Why is it so bloody hard to get a Dr appointment??

[ginmakesitallok]

So - called this am from 8. Got through at 8.04 - all morning appointments gone. Told to call back at 11 for pm appointment. Get through at 11.06 - all pm appointments gone. I can book an appointment- but will be 2 weeks til I get one, or try again tomorrow. FFS - no wonder people don't go unless it's an emergency.

It's so easy at our surgery, ring on the day first thing for an emergency appt with the doctor or nurse or make a non urgent appt on line. It would piss me right off if it was difficult. Our surgery has lots of nurses and if you can't see a GP you see a nurse and she examines you and nips and gets the doctor if she need a prescription signing.

I think that's the problem...there are too many people going when it's not necessary...let alone an emergency.

Some people will still turn to the Doctor at the first sign of a sneeze or raised temp and that fucks the system for everyone

Don't your surgeryhave a triage list? For emergency appointments.

No offer of emergency appt. If I don't get one tomorrow I'll ask for emergency appt-even though I don't think it is

Can't you see the nurse?

They don't usually offer emergency appts here...I suppose on the basis that if it's a real emergency, people will ask.

Need to see dr I think, bleeding between periods

You'll have to expressly say if you feel it warrants an emergency app. They won't offer one. They also will ask what the problem is (and then in our area at least) you get called back by a nurse practioner who will discuss the problem and they decide if oyu qualify for an emergency app. If it isn't just book the one 2 weeks in advance and keep trying untill then. You can always cancel your pre booked one if you get in sooner. Or ask if a nurse is free? Although they can't diagnose in our surgey, so they may say no.

I'm a bit suspicious that ALL apointments are gone within the first 5 min, and if I were in your shoes, I'd be contemplating sending a tart letter/email of complaint. It just doesn't seem plausable, unless there's only 3-4 same day appointments available?

We don't have this problem at the surgery we go to, but I know it's not unusual.

Could you change to a different practice with a more logical booking system? Not much use for you immediately, but worth considering in future. I wouldn't put up with being messed around like that, having to phone at a certain time and not being seen for a fortnight etc etc.

I would see the nurse for that OP.

your surgery needs to rethink their system. Make an official complaint to the practice manager.
At our surgery, they do this thing called telephone triage where the doctor will call you back and offer you a pm appointment if you need it. not ideal, but works well if you are living/working locally and have sick kids etc. Getting a non urgent appointment is the impossible thing as all appointments seem to be set aside as urgent ones.

"too many people going when it's not necessary"

Or is it greedy GPs refusing to employ another doctor to ease the bottlenecks? Remember they're businesses now, and the tools to remedy the problem are in their hands. Us lay-people are not supposed to be experts in health.

I've never been turned away from our GP's surgery. It can be a pain getting through at 8:30 for the emergency appointments, but I've never not got one. I think our GPs (who always seem to have a trainee or locum in) just stay until they've seen everyone who needs to be seen.

Complain to the practice manager.

I think bleeding in-between periods mean you need to see a doctor, you might need a referral for a scan and blood tests, it us quite important to be seen quickly for unexplained bleeding.

I miss being able to make appointments. We have to turn up before 8, queue, doors open at 8:15, receptionists take names and what dr you want to see, surgery starts at 9.

Today we didn't get seen until gone 10. (Turns out little person has a chest infection so definitely needed seeing today) yet there were parents in there with hyperactive children chatting about how their little darlings throats were a bit red but because they were off on holiday tomorrow they thought they should get them seen just in case, but they didn't want to see one Dr because he never gives them prescriptions when they ask for them...

Our GP has the majority of appointments bookable in advance (emergencies are dealt with over the phone to weed out unncessesary ones - true emergencies then have an afternoon appt with a nurse or GP) - however it still takes 2 weeks to get a routine appointment which is terrible!

I saw my doctor about a month ago and she arranged for me to go for an ultra scan; she told me to ring up to make another appointment when I started my next month's prescription - that was on Monday. When I rang I was told I couldn't book an appointment until May (and I go away at the end of April for two weeks). The other alternative was to ring up on certain days at the beginning of April when, if I was lucky, I would be able to get an appointment with my doctor on that day. They will only make appointments up to a month in advance, however. Oh and if it's an emergency they have 50 appointments which are released on the day. I find the whole system completely confusing. Have to say, though, that the doctor rang me on Tuesday night to give me the results of the ultra sound scan - have to have my gall bladder removed.

although I think I need to see a dr relatively quickly, I dont know if it warrants an emergency? Not intending to complain until after I've been seen

All you can do today is call and ask if the Dr will see you as an emergency for it. Hope you get seen.

If it was a real emergency you would be at A nd E not the surgery! Ring up and ask for the soonest appt if they can't give you one than make an emergency one for tomorrow.

Sounds like my surgery. It's a nightmare trying to get an appointment. They have started building another health centre to take some of the load off. At least, I assume that's what it is. I tried 5 days in a row before I got an appointment last time I needed it

Well DD is asleep upstairs, will have to do school run later and Drs is half an hour drive away - so best leaving it til tomorrow now. And you see, this is what'll happen. The bleeding will stop and I'll just think "oh well - one of those things, I'm sure everything is OK - no need for Dr"

Valium - good point. What exactly constitutes an "emergency" in GP land??

That's not great is it.

I think it's a combination of factors - increasing numbers of patients registered (list sizes aren't capped) but no increase in staff.

Increasing numbers of elderly and chronically sick people.

Increasing numbers of people with not an ounce of common sense. We had a man phone up for an emergency appointment recently who had woken with a sore throat. Not ill, just a sore throat. He hadn't even got out of bed when he rang, he just woke up and picked up the phone. Never mind having a drink of water, taking some paracetamol, seeing how it went...

Different practices need different systems for managing appointments depending on their practice population and room/doctor/nurse availability. But if they are persistently poor regarding appointment availability it's worth writing to the practice manager, or joining the Patient Participation Group if they have one.

Phone back and ask if you can have a phonecall, our surgery does this and then the doctor can decide of you need to be seen or not and will give you an emergency appointment if needs be.

Some days at our surgery you can get an appointment for that morning if you get through an hour after the line opened, some days you have no hope. It all depends how many doctors are doing surgeries that day, and how many are off on training or running clinics or whatever.