Why are GP surgery’s still locked down?

[Itwasoverwhen]

I work in an acute hospital which is fully open (in and out patient). A&E is open. Minor injuries is open. Urgent treatment centre is open.

Tried to get a very rare GP appointment only to be told they are doing face to face, I need to wait for the next block of telephone appointments to be released on Monday (for the following week) and then ring and try to get one of them. They’ve suspended the online appointment booking facility and you have to sit in a queue on the phone hoping you get a phone appointment for the NEXT week?!

Are they ever just going to open up again?

Ours are similar and I would agree it's locked down. At our surgery you can only book an appointment on the day. So you ring at 8am and wait to see if there's any appointments left (this call wait lasts over an hour some days). If there is an appointment available (telephone only) they will
Ring you back but they no longer offer a time so it's they will ring you that day. If they then decide you need to be seen they will make an appointment for you to come in. So when dd needed an appointment the expectation was that I took a day off work and she took a day off school in the hope that we would get a telephone call! Craziness gone mad!

Our surgerys here in Ireland are most definitely locked down still ! Local Facebook pages are full of very worried and frustrated people trying to even get through on their phone lines to speak to a receptionist never mind get through to a doctor. It took me two solid weeks of to going everyday to get through eventually in order to be able to make a phone appointment. I'm worried about all the potential serious illnesses that are being missed out on . They aren't accepting emails or online inquiries either . Obviously I cannot speak for every doctor in Ireland but it seems to be the exact same for lots of my friends living all over the country. Most have also suspended smear tests too is absolutely appalling

*ringing not going

Our local surgery only opens for regular Covid innoculation sessions (extra £££ for the GP). The rest of the time it's like Fort Knox.

@BuggerBognor it’s always good to see what people’s biases are. Yours are massive but it sounds like with good reason. You had a bad experience and on a personal level, I am truly sorry. But the constant vitriol is insulting to people who haven’t done you any harm and are trying their best for others. (Not a GP BTW.)