Depressed but cant get a gp appt

[needtogethelp]

im a regular but have changed my name for obvious reasons, no one knows i suffer from depression.
Ive been on anti-depressants for a while but lately the symptoms of depression have returned, i feel utterly despondant, cant be bothered to wash, dress etc, there are a lot of things going on in my life which have led to this. This week ive cried every day and considered suicide, i phoned my gp this morning to request an urgent appt, the triage nurse phoned back and asked what the problem was, i explained, she then says, you dont need an urgent appt, you can wait for a standard one, first one, 3 weeks, i burst into tears and tell her i cannot wait that long and she replies if you are that bad go to casualty!, all it probably needs is my medication changing, i cant beleive the way she spoke to me, now i feel so upset and e,barrassed i feel like changing my gp.

[lulumama]

well,, you can go to A&E if you feel desperate..you can get help right away and you should not have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment if you are suicidal

get yourself some immediate help. then change GPs. if you can afford it, see a private GP...

don;t give up, you know you need help, that is good...is someone there in RL who could get you to A&E or a different doctor?

[Quootiepie]

Are you under any sort of mental health team? You could call the crisis number and they might phone the GP. Or request a call back from GP? I know our surgery offer this {{hugs}}

[needtogethelp]

i cant get to casualty..and it seems a little extreme when all it probably needs is some new meds etc, im cross that they dont consider being deeply depressed as an urgent appt.
i will sit for hours in casualtyand i have a pre school age child id have to take with me and another to collect from school.

[needtogethelp]

QP-no i was not placed under the care of a mental health team.

[Tortington]

phone back tomorrow - and when burse phones say "you rather not discuss it with anyone but the docotr" will t hat work?

[pindy]

You shouldn't have to wait 3 weeks under any circumstances!!

Does your surgery allows telephone consultations, ie; could your ring and make an appointment for the doctor to call you when her clinic has finished? So at least you could discuss it with her and get her opinion. Try again please and say that as far as you are concerned it is urgent.

Good luck

X

[pindy]

There is still time to get an appointment to day hopefully or just go down to the surgery and wait to be seen. Do not wait, it is important that you get the correct help as soon as possible.

X

[needtogethelp]

custardo-thanks, i did try that, but they have this triage system whereby the nurse phones and ascertains whether or not you are an urgent case, the idea being i guess to weedle out the timewasters.
they dont do a telephone consultation service sadly.

[Tortington]

go to casualty. go now.

[lulumama]

sucidal and no tbothered to dress and wash is urgent..get someone to take the kids if poss and get to casualty

there should be an on call psych there and they can get you in touch with the crisis team

[choosyfloosy]

the idea of the triage system SHOULD be for the nurse to deal with any issues s/he CAN deal with, leaving stuff like this to the doctor IMO. Not an expert but this is what I think..

This is so painful for you to deal with. Is there anyone else who can ring for you? If not, can you bear to say to the nurse 'I am planning to end it all' (planning being the operative word) and see what happens? I know this is a really painful concept even to mention. You could try just saying that you are 'thinking about it' if that is too much to say.

if the nurse STILL will not at least contact the doctor and ask for advice, then ring another GP surgery and ask to register. Because IMO she's not a very good nurse.

Don't mention that you just want your meds changed, even though that is very likely to be the outcome.

[needtogethelp]

when i phoned, when she said i couldnt have an appt i burst into tears, i told her i had suicidal thoughts and she just said, go to casualty
there isnt anyone else that can ring for me as i dont know anyone, i will have to wait till i collect my lo from school and go to casualty.

[flimflam]

You've been treated badly. I would have thought it better for GPs to have a drop in service for that sort of thing rather than forcing A&E's to deal with it when we all know they are overworked to start with AND it makes you feel like you are in a really bad place when all that is really happening is that you need different meds.

You could try asking to speak to a GP directly - although by the sounds of things your surgery aren't keen on this. I often find it tricky to get an apt but if I push to get GP to ring me back I usually get seen.

Could also try saying you've had your handbag stolen and need to get an emergency prescription (if you are on ADs I'm sure they wouldn't let you go without) although this would be tricky given you've already phoned once.

Good luck and dont' be embarrassed. You are doing the best thing for you and your family. x

[choosyfloosy]

trouble with emergency prescription is that, in theory at least, a pharmacist can give you a few tablets to tide you over, so it may be no better.

anyway you need to be SEEN.

i'd try again later in day - maybe out of hours service? but A&E during day may be better, and quieter.

how completely awful for you.

[Love85]

Wow just read this! Yes it was many years ago but I really hope your well now! How I would love to speak to that person who made you feel that way! I’m going through something similar and I’m making and taking my complaint to the highest possible person! These people should not be in the nhs! If feeling suicidal isn’t an emergency then what is! They should be sacked and named and shamed!! X