I wish they had more practice nurses. Often, you don't need a doctor - could you have a look at this...? - I 've had this before and..... The nurse could contact the doctor if they weren't sure. Fortunately,I don't need to visit the doctor much. Just as well. There's the 8o'clock scramble for appointments or a two week wait. But when I do visit, it's usually something that could be dealt with by a nurse. I'm sure that a lot of time is wasted by things like colds and sore throats that will sort themselves out anyway. I think people should be fined for missing appointments. Part of me thinks that we should be charged a small fee to see a doctor, but the other half would hate to think that someone would avoid going because they couldn't afford it.
Our local pharmacy has a qualified nurse who works there a couple of days a week. She does the flu jabs and whatever else comes in the door on the days she's there. I discovered her by accident when I went in looking for a dressing for a dog bite - she had a look at it for me, sorted out the sort of dressing I was looking for. She said she had retired and moved down to our area, then decided she was bored so took on the position at the Pharmacy. Saves an unnecessary trip to A&E or to the GP. Our GP surgery is very good, we can usually get in reasonably quickly. Come to that, the previous time I was bitten (no, it doesn't happen that often), I rang NHS 111 and explained the wound was still weeping several hours after the bite. This was late evening. They checked the queue at the local MIU, said it was about a half hour wait, and suggested I go there. By the time I got there, 25 minutes later, it was very quiet, they were expecting me at reception (NHS 111 had given them my name and details of the injury). The nurse saw me straight away and I was out again in 10 minutes. When it works, it does really work well.
sorry - forgot where I was there for a minute. I'll watch 30 seconds of the news and get my grump back......
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Sorry, but I'm not going to be curmudgeonly about our medical centre, which has improved beyond recognition since they brought in a walk-in clinic staffed by practice nurses. It used to be well-nigh impossible to get an appointment unless you could persuade the dragons on reception that you were on the point of death... but now you can pop in, wait, be assessed by a nurse and referred on to a doctor if necessary. When OH had cellulitis a year ago he limped to the surgery because his "foot felt funny". The nurse recognised that he had a problem, checked with one of the GPs and sent him to hospital.
Just wondering if I've got the courage to watch the news... grump overload, I think.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I've just checked on line for anything local. There is one in town but their website recommends making an appointment to avoid long waits. They don't actually say if you will get an appointment the same day or even within a couple of days.
Making an appointment defeats the object of a walk-in clinic. My local one, it's sometimes down to what time of day you go. Straight after 5pm, it's heaving with people home from work. Weekends the same. But 10am on a weekday morning, it's usually empty.
I wish I was a glow worm A glow worm's never glum Cos how can you be grumpy When the sun shines out your bum!
@punkdoc I got a horrible shock when I saw your post😱 I hope a few people add to the thread so that we get to the next page soon. Imagine if he became prime minister. We'd see him every time we looked at a newspaper.
Posts
Fortunately,I don't need to visit the doctor much. Just as well. There's the 8o'clock scramble for appointments or a two week wait. But when I do visit, it's usually something that could be dealt with by a nurse. I'm sure that a lot of time is wasted by things like colds and sore throats that will sort themselves out anyway.
I think people should be fined for missing appointments.
Part of me thinks that we should be charged a small fee to see a doctor, but the other half would hate to think that someone would avoid going because they couldn't afford it.
Come to that, the previous time I was bitten (no, it doesn't happen that often), I rang NHS 111 and explained the wound was still weeping several hours after the bite. This was late evening. They checked the queue at the local MIU, said it was about a half hour wait, and suggested I go there. By the time I got there, 25 minutes later, it was very quiet, they were expecting me at reception (NHS 111 had given them my name and details of the injury). The nurse saw me straight away and I was out again in 10 minutes.
When it works, it does really work well.
sorry - forgot where I was there for a minute. I'll watch 30 seconds of the news and get my grump back......
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Just wondering if I've got the courage to watch the news... grump overload, I think.
A glow worm's never glum
Cos how can you be grumpy
When the sun shines out your bum!
This is the man making me feel most curmudgeonly at present.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I hope a few people add to the thread so that we get to the next page soon.
Imagine if he became prime minister. We'd see him every time we looked at a newspaper.