Paula

Brief Outline:

Paula has no major health problems, and has seen her GP for acne, period problems and weight issues in the past. She thinks her GP is friendly and approachable, and feels that she can talk to him about anything.

Background:

Paula is at school. She lives with her mum and sister. Ethnic background / nationality: Argentinian.

More about me...

Paula has no major health problems and usually goes to see her GP (local doctor) with her mum. In the past, Paula has seen her GP because of acne, period problems and her weight. She had the same female GP for over 10 years and got to know her really well, until the GP retired. Paula felt she had a good relationship with this doctor and found it easy to speak to her. She now has a male GP, which she found strange at first but has since become comfortable with. She now feels that she can talk to him about anything. Having a different GP was made easier by the fact that the new GP was friendly and approachable.

For Paula, a good GP should offer patients different treatment options and help them pick one that is right for the patient. This has been particularly helpful for her treatment of acne where her GP gave both tablet and cream options and explained how each one worked. 

Paula has noticed that, as she got older, doctors spoke to her more directly during consultations. This has been a welcome change, although she still likes it when her mum goes with her to appointments. She often has to wait about two weeks to get an appointment and there are very limited slots available after school hours, which sometimes means having to miss lessons. She would like it if local surgeries were open longer and if appointments ran to time. She suggests that GP surgeries could have special opening times for people at school. 

Paula would like it if young people approaching 18 were better prepared by their GP about having to pay for prescriptions when they turn 18. She also feels that it would be helpful for young people to know that they can see the GP for issues other than physical problems, such as for mental health. She believes that few young people know this at the moment.

Paula’s doctor emails the prescription straight to the chemist. All she has to do is go there and pick up the medicine.

There’s a [name of pharmacy] one just round the corner in [place name] from my GP. And usually it’s done by email now. But before, I remember once having to get them from the pharmacy down the road. But because that one’s closer, I would just come out of the GP and just go and get my medicine and whatever. Because it would be sent there straight away.

It’s done by email now, is it?

Yeah.

What’s that? I don’t think mine does that.

It’s, you can, it’s a sign-up thing. So you sign up, and they send an email to the pharmacy which you sign up for to send all your medicine there. And then they get the prescription so they can prepare it. And you can just go and pick it up whenever.

Right. So your GP doesn’t give you a prescription? It goes straight –

No, they send it electronically to the pharmacy.

Oh, that’s handy, isn’t it?

Yeah.

So does that mean that you don’t have much of a waiting time for…

No, you can just go and pick it up any time. So last week I went to the GP to get more face cream. And they, he literally sent an email to the pharmacy. And I just left and went to get it.

Oh, that’s good. I’ve never had that in my pharmacy. I’d like that.

It’s a new thing, it’s quite recent. I think you have to ask if you can try it.

Do you prefer it to the way it was before?

Yeah, it’s just so much quicker.

Paula had no idea if she’d have to pay for prescriptions when she leaves school. It would be helpful if GPs told people about this when they approach 18.

Has your doctor or pharmacist ever mentioned what happens when you leave school in terms of paying for prescriptions?

No, I don’t know anything about it.

Would you find that information helpful? Or you’d rather just know when you need to know?

No, I suppose it would be quite useful to plan ahead.

So a bit more information about --

Yeah.

-- what happens when you leave school and which situations you have to pay for prescriptions and which situations are covered?

Yeah.

Where would you like to find out about these things? Would you like to find out through your school? Or your GP? Or your parents?

No, I think it’s something that GPs should mention once they know that you’re 18. So I think it should be like the job of the GP to let you know the changes.

So when you go to see the GP and the GP knows your age and you’ll soon be leaving school after your A levels, they should have a leaflet and say, “This might come in helpful”?

They should have it automatically, yeah.

Have they ever mentioned anything to you yet?

No.

Is it something you would ask your GP or not really?

Yeah, I definitely would ask.

Paula planned to study in Argentina. She didn’t know how to register with a GP there but will ask family who live there when she moves.

I’m planning on going to study in Argentina. So I, yeah, so I will be moving out of the house.

And would you know how to register with a GP if you’re leaving?

No.

So how, would you find that out once you got there? Or --

Yeah.

what would you do?

I’d find out when I actually got there.

Would your parents go with you and kind of help you?

Well, I have lots, cos I’m from Argentina, so I have a lot of family who can help me there. Also my brother studies there as well. So he’s probably gone through all of this.

So there’s lots of people to ask for information?

Yeah.

Paula puts in her personal details and the screen shows her the appointment time and GP’s name. She’s never seen anyone she knows at the surgery.

Do you ever use the digital check-in?

Yeah, that’s the only place that I check in. Because usually the receptionist isn’t there or she’s busy or there’s a long queue. So just go and check in at the screen.

Can you just walk me through what it’s like to, what you do when you go to one of these. Is it a machine, is it a computer, what would you have to do?

Yeah, it’s a touchscreen like screen. And you, it asks you about your birthday, male or female. I think, no, it doesn’t ask you about your postcode. And then it says, “You have an appointment with blah blah. Please wait upstairs or downstairs.” And then there’s a button to close the screen. And then it just goes back to the home page.

Do you ever worry when you’re checking in that someone else is looking over your shoulder and seeing what you’re typing in?

Not really. I don’t really...

You think it’s quite private?

Yeah.

That’s good. And have you ever run into anybody that you know in the GP’s?

No, never.

Paula felt that her GP was really helpful and talkative. He gave her lots of options and explained what each one was.

From what I know like he [GP] was really helpful. And he gave a lot of options. And very talkative as well. So I think he was really good.

And you mentioned that he gives you a lot of options.

Yeah.

And can you just tell me a little bit more about what you mean by that?

So I went because of my acne. And I’ve been taking antibiotics, which have stopped working. So he gave me lots of different other options we could try. And he helped me pick the best one.

Okay, so he kind of talks to you and talks you through your treatment?

Yeah.

Okay. Have you been back for your acne…? Sorry, Suman [researcher’s name], do you want to…?

I was just going to say, you picked the best treatment for you. How did you decide that? Talking with your doctor and thinking about what was important to you, how did you come to the decision, “Yes, this is the right one for me”?

Well, I guess he just gave me all the options and then explained what each one was. And then asked me if I wanted to, say for example, apply a cream or take them orally. And cos I had already been trying antibiotics, which had stopped working, he suggested that I use the creams instead.

Did he ever explain to you why the antibiotics might have stopped working?

No, but just cos I guess the bacteria gained resistance to the antibiotics.

And do you ever look up online, for example, for any treatments for any skin conditions? Or would it be your GP that you would speak to?

No, I would never. I would always consult with the GP.