Action for ME: GP home visits under threat

https://www.actionforme.org.uk/news/​gp-home-visits-under-threat/

 

Thanks. I saw this this morning. It's shocking.

 

Doctors haven't done home visits in decades where I live. You either have to make an appointment and go into their office, go to a walk-in clinic, or go to the ER.

 

Have they ever met sick people? How are people who work in this field unaware that there are sick people out there who are too ill to leave the house? They don't understand either that this does not magically make those people less sick and thus "motivated" to go to the clinic? Or just don't care? Want "skin in the game", for people to "work" to get their medical care?

Or some kind of "if a tree falls in the woods", if you just ignore sick people do they really exist? Just a modest proposal.

Not that home visits are common anyway. We don't have those in Canada. If I'm too sick to go to the clinic I can go to the hospital where I'm also too sick to go and will be ignored anyway. Out of sight, out of mind. One life lost is a tragedy, millions are just a statistic.

 

The last home visit by a GP I recall was in about 1967/68.

Same here - you have to drag yourself into see a doctor somewhere, as no one is going to visit you at home.

The wait at the ER, and walk-in clinics can take many hours. If you're in pain, this can be a mini-nightmare.

And, walk-in clinics may not be all that thorough. Although each time can be different.

ETA: of course there are many medical exams, wherever they are done, that are not very thorough, and then there are many that are.

 

Home visits by GPs would likely be less costly for health care systems. Visits to the ER with costs for many staff in addition to the doctor can run up quite a bill. Although sometimes a visit to the ER can be more time efficient in the long run for the patient who may need lab work and imaging done. This can often be done in one visit to the ER, whereas waiting times for imaging at non -hospital facilities for example, can take many days to weeks.

 

@rvallee

Your comment: " Have they ever met sick people?" Reminded me of unrealistic expectations by some medical personnel. I wonder if the same rule would apply to them? (But I digress - apologies.)

 

I suspect quite a few GP appointments don't actually need the patient in the room, so in some instances video chat between GP and patient can be very efficient on both ends.

 

My GP does phone appointments, and I think more are, but that's not going to replace the need for a face-to-face home visit.

 

Mine (uk) do home visits if need to examine me eg recently for suspicious mole (not for ME) but do phone consultations otherwise.

 

Yes! I mentioned home visits here but for most circumstances telemedicine would work just as well. I am skipping going to see my GP this year because it's frankly an ordeal and doesn't make any difference. However a short video chat would probably work just as well. Not much has changed since the last time (if we count "none of my problems, some unrelated to ME, have been fixed) as nothing changed but still a basic blood panel to screen basic organ function would be useful, just not worth it going to that noisy chaotic far away unpleasant place.

But to get there would imply getting into the damn 21st century. Medicine here doesn't even freaking use email. Not a thing. It's telephone game through the receptionist or be there in person or bust. Zero adaptation to modern technology, despite some PR hinting at possible future uses of telemedicine, it seems strictly reserved for the convenience of busy healthy people, zero consideration for adapting to the need of those most in need.

Medicine is a natural monopoly and frankly it shows. There is no competition for ideas, everything is highly political within a bubble and innovations are slow, expensive and underwhelming. Something needs to change because frankly it's barely caught up to the 20th century as it is and that's just pathetic. It's one of those things that people aren't allowed to criticize but seriously things have to change and fast because the current model will crumble under an aging population and seemingly growing chronic health problems.

 

After months of cajoling my aunt got a home visit from her GP last year. She was basically told that there was nothing the GP could do ( and the GP did not have a clue, nor had they tried to do background research). It left her dejected and slightly bitter ( she is not a bitter person). It was the lack of empathy, knowledge and care that annoyed her most and probably the way the message was delivered and the feeling that she was being humoured.

My aunt is stuck in bed, and is from an era when doctors had authority ( her viewpoint has succinctly changed over the past few years). She has found some things which have made a difference ( magnesium injections have kicked nightime heart palpitations into touch), but these are not available via NHS. Though she had a partial thryroidectomy in her youth, the hormones that she uses to balance out symptoms are also not available via NHS, these have made a difference and better stabilised her base temperature.

She has osteoporosis and like anyone gets ill with other things - she can get a home visit if her sister hassles enough, but there is a lingering feeling that other than for blood draws which is done by the district nurse, that they are simply not worth it. It is however good to know that this can be facilitated should it become an issue.
Luckily she has a dentist ( private) that does home visits and did an extraction in August; and an optician, so other emergencies/ aspects are covered.

I don't know whether this is an England and wales issue, or whether it is UK wide.
the biggest dread is hospital - that would set her back months.

 

Is it just me, or is the destruction of the NHS gathering pace and far more out in the open now than it was just a couple of years ago?

 

Last time I had a home visit was about 5 years ago and my GP told me that GET was the best evidence-based treatment for ME.

 

Last time I had a home visit was when I was 17 (I am currently 54).

I have only asked once since, about 5 years ago, and was refused, on the grounds that I had had lots of home visits and they never amounted to anything (or something similar).

Based on my experience home visits in the UK are an urban myth.

 

Last time I had a GP visit was after my second daughter was born - she was a home birth. In 1981.

eta: The doc just wanted a cuddle with the new babe from what I could see.

 

If I hadn’t found a GP that did home visits, I wouldn’t receive any medical care at all.