Booked My First Private GP Appointment

[AutumnBudgetIsGoingToBeFun]

Can't get an appointment at my NHS surgery without alot of stress and phoning in at 8am for god knows how many days.

Tried to get an appointment a few months ago for something else and just gave up. I felt so stressed and I don't work anymore so I had time to sit on the phone trying to get through (god knows how people who have to be at work early cope).

Today I decided I was going to get help for something that has been bothering me for quite a while (although I only just figured out recently what it was having attributed it to something else). I literally couldn't face trying to get an NHS appointment and figured even if I could get through it wouldn't be deemed serious or urgent enough.

So booked today, appointment tomorrow. Booked online. Very easy. Sent form to fill in which took 5 mins just about basic details and what meds I am on, allergies that kind of thing.

I have mixed feelings.

One part of me is thinking - great I'll get this condition sorted and won't it be nice to have a 30 minute appointment with a GP rather than a very rushed 10 min NHS appointment.

The other part of me is thinking - is this the start of a slippery slope and how sad I feel when I remember how easy it was to get a doctors appointment 20-30 years ago.

It was interesting that the choice of appointments started at 20 mins for the shortest one - which makes sense given the NHS ones are too rushed so 10 mins is obviously not long enough.

You could have 20 mins, 30 mins which I booked, 45 mins or an hour.
Price £120, £150, £225 or £300.

I'll have to pay for the items as well I guess but it's a treatment which will be relatively short term rather than years and years (hopefully!)

I doubt I need a 30 minute appointment but I have plenty of other things I can ask him about.

I'm not expecting it to be any different really from an NHS appointment except it's in a nicer building and no doubt I will get the 'Hello Mrs Smith, How are you feeling today' nicer treatment that you get when you go to something private. The GP works or has worked in the NHS so I'm really just getting the same advice, just quicker and convenient to me.

I'll update after I've been for it tomorrow for anyone that is interested.

By the way did you know GP surgeries are not employed by the NHS. They are run like little businesses getting paid by the NHS for every patient they see. No doubt why they give you such short rushed appointments to maximise income. I didn't know that until recently.

A lot of them do work 10 years for the NHS...many go abroad and return. In our gp practice one young woman is just back from maternity leave, it fits in better with family life than hospital work.
I'm in Ireland where we have a sort of hybrid public and private system. I can get a GP appointment fairly quickly. Its 65 euros for me...free for kids and the elderly or with a means tested medical card.

Yes you are right. It is technically possible to get an appointment but it makes me feel very stressed, takes alot of time and even then it's a rushed 10 minute appointment isn't it. Not sure a few days is all it would take. I think it might take more like 10-15 days of phoning.

I'm not blaming the NHS. It was a great idea- there are just too many people now and too many complex illnesses that they can cure.

i don't actually have high blood pressure (well not that I am aware of). I was just making the point that if I get the private health check and then it turned out for example I had high blood pressure, the private doctor can start treatment but refer me back to the NHS to get it continued.

As far as I am aware there is nothing wrong with me except needing to lose weight. The skin tags are unsighly and so are the broken veins in my face. So yes perhaps not top of anyones medical list but important to me. And having a red face constantly because of the rosacea is actually quite depressing. Since Rosacea is skin inflamation is not as trivial as it sounds. After all it sort of points to an inflammation problem in the body doesn't it.

I take on board your comments though and thanks for posting

I'm the original poster and I didn't post the above comment that you have answered.

advertising for who or what? I haven't mentioned the private doctors name or where he is. Neither am I going to.

You don't think a discussion about the state of the NHS is relevant today?

Please do consider going private for that. It could be serious. I know it's £££ but could be your life. Best of luck.

lucky but it might not last forever.

I'm in Scotland too though less rural than you it sounds.

Not in a city but quite close to one.

How did you find the private GP? I'm also east Scotland, near Edinburgh & although I can get an appointment with my GP, the quality of service hasn't been great. I seem to diagnose myself before the GP does! I would definitely consider private appointments going forward for some of the issues I'm facing

How did your private appointment go @AutumnBudgetIsGoingToBeFun

I posted an update yesterday so if you look further up the thread you will see it. In short, it was totally worth the money.

I just googled private gp, location that I live and it popped up.

He said it was quite a new thing and I think he has only been doing it private since early this year.

Try canmore clinic dunfermline if you want to try him

OP, so when you work it out, you got a 35 minute appointment, discussed 3 different concerns all sorted in one appointment which would have taken 3 appointments with GP, as they only deal with one condition per visit. Nobody wants to have to pay, but I certainly felt like I was listened to with private GP.

Thank you! I'll keep this in mind for future. Thanks for sharing too. My GP is fobbing me off because my symptoms aren't 'bad enough', wished me good luck with it all at my last app 🙄 symptoms include coughing up phlegm/green pieces nearly every day + the occasional being sick but as no breathing issues, infection or silent reflux then being left to it. I've got an endoscopy for ceoliac disease coming up so if it doesn't resolve after I go gluten free, I'll try the private GP app ☺️

Yes I would do it again for sure. I've just added another line into my budget spreadsheet for Private Medical.

Can you imagine how long it would have taken me to get 3 seperate NHS appointments. Doesn't bear think about (not at my surgery anyway!)

The older I get the more I prioritise different things. I suppose we are all like that.

Only thing to add is you won't get an appointment for next 2 weeks as he is on holiday. Usually though you can get one the next day he said (and certainly that was my experience).

Just bad timing if you were looking to book next week though.

You will definately be listened to and I was impressed that he tried to save me money by giving me a cheaper alternative antibiotic lotion to one I had read about which was also kinder to my skin (for my rosacea).

Bear in mind there might be some leeway with prices so skin tags are quoted at £30 each but because I have a ton of them he is doing them for £20 each.

This might only last while he is still new and getting established but I'm glad of the discount for sure.

My GP is similar. There will be a queue at 8am but it’s not awful. They will always try and fit you in and you can ask for phone or face to face
they also have a system where you can ring at 6pm and be seen between 6pm - 8pm and the same Saturday and Sunday mornings.
So if you are suddenly unwell with tonsillitis or something on a Friday at 5pm, you get seen (it might not be your own surgery but it’ll be a local one)