more a wwyd. No GP appointments

Write a letter and leave it at reception for the practice manager. Mention clearly the challenges regarding getting your child to school. They will hopefully respond.

Whenever I've struggled to get an appointment, I've gone in person and thrown myself at the mercy of the receptionist.

Well if they are all booked out that means they do have advanced appointments if other people are getting them. How are they getting in?
I do sympathise OP, it's very similar at my GP, who's getting all these appointments?

Just speaking to a GP friend on my dog walk. She said most of her appointments are clogged up with people who don't need to be there. Problem is, people are not doctors so it's difficult to assess for themselves if they need to be seen. Child with fever for example, most are fine, a tiny percentage are not.

Hi op how are you doing? Have you rang in sick yet?

Can only speak for my surgery, but for fit notes we have to wait until it's been 7 days and then ring after 10am. They specifically request not to ring before that as they are dealing with emergency appointments.

This is the same as my surgery.
I think you need to somehow make sure you can phone at 8am.

How often you ring your depends on the policy at your workplace.
But once you get a sick note from GP it will say 2 weeks or whatever and you shouldn't then have to contact them again during this time

Also, if they're that judgemental of illness (and disability), and your line manager can't be arsed to work with you, they don't sound like an employer I'd want to work for much longer.

Do I need to ring in every day or can I sign myself off for the whole week? Work is not understanding at all of my circumstances and I would hate to have to ring them daily with a (non)update. Taking time off is very much frowned upon in my workplace esp of it's MH related

I think it depends on your workplace policy for reporting sick

Can you email your LM tomorrow as well as ringing?

To confirm that you'll be off all week....and to have a 'paper' trail

Every work place is different you will need to ask when you call tomorrow

You don't need to tell them it's mental health or work stress related when you call. Just say you're feeling unwell, lots of headaches, vom, etc. Discuss the strategy on the reason to give your employer with your GP. Hopefully you can email or text each day, but yes some employers do require that you call - check the sickness policy, it should specify who and when to inform.

@Cheshiresquirrelsss how are you doing today? Did you call in sick?

If your children are so dependent on you, then it's so important you prioritise yourself. No, you SHOULDN'T have to be late or make the kids late. But what is more important? Being dead on time, or your own health?
It's your choice. Sometimes it's really hard to put yourself first, but that's likely what's got you feeling the way you are in the first place.

Kindly, OP. You need to just take the suggestions and prioritise your appointment. Prioritise your health. At the moment you're prioritising work and school. Those can wait - your health can't.

The children won't come to harm if they're late.
But you might come to harm, and then them, if you have a mental breakdown because you won't ring the GP at 8am. Yes, they should have a different system but they don't and you have options to be able to go.

I'm sorry it's so hard xx

I’d echo that hat @Babyboomtastic says.

Failing that, write down what you’ve told us - go into the surgery and pass the note to the receptionist to read. That will avoid you having to voice out the issue and also put them in a place where they can determine how to help.

id also say that going to a walk in centre could be an option.

Let's turn this around a bit here.
I bet you're constantly putting yourself to the bottom of the pile in life. Everyone else's needs come first right? Which is why this call seems so impossible.

What if one of your children had a hospital appointment or a telephone appointment at 8? (Not impossible, we've had them at 8:15 here). I bet you'd manage to find a way because there's no way you'd let them miss that appointment.

Whatever approach you'd take with them, use the same one with you.

You are important too.

Gently, I’m going to quote my own advice again because you haven’t taken it on board and it’s still correct. You don’t seem
to be thinking straight - which I do understand, I have actually been signed off for stress before myself - and my previous post tells you what you need to do.

Appreciate you haven’t had to take time off for stress before and you’re worried about doing things correctly, but I assure you, you self-certify first, you let someone else deal with your calendar and you don’t worry about being late for work because you won’t be at work.

In an ideal world you wouldn’t have to do the school runs but it sounds like you have limited opinions there, and it might be you can cope with them if you don’t have to work in between. When you’re signed off for stress, you don’t have to hide in your house all day.

Your company will have a procedure for calling in sick. One day - maybe even today - just do that. Don’t go in. That’s your self-certification period started.

I should have gone off sick a few weeks before I actually did. Like you, I felt guilty and I kept trying to cope. I think it made matters worse and I should have stopped as soon as I sensed myself heading for breaking point and not waiting until I was actually there.

If you call your surgery at a quieter time, explain to the receptionist that you need a cert for work, they can send the doctor a task for them to issue a cert.

Why can your child not be late for school?

Go and stand outside the surgery at 7.30am - that was the time at my last gp surgery you had to be on the doorstep to be near the front of the queue when it opened at 8am.People queueing were guaranteed an appointment ahead of the phone queue. It may work similar at your surgery. Often there would be 15 people queuing by 7.45am.

I will check the self cert option out today. But I still need to drive DC to school around 8 am and would still struggle to ring

You simply ring in sick.

You ring your line manager and tell them you are ill

There is nothing to check out, there is no actual certificate to complete at this time

Once you've rung in and left a voicemail or spoken to them or emailed and said you are ill, you drive your child to school and them go home

Be ill at home

For 7 days

You probably need to ring your employer on day 2 and let them know you're off sick for the whole week

At the end of the week (day 6) ring your doctors, any time, and say you need a sick note for x weeks

Sick note will be text to your phone

Send sick note for x weeks to your employer

If you need another sick note at the end of first sick note - ask GP surgery for another sick note as the first sick note is coming to an end

Honestly and with respect, you are making this WAY more complicated than you need to

My surgery has an online request system. They open it at 8 but then close the system when they have “too many” requests. Typically around noon I think. And if there isn’t someone there to handle your request, they just bloody close it.

When I was in a similar position to you, this worked: I wrote my request in a letter and hand addressed the sealed envelope to the doctor in my shakiest old lady handwriting. Dropped it blithely at reception as though I were doing a favour for a neighbour.

Complain to the practice manager. Point out that the current system prevents access to GP services for people who have children and need to do the school run, primarily women.

It's just another example of how systems are put in place without any thought into how they might impact on women. This shit needs to be challenged every time and shouldn't be accepted.