NHSD almost killed my baby! or How to access your GP OOH service
GP OOH Services
At evenings and weekends your doctor's surgery will usually be closed. Rather than a GP from your surgery staying up 'on call' all night, surgeries in your local PCT (Primary Care Trust) will usually be contracted out to an OOH provider. These are centralised services, often based at local hospitals, Primary Care or Urgent Care Centres (PCC and UCC) who have a staff of doctors and call-takers. If you need a doctor when the surgery is closed you will need to call your OOH service. You may be triaged or you may get straight through to the UCC/PCC, they will arrange to see you if necessary. home visits are rare and usually limited to the terminally ill or housebound. OOH services prefer to bring the mountain of patients to Dr Mohammed, so you'll be advised to visit them at the PCC/UCC. You'll be assessed, treated, and medicated if necessary.
Sadly many people don't understand this. They remember the days when they 'called out' a GP. They remember this with rose-tinted specs, forgetting the long wait as one GP treats the whole community, the inability to fill the prescription he wrote you until Boots opens on Monday, the sound of breaking glass as someone broke into the GP's car. Ahh, halcyon days indeed.
Joe Public - "I need a doctor out now"
Me - "NHSD offers nurse assessment and advice only. To access your GP OOH service you need to call them"
JP - "But my doctor is closed, they put me through to you!"
But - they put me through to you
No. Just no. I'm fed up of hearing how "NHSD almost killed my baby" because people cannot follow instructions. If you call your GP when the surgery is shut in 99% of the cases you will hear this message on the answering machine:
"The Surgery is now closed. In case of emergency please dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. For medical advice only please call NHS Direct on 08454647 (this bit often repeated, up to three times!). If you have a medical problem that cannot wait until the surgery opens, please call [OOH Number]".
Variations on this include:
"The Surgery is now closed. In case of emergency please dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. For medical advice only please call NHS Direct on 08454647 (lather, rinse, repeat). If you have a medical problem that cannot wait until the surgery opens, please hold to speak to an operator"
or
"The Surgery is now closed. In case of emergency please dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. For medical advice only please call NHS Direct on 08454647 (repeat ad nauseam), If you have a medical problem that cannot wait until the surgery opens, please press #1"
If you're very lucky, dialling your surgery number at weekends may automatically divert you to your OOH provider.
See. No-one was put through to anywhere. In virtually all cases the caller will have taken the very first non-emergency number given to them (ours) and hung up. I'll verify it myself if necessary. I do wonder why they feel the need to give our number twice (or even thrice!) and then hastily garble out the OOH number, no wonder people get confused. Ahem.
I called to get someone's OOH number once, the message gave our number three times, then there was a 'click' sound as if the line had gone dead, but no dial tone. How curious! After waiting 90 seconds the speaker came back on the line and gave the OOH number in a disaffected, barely audible fashion. The original caller wasn't the only one who was upset, I reported the practice to my supervisor and the complaint was forwarded to the relevant PCT. Another fairly frequent occurrence is that the receptionist at the practice will forget to put the answering machine on over the weekend. Even GP receptionists are only human (no, it's true!). If this happens it's easy enough for us to find the relevant OOH service for the caller.
So now you know, if you want your GP then call them, not us! If you want your GP then call them. Don't call us and then scream and shout because you had to wait for a callback. Like I said, if the receptionist at your surgery has forgotten to turn the answering machine on then just call us and ask for the OOH number. Ask at your GP surgery, and keep the number in your mobile in case of emergencies. A GP is the only way of getting a prescription or a diagnosis. We are here to provide 'Health information and advice'.
I've posted this because I'm fed up to the back teeth of people saying "I called NHSD and they made us wait 4 hours for a doctor" or "They failed to diagnose my baby's [illness]" We have no doctors, we don't diagnose, and (the most important thing of all) we can only go on the information that you, the caller, gives us. We don't have access to your medical notes or history. If you fail to disclose something, or exaggerate your symptoms (you'd be surprisd, trust me), we cannot be held responsible if an inappropriate outcome is reached. While we can pass your details to your OOH provider after an assessment if you need to see someone urgently, it's easier for you to access Out of Hours services, and you have a right to use them if you need to. Don't waste their time with ingrown toenails and cold symptoms, but it will almost always be quicker than calling us for advice if someone is genuinely ill. Even if you know it's your local NHSD that deals with your OOH provision, don't call on the 0845 number, use the dedicated OOH number. It might get through to the same place (it probably won't now that NHSD has gone national) but it's a different service and the calls are treated differently.
Even unregistered patients or visitors from other parts of the country can use their local service if they need to see a doctor.
What a load off my chest. Hopefully I won't have to live in fear of hearing "NHSD almost killed my baby/granny/dog!" Then we can get back to the business of giving information and advice, not delivering babies and saving the world!
* The information in this post applies to England only. Scottish OOH services are now handled entirely by NHS24 (the Tartan NHSD) and Welsh services are often handled by NHSD Wales.
Labels: NHSD killed my baby, OOH, urgent care
