Called GP at 8. Guess my position in the queue?

I sit there pressing button from 7.58 and never been more than 6.
Maybe lucky with our gp, but you need a strategy. Sometimes dh will also try to see how has the magic dialling finger.

I love the online requests. Nearly started a thread this morning about well it works.
I filled in the online form and submitted at 8am. 20 minutes later I got a text with an appointment By 10am I was back home having been seen and issued with 2 prescriptions.
Where the online triage works, it is an excellent system. I don't think I have ever waited more than five hours for a response.

This is absolutely shameful. How have we got to this? I remember Tony Blair starting this 8am frenzy by requiring GPs to see patients within 48 hrs (or something). So in order to achieve this, GPs stopped you being allowed to make appointments for like next week and made it a daily bun fight. It was then put to him on tv that people couldn’t get an appointment for next week and he was like 😵‍💫wtf
what we have now is some Frankenstein remnant of this.

150

That’s shocking. My surgery is about to change from calling and waiting in a huge queue L to submit an online form and then they will contact u. I think it’s so they know who actually needs to see a gp and who can be dealt with by nurse practitioner, paramedic (yes we strangely have a paramedic) or sent to pharmacy.
Most appointments I’ve had in the last 12-18months (mostly for my children) have rarely been doctors. The paramedic was very thorough but he couldn’t prescribe so he had to leave the room for 5mins and go speak to a gp who agreed with the paramedics course of action and signed off the prescription.

That’s brilliant.

I once had a complication after surgery. Rang my GP at 9am, got an appointment for 10.25. During the appointment, my GP actually rang my surgeon and by 11am I was in my car driving to the hospital (90 mins away). By 1pm, I was sitting with my surgical team getting follow-up treatment.

I had to pay for the GP appointment (€60) but able to claim probably €40 of that back between health insurance and tax return/med1. My surgery was completely covered by health insurance, which is paid by my employer.

I think there’s this perception that there’s NHS or nothing, when the truth is that most countries have a system that works pretty well.

Ours has closed the Patient Triage link for urgent, on the day appointments, so it’s back to the 8am scramble.

still, it was a nice two months when it worked. I liked that.

And those are the desperate ones in the queue…so many people don’t even bother until it’s dire because they know they won’t get anywhere

@CocoLomax agreed. I once waited outside my Dublin GP till they opened and GP arrived. She took one look at me and saw me immediately. At the chemist by 9am with my prescription.

I’m in Ireland, not the UK. I don’t qualify for free GP treatment (it’s means based) so pay out of pocket and it’s 100% worth the cost. I’ve never not been able to get a GP appointment on the day I need it. I can email or ring my clinic and they either confirm available appointments over the phone, or email me back same day. I’m lucky to have a brilliant GP, and the follow-up and care is excellent.

The hold that the NHS seems to have over British people is astounding. It’s amazing that people are dying and suffering all for the protection of a system that doesn’t work, based on what seems to be some war-era pride.

Same, it’s a really good system and all GPs are supposed to offer this option now.

OP of yours don’t then ask why, it’s supposed to be available everywhere now.

Though I don't doubt that this is a very real problem, as it's so often in the media, I'd be interested to know the regions where this sort of thing happens on a day to day basis. Over the last three years I have lived across three counties – four different GPs – including London, and GPs have always been very accessible and quick appointments given readily.

As I say, I don't go about my day thinking 'what's the problem? GPs appointments are easy to come by', but I'm certainly left a bit confused.

I have been onto my Dr since 8:15am, got through at 09:05am, to be told its gone 9am and i should have called earlier! I will try again tomorrow.

87 btw.

NHS app?

60?

This was meant to say "24"!

This is why I like my GP practice - they have an online form to fill in at 8 am and then triage from this.

I filled out the form at 8 am, they telephoned 15 minutes later with an appointment time face to face

Or I can fill out the form to get a blood test, about 30 minutes later a text comes through for me to book a blood test

or they give me a telephone appointment for later that morning

I don't have to sit in a queue on the phone and when I got my appointment face to face I was really feeling dreadful, had emergency surgery later that day. If the triage wasn't in place I would have umed and arrhed about going to A&E

All of this is designed to push people to private GP. Started under Tories expanding under Labour.

I tend to go via E-consult these days and my surgery are really good at triaging me. It is so so frustrating though trying to get through and Monday mornings are the worst of all.

24. My GP doesn't have online either, they had it but took it away again.

Online consultation is now mandatory but not all GPs offer it despite it being mandatory.

Yeah online requests via the NHS app is the way forward.

Don't they offer online consultation through the NHS app? I thought it was now mandatory. I've used it a number of times over the last year or so, and it works really well.

Ive never been more than 5th at my GP. It’s a single practice but large. You can also text to be triaged and they send you a link where you can book your own appointment. I love my GP practice. Not all of them are crap.