Dr surgery offering appointments during school run?

[MuffinMouse]

The last three times I have tried to make a GP appointment I have been offered 3:00, 3:10 or 3:20. Primary schools here finish at 3:15. I am always asked by the receptionist if I can get someone else to collect my children, which I have previously done - but it seems unreasonable to ask. I got around it once by phoning up much later (11:30am) and got offered a 4pm. Leaving it till late morning on the off chance is a risk, as I have been told before that all appointments have gone.

It seems they won't prebook, or fill cetain slots until other times for appointments have gone. You have to phone from 8:30 to get a look in on decent times - and as a mum I leave for school with two little ones at 8:30 to get them there in time for 8:50! It seems a bit unfair.

mayorquimby - your contribution isn't helpful or supportive.

:)

valhalla, I agree the system is flawed, was just trying to suggest something that might help.

We have been approached a few times by the parents of dd's friends - and on many occasions by one family in particular, whose younger son was seriously ill in hospital. We haven't minded helping out in the least, and though we haven't had to call on people much to reciprocate, it gives me peace of mind to know that we could ask other parents if the need should arise. Obviously, paying a childminder would be another option, but my dd would almost certainly prefer to go to a friend's house. For me, it isn't any different from an ordinary playdate, but I realise some families don't do those either.

At the end of the day, you do what you feel comfortable with - we don't have family locally and we only moved to this area last year, so no existing support network. For me, it's important to know that some sort of support is there if we need it, but if you prefer to manage without, then fair enough.

Not meant to be. Just an indication of my agreement with all the posters who said "yabu".

So in a way I'm helping and supporting them.

Mayorquimby (tm.) being helpful and supportive since 2007

I am astonished that so many feel it is acceptable to have to take our children out of school so we can get ourselves to get important treatment/assessment.

We just accept that it's the norm. I'm astonished that we are expected to - and that we don't question it.

And then there is my local Head teacher desperately trying to improve attainment at the local school.

In the middle are mums trying to get it all right.

And lots of people here are just saying that's all we can do.

Online booking sounds a great idea. Will look into it.

I would say that almost everyone has someone they could call on in a genuine emergency. I f myself or one of my children had to go to hospital or as happened to a neighbour their water main burst the whole street went out at midnight to move furniture (I looked after the dog). But for day to day routine things such as appointments IF i DIDN;T HAVE MY IN LAWS NEearby I would be stuck and I couldn;t not go to work myself/make my own children late to get afrien's kids to school for example.

Breakfast club, afterschool club - may be able to book on an ad-hoc basis. Childminder, playdate, other half (if around) to look after the kids or make a basic phone call, write & complain to the practice manager, get early at the school gate to make a call, I'm sure there were lots of other suggestions on this very thread.

Failing that, start a revolution. You'll need time to fit in the organisation, though.

Hold on, I'll just go and ask DDs old school to start up breakfast and afterschool clubs and find a convenient, local childminder who just happened to be passing by my house at 8 in the morning and who is available immediately... :o

Okay, I'm taking the piss... but it really isn't that simple for some. The school which DDs went to when I was seriously ill didn't have before or after school care, for a start.

Santa, much respect to you for looking after the neighbour's dog. Now, if I could do that in return for childcare I'd be happy and life would be fine! :o

I cannot believe I'm the only poster on here with the option of on-line booking!

Oh urgh, those "you have to call in the morning for an appointment" surgeries are the pits. They only do it so they can say "no-one waited longer than 24 hours for an appointment". I'd switch surgeries if you can.

Yeah! Come to mine.

Did I mention that you can book online?

No, you can at ours as well Clam. They are fab! We moved from one of those "call in the morning for an appointment" places.

My GP surergy the phone lines also ooen at 8.30am then you are lucky if you get through by 9am , yes I have been one of those Mums that is on mobile on way to school - trying to get through to surgery.

So I have over come that now by getting kids in car driving to GP suregry and waiting outside for them to open and making the appointment in person. Get the boys to school in time and get an appointment I need.

Surgery and achool are in opposite directions .

Valhalla, I have a dog too so it wasn;t a huge problem - it beat lugging furniture into another neighbour's garage (I also provided an emergency plumber on a Sunday - My Dad) at normal call out rates!.

But no, it isn;t that simple. My children go to school some distance from where I live, out of the childrne in my street they attend at least 4 different primaries. All their parents work so have to drive to school, there is lack of car seats/spaces etc.

My children's school has before and after club - payable termly only not daily or weekly. it opens at 8.00am takes 30 mins to get there) doctors phone lines open at 8.00am.

But as I say I never have a problem becasue my doctors have thought about patiend care and so what I usually do is to ring at 9am when I get back from school/get to work and I can usually get in either that afternoon or the next day.

Simples.

Lol clam - you did mention it - just once or twice!!!!

Right off to do school run.

at my surgery you can book an appointment more than 10 days in advance - as it messes with the 'statistics' on how quickly they can offer you an appt!!!

So for my GP ante-natal checkups I have to make diary notes to call exactly 10 days in advance to try & get a suitable appt. Last PG I managed to avoid the GP for all apppts but one as I used local midwife run clinic for all ante-natal checkups. They were much more thorough & interested than the GP IMO. This time I am 'old' so I MUST go to GP - where don't give as good a check up or chat etc as the midwives do - but apparently I need to see the GP's as they are 'better'.

If your surgery won't make any appointments until those times have been filled then there may be two reasons:

1. They are allocated as urgent appointments and can only be used for same day appts, hence why they are offered first. There may be no other urgent appointment times available. The assumption by the doctors is that if you need to be seen urgently then you aren't too fussy about the time.

1. The rest of the clinic is filled with routine appointments that have already been made. There are no appointment slots for urgent cases.

If the way your surgery offers appoinment times is inconvenient then you may want to write to the practice manager to express your dissatisfaction. Unless they get feedback they may not be aware of the fact that some people find their appointment system inconvenient.

The need for appointments is immense, with our increasingly aged and dependent population as well as the devolving of much of the healthcare away from secondary care ie hospitals to surgeries.

I think we could offer appointments 24 hours a day 7 days a week and they would still all get filled, and people still wouldn't be able to get an appt at the time they really want.

OP said, School run times are unpopular times for lots of patients - for children and mums who bring them, and do the school run. The surgery refuses to offer anything else until these have gone.

That's like refusing to sell any other sandwiches until you've sold out of cheese on white.

Choccy, it's the NHS, not the Ivy. Cheese on white is good, some get gruel.

Ours is a pain as you have to ring at 8am and are often still redialling at 8.20 and then appts are all gone but 8 is better than 8.30.

You can do prebookables online but not usually within a day or two.

I'd take the mobile and keep ringing on the way.

Mufin we have no help. my ds needed lots of dental appointments which all needed to be made at 8.30 (and involved a 20 min call) so I just took all the children late as I had no other option. When the appointments were across the school run then I picked them all up early and took all 3 with me.

clam we cannot book any appointments in advance. You have to book on the phone and get what you are given unless the doctor requests a return appointment for you.

OP I think the situation you have outlined - where the surgery will only make appointments the same day for all patient visits and will not allow any choice in time slot - is a disgrace. I take back my earlier analysis. YANBAtALLU.

Your GPs contract with the NHS does not require such an unresponsive and inflexible system.

My surgery will give you a no choice same day appointment if you want it, but you can also book up appointments up to 2 weeks away where you have choice within some constraints. They also have late Saturday morning appointments. And online booking (which is good because although everything else is good the receptionists are a bit of a nightmare).

Ditch 'em and find a better surgery.

We can now book online (haven't had to try it yet). We did go through the awful stage where you couldn't book in advance and it was a complete PITA.
I think some of the commenters saying "if you're sick you're sick and need to take what you're given" don't appreciate the difference between an emergency, when you have to ring up and get something that day whenever it is, and a routine checkup or prescription for a niggly rash, when you'd happily wait weeks for a convenient time if they'd bloody let you book in advance.
My surgery did reverse their "all appointments are emergencies, ring at 8am and take what you're given" policy, and, bless them, introduced lots of evening appointments.
YANBU

Great post from Sidge