GP didn’t call me because their “workday has ended”

If its not an emergency and doesn't involve a child with a rash/hi fever etc then anyone who goes to AE because their GP didn't call them back is a fucking idiot.

Numerous on-line GP services attached to 'practices or the NHS app that are free and same day.

If you re that ill you wouldn't be waiting around all day for a phone call, you'd dial 999 or got to AE.

But then i ve seen this, sore throat/fever/can't sleep/small cut etc clogging up AE, then moaning they had to wait 38 hours before being told "Go and see your GP"

I wonder if the Dr would have walked out through the waiting room if OP and the other patients (eleven of them if 10 min appts from 15.50 to 17.30 ?) waiting for their turn with the Dr had all been sitting in the waiting room.

‘Soz folks, I’m off home now. Take your chances trying to get an appointment tomorrow !’

The Dr may have had to leave ‘on time’ but at the very least OP (and the other patients) should have been rescheduled for the next day as she had been triaged as same day appointment.

Edited to add. I wonder how the receptionists would have handled those eleven people , none of who had been seen since 15.50. Our Drs are pretty good but it's easy to see how phone calls could be ditched in some circumstances.

Mine went one better than that the last appointment I had - I'd filled the form in because I wanted to change one of my meds and I requested a specific, female doctor who'd I'd dealt with before. It wasn't urgent and because the doctor I wanted is quite popular, they booked me in for a call a few days later -lets say I filled the form in on the Wednesday and my telephone appointment was for the following Tuesday afternoon.

I got a call from a male locum on the Friday morning! It was lucky I answered because the number came up as private, which I don't normally answer unless I am expecting a specific call! I did mention that it was a few days early and I'd asked for this other doctor - he said "Oh you can wait if you want!".

In the end I went ahead with the appointment but it was very weird!

Changes are coming in April that will give you the right to see a gp same day for urgent medical needs.

GPs in England will have to guarantee same-day appointments for any patient with urgent health needs, under a new clause being added to their contract. The government said the changes would ensure everyone who needs to be seen quickly would be. Urgent cases are being defined as any patient whose symptoms suggest they need treatment to start the same day or where there is a risk of deterioration if they aren't assessed, such as a child with a high fever and a rash, or a frail older person who has suddenly become confused.

That’s shitty OP although I can see why they don’t just start the list from the next day. It would get excessively long and many people’s problems would have resolved or been low priority relative to those calling.

Our GP is amazing tbh. People moan all the time (because people like to moan) but I think their system is extremely sensible.

Complete an online triage form before Midday with one of the following outcomes:

• an urgent appointment is arranged for you that day
• an appointment for a non-urgent issue is arranged for you within the next 5 days
• a prescription for obvious things or where there have been photos is sent to the pharmacy without a need for an appointment
• a receptionist calls you to discuss (eg. I needed a smear but you aren’t supposed to be on your period)

They encourage online triage but phone lines are still open for old people etc.
I really can’t fault it tbh.

Do you have a walk in centre or urgent treatment centre nearby? You don't have to go to A&E. Have you asked a pharmacist for OTC stronger pain relief?

Yes it's frustrating when your appointment gets bumped but YABU to expect the GP to stay significantly over the end of their work day, they have lives too.

Have to say though when it happened to me I was sent a message explaining along with a link to rebook, I think they should have done that even if it meant you weren't seen tomorrow.

I really think surgeries should operate an evening appointment system for this reason. If emergencies come in it must be difficult to fit everyone in. They should have called you to explain.

I had the opposite once. Eg. My call back slot was between 11am and 12pm. They called once at 9.30am and I didn't get to my phone in time. Went down as a missed appointment. Grrr.

People with jobs like this, where they have to stay until the day's load is done, have contingency plans as routine.

I was a teacher - couldn't ever guarantee what time id finish so DH did all picks ups.
I have a midwife friend - her parents are on usually on standby if she's got a morning shift because it's common to overrun.
My old neighbour was a GP - his wife was a SAHM to be able to manage child related duties.
A friend who is a hospital consultant - her DH wfh so he can do last minute schedule changes.
Etc.

These kinds of jobs you can't just walk out on time if the work isn't done.

I think they should at least rebook you for the morning.

would a chemist be able to assist ?

again, this would be a fair comment to make if OP's app was the last or last to one of the day - the fact there was 2hrs between when her appt was due and the surgery closed suggests it's not the case of just one or two appts slightly overrunning.

Even if her specific GP was only supposed to work until 3.40 so it was only OP's appt being missed, if the surgery itself was open until 17.30 a different GP should have covered her appt, or at the very least a member of admin staff should have phoned her AT 3.40 and told her the appt had been cancelled so she wasn't waiting around in vain for someone who had finished work 2hrs ago.

Ask for the doctor to write you a prescription for pain relief.
Tell them you need pain medication. If they were going to talk to you on the phone about it then they've already agreed it doesn't need a real appointment. (Else triaging hasn't worked)
It might be they decide they need to see it to identify if it's hot and swollen etc. in which case they shouldn't leave you til next week.

If you're making out on ibuprofen and paracetamol and have been to the chemist of course.

Can you e-mail the Practice Manager to complain about having to re-book ?

That's terrible. I have had phone calls from the doctor as late as 7:30 when they run over. I've never just been left. They should certainly call you tomorrow instead of making you go through the process again.
I hope you get it sorted.

People often need to leave on time, eg picking children up from nursery before it closes.

The communication was bad though, I agree.

But that's what she's saying. Doctors are people like the rest of us. We all have children/caring responsibilities, hobbies etc but if you're not finished, you're not finished - you stay til you are whether you're a GP or an accountant. The rest of us frequently stay late to meet our deadlines. So why shouldn't Doctors?

I don’t mind if the call is late as long as I get called. I think it is appalling you have been left like this and it would never happen in the practice I go to.

Or don’t schedule so many appointments in the first place. GPs are always running at least 30 mins behind in my experience - surely this suggests to them that despite their optimism each day, they never manage to actually keep to just fifteen or so mins for each appointment and need to allocate more time. It’s just greed.

That’s outrageous OP.
I’m a GP and I’m afraid I often run late, but I would never ever not call someone who had an appointment. Our last appointment slot is about 5.30, the surgery is open till 6 for the last patients to be seen, and the reception staff leave at 6.30. But the doctors are usually there till about 8pm, and just stay until the work is done. I called a patient at 7pm yesterday.

It's a joke that in the UK GP access isn't 7 days a week.

Especially as most surgeries have multiple GP's.

In France Dr's are seen same day, you just go and sit in our Doctors in my home town and are seen usually within the hour, less depending on who got there before you.
They also do minor surgeries themselves and if they need to take blood they do it themselves. Like the ones in the UK used to. And they don't rush you out of the door if you want to discuss any concerns. There's no 5 minute limit.
They also are happy to visit you at home as standard.
7 days a week.

In the UK our GP practice has about 8 Dr's working there but only ever two actually working, you're lucky if you can get in that week, they close twice a week half days for 'training' and they don't do any blood tests etc themselves. You have to go back on another day to see a nurse for that.
You're only allowed to discuss one ailment as well and the appointment is rushed because there are another 30 people in the waiting room desperate to see a GP in the 4 days a week they seem to work.

Most people like that will have some element of control over how they work to deadlines etc (unless their workload if completely off) or tend to be very well compensated for it. GPs have zero control of if someone gets very unwell or needs more time.

I'm surprised so many people are defending the GP, this seems appalling to me, and I work in medical complaints so have seen a lot!

It's not like OP was the last call of the day at 17:20 and the GP couldn't overrun as had to get home for whatever reason (although even then I would expect OP to get an apology and automatically be put on the first call tomorrow morning, not having to rebook) - her appt was 2hrs before the surgery closed! It must have been apparent at some point before 17.30 that the GP was running hugely late and wouldn't get to OP's booking in time, let alone the people booked in after her.

Either this was because of an unexpected issue - i.e. someone became seriously unwell in one of the appts before OPs which caused a knock on effect - in which case there should be capacity for the people whose appts got cancelled today to be rebooked tomorrow and staff should have contacted those people to apologise and sort a rebook.

Or it is normal for the surgeries to overrun by at least 2 hrs, in which case the practice manager/lead GPs need to reorganise their booking process, even if that means reducing the number of slots available/not booking anyone after 3pm or whenever, as multiple people just not being seen at all after being told they would, and potentially taking a whole day off work, etc., is clearly not a professional or fair way of doing things!

It's not fair to just blame the GP and say 'they should work as long as it takes.' But it is fair to blame the surgery as a whole for both poor time management and communication.

People always want appointments to never run over and emergencies to never be slotted in until they are the one in need of those.

Oh for goodness sake - of course an individual GP shouldn't necessarily be expected to stay two hours late to get through routine appointments.

But it is extremely rare these days for GPs to be individual entities - most are part of larger practices with multiple GPs, nurse practitioners, paramedics and other medical professionals.

If something had come up for the GP that had been assigned to call @angelinlothian then either the remaining nine calls should have been distributed among other medical staff OR the receptionist or practice manager should have called, explained and ensured that whoever couldn't be spoken to today was first on the list tomorrow morning.

The one thing that absolutely should not have happened is what did - the OP being told to play online form roulette again tomorrow morning!

This type of shoddy service from GPs contributes massively to the issues that are currently rife in A&E.