eConsult Health Limited Avis 

What a terrible idea. I have not needed a GP for 6 years & i just want an appointment to get help to feel better. Some really stupid ambiguous questions on my form that i had to keep my sarcasm in check for! I couldn't actually name my issue as it wasn't listed so had to go for back pain when it's not back pain it's kidneys.
I personally feel this system is cold, uncaring & dangerous to patient's.

This e-INSULT system is for the surgery's benefit and certainly NOT for the patient!!

Via the system, my doctor literally "guessed" that I had a viral ear infection rather than bacterial and to "wait 7-10 days". Now, due to its location, I have Bell's Palsy.

Angry and frustrated I completed another e-INSULT form that told me to call 111. After 30 minutes, all they could suggest was for me to call the surgery and be firm. I was eventually given an appointment. A different doctor took one look into my ear and confirmed a bacterial infection.

This e-INSULT system might work for a few ailments to sift out the time wasters, but generally I think it's dangerous and not fit for purpose.

The recent change to e-consult forces one to tick inapplicable boxes in order to proceed. I was delighted with the product before this change was made. Adding "None of the above" would be helpful

Disgraceful. The whole process is very stressful, multiplies the affects of anxiety and affects your whole mood. When your getting over a mental breakdown and suffer with anxiety, stress, depression it heightens the affects. Those who suffer with symptoms like this should still be able to call the Dr's surgery to make an appointment, which is hard enough itself to do. Having no other option but to do the online process makes things much worse. It must be even worse for those who suffer severely with mental health. Also the elderly who aren't use to using the Internet and completing the online process, I can't imagine how many give in due to the process, all the questions.If not done correct, you have to start whole process again. I hate to think of the amount of suicides and deaths caused as not an easy process to complete. Total and utter disgrace. After 2 days im still waiting for a reply after reporting low mood,suicidal, thoughts of self harm, pains in chest and other private issues.

Not 24hrs access to surgeries. (They choose their own hours) total waste of tax payers money. Well done NHS.

A dreadful system. You have to invent symptoms simply in order to get an appointment - and my GP agrees! Unless my GP practice resumes telephone appointments I shall complain to the PHSO. Normally I would say 'do not touch with a bargepole' but what choice do we tax-paying patients have in the matter?

It won't find my doctors and it takes to long to ring them up for an appointment

There is one one function that Econsult fulfills well - reduce the load on NHS (which also means you [as a patient] get to F off).

No consideration for women's health. This is a terrible system that forces you to present a 'problem' and go through their triaging for common requests such as booking an appointment for a cervical smear. I've had to answer dozens of irrelevant questions simply because this isn't designed to consider basic women's health needs.

I used eConsult linked from my GP surgery’s website to make a submission to my GPs surgery but while submitting the URL changed to a different surgery miles away. The said different surgery texted me back when I had previously requested contact by email saying I had messaged the wrong surgery. I am a retired IT specialist it was impossible for me to change to an alien URL

As the wait to see or talk to a doctor was over 3 weeks, I was advised to use eConsult, as this would result in a quicker consultation. This I did and, in answer to the first question, supplied all the relevant information. However, the system required more information and after answering some more questions, the system indicated “We can't safely assess your symptoms through this online request. You need to talk to someone today instead.” And so back to square one!
I question whether, after eConsult was set up, it was tested by someone not connected to the setting-up. If it had been, it would not have been introduced in its current form.

Receptionist asked me to use this as doctors were busy - it forced me to wait till 8am the next day to fill out an ONLINE FORM

after 10 minutes of questions and filling out boxes It threw everything in the bin because "My symptoms need to be discussed with a doctor."

Yet another way to send you in circles.

One has an ongoing medical condition which is causing concern. The GP practice is now playing the eConsult game. The online link to eConsult webpage displays a 404 Error message, therefore, one used the telephone number supplied.

At the second attempt the telephone link took 35minutes before a human answered. The human questioning took a further fifteen minutes.

I requested a GP appointment, eConsult sent an email with instructions to collect a prescription from the pharmacy, to keep a BP diary and for me to book an appointment for a blood test.

No GP appointment was offered, no satisfactory email explanation, leaving one no closer to knowing why my medical condition is deteriorating. One simply feels written off by an uncaring NHS system.

I’d just got out of hospital & needed more painkillers. But my problem wasn’t on the econsult list of ailments & even after putting in all the symptoms all I got was “we can’t diagnose the problem you need to speak to someone”. But there was no information about how I was supposed to make the appointment the surgery had asked me to make through econsult. I had to get the prescription via NHS111.

Absolutely terrible service I tried booking an appointment at the beginning of the week...on the email I was told I would be contacted by 6:30..that time came and went I had the same thing happen again when I resubmitted the form again I won't be using it again it's like they don't care about patients care

My doctor’s practice now has E consult which appears to achieve 1 outcome. It now makes it impossible to talk to anyone. If my question is not covered by the std checklist I now need to wait 4 days before anyone calls or emails. Straw broke the camel’s back !!!

its not as useful as pants. not user friendly. Never had a good experience yet and does not allow one to ask or place the information you require or need

What a dreadful service this is. As a generic site I'm sure it has its purpose, basically built on common sense and maybe practical if you don't need to speak to your GP, but is a substandard product if you need to speak to your GP. I have no idea how accessible it is for someone with difficulties, but that's another point entirely. I have used this twice now and having to go full circle only to call the GP again, which has taken a stressful hour to do the loop and explain myself and symptoms 3 times. all this does is push more people to 111 or A&E, this really has not been thought through, creating unintended consequences all round, stress, lack of advice and help and an impact on the NHS ultimately.

eConsult is by far the worst NHS program; it does not recognise simple basic symptoms such as Peripheral neuropathy' Peripheral neuropathy is an umbrella term for conditions that damage nerves of the peripheral nervous system. Neither does the programme provide any help.