours work. I dialled 111, after a number of completely irrelevant questions (!) like “was I more confused than normal” she gave me an appointment at “The Surgery”. I left home, went to the hospital, at the end of my road really, saw the doctor, was given a prescription, home again within the hour. Better than a weekday appointment!! I seem to spend most of my time complaining about useless services, so really great to talk about outstanding service. However, if it can be done in my area, why can’t similar arrangements be made in all areas???

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How on earth can there be a “GP Practice” when it doesn’t have a GP? Have you complained to the CCCG about this?

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I live in a fairly big town and there are a lot of GP surgerys scattered over the town and surrounding area, There are over 20 GP’s at my surgery , big practise, big building, around 40 staff altogether.

But what my caree and I could not understand, you attend the GP Practise for an appointment, the building is practically empty of patients, there are frequently more staff there than patients. But you cannot get an appointment for 3 weeks.

So we have an out of hours clinic which is cram packed full as people just can’t get a GP appointment, and the A&E which again is packed every night and frequently a 4 hour wait.
They have actually had to temporarily expand the A&E, portacabin type building.

A GP is essential to manage a patients condition, to access the right treatment, help and support, but the GP’s just don’t seem to have time to do this.
My carees are just getting very little management of their complex conditions, very basic social care.

So loads of GP’s but you can’t get an appointment.