HEALTH & WELLBEING: Dr Avanthi Says… Is there someone else who could better meet your health needs?

As a GP in Rotherham for 10 years it worries me when I hear people saying they can’t get an appointment with their GP practice for 2 or 3 weeks. Is it really a GP that you need to see? One recent development is the wider variety of health professional expertise that is available to provide advice and treat our patients. We have nurses, physios, pharmacists, advanced nurse practitioners and healthcare assistant that have years of experience and in depth knowledge in treating patients with certain illnesses and conditions. Most of the you will find the receptionist at your GP surgery is going to ask you a few questions when you call to make an appointment, this is because we’re trying ‘care navigate’ you to the most appropriate clinician within the GP surgery. It may not always be a doctor. This process is ensuring that doctors are seeing the most appropriate patients in a timely manner.

Whilst on shift at the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, I’ve lost count of the number of patients I’ve seen that didn’t need to be there and who I’ve advised to go to back to their practice and make an appointment. In Rotherham, between 2016 and 2017, we have put in place an additional 420,000 appointments. These have been made available due to the increase in the variety of health professionals in our practices meeting your needs on a daily basis. But yet I continue to be surprised by the amount of people who turn up at the urgent and emergency care centre or who insist on seeing a specific GP within their practice.

So, next time you are feeling under the weather, please stop and think if a GP is really the person you need to see.  Or is there someone else who could better meets your needs and help you to get better quicker?