How on earth can I improve my health if I can't see a gp??

[Bemyclementine]

I am beyond exhausted. Absolutely on my knees.

I am anaemic and have hypothyroidism. I'm.assuming one of both of these issues are in need of further attention (I take 100mcg thyroxine and also iron ). Went into Drs to ask for a blood test, I can have one because its not due. If I have symptoms I need to call at 8.30am to get a GP appointment.

7 days I've been calling. 8.30am is the worst possible time (en route to school then work). We've been very late for school/work a couple of times, very early so I can start calling while parked at school. I can call up to 80 times by 9am by which time sll the appointments are gone abd "call back tomorrow".

I can ask for a callback from the GP but wont get it for 3 weeks.

I was falling asleep at my desk today. My house/life in general is a mess. Struggling with meal planning/healthy eating because I'm just so tired and foggy I keep forgetting things.

What can I do??

You need to have that call then request face to face. I waited three weeks for the initial telephone appointment then was offered face to face 2 days later. It's shit, it's crap, it's not good enough but it's all you are being offered atm.

@PickAChew those tests are much cheaper than I've seen thank you.

@AfraidToRun I'm going to do that. I just can't believe I can't just book a bloody appointment with several changeable pre existing conditions.

Yes a 'brief chat' is an appointment. I get 6 minutes at my GP for each appointment

If you have a number of issues they get very annoyed and say they cant deal with that. You have to book a double appointment. YOu get 10 mins for that.

Thats either in person or by phone

You've been offered an appointment. A "chat" with a GP is a GP appointment. Wait until you ever need a solicitor and see what they charge per minute. The GP isn't ringing you for a nice chat! It's because you're an appointment.

Good grief. I know how my surgery works. It's not an appointment. They don't do telephone appointments, they dont do e-consults as a rule. The GP needs to request the bloods because they're not due. It will be "what's the problem?" I'm tired. OK, phone and book a blood test.

They do offer Nurse Practitioner appointments sometimes , (if you can get through on the phone in the morning which so far i havent been able to) however this can result in "you'd need to see your GP about that".

You sound really hard work

Whatever word you want to put on it, surely what you want out of the situation is for the blood tests yes?

So ask for the 'brief chat' or appointment, or phone call or whatever you want to call it, confirm that its a blood test you need and get it moving

Classic mumsnet response, thanks. What is hard work is people not reading/believing what I'm saying. I'm not stupid, I don't generally make a fuss about these things but I am struggling every minute of every day currently. If that makes me hard work, honestly, I don't care.

Yes, I do need blood tests, in my (extensive) experience, he will call as said above, I'll book a blood test, the results will come back, they will be "ok, no change" or "borderline, no change" or if im super lucky (??) "increase meds".

What I also need is to be able to see the GP for a proper appointment where I can discuss symptoms I'm experiencing, other than sheer exhaustion.

But yes, a blood test is a good start.

So you take your telephone appointment, and when they say "blood tests", you say "great, can I have a face to face appointment after for you to examine me, please, with the results?"

If the GP doesn't need to examine you, then say what you need to over the phone.

I do have a solicitor as it happens, she's very nice. Very expensive. Not sure what the relevance is though.

That's not possible at my surgery.
I think some surgeries have disabled that function. 🤔