to think that the reason a lot of people dont go to the doctor when they should

[GnomeDePlume]

is because they cannot get an appointment time which is remotely suitable for someone who goes to work.

If I want to see a doctor then I can either make an appointment for the middle of April (earliest time when bookings can be made) or take pot luck on the day. The pot luck which is available today is 3.30pm, no alternatives available. This would be great someone wanted to take a DC to the doctor outside of school hours. Sadly it is totally useless to me as I would have to leave work at 2.45. My employer is strict, I cant take an afternoon off to go to the doctor.

So would it be so very difficult for the surgery to work out that only offering appointments on the day at fixed times or in over a fortnight's time is not serving a large proportion of the patients well?

We don't have a personal GP anymore, that relationship went officially a few yers ago. We are now patients of a practice.

I think it depends where you live and also what social class you belong to. ( hate to use that word!)

It is mainly the middle classes that are more mobile as they move for education and jobs. A large proportion of the population feel they are too far away from their families if they live more than 5 miles away!

Unfortunately, it is the more deprived and culturally diverse populations that have more need as they have more chronic diseases though a combination of poverty and lifestyle.

We could prioritise Middle England within the health service ( and I have no doubt that is the intention of the current government) but we are then at risk of not adequately supporting the most vulnerable in our society.

Is that the type of society that people wish to live in? America is a good example of this and I would not feel happy working there.

Being unable to book an appointment was the GP's answer to Tony Blair. They were pissed off that the government demanded people should be able to see their GP within 48 hours - so some of them resorted to a system that in many areas makes it well-nigh impossible to see anyone unless you are free to keep re-dialling for half an hour between 8.30 and 9. Or impossible to see anyone unless you actually queue up outside the surgery door.

Actually this is unnecessary and bad for both practices and patients. I do wish GPs would actually read the Primary Care Foundation report - they worked with practices on access to urgent care and demonstrated that setting up an appointments system that reflects the pattern of demand for care makes life a hell of a lot easier for everyone, GP, nurse, receptionist and, most importantly, patient.