DRs appointments

I phoned for an appointment with my Dr last wednesday and the first thing they had was this morning :/

So I went along (appointment was at 8.30) and people's names kept flashing up on the screen apart from mine. It got to 9am and I asked if I had missed it (I knew I hadn't because it makes a buzz everytime one is displayed) I was told I was next.

Four people later and I finally went in at about 9.05. Did I get an apology? Barely.

Worse thing is that whilst surveying the name announcer and the new patients/workers arriving I noticed when I finally met the Dr that she was late and one of those people who I saw come through the door whilst I was waiting.

So despite being one of, if not the first, patient to be hers, my appointment was delayed by 35mins because SHE was late and not because of appointments overrunning.

After that I went to another surgery and registered with them, where I was seen for my new patient health check straight away.

Shocking.

BB x
 
i hardley go to the docs tbh once or twice in 3 years or so but it seems over the years the apointment system is getting worse.

when i joined this current surgery i had to because my old one was in another district and they were no longer keeping patients as the boundary had changed or something along those lines lived on the other side of the river and they could no longer cater for patient as it was over x distance etc

this new one is actually further from where i live but is withing the area, parish, or zone nhs trust or whatevcer they call it.

but seems when ever i have called they can never fit u in quickly theres is either a lack of surgerys or the system needs changing my docs wont accept drop ins at all.

and the attitude of the reception staff isnt helpfull the doctors ive seen 2 or 3 of them are great wehn u get into them its just the receptionists are a pita.
 
at the local hospital drop in centre but they as far as i know only will tide you over untill u can get to see your doc and encourage you to make a gp appt. which puts you back into the call your gp thing again

the whole point is that there should be enough gp available that you can get an appt in a couple days

seems theres a lot of people saying they have to wait 2-3 weeks which isnt on

couple days should be the norm max.

i guess it varies from area to area tho
 
BrightonBelle said:
So despite being one of, if not the first, patient to be hers, my appointment was delayed by 35mins because SHE was late and not because of appointments overrunning.
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Are you sure she wasn't called out for an emergency home visit? A lot of GP's are. As for having to wait 35 minutes, that's pretty good by NHS standards and as for a 9 day wait, if you were that ill you could have used your out of hours service or rung for an emergency appointment.
 
the whole point is that there should be enough gp available that you can get an appt in a couple days
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Well you can if you try hard enough, it just means ringing up NHS direct and finding one.

If you have an emergency then you will be given an appointment very soon, and if you have a real emergency then off to A&E.

What do you want to see the doctor for anway, so we can judge your need? :)
 
what annoys me is the receptionist that think they have a medical degree.

they ask you whats wrong. its got **** all to do with you.
 
anticonscience said:
No we can't.

No medical threads allowed.

Read the FAQ.

:)
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You missunderstand. I'm not asking him to tell us what he has wrong with him so we can decide treatment or wether he should/should not see a doctor.

I'm curious to know what he has wrong with him that he feels like he must be seen in 2 or 3 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
 
what annoys me is the receptionist that think they have a medical degree.

they ask you whats wrong. its got **** all to do with you.
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As well as people wanting to be seen for minor problems inappropriately early, people also ring up complaining of quite serious problems that need to be seen urgently. Yet if told they cant be seen for 1 day, 2 days, 3 weeks or whatever would happily so ok then book me in then. The receptionist is trained to do some basic triage of calls to decide do they need to pass this straight to a doctor or perhaps call an ambulance etc. for the patient. It's important that the receptionist do ask some basic information
 
i can see the need for a little background knowledge for the receptionist to have but they do take it into there own hands regarding your need to see the doctor sometimes.
ofc some are better than others and some surgeries r better than others.
however to be told you cant have an appointment for 3 weeks is not good enough and shouldnt be in anyones eyes.

just to make a point of receptionists and this is a 100% true story

a couple years ago my Gf who has anaphalaxia and is allergic to honey, bannanas, pinapple, and a few other things

had eaten something in the restauraunt which caused her to go bright red, and start to swell up as soon as i noticed i put her in the car and rushed her to the hospital.
by the time we got there she could hardly breath and was red all over and i mean bright.

at the reception the receptionist didnt even look up she carried on typing even when i said excuse me she just sat there and said name
i said my girlfriend has got a problem and we needed to see a n emergency doctor immedietly

still she didnt look up and wanted to get phone details and address of the gp adress of my gf and was being really slow

my gf nealry collapsed in front of the desk and i said excusde me this is urgent and she looked at me not my gf who was collapsing beside me and said i cant do anything untill i complete these details .

as that happened a doctor luckily came out of the swing doors into reception saw my gf in her condition and shouted get her in here immediatly and they rushed her into emergency where she was treated with i cant rememeber what. the doctor said if she hadnt got in there in that few minute she would have died.

now my gf carries an epi pen where ever she goes

the point is that receptionist was just more interested in her notes than taking a few seconds to look at what was in front of her.

the standard shown by some obviously gives others a bad name but DRs receptionists and waiting times annoy me
 
needed a prescription for pain releif for facet joint impingement painfull as hell as mentioned earlier
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If you have already had them before then you can go and fill in a form to request them again which will be given to your GP, it will take 3 days untill your prescription to be picked up.

If more people did this then queue times would go down :)

If you havn't been given any before then I now appreciate that you want to see your GP asap, but if the pain is that bad go to the walk in center, they will be able to give you something for the meantime.
 
People complaining about 30min waits...lol. If you're that impatient, get private medical insurance. On busy days (morning emergencies, a home visit or two to see bedridden patients with a bit of shortness of breath, a few ten minute slots which overrun because the person comes with 3 or 4 problems etc etc) GPs running 30-45 minutes late is normal.

Try the medical systems in other countries where you have to pay out of your nose, and end up having to wait much much longer.

craarc said:
still she didnt look up and wanted to get phone details and address of the gp adress of my gf and was being really slow

my gf nealry collapsed in front of the desk and i said excusde me this is urgent and she looked at me not my gf who was collapsing beside me and said i cant do anything untill i complete these details .

as that happened a doctor luckily came out of the swing doors into reception saw my gf in her condition and shouted get her in here immediatly and they rushed her into emergency where she was treated with i cant rememeber what. the doctor said if she hadnt got in there in that few minute she would have died.
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I'm sorry, but why didn't you yell out that your girlfriend was in real trouble instead of queuing at the reception desk? In any british hospital, If you walk into A&E, shout out 'I need help here!', there will be a doctor (or more likely a nurse) onto you in seconds.
 
I really don't like going to my local GP - it's about a 45 second walk from where I live but I have a throughly miserable time trying to book an appointment for anything. I hit my head on a drain cover after slipping over - they asked if it was serious and I said that I had no idea but I wasn't feeling myself. I was given an appointment for six days later.
 
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joxang said:
People complaining about 30min waits...lol. If you're that impatient, get private medical insurance. On busy days (morning emergencies, a home visit or two to see bedridden patients with a bit of shortness of breath, a few ten minute slots which overrun because the person comes with 3 or 4 problems etc etc) GPs running 30-45 minutes late is normal.

Try the medical systems in other countries where you have to pay out of your nose, and end up having to wait much much longer.



I'm sorry, but why didn't you yell out that your girlfriend was in real trouble instead of queuing at the reception desk? In any british hospital, If you walk into A&E, shout out 'I need help here!', there will be a doctor (or more likely a nurse) onto you in seconds.
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there wasnt actually a que i was right at the desk and was making it obvious i needed help here without shouting out loud i wasnt exactly wispering. luckily a doctor did come out as i said but the receptionist really should have made some effort.
 
FARGO said:
I really don't like going to my local GP - it's about a 45 second walk from where I live but I have a throughly miserable time trying to book an appointment for anything. I hit my head on a drain cover after slipping over - they asked if it was serious and I said that I had no idea but I wasn't feeling myself. I was given an appointment for six days later.
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exactly that is a disgrace
 
My GP surgery now has an electronic booking in system so when you arrive you don't have to talk to or disturb the busy receptionist.

Maybe with time more appointments can be made using the internet so the receptionists will be phased out (or outsourced).

Imagine calling an indian call center to make a doctors appointment?
 
generally the NHS in this country is of a reasonble standard compared to other systems

my neice who broke her elbow on a trampoline in Texas went in for an op my bro and sister in law wanted to stay over the night in a family room for her in the hospital the bill for one night (not including treatment) just the room was $12,000 dollars

yup you read it right 12 thousand dollars that is some bad system
 
cyber69 said:
My GP surgery now has an electronic booking in system so when you arrive you don't have to talk to or disturb the busy receptionist.

Maybe with time more appointments can be made using the internet so the receptionists will be phased out (or outsourced).

Imagine calling an indian call center to make a doctors appointment?
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lol
 
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