Soldato
Canada or Aus? Where ya headed?
Doctors appointments .
- Thread starter mickyflinn
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- appointments doctor
Why do we need to sit in a queue with 500 other people at 8am just to get an appointment? Why can’t we book an appointment in advance?
I notice other posters here get the chance of booking in advance(would be lovely!) but the practices around me are all strictly phone every morning at 8 and see what we can give you on the day.
It would be much more interesting viewing if you saw a truly representative clinic. It would also be shown after 9pm.
Soldato
My personal fav. At my GP is when the doc says, I want to see you again in 2 weeks. Go back out to reception and ask for an appointment in 2 weeks at the docs request. Reception staff. Sorry can't book in advance call on the day. Ermmm no love. Book it in as requested pet. Back and forth we go and then they begrudgingly book it in. Wtf. Do as requested.
But, on booking an appointment. Ring at 8:30am. Join queue. Get appointment finally for later that day, turn up. Place is empty.
But, on booking an appointment. Ring at 8:30am. Join queue. Get appointment finally for later that day, turn up. Place is empty.
Personally, no. Partly due to cost (some blood tests cost £££ due to only select labs around the country running them), limited resources in terms of phlebotomy appointments, some patients would absolutely abuse it and it would be near on impossible to have fair 'rules'.
Believe it or not, there is often a reagent shortage used for the tests. I've not been able to test for ferritin for 2 weeks(!!).
I am a firm believer of owning your own health though. Too much reliance in the healthcare service for very simple coughs and colds.
2) I think a hybrid system is the only way forward, due to sheer lack of resources in an ever aging and complex population. I don't agree with it though, the reason my wife (also a Dr) and I haven't fled to the richer and better shores of Australia is because we believe in the NHS.
3) Sheer volume. My practice has, on average, 500-550 a day. Because of the broken system and lack of appointments, a vast number call at 8am. There is no easy solution to this other than eConsults and NHS app.
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Common sense - if you're struggling to breathe you need a hospital, not a GP practice. What do you think could be done in primary care?
It would be Australia. Our combined earnings would be around £600k over there.
But we're passionate about the NHS. It has its faults, it has its problems. And it probably doesn't have a future. But we, and countless colleagues, stay because we believe in it.
Have you shopped around for a different practice? They very much vary in wait times and systems.
Most people call at 8am want a same day or urgent appointment, hence the long queues. I estimate >75% don't warrant or need an urgent appointment.... They just want one.
If you want an advance appointment, at least with practices in my area, a) ring when it's quieter so you'll actually get through to a receptionist b)u se the NHS app
If clinics are running on time and people don't come in very early for their appointment, the waiting room should be near empty.My personal fav. At my GP is when the doc says, I want to see you again in 2 weeks. Go back out to reception and ask for an appointment in 2 weeks at the docs request. Reception staff. Sorry can't book in advance call on the day. Ermmm no love. Book it in as requested pet. Back and forth we go and then they begrudgingly book it in. Wtf. Do as requested.
But, on booking an appointment. Ring at 8:30am. Join queue. Get appointment finally for later that day, turn up. Place is empty.
I had a call with the GP in the week prior who hadn’t diagnosed but told me to call them if my situation worsened so I did. I also didn’t want to clutter A&E as I really wasn’t sure what was happening.
To be fair, the hospital service was absolutely exceptional and I’ve been monitored very closely by them since. I just can’t get reliable prescriptions from the GP practice but I’ve notified the hospital of this.
We know you all work hard, the system just doesn't stack up.
We usually have a cylinder or two of oxygen, that's about it. Very little we can do acutely. Struggling to breathe - don't worry about cluttering A&E, it sounds like you actually needed it, and would be reflected in (hopefully) how fast you were triaged and seen.
What prescription issues are you having?
If they think you need to be seen sooner, you will be seen sooner. You may need to push.
True story: I walked to my doctors' in considerable distress asking to see a doctor. I was told I would be triaged by phone. I said I'd wait. I was duly rung and after a bit she asked me where I was. "Outside your door" I replied. They attended to me very quickly after that.
3 weeks isn't normal, that's quick.
I once had a toe injury but couldn't get an appointment for 5 weeks, Doctor chastised me saying it was too late to do anything about it if it was a break as it would have set already, like I'd deliberately delayed it or something.
Their system used to only allow you to book up to 4 weeks in advance, but because those 4 weeks were usually full, you just had to keep randomly spamming and hope a cancellation appointment slot came up. Terrible system, effectively letting people jump the queue because you couldn't book a slot say 5 weeks ahead.
Last year they basically said only contact them if it's an urgent issue, call NHS 111 for everything else. My town has a grown a lot (thousands of new homes built) but no additional doctor surgery so it's massively oversubscribed.
The process now is they have basically banned booking appointments for the future, you must phone up at 8am and try to get a slot. So even if it's not an emergency, you are competing with people who have urgent appointment needs.
Doesn't help they have one particularly annoying/snooty receptionist (not just my view, local social media group attests to it), most of the time she will push back on any requests "well what you do you expect a doctor to do about that?!?" - I don't know, I'm not a medical practitioner, I'm expecting the surgery to tell me what the best course of action is once we discuss the issue and/or the patient is examined, not the other way round?
The irony is, they used to waste appointment slots calling me in to discuss repeat medication, no idea why that couldn't have been done over the phone.
I once had a toe injury but couldn't get an appointment for 5 weeks, Doctor chastised me saying it was too late to do anything about it if it was a break as it would have set already, like I'd deliberately delayed it or something.
Their system used to only allow you to book up to 4 weeks in advance, but because those 4 weeks were usually full, you just had to keep randomly spamming and hope a cancellation appointment slot came up. Terrible system, effectively letting people jump the queue because you couldn't book a slot say 5 weeks ahead.
Last year they basically said only contact them if it's an urgent issue, call NHS 111 for everything else. My town has a grown a lot (thousands of new homes built) but no additional doctor surgery so it's massively oversubscribed.
The process now is they have basically banned booking appointments for the future, you must phone up at 8am and try to get a slot. So even if it's not an emergency, you are competing with people who have urgent appointment needs.
Doesn't help they have one particularly annoying/snooty receptionist (not just my view, local social media group attests to it), most of the time she will push back on any requests "well what you do you expect a doctor to do about that?!?" - I don't know, I'm not a medical practitioner, I'm expecting the surgery to tell me what the best course of action is once we discuss the issue and/or the patient is examined, not the other way round?
The irony is, they used to waste appointment slots calling me in to discuss repeat medication, no idea why that couldn't have been done over the phone.
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Soldato
Clearly varies massively across the country. Just checked my Patient Access app, face to face appointment with a GP (not a Noctor) Monday morning 9.10!
Appreciate that now. I was waiting 5 minutes in A&E then rushed through for all of the subsequent tests - got the fright of my life but very well looked after.
I wont bore everyone about prescriptions here, I get a bag of goodies from the pharmacy, missing inhalers or pills more often than not.
Other than the asthma, I’m fit and healthy, it came out of nowhere and perhaps I’m still getting use to the nuances of the health service. There’s people more in need than myself. Leading a busy work life, my local GP just seems like an inconvenience to deal with and almost incompetent, at least from an outside perspective.
Thanks for answering these questions though - don’t take anyones gripes personally. We all just like a moan.
Associate
I have it, but for absolute emergencies, have a 500 pound excess, and despite living in Greece, need to go to the UK to use it. Used to have it for both countries but was 3 times the price. Wife and I are thinking we will cancel it though and take out a policy in Greece. Private healthcare here is very accessible, cheap and good.