"Caring Doctors"

Once you have defeated the electronic gate keeper and managed to get a face to face appointment the standard of care provided by the Doctor is fine. The gp’s are often trainees and are therefore very thorough in their consultation - even if they are dealing with uncommon issues they are willing to go that extra mile to ensure they cover all the bases. The blanket e-consult appointment system is not fit for purpose as it is too long winded - asks irrelevant questions and if your issue doesn’t fit in one of its boxes it asks you to phone the surgery anyway. It is not suitable for the elderly who are not It savvy. It is also not comfortable to have to put personal details into a form that could be accessed by someone other than your doctor - confidentiality is essential in some cases. Also the review of test results by medical coders rather than the gp who requested the test is flawed. A gp can be eliminating issues, so a negative test result is needed to enable them look at other issues. If the medical coder closes the entry without referring it to the GP then that trail is lost. On a positive note the new NHS app is a boon as it allows immediate access to test results and doctors notes allowing you to keep up to date with having to ring the surgery. It also enables you to see when the electronic system is flawed! The right technology, properly implemented, used correctly and designed with patients in mind would transform the gp experience.