General Medical issues thread

[Pushka]

Thoughts with you. You can do it!

Agree. You should know by now we are thinking of you and cheering for you behind the scenes.

 

[rogerkambah]

I do, and I am very appreciative of this. Thank you to all.

Agree. You should know by now we are thinking of you and cheering for you behind the scenes.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just had my first 'Telehealth' consultation with my GP. He's in his 60s, so is only doing tele consultations, from his home.

I was expecting a call (was what I was told when making the appointment), but got a text saying GP ready to start a video conference, and click on the link to start. It took me to 'GPConsults' and a regular phone to phone video session. Worked well . All done in 10 minutes. Scrip being e-mailed to my pharmac_.

I asked about face-to-face if needed. He said in their practice of about 8-10 GPs, there are 3-5 on deck, which is meeting the demand.

 

[Pushka]

Just had my first 'Telehealth' consultation with my GP. He's in his 60s, so is only doing tele consultations, from his home.

I was expecting a call (was what I was told when making the appointment), but got a text saying GP ready to start a video conference, and click on the link to start. It took me to 'GPConsults' and a regular phone to phone video session. Worked well . All done in 10 minutes. Scrip being e-mailed to my pharmac_.

I asked about face-to-face if needed. He said in their practice of about 8-10 GPs, there are 3-5 on deck, which is meeting the demand.

DIL is conducting Telehealth calls specifically for Covid issues. Calls go to a general line that is then triaged and medical calls are dealt with by GPs. She is busy and it seems to be working well.

 

[mrsterryn]

I follow Services Australia and they have a post from 14th April re scripts

Ensuring continued access to medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Australian Government has approved a number of temporary changes to medicines regulation to ensure Australians can continue to access the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines they need, as the COVID-19 outbreak unfolds.

www.health.gov.au

 

[Hvr]

My neighbour who has poor English had a follow up hospital appointment today.

She was sent a text to advise her that it would be done via TeleHealth. She doesn't understand and tried to ring the hospital. She couldn't understand the new phone menu and didn't get through. She came to me this afternoon for help.

Her phone is a basic mobile with no Internet on the plan. It is too old to connect to my WiFi.

So I lent her my phone, dialled into the TeleHealth and once she got through left her alone. An hour later she was finished and thanked me profusely. An interpreter was on line as booked. If I hadn't intervened then this vital appointment would not have occurred.

Surely the hospital could have included a letter in the required language to advise how to access TeleHealth? Especially since the original letter did make note of her native language.

Nor was there any alternative offered if she couldn't access TeleHealth. I appreciate they're busy, but a wasted appointment is a waste of essential resources.

Very fortunate I was working from home today and was able to be with out my phone for 70 minutes.

Vent over.

 

[mrsterryn]

@Hvr I know with some of the less utilised ....languages they can have an interpreter but not for the written language.
Centrelink I know used to have a least 8 languages they would send out information/letters in as well as English .

 

[Hvr]

I appreciate that not every language can be covered but Mandarin is a common enough language.

 

[mrsterryn]

And it was one that Centrelink had. So if they had it is very poor on the health system to not have

 

[Pushka]

I did read that Telehealth was set up almost instantaneously in response to Covid for a process that would normally take a long period of time. Months if not years. Of course there will be issues and my GP DIL experienced some but on the whole it seems to be working amazingly well. Sometimes we just can't be perfect but just do the best we can and try improve along the way. I trust they received suitable feedback on how they could improve?

 

[Antoallison]

Usually there would be a flag on the patients unique medical record that they always require an interpreter.

Sounds like it may have been a glitch in the setting up of the Telehealth system.
This incident highlights the problem that many older patients may not have a wifi enabled mobile.

Glad it worked out OK with your help.

 

[Flashback]

I did read that Telehealth was set up almost instantaneously in response to Covid for a process that would normally take a long period of time. Months if not years. Of course there will be issues and my GP DIL experienced some but on the whole it seems to be working amazingly well. Sometimes we just can't be perfect but just do the best we can and try improve along the way. I trust they received suitable feedback on how they could improve?

Our local GP practice has been doing tele-consults for a while, amazing how much time/number of appointments it has saved the practice. They had just started rolling out vid-consults too late last year; so good to see that's becoming the norm too.

I'm still amazed at how many missed appointments they report, even those booked on the same day!!

 

[JohnM]

I'm still amazed at how many missed appointments they report, even those booked on the same day!!

Do you think that is a downside consequence of socialised medicine - ie. the NHS?

 

[Flashback]

Do you think that is a downside consequence of socialised medicine - ie. the NHS?

Possibly, I wonder what Aus is like with more bulk billing these days?

 

[JohnM]

Possibly, I wonder what Aus is like with more bulk billing these days?

Maybe similar. Cynically, that is the sort of thing one may expect, I guess.

But I wouldn't know. I hardly ever need to visit my GP - maybe 1-2x/year - and the practice doesn't bulk bill. But I'm happy with that.

 

[Milboo]

I’m thankful for my vigilance today. Noticed an abnormal patch alongside where I’ve had BCC and SCC removed before. We’ve caught it early but I have to go through a couple of cycles of Aldara (which I don’t like) to tackle it and hope we get the outcome we need.

 

[Toula92122]

Do you think that is a downside consequence of socialised medicine - ie. the NHS?

Actually our GP here in California mentioned last time we saw him, how many people just don't turn up for appointments. They can't feign ignorance as the system here is you will get an automated reminder call the day before which give you the option to cancel or confirm. Is it just a case of people making appointments then deciding they feel better and not showing the courtesy of cancellation and allowing others to take the vacant appointment?

 

[Flashback]

Actually our GP here in California mentioned last time we saw him, how many people just don't turn up for appointments. They can't feign ignorance as the system here is you will get an automated reminder call the day before which give you the option to cancel or confirm. Is it just a case of people making appointments then deciding they feel better and not showing the courtesy of cancellation and allowing others to take the vacant appointment?

Who knows, we get reminders 2 days before and the day before too. What I can't fathom is people who make an appointment on the same day.... and still don't show up!

 

[love_the_life]

Sadly Mr LtL's cousin's wife near Bristol sent us an email yesterday to say she has decided to stop all treatment for her bowel cancer, She was 'given' 2 years when first diagnosed and its's been a few months over that. She was pretty well over the last UK summer but now the prognosis is weeks only. We would have flown over to see her if we could have.

 

[prozac]

Sadly Mr LtL's cousin's wife near Bristol sent us an email yesterday to say she has decided to stop all treatment for her bowel cancer, She was 'given' 2 years when first diagnosed and its's been a few months over that. She was pretty well over the last UK summer but now the prognosis is weeks only. We would have flown over to see her if we could have.

Sad also as it is one of the most treatable of cancers if you get your check-ups.
I made a journey to Europe in 2015 to say goodbye to a cousin dying of prostate cancer. To see this 6'7" man mountain reduced to bones was heartbreaking.