Can I make a formal complaint can’t get appointment

[Lovelybitofsquirrel3]

I have diagnosed depression and my sleep is effected. and ironically I have been trying to get medication for my anxiety and depression so that I can improve my life but appointments are months away and they tell me to phone at 8am but I can’t because I’m not awake. I tried emailing to book one instead but they tell me that they can’t.

Dude, just for once, get someone to wake you, one of your children, set up multiple alarms, ask for help from a relative, you have to make the extra effort sometimes, that's life

Ask your relative to wake you up.

Your situation doesn't sound condusive to home schooling if making a phone call is too challenging.

Could relative make the call for you?

Ask said relative to call or to wake you up so you can call? Do they have an consult form

They don’t have an E consult form. I will ask some people if they can go and collect it for me but they probably can’t for a few days.

I’m really trying to stay calm when I get comments like this, especially because I understand why they’re being made and I’m trying not to take it personally I don’t want to give too many details but they’re being well looked after

If there are kids at home, then there must be another adult able to be awake? Can they not wake you?

I'd switch GPS if you can. It's 2025 every surgery should have an econsult form

This. How on earth are you looking after your child let alone home schooling them??

And you have a dog as well?! Do you have social services involvement? They may be able to help organise an appointment for you.

This doesn't sound like a safe environment for your child.

Can the person who is keeping them safe also poke you to wake you up?

I wonder how the people saying "just set an alarm and phone at 8 am" would feel if the phone line opening time changed to 3 am - right in the middle of their own normal sleeping time?

Because when my diurnal rhytm was wrecked and I couldn't get to sleep before 5 am I found it completely impossible to set an alarm and be awake and coherent enough at that hour to explain why I needed an appointment.

Several times I did set the alarm, got up, waiting an hour on the phone to a recorded message saying they were very busy and would be with me shortly, and then on the stroke of 9 the recorded voice would say "The line is now closing. All the appointments have gone. Please call again at 8 am tomorrow if you need to book an appointment" I went 18 months without being able to book an appointment for what turned out to be a serious problem that was made worse by the delay.

Since I started pandering to my gut microbiome I now fall asleep by 11 pm so it is easy to be up at 8 am, sipping coffee and listening to the recorded voice telling me that they are busy and I am in the queue. I can also be dressed and in the surgery half an hour later if I am lucky enough to get through and they find a slot for me.

However, when I lay awake, tossing, turning, twitching and cursing until 5 am, asking me to be awake and ready to spend an hour on the phone and then leave for a morning appointment was EXACTLY the same as if they now changed the phone opening time to 3 am and expected me to turn up at the surgery by 4 am. It might be possible with enormous effort, but it wouldn't be easy and I'd be too exhausted to think straight and explain why I was there.

It really is unfair to discriminate against people who are unable to function in the morning. Many of them will be suffering from debilitating mental and physical illnesses. There's absolutely no reason at all why half the weeks appointments can't be reserved for the afternoons, with the phone line opening at 12.

In the unlikely event that that was ever the case, I would set my alarm for 3am to make the appointment that was for my own benefit. Just like when I fly for work I often have to set my alarm for 3am to be at the airport for 4.30am.

OP you just have to fight through one morning at 8am, once you get a first appointment it is likely, if you are put on medication, the GP will ask you to go back in a month or so.

Or how about a drop in care centre? Perhaps attached to a hospital?
or a private GP appointment? Yes it costs money but you can get appointments at a more convenient time, prescriptIons cost more, but it’s all a balance.

Have you actually been into your surgery when you are awake? To explain your issues?

Or look at another surgery?

You say you are diagnosed depressed, a GP must have done this? Can you email them?

Healthcare is overwhelmed at the moment, hoped it will start improving, but until then you need to work out how you can be part of your GPs system. Or pay for private.

Or make an appointment for months ahead at least it’s there then.

Home schooling is more than just being well looked after though. It's far, far more. It's an education - the only one your child will get from their childhood. If you're doing that then great but if that's the case then you can also make a phone call. If someone else is providing the education then they can support with a phone call. I'm not saying this to upset you, I'm saying it because there's a child involved and their education will be one of the most important factors for their long term chances, choices, options, financial and emotional wellbeing etc. Quite frankly, the child is more important than you which I'm sure you know but to make them more important you need to step up and make that phone call.

One does wonder how much schooling and socialising with peers the child gets given you said on your other thread that you can't even go to the shops .

I book nearly all my gp appointments on the NHS. It's much easier.

You could email, telephone or write a letter to the practice manager outlining your difficulties and ask for their support in making an initial appointment. Be clear about your needs because there’s no point them making you an appointment you then can’t keep.

Also absolutely tell your SW about these difficulties, not least as you have a child and pet your living arrangements sound chaotic for them if you’re regularly unresponsive during their waking hours. Hopefully it can be addressed with medication but for their sake you need to be functional during hours healthy for them. I know you didn’t ask but I think you should seriously reconsider homeschooling. They sound horribly isolated from their peers in a really difficult home situation. They need their friends and other adults to watch out for them.

Ours you can't. You submit a online query form, get triaged within 6 hours then either offered a same day appointment , usually with nurse practitioner, or sent a link to book for a later date or given other advice.

It is so infuriating to read all the replies suggesting to set "2 alarms" or fighting through it "for just one morning"......if it was that simple to solve I'm sure the OP wouldn't be on here posting for advice.

This situation is hugely concerning

From this and previous posts it seems that:

• you are the only adult in the household
• you have the care of a 6-year-old child
• you are unable to be awake at 8:00 a.m. even with the assistance of alarms. It is unclear whether your child would be able to wake you in the case of an emergency, or whether you would wake to a fire alarm
• you are unable to leave the house to even go to the shop. It's unlikely therefore that your child is getting much in the way of socialisation with other children their age.
• from your other threads, you have multiple severe mental health difficulties, which have resulted in police involvement on multiple occasions, did you have a history of making bad decisions (like committing revenge porn on your ex). You have social services involvement.

Whilst I'm sure you are doing your best for your little one, I'm very concerned for their safety, their emotional well-being as much as their physical health.

I'm sorry @Lovelybitofsquirrel3 there have been so many posters who clearly don't understand anxiety or depression.
Hopefully you can get someone to call on your behalf.
I don't know if it's possible where you are, but I was able to see an online doctor who really helped me!

You have children who are being homeschooled and a dog at home but you’re not awake at 8am? Who is looking after your children and dog when you are asleep? I assume you have another parent or relative at home looking after them, in which case why can’t they call and arrange the appointment for you?

It's a phone call, not a yomp across hostile territory! You don't even have to get out of bed to make the call.