Your primary care team T2D

[ickihun]

I can ask for a woman GP or either of the 2 male GPs at my practice. I do see myself very lucky.

 

[Listlad]

I can see any one of the GPs in our practice when I book. It matters not whether it is my named GP or some other. One of the GPs specialises in arthritis and I see him if I need to - he works part time at the local musculoskeletal unit. If we have an urgent need to see a GP we ring up and are given to whoever is available. I can also book on-line and see any of the GPs that have suitable appointments. I haven't seen my named GP for years. All she does is look at my test results and contacts me if she wants to discuss something. I thought this was pretty general throughout the country.

Same here. And at my two previous surgerys over the last 30years.

 

[Listlad]

It seems to have gone belly up when the Gov brought in 'Named Gps's.

I have a named GP but I avoid him.

 

[Guzzler]

I have a named GP but I avoid him.

Wishing I could avoid them all.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Wishing I could avoid them all.

How many GPs are there in your practice? Surely there must be one good one?

 

[HSSS]

Frankly we’re lucky to get an appointment at our surgery, let alone being able to choose who it’s with. I don’t even know who my named gp is, the last standing official dr that isn’t a locum I assume! My results get reviewed by any dr about. Historically we’ve been allowed to see any dr at the practice so in theory we have choice, just not in practice. There’s online appointments, but only for the actual practice gp (part time) as the locums cant be put on the system. Again in theory we’re in the 21st century but not in practice.

 

[Guzzler]

How many GPs are there in your practice? Surely there must be one good one?

There are seven, I have only seen the same (12 year old, or so he looks) GP. Seen one Practice nurse twice and all the others have been strangers. No 'relationship' and have to repeat stuff all the time. I made a big mistake in switching to this particular Practice but it is closer to home and offers more services (or so I was led to believe by the website) but, strangely, they keep telling me to go to another Practice for phlebotomy. First time this happened I said "There has to be a dozen people in this building who can draw blood and you want me to pay for an adapted taxi to go down the road?" I was disgusted. I have the blood draws at the Practice but I have to stamp my foot to get it done there.

 

[UsmanMo96]

Hi.

Been T2D for about a year now.

And found great help and support on here.
thank you DCUK.

Just read a post that made me Ponder
what MY Primary Health care team is.

For me those early days were a quick appointment with a doctor relating to something else.
A blood test that came back saying i was TYPE 2..a leaflet regarding it,
a quick chat, while my head was spinning, then out the door all in 10mins.

Now i appreciate that doctors are Busy, and have to have a very broad knowledge base,
so unrealistic to expect them be experts in just the one field T2D.

But it's been a source of some concern, when i read how many come here with similar stories,
then i read the follow ups, punctuated with poor behaviour, less then supportive positions and in all honesty
rather behind the curve regarding how we can and should treat this disease.

I guess while i agree fully that Type 1 is for me much more worthy of better support,
the lack of it as a T2D, does make me envious.

I am reminded (not unrealistically, really) how many post where a T1D tries to help on a T2D topic,
with go see your 'TEAM' only for me to Think...What is this TEAM they speak of,
we DON'T have a health care team, like they do, and in fact i wonder if many of us have one at all.

I get an appointment with MY doctor (i adopted one..i like her)..but i'll have to wait for that appointment, 3-6 weeks
if i want to be seen quicker it's whoever is available..and we spend a portion of the 10 mins catching up on who i am)

My Diabetic nurse? Seen two separate people, both did the foot check.
Nice but hardly a detailed examination of how i'm doing..More a quick overview

I thought this was Normal.

so i was just wondering how MUCH support do others get as T2D ?
does anyone T2D, have a relationship with anyone on their GP's diabetic team, or is it all a Group effort.?

Cheers

I see the nurse who does my yearly check up and then I see the doctor when I get my blood results. No specialists diabetes team.

 

[Daphne917]

Even on MyGP?

In theory I can book appointments on line however whenever I try I always get the message ‘there are currently no available appointments’ so have to ring the surgery and wait for 25 minutes on the phone to get one. I’m currently trying to book a diabetic review but have had no success - had my blood test etc 4 weeks ago!

 

[ickihun]

In theory I can book appointments on line however whenever I try I always get the message ‘there are currently no available appointments’ so have to ring the surgery and wait for 25 minutes on the phone to get one. I’m currently trying to book a diabetic review but have had no success - had my blood test etc 4 weeks ago!

Oh no. Any other practice in your area?

 

[Daphne917]

Frankly we’re lucky to get an appointment at our surgery, let alone being able to choose who it’s with. I don’t even know who my named gp is, the last standing official dr that isn’t a locum I assume! My results get reviewed by any dr about. Historically we’ve been allowed to see any dr at the practice so in theory we have choice, just not in practice. There’s online appointments, but only for the actual practice gp (part time) as the locums cant be put on the system. Again in theory we’re in the 21st century but not in practice.

We play GP roulette every time we pick up our prescriptions because the name of our ‘named’ GP is on the bottom but it’s a different name every month - we had a locum listed one month.

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

Debandez wrote... It makes me so sad to read this. And very mad. They are on auto pilot. Spoutingthe same old same old.

It is sad Debandez. The fact that the Doctor and Nurse I saw both advised I visit this web site and it's forums for help and answeres to my many questions, yet to me it is obvious they have never studied the site themselves because all of their advise is in complete conflict to that which can be found here. I told the Doctor this and he assured me his experience, training and seminars he had attended provided him with far more expertise and evidence that the only solution was medication, probably for the rest of my life.

How can any professional advise patients to use diabetes.co.uk for information but not first look at its content or take on board evidence that low carb, high fat diet can work? So many Doctors and nurses seem unable, afraid or unwilling to accept thousand of success stories, dismissing them as though they were some urban myth. I think we have a long battle to persuade them otherwise. Keep up the good work.

 

[Daphne917]

Oh no. Any other practice in your area?

There’s a couple of good ones near by but we’re just outside the catchment area unfortunately.

 

[1spuds]

because all of their advise is in complete conflict to that which can be found here. I told the Doctor this and he assured me his experience, training and seminars he had attended provided him with far more expertise and evidence that the only solution was medication, probably for the rest of my life.

 

[Deleted member 308541]

I just phoned my GP's practise to make an appointment for next Tuesday with my regular GP, as I want to get a new blood test request form, and scripts for one of my copd inhalers that I have run out of scripts for.

They offered me two time slots 9:20 am or 10:40 on Tues, so took the later one as it fits in what I have lined up to do that day.

I could not handle the way they seem to %$#@ on you in the UK with NHS so called service.

 

[jjraak]

There are seven GPs at my Practice. There seems to be a high turnover of junior partners and a high incidence of locum cover. When I joined the Practice two and half years ago I was listed with a junior partner and requested a change to an older, female doctor, the request was denied. The surgery is oversubribed and the Practice Manager is said to have had a previous career in the Hitler Youth.

I picked FUNNY because of the last line, @Guzzler..LoL

but just wanted to throw in a HUG as well, i'm surprised by that.

Why wouldn't a woman prefer a woman doctor, and be allowed to ?..
my missus does .

me i'm not bothered, unless it's for the 'you Know.. bits " ..then it's Men.doctors.
because we under stand what each other means ( we blokes talk in code when it's THAT ) ...and how it feels.

surely part of that dynamic of visiting a doctors, EXCEPT when it's an emergency,
then it's OMG , Hitler Youth, Satan, Hugh Laurie..() I DON'T Care as long as they can save me.,

But at a surgery level,it IS that ability to relax, and relay REAL concerns and problems, and that really has SOME merit,
especially when regarding how you feel about how the the other party listens and empathises.

there have been some fantastic female doctors i have seen, as are many of the male ones.
but surely THAT should be Your choice.?

take care.

 

[jjraak]

Support from my Primary Health Team is quite hit and miss.

I was originally diagnosed in hospital following a Heart Attack and subsequent angioplasty 12 weeks ago.

Whilst in hospital, the diabetic nurse came along and said, by the way "You are also diabetic" here is a meter, test strips and lancets. She talked me through injecting insulin, watched me do it once, gave me a logbook to fill in and showed me how to carry out a finger prick. I never saw her again during my four day stay in hospital and was told that the outreach team would contact me the week after I was discharged. I left hospital feeling shocked, confused and scared at the diagnosis. There had been very little discussion about the illness and what it would mean to me. When I got home on the Saturday morning, I discovered that she had only given me 6 x test strips for the meter. 0/10

The following week there was no follow up call from the outreach team and ten weeks later they still havn't called. 0/10

The same week I was contacted by my GP and she arranged a review appointment with her later the same week. She was very reassuring and helpful and organised an appointment later that week with the Practise Diabetic Nurse. The GP also referred me to the Podiatry Team for a foot check. 10/10

My first meeting with the Practise Diabetic Nurse went well. She explained about diabetes and that I was on insulin in order to protect the heart. She was a lot more informed than the hospital team. At a later date, the plan was to phase me over to tablets instead. She talked about diet gave me my hbac1 reading from when I was in hospital, took another blood test, checked my feet and arranged a retinopathy test and for me to attend an Empower Course. She wasn't happy with the logbook that the hospital had supplied and gave me one that she considered more suitable. She also advised me that I could call her anytime if I had concerns. Since then,she has seen me every two weeks and has been excellent and kept me fully informed. She also made sure that I got 100 test strips a month. 10/10

Three weeks later and I get a letter from the hospital Podiatry Team which tells me that I have been triaged by them and they do not consider that I need an appointment. I have no idea what this is based on as they havn't seen my feet. 0/10

Five weeks in and I get a letter from the Diabetic Consultant at the hospital telling me that a letter will follow with an appointment date to see her and forms are enclosed for me to arrange a blood test two weeks before seeing her. I also get an appointment for the Retinopothy Test. 5/10

The staff at the eye clinic were great explaining everything that they would be doing and what to expect. Unfortunately no-one told me to take a pair of sunglasses with me. They test result came through within 3 weeks 9/10

Two weeks ago, I thought I would ring the hospital as I still havn't received an appointment to see the Consultant. The booking line tells me that they do not have a referral (Even though I received an earlier letter!!!!). They suggest that I ring the Consultants Secretary - I try but she is only an answerphone and she is on holiday for 2 weeks. I ring again and they put me through to the outreach team. They are also an answerphone and they will ring back the same day. I am still waiting for the call. Will I get an appointment? I really don't know. 0/10

It strikes me that if you get a good GP Practise, they are worth their weight in gold as you cannot rely on any support from the hospital.

forgive the late reply. @Route 66

agree on the last line, blessed indeed if you have one.


as for you...what a horrid experience

I hope things have become better in a more managed direction, since then.

Liking the out of ten scoring system.
really does give a sense of the satisfaction / or lack of at each stage of your journey so far.

Thank you for posting
best wishes for a better tomorrows with the treatment
regime and clearer advice.

 

[jjraak]

I just phoned my GP's practise to make an appointment for next Tuesday with my regular GP, as I want to get a new blood test request form, and scripts for one of my copd inhalers that I have run out of scripts for.

They offered me two time slots 9:20 am or 10:40 on Tues, so took the later one as it fits in what I have lined up to do that day.

I could not handle the way they seem to %$#@ on you in the UK with NHS so called service.

well not that i need one, but just looking on my web link, the ONLY docs appointments are for
8/8/2019 to 22/8/2019

NONE.

no other choices available.

guess i just keep trying until the week after appears
I do know my adopted doctor IS unavailable for the next 3 weeks as reception told me the other day,
but the website, just doesn't have her down...( i was worried she'd left.. )

So Appointment's within one week.....gold dust, mate

 

[jjraak]

I have gone back over my recent posts and have amended one EDIT in relation to a post to @helensaramay
(apologies for the late edit, helensaramay)

for those who have not had the pleasure, i was lucky enough to hear this guy speak.
.(have since searched but can find no link to video)

and HE spoke for me on SO many levels.
i still get goosebumps when i Just read what he said.

https://www.livingloud.org.uk/single-post/2018/12/14/International-Diabetes-Summit-2018

ALL of it is worth reading, but the punch line, the absolute clarity of the nonsense of the current situation is...

A report published this year showed that DESMOND in Leicester shifted the baseline from 64mmol to 55mmol,

now I'm not an esteemed diabetologist
but even I understand that 55mmol is still diabetes, right?

Yet they celebrate this failure as a success
and persist with this programme.

I doubt we have moved, much beyond that, despite the sterling efforts of so many.

maybe next year we WILL see the promised lands

I am also reminded of this clip from the film Network.

A lone voice indeed.

but just one voice one person CAN make the difference
and WE are MANY.

here's a lesson in how a movement, usually begins with just One voice, One person
and THAT one action can cause others to join that movement.

This guy inspired ME, that WE Deserve BETTER
who will inspire you ?
https://www.livingloud.org.uk/single-post/2018/12/14/International-Diabetes-Summit-2018

 

[ickihun]

I don't lose weight unless I hv tight and constant 5s. However the nhs criteria is far higher.