Appointments at Lerwick health centre

[HatMan]

Yesterday I would definitely get to speak to my Dr today if I called. Ha ha. Called again this morning at 8.30 to be told he was duty doc so couldn't talk to him. I later got a call from a certain lady Dr who obviously hadn't and couldn't be bothered to read my notes, contradicted everything my own Gp had been doing and told me to stop wasting her time. There has been a lack of continuity of care for years now and every Dr you see usually goes against the previous ones decision.

And as for the written complaint process, been there, got the t shirt. It's as big a joke as the rest of the service.

[paulb]

you can go beyond the health board if your not happy.

if your prepared to travel you could see if scalloway would take you on. not ideal but better than being messed about.

[manxman]

How many medical practices and how many GPs do you have covering Shetland? Here in the Isle of Man, we have nine medical practices employing 39 GPs covering a population of 85,000.

 

My own practice is one of the smaller ones, with two full-time GPs, two part-time nurses (who alternate on duty) and three receptionists (two on duty at any time). They provide cover for the whole of central Douglas, and there's never any problem in dealing with them.

 

Calls are answered within three or four rings, emergency appointments are always available the same day if you call first thing, and even scheduled appointments are available within a week. If you need to speak to one of the doctors on the phone, you simply leave a message and she calls you back at the end of surgery.

 

How come things seem so complicated in Lerwick by comparison?

[paulb]

it is just a lerwick problem. never had aproblem getting to see a doctor in bixter or walls. the scalloway doctors are very helpful. brae you could always get seen. i dont know about levenwick or hillswick or yell but i guess they are just as good.

i really dont see why lerwick has a problem its not a big population.

[MJ]

because Lerwick went down the super practice route. there is 1 practice covering Lerwick and the surrounding area. It's nuts. It isn't helped that in Shetland there is no choice, You have to go to the surgery that covers your area, not the one with room or closest to you or accessible by public transport.

[manxman]

Yeah, that is not a good solution. I know that Gibraltar went down the same route on an even bigger scale, with a single giant medical practice covering the entire population of almost 30,000. Apparently it's chaos, especially as doctors in Gibraltar are supposedly not allowed to issue repeat prescriptions without seeing the patient again. The result is people on long-term medication having monthly appointments just to get their prescriptions, which is completely insane!

[CrunchieSquirrel]

if there system is that bad then they need to change it.

 

I thought they did change the system, I thought they solved since November 2011 I think. If they did change it, they will be going to square one again, if they didn't change it well, I'm no expert, but I think they should've called professional technicians to solve this. It is totally ridiculous, I'm astonished that the system is not working and I think they should have solved this YEARS ago.

[Dratsy]

At least it has moved on since the days when as certain cleaner used to take a peak at folks medical notes then go home and discuss them with all and sundry, or at least I hope it has

[sdvws]

[**Mod Edit - Spam Link Removed**]

 

 

I've never had any problems getting appointments at the health centre but understand this is not everyone's experience. What I did notice from the visit was the receptionist didn't ask for my sysmptoms, which is a step forward in my opinion.

[fionajohn]

up in hillswick i've never had a problem

once i had to phone dr about 7.00(been up all night crying in pain)dr was in my house within 15 min i did get a lecture about NOTcalling him out earlier

often i've phoned and got an appointment for next day asked for same day appointment a couple of times and got them

[bug]

I wandered by the Lerwick Health Centre this morning ...........

[corporate]

What is so....pathetic...about the appointments procedure at lerwick health centre; is that the confusion, upset, delays, stress, is two fold;

 

1.firstly it is on people who think they need a doctor, who therefore will not necceesraily be feeeling good or confident or able to deal with the hastle of so called third world treatment;

 

2.secondly it is so unneccassary; they can throw away their incredibly complicated and purile systems and would with an a4 jotter be able to solve most if it in days; what is so frustrating is it is not rocket science; good management and organisatinal skills can sort this.

 

NHS shetland should take the political lead and do SOMETHING for patients; heads should roll for this.

[paulb]

probably not a wise statement they would probably close it.

[peeriesowel]

With so much negativity on this forum I thought it time that someone say something nice for a change. All we seem to hear about are the complainers - all it does is breed discontent.

 

I for one would like to say thank you to all the health centre staff who continue to go into work each day through thick and thin. You are always greeted with a smile and the staff try their hardest to meet your needs. Yes, I grant you, the system that the doctors came up with is not working, but that is not the fault of receptionists. The managers are expected by the upper echelons to cut budgets and that can only go so far before something breaks.

 

Perhaps we should all consider that the symptoms of LHC are a sign of the times...free health care with a finite and ever decreasing budget, a shortage of clinical and admin staff and an increase in population.

 

By all means Shetlink people, express yourselves and your frustration, but at least consider how this affects people in a close-knit community. If you have a positive contribution to make then offer suggestions to the NHS by letter, not by anonymous online forum.

[shetlandpeat]