I can never get an appointment

anything I don't mind said:
I finally figured out why i can never get a doctors appointment it is because there is too many old people going there twice or three times a week. Every time i walk past as i live next door its fill with old people coming in and out. They line up there before it opens to get their prescriptions.
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Statistics show that old people and the very young are the most frequent users of doctors for obvious reasons. Get over it you may be old one day.

Does anyone else experience such terrible service at their GP or is it just london that has to put up with this. If it wasn't "free", if people had to pay even £20 to see a doctor i bet 100% i would have been able to see a doctor today. But because it cost nothing these old people go in twice a week like its something to fill their time with. I see them just mulling around their like its a local hang out or something.
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It happens all over, my brother can get one next day while I usually have to wait two and a half weeks. It is politicians messing around with the health service that is causing it. If you charge you would have epidemics as some people would not go and need later to be hospitalised(and may have infected others before that time) Think of AIDS patients that did not go until they were needing to be hospitalised.

When i used private doctor in the SA, i was sick i was never not able to see the doctor on that same day. It just doesn't happen that you can't see a doctor, its usually only 10 mins anyway, how can a doctor not spare 10 mins... old people getting their free doctors that's how
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You have already answered yourself ..... because he is seeing older patients.
 
Never had this problem, my gp has some late night thingy that you can just walk into. No need for an appointment and you can just walk in between 6 and 8pm to be seen by a doctor. See if you have a drop in clinic close by same thing less agro.
 
abbotsmike said:
That's not people that have developed a sniffle and go in after antibiotics when they need a paracetamol though is it? My point was there are a lot of people that will just run to the GP because little timmy coughed.
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But ultimately you don't know whats wrong with them. They might not just have that sniffle, they could be suffering from any number of less obvious/ apparent ailments. Your making judgements and assessments on unproven hypothesis based upon quickly made observations.

also the point about older folk needing more care is very valid
 
If the OPs wish of a charge for the GP comes true then a lot of people will've exempt from it in the same way that they get free prescriptions.. so old people will still get it for free. And that's quite right in my opinion. I'm supportive of them getting free healthcare when they need it.

OP you will be old sooner than you think.
 
Hades said:
If the OPs wish of a charge for the GP comes true then a lot of people will've exempt from it in the same way that they get free prescriptions.. so old people will still get it for free. And that's quite right in my opinion. I'm supportive of them getting free healthcare when they need it.

OP you will be old sooner than you think.
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Someone who agrees with me.

I also believe that when he reaches an "older age" he would complain if he were to get this wish. :rolleyes:
 
Resident said:
I agree with the sentiment of fining those that don't turn up. Our local surgery always has a poster showing how many wasted hours through missed appointments there were for the previous month, always 20+.

£30 might be a bit steep though.
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How do you enforce the fine though? You can hardly say 'if you don't pay it, then you can't use the NHS any more'.
 
I dont have to make an appointment to see a GP, I can turn up anytime before 1030 and wait and I will see the GP within the hour.
 
Interestingly, a friend of mine has recently moved to the Richmond area and is in the process of changing GP. 10 surgeries within a mile of his house, serving 105,000 patients.

porushinobu said:
But ultimately you don't know whats wrong with them. They might not just have that sniffle, they could be suffering from any number of less obvious/ apparent ailments. Your making judgements and assessments on unproven hypothesis based upon quickly made observations.

also the point about older folk needing more care is very valid
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Stop trying to make out that I'm singling out certain people. It was a general comment. There are a lot of hypochondriacs out there that regularly go to the doctors fro no valid reason. I knew of quite a lot throughout school, I know of quite a lot now through my mum being in childcare and my OH being a teacher. It happens. People sniffle and run to the doctors demanding antibiotics when they don't need them. It has been shown this is one of the reasons that we have antibiotic resistant super bugs.
 
1) antibiotics have been proven to have no effect to the common cold and it is made clear through a lot of advertising to the general public.

2) hypercondria is a valid medical illness and needs treated, okay not through a GP but still.
 
solutions:

1. stop living in london
2. kill all the old people in london
3. wake up earlier in the morning to ring in and get an appointment
4. man up

sounds harsh, but old people need care, and have paid for it in advance. if it's gonna kill you before you can get the appointment then go to the hospital, if it isnt going to kill you then its either not worth bothering the gp with or its something that you can wait for.

i've never failed to get a gp appointment relatively promptly, thats a combination of 1,3 and 4 for you.
 
platypus said:
Not really sure why you're feeling so entitled on their behalf.

Yep they've paid taxes. And guess what? Modern medicine has meant people are living way beyond what was predicted when they were paying taxes, and we're now filling in the black hole to prop up their NHS care along with their pensions and other services.

And you can honestly say that all of these people have worked hard and paid their taxes all their life?

The ones who had free education and went to University not only for free but with a grant in some cases?
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Guess who funded modern medicine? Their generation.

The vast majority lived in post war britain when the economy was strong and unemployment incredibly low, so yes, I'd say the vast majority paid their dues. Not to mention you need to have been paying NI for 25 years to get a state pension.

And very few people went to university compared to today - the few who did more than paid for that education in increased earnings as a result of their degree.

I'm not feeling entitled on their behalf, they are entitled - they earnt the right to see a doctor whenever they damn well please and claim their pensions and not be treated as second class citizens by some jumped up young scroat who has barely started to even pay his dues.

They more than paid for these things and the only reason the current government is unwilling to pay for these things is down to their failings, Tories love to pick on old people because they can't fight back. It's ok Mr Cameron, you give your funny handshake pal a tax break, I'm sure granny smith doesn't mind freezing to death for it because your party of scum won't pay her basic living costs.

Christ, no respect for your elders? I'm sure your mother is very proud, as is the milkman or the postman - could be either really.
 
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I can ring at 8.30am and get an appointment the same day, if I couldn't get an appointment and I still needed too see a doctor I'd use the out of hours service which is run from our local hospital (might need to wait an hour or two but you'll always be seen) and if it's an emergency I'll head to A&E.

If you ring and just ask for an appointment during the day the chances are you will have to wait weeks as all the scheduled appointments are gone, ringing early in the morning you normally find there are cancelled appointments you can snap up.
 
bazzabear said:
How do you enforce the fine though? You can hardly say 'if you don't pay it, then you can't use the NHS any more'.
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Removed as part of PAYE? Pay when you book the appointment and get refunded when you turn up?

Cuchulain said:
ringing early in the morning you normally find there are cancelled appointments you can snap up.
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And if there aren't then just take another day off work to try again tomorrow...
 
Third Opinion said:
I can't get one either, been trying since Wednesday last week. If I book in advance they told me they are now taking appointments for June.

Other weeks it is fine. It is frustrating as I had an X-ray over a month ago and I still don't know the results.
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ask for a phone appointment, they ring you with the results, that's how I do it with my test results
 
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