To expect a good service from the local GP surgery

[Aliensstolemychildren]

Today I took my son who is poorly with tonsillitis to the doctors - I phoned to make an appointment and subsequently turned up on time.
However I waited 1 hour after my appointment time to get seen, no apologies, no information and while this is not a record it happens every time. The appointment lasted less than 5 minutes to issue antibiotics.

Why do doctors surgeries run like this? GP's get paid a fair wage for what they do and considering we can put a man on the moon, split the atom, understand DNA sequencing - somehow my doctors surgery cannot run to time!

I thought doctors were supposed to be very bright - can't they sort it out?

It's a tough one. Gps have to fit in as many people as possible over the course of the day. Appointments are only for a certain length of time which is usually enough for minor complaints. The thing is if someone comes in with something more complicated (mh issue for example) it will take longer and the gp cannot say "right. Time's up. Off you go." if the patient is pouring their heart out. Two of these in a day will put them severely behind.

Irritating and frustrating for all those waiting but understandable I think.

YANBU, at our surgery it takes 3-4 weeks for the secretary to type up a referral letter!!! The GP dictates it on the day but it takes that long to get it out of the secretary! blinking ridiculous I think.

Its the same at my GPs, it is very annoying. Not so much when I am ill but I find it awful when the DC are ill.

I had an awful morning once sat with my 1 yr old DD with an ear infection screaming and I mean screaming in pain in the waiting room for about an hour. Everybody else in the waiting room looked annoyed at first, then as time went on they just looked sorry for us. In the end a woman asked which doctor I was waiting to see, it was the same doctor that she was waiting for so when she was called she insisted that we go in and then she would take our slot. The receptionist said we couldn't swap appts but the woman said no one wanted to see the baby wait longer when she was clearly so distressed.

I was so grateful to the woman, I couldn't stop thanking her, god knows how long she had to wait in the end and I bet the receptionist gave her some icy stares!!

I agree, maybe they could have something like a fast track doc, to deal with the in/out ive got an ear infection here's some abs thank you goodbye.

That being said, I'm extremely grateful that we live somewhere where everyone rich or poor has access (even if there is a wait) to healthcare. I used to live in America and there were families in some scary situations with no healthcare at all which I just couldn't get my head around. Its unthinkable.

My surgery is like this. If the appointment is 10am, it will be about 11-11.30am before you're seen. Everytime.

I agree with everything thats been said - however there are other public/governmental organisations that cannot act like this. I work for a company which delivers government services - if we acted like this we would be spread all other the newspapers and all lose our jobs.

Just because it is a free service doesn't mean there should be such a poor level of service.

If it is appointment times that are a problem I am sure that there is a system that works to account for this! As I've said if we can do such amazing things such as plot an atom surely we could create a system that works?

For what its worth no one who is ill, or sitting with a child/relative that is ill should be waiting an hour in the surgery.

Because unfortunately, they can only give out 5 minute appointments.

Some people (like me usually) are in and out in less than a minute and then other people need more than 5 minutes.

I do however fail to see how they can be running 20mins late in morning surgery only quarter of an hour after surgery opened (like DS and I experienced the other week!)

Also, I used to work for a governmental department and we were strangled by the red tape/deadlines. We rarely met them all on time, but it wasn't always obvious because we didn't have a waiting room full of people (understandably) timing us.

There needs to be some flexibility. I tend to see over running clinics as a sign that the drs are spending the right amount of time with patients rather than just rattling through them.

It is frustrating when you're trying to get to work though, and if they're running late by an hour then it would surely make sense to make an announcement, apologise and then give people who were willing and able to rearrange the appointment.

I think you're being unreasonable, GPs have to deal with a wide variety of people some of which to be treated properly need to have more than their alloted 10 minute appointment time.

What you prefer if it was you or your DC that needed the extra time, that the doctor spent an adequate amount of time dealing with your problem properly or that they shoved you out of the room to ensure that the next patient wasn't late?

My consultant at the hospital was running one and a half hours late at 10.00 am! I was beginning to doubt he was actually in the building.

To be honest, I'd rather wait a bit for a GP that I know would pay attention to the problems and not boot me out as soon as time was up, than go to one that doesn't give the time needed to the patient.

I think YABU.

YABU , as previously stated all it needs for a morning to run late is one patient who is ill enough to need admitting- impossible to do in 10 min slot, or a patient with severe depression again will over run, patient with cardiac failure needing medication sort out etc. If these were the first 2-3 patients then whole morning will run late

If GP's were given enough time to comfortably deal with these problem there would not be enough appts during day.

Also tends to be unpredictable as to who these patients are. Some are very quick , pill checks etc.

Further more a lot of surgeries will offer emergency appts to those who need on day, these tend to be 5 mins and after a normal surgery and again some patients who need these appts can take well over 5 mins.

Not sure what wage has to do with it, does not reduce demand on time / complexity of cases. Equally people could moan on here that my GP does not listen/ kicks me out after few mins. Cannot win!

YANBU... There are plenty of good GPs and practices, but there are also a lot of really bad GPs and a lot of really badly run surgeries. Probably because there's some kind of shortage and probably because they know we can't go anywhere else. IMHO they are the weak link in the controversial Health Bill and there should be easier ways to complain about shoddy service.

My DH is a GP.

They have 10 min appointments and typically run on time or within a few mins of it. Patients can book double appointments if it's MH issues or something else which is likely to take a while.

However, emergency appointments (usually young children) may be slotted in before surgery starts, urgent house calls (ie to terminally ill people) can throw things off - but in that case, his staff would put up a notice giving the expected delay (Dr X is running 45 mins late due to an emergency). People are then usually quite understanding.

It sounds like your GP surgery could run things a bit better, and give more info to patients so YANBU about that, but you are being BU to compare delivering government services to heath care provision where doctors are dealing with emergency situations, and the unpredictable needs of real people!

Scholes34 - the consultant may have been operating on someone (emergency case).

I have had to wait for my GP for ages before now - he had to disappear out of the building for an urgent house call, as the patient was in anaphalactic shock (sp?) and the ambulance is based 30 miles away.

That patients need was much greater than mine.

We have to pay to park when we go to the GP. On street parking sometimes available but limited to 45 minutes so no good. So last week to go to the doctors it cost me £2 to park and £7.40 for the prescription. I have to go back tomorrow because the antibiotics aren't working so there'e another tenner probably.

The nurse in our GP practice was the worst - the vaccination clinic was a joke- a wait of an hour was usual. She hated kids I think so enjoyed making us all wait.
The worst wait was the diabetic pregnancy clinic at our hospital. We were all told to be there for 12.30. Turns out the doctors didn't come back from lunch until 2pm at which point they worked their way down the list. Sitting for 4 hours in a hot waiting room at 36 weeks pregnant was no joke. The two times I went someone fainted. Some poor women had their toddlers with them.

Because they have zero concept of customer service.

It wouldn't take much for the receptionist to say "I do apologise but we are running dreadfully late, I suggest you come back at 1030, or if you leave me your mobile number we can send you a text message 15 minutes before your slot."

If a restaurant can manage it, not sure why a GP's surgery can't.

Malin has a point. The text suggestion is a good one.

TBH if they know the doctor is running 45mins or more behind an offer of a glass of water / cup of tea wouldn't be out of order. Would reduce moans at the reception staff.

YANBU. I've regularly waited over an hour sometimes with sick children waiting for my appointment. Even when I've had an early morning appointment I've still been kept waiting. How can they get so far behind?
I used to have a monthly blood test and I would book an appointment with the nurse for 8:30 so I could be in work for 9:00. Nine times out of ten she'd swan in at five to nine, no apology that I'd been kept waiting. The test results often went missing as well.

The thing is as well is that all the time you are waiting you are probably catching something else.

I'm sorry you're still ill Sparkling. That's gone on a while now hasn't it? Is ds any better?

Blame people like me then, not the GPs. Last time I went I was depressed and desperate for help. GP spent ages talking to me, handing me tissues and listening to me. He could of course have just said 'OK, here's a prescription, get out of here so I can see the baby in the waiting room' but i think I'd have felt pretty short-changed. When any system deals with real human beings who have varying problem and aren't always clear about what they want and expect (because they don't know quite often) there will be delays.

In your case could you have seen a nurse practitioner? They can prescribe in most cases I think.