How do you make a doctors appointment?

[TeenPlusTwenties]

I've just tried to make an appointment at the doctors for my DD.

Apparently the receptionists can no longer book appointments.
The doctor will ring me back, and discuss what it is needed for, and then make me an appointment.

Is this the new way of doing things? I can see it saves unnecessary appointments. But instead the doctor spends time ringing people back (what if they are at a work that doesn't allow mobiles, or in an area where they can't go somewhere private).

Plus I was going to ask the receptionist for a very gentle female doctor (because DD would be more likely to be communicative with them), and that will be more awkward now.

And I would ideally like a choice of appointment times to find the least disruptive but still seen in a sensible time frame, and whilst I feel OK doing that with the receptionist if the doctor makes the appointment then I'll feel like I am using up their time if I don't just accept the first slot offered.

I absolutely know how lucky we are with the NHS, and this isn't an emergency (when I would be happy with whoever whenever), but is this now the common way of doing things?

We still phone up. Very rarely get an appointment though, usually after 20 minutes in the queue you finally get through and there's no appointments left. No booking in advance so you have to go through it all again in the afternoon or the following day...it can be very frustrating!

Everyone has the right to request fe/male GP, even on a GP call back.

@savingshoes How does that work if, like at my surgery there is no female GP? I would love to speak to a female GP sometimes but can't.

As it happens, I had to have a blood test this morning. I can't book online due to some Kafkaesque explanation. Booking the original Doctor's appointment and this follow up blood test was a nightmare. I spent forever on hold and gave up several times and when I did get through the receptionist kept offering me the same time I'd said was awkward, just on different days.

When I got to the surgery, it was near empty with no patients needing the receptionists. I noticed that, at least twice, in the fewer than 5 minutes I was there, the phone rang and buttons were pressed rather than the phone being answered.

I know there are time-wasters who need to be deterred but it's like they're actively making it as difficult as possible for anyone to make an appointment.

I rang yesterday morning for emergency on the day appointments for myself & ds. Ds had a hacking cough, he has been ill for 3 weeks, is vomiting with coughing, had seen the nurse practitioner 2 weeks ago & was told if it didn't clear up, to come back. I suffer from Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS & Arthritis as well as having poor mental health, I am in severe pain despite having pain medication, we are both diagnosed as being autistic. The surgery gave ds a same day appointment, but refused me on as apparently I am "not an emergency" After taking ds it turned out he still has a viral infection & he just has to sit it out. I have to wait another two weeks before I can be seen, I have a history of suicide attempts & have previously suffered a breakdown twice. I just feel like because I have a chronic condition, I don't matter.

Same at my practice.

I was in pain for a week and phoned every morning ( open from 8.39 -12) . Was always 17 I’d more in the queue, Had to take the following Monday off work just to get through and wait for a call back.

To be fair, my doctor saw me an hour later, sent me to the hospital that afternoon and I was in for surgery under General anesthetic the next day.

So amazingly good and pretty skit in equal measure. Good job I can drive though. There’s a lot of expectation for you to “ get where you need to be “ now.

Our practice you can book online - will be weeks away, or phone on the day.

Every time I've phoned on the day they have been brilliant as I have asthma and been proper poorly so response has been excellent for me.

As a doctor myself, I see lots of patients who moan their GP is shit and they can't get an appointment - only to find out that now they are properly ill, this system is prioritising them all the time and the same GP surgery they thought was dreadful is actually excellent. It was just pushing them out when they wanted antibiotics for a cold.

Oh no not another one. I hope our surgery doesn't resort to That. It's a ridiculous set up. How can you diagnose someone over the phone,!

I once asked for a non-urgent appointment and they did the teeth-sucky thing and said there weren't any (they only book up to 8 weeks ahead and they were all full). I live in an area with a lot of elderly people so I guess they're managing a lot of chronic conditions.

If I want to see a doctor, (having first made sure that I can't just go to the pharmacy because that is so much less hassle) I set an alarm on my phone to ring at 8.25 a.m. to remind me. When it goes off, I ring the surgery and then hit auto-redial, and sit over my phone until I get through. Usually I get an appointment for that day. Once I didn't get through until 8.33 and all that day's appointments were gone.

Currently pregnant so if I need to be seen they will interrogate me first squeeze me in. Usually I have excellent health, thank God.

Our practice is excellent. We have several routes but my preferred in an online consultation. The webform is reviewed and either a secretary or a GP will call,back to tell you a prescription is at chemist, to give you an appointment time that day or for the GP to advise. I’ve had direct referrals to the hospital without actually seeing a GP.
Then we can book appointments online for non urgent issues, blood tests, etc.
If it’s urgent you can call and ask for the GP on duty to ring. If you have a computer, you can turn up and the receptionists will always try and sort something out.

My surgery don't take advance bookings anymore.
You have to phone up on the day (8am) and when you finally get through, which is normally 20-30 mins later, you are told to phone back tomorrow morning as all spaces have been filled.

GP triage here too. But sometimes you get through,just after 9 to hear “all doctor callback lists have been filled,try again tomorrow” however when you do get through and they ring back it’s usually quite useful a few times it has saved me a trip to the gp waiting room with the prescription just being left for me!

At our surgery, the phone lines and door open at 8.30.
To get an appointment, we queue up at the door from 7.30 (usually fifth or sixth in line) and get an appointment for that day if we're lucky. Most often the appointment is for a slot before 9 am so we can just wait.
They don't answer the phones until they've dealt with everyone in the queue at the door, so you can basically never get an appointment by phoning.
The only reason you can pre-book an appointment is if the doctor tells you to come back at a particular time, and then, if there is an appointment for that day, they will make it for you. If they're all gone though, you have to queue/phone to get back in.

Billandben I’m curious as to why you declined the nurse appointments, you don’t have to say of course but nurse practitioners are well qualified and trained and can deal with many routine issues.

Personally I’m glad my surgery doesn’t do this (yet), there are many reasons why there aren’t enough gp appointments which need to be addressed but I really don’t think this is a viable solution and as an ex hcp myself think it’s only a matter of time until a very sick patient is poorly triaged and suffers life changing if not fatal consequences.

Even the minor issues are annoying, many patients can’t have their phone on them at work, or may have valid concerns about not wanting to discuss in earshot if others eg unwanted pregnancy or recurrent thrush!

Ridiculous treating receptionists like answerphones too!

Billandben I’m curious as to why you declined the nurse appointments, you don’t have to say of course but nurse practitioners are well qualified and trained and can deal with many routine issues.
Because I want to se a GP and not a nurse. I have nurse practitioner friends and know how well qualified they are. However their training is different to a doctor's from the start. I need a diagnosis for something quite complex and a GP is the professional I need for this

We call after 8.30am for a same day morning appointment, after 12.30pm for an afternoon one.

I find it works very well and often do it that way when I can ask for an appointment.

Ours you ring at opening time for urgent same day appointments. Repeat after lunch for same day afternoons. You can also ring to book in advance but it's a wait. Could to with a text reminder service.

We are lucky as our surgery is open late a couple of times a week until 7pm. I try 111 usually as we also have a walk in centre nearby which we have been signposted to. You can also go there and wait if you can't get a GP appointment.

I feel lucky that I can see a GP or go to a walk in centre, or A&E if necessary without handing a credit card over. It's not perfect, mistakes are made and it's chronically underfunded, but I (nor the children) have never not been seen because I couldn't afford it. Agree that if you don't drive it can be harder to access GP services though, ours has satellite surgeries where they can send you!

I needed a gp appointment for DD last week, I tried ringing from 8am, 37 phone calls later I finally got through at 8:30, then spent 17 minutes on hold.
Ended up with an emergency weekend appointment as that was all that was left, she needed an urgent referral to hospital, I had a call yesterday from the hospital and we have an appointment for next Tuesday.
I knew that the GP couldn’t deal with her issue, it would be so much easier if we could self refer to hospital.

I can book online or call the surgery to book an appointment in 2-3 week's time.

They've always told me to phone at 8am for a same-day appointment, generally when I tried this the line would be engaged until 8.03 then all the appointments would be gone. However, I learnt from Mumsnet and turned up in person last time, joined a queue at 7.55 and got my appointment! But I'm surprised that they don't ask what it is for.