To be annoyed at the GP receptionist for being arsey about this?

But then when your call was obviously late as it hadnt arrived?

Again the issue is your work being inflexible. You had no way of knowing they were running late, but it is also incredibly normal and predictable.

Once again the NHS are expected to solve problems that are actually incredibly simple to deal with, just have your phone with you throughout the afternoon.

Sure except she might get disciplined if her manager saw. Or lose some pay. Never mind eh!

The thing is, this system absolutely entrenches inequity of access to care.

I have a nice cushty leadership job with my own office and a PA. If I need to block my diary or decide to WFH to accommdate a GP appointment, I can generally do that without having to take a day's leave.

And if I do take a day's leave, I don't lose pay as I am on a salary.

If you work in an hourly paid job with little autonomy and rigid management, or you work in a big public space with no private space you can commandeer at a moment's notice, then it is way harder. Sometimes impossible.

This is absolutely a social equality issue and in the sector I work, would be called out as such.

Kindly if you are a hotel receptionist you absolutely could have had your phone on you. On vibrate. Nothing bad would have happened if you took the call.

That does make telephone appointments super tricky!

It's definitely a good idea to mention your work rules/circumstances to your GP when you do get to speak to them (hopefully soon!) and also remind the practice every time you book your appointments (if this is an ongoing thing). They should be able to prioritise you if they're aware. Also, depending on the issue, the GP might be able to communicate by text message and go by photographs.

But that means the GP was working after 9pm. They’re so under pressure.

same here. Phone in hand scrabbling to answer it and they hang up!

What did your manager say when you asked to have your phone with you today as you had a telephone consultation?

Because that seems to be the real issue. GPs can run late, and you did miss their call. 30 minutes late isn't an unusual amount of time for a GP to run late for. A small amount of flexibility from your workplace would solve this issue

I pretty much agree with this to be honest. Although
I definitely understand how annoying it is to wait, especially if you have timed your break at work to coincide with the appointment or if you have a job that prevents you from taking calls.

The issue for GPs I assume is that they only have 10 or 15 minutes allocated to each patient, including reading the notes beforehand and writing the notes up afterwards. Some of us cannot be dealt with in that time. Last week, I had a 40 minute phone call with my GP, so all appointments after mine must have been very late. The week before, I had a 30 minute face-to-face appointment with the same GP. This particular GP nearly always runs late. She is good.

This pisses me off too, same at my GP. If I was half hour plus late for my appointment in person they'd not see me, why isn't that courtesy extended?

I'd complain about the attitude..

You're lucky yours gives a time for phone calls. Mine just says 'between 8am and 5pm'. They don't seem to have any concept of people actually being at work during the day. It's fucking pathetic.

I once had a phone call back at past 9pm! So ridiculous

Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to respond to appointment times to indicate the latest you could cope with the call being, so that a late-running GP can see something like:
13.00 Patient available until 18.00
13.10 Patient available until 13.40
13.20 Patient available until 14.20
13.30 Patient available until 14.00.
13.40 Patient available until 14.00, also 15.00 - 18.00
They could then prioritise those who only have a limited window of availability, until such point as they are caught up. They might even be able to flag to the reception team to let the first person know that it's going to be a while later.
Maybe someone will design a system like this eventually.

The response from the surgery aside, your employer should be understanding enough to know that you are expecting a call from the GP so will need your phone on you. That by accepting a telephone consultation you’re avoiding a lengthy chunk of time away from work to visit the GP

I'd be looking to make better allowances at your work. Can there not be an exception for you to answer the phone? Is there really no one else who could have covered for a few minutes?

It's a ball ache but whether face to face or phone consultation you never know what previous patients problems are.

Just the chat could be a life saver, they could be given bad news and just need some extra time to understand.

It's really the 10 minute allocation that's a bit out of kilter.

Having said that when we get a phone consultation sent over they inform you it could be up to an hour late.

That's not gaslighting.

Do you think there is a realistic chance that this is what I was attempting to say?

Please take a deep breath and have a think.

It's OK to take a balanced view of things, you know.

My cousin had a telephone appointment with a cardiologist. They didn't ring and and when he rang to find out what was going on he was told he was down as a DNA (did not attend).

Not by the GP, as the OP hasn't spoken to them yet, as far as I'm aware.

And could you perhaps try to be a little bit less extreme in your response? There is, I am sure you would accept, a vast difference between a delayed telephone appointment for a non-acute issue and the kind of clinical errors that I'm assuming the article discusses.

For the avoidance of doubt: absolutely no one should be expected to feel any kind of "gratitude" for any service provided by the NHS (and everyone is entitled to safe, professional, thoughtful, compassionate care). That said, patients do need to be realistic about how the service is these days. It is under severe pressure. There's an awful lot GP practices and other NHS organisations could be doing to communicate what the reality is and managing patient expectations better.

OP was at work! Some of us have REAL jobs where phones cannot be present! I used to work in an airport behind the security point, my phone was the other side of the airport! My partner is an airline pilot and cannot have his switched on for 12 hours at a time.

So because the NHS is a good thing, GP receptionists can be a rude, and as factually inaccurate, as they like?

What do you mean, telephone appointments aren’t for a set time? At my surgery they absolutely are - a pre booked phone appointment is for a set time, an on the day phone triage for urgent issues is not, you’re just on the list.
And if a phone appointment isn’t for a specific time, they should say that, and not give a specific time.