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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect a doctors appointment before June 7th?

24 replies

Mrsrobertduvall · 25/05/2012 18:24

Because that's the soonest one.
Ok, I'm not in agony, but I have a couple of things I'd like to discuss with the dr.
I was told if I phone at 8.30 on the day they release some appointments...but that's not convenient. You can't get through!

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 25/05/2012 18:26

Could you see the nurse? I find that's a quick way to see the doctor.

Original poster

Mrsrobertduvall · 25/05/2012 18:28

Nothing available. i was very calm and said, oh ok.
The receptionists are probably pissed off with ranting OAPS.

OP posts:

Groovee · 25/05/2012 18:30

I took 6 weeks to get an appointment with my own GP after he asked me to return in 6 weeks. It used to be easy to get an appointment but that's not the case now. If I need same day then it's not normally a problem but booking my GP seems to get longer and longer.

valiumredhead · 25/05/2012 18:30

Just ring and say it's an emergency then if you can't wait. It's never a really emergency anyway when they ask you that as you'd be at A and E

LackaDAISYcal · 25/05/2012 18:34

Can you ask for a phone consultation. Ours offer a phone consultation, so if there are no appts left, you get to talk to the doc, and if they need to see you, they generally can squeeze you in somewhere. I use this service lots, as generally the on the day appts are all gone by the time I can phone.

But tbh, a 2 week wait for a non urgent appointment isn't bad at all.

misslinnet · 25/05/2012 18:37

Is that the soonest appointment with any doctor at the practice or with your particular doctor?

I sometimes had waits like that if I wanted to see my GP, but if I was happy to see any old GP it was usually faster.

My GP surgery also have emergency clinics, where you turn up and wait to see a doctor. First come first served, so you can be waiting for 5 minutes or 3 hours depending on how busy they are. I had to specifically ask them if they did anything like that before the receptionist would tell me about it though.

Original poster

Mrsrobertduvall · 25/05/2012 18:51

I don't have a particular dr...just see anyone.
I have a skin complaint and a problem with arm...not life threatening or necessitating a trip to casualty...but I would like to book within a wweek!

OP posts:

TidyDancer · 25/05/2012 18:53

I may well be in the minority here, but if it's nothing major and it's just something you want to discuss (ie, not a pressing health concern), then I don't think that's too bad a wait really. Maybe it's more urgent for you than that, but I suppose it just seems like you'd go to the effort of being able to call at 8:30 if you were quite desperately wanting to see someone.

In an ideal world, we'd all be able to see a doctor when we wanted to, but some are quite overworked as it is.

DizzyKipper · 25/05/2012 18:56

I normally ask for a telephone consultation, the doctor then phones me back later in the day (at least by early afternoon) to discuss the problem. I find this a lot quicker and easier than even bothering to try to get an appointment - I've gotten used to a 3-4 week wait minimum.

karatekimmi · 25/05/2012 19:00

Our midwife is the same due date today, induction discussed and arranged for June 8th, next available mw appointment - 12th June!!

RevoltingPeasant · 25/05/2012 19:05

Kimmi that's terrible!

tbh people are saying 'Oooh that's not so bad' - but I actually think that's a sign of how much we have got used to the NHS not responding to patients' needs. I don't think that is the fault of drs and nurses but it is not great.

I mean, a 'non-urgent' problem could be a breast lump or an untreated UTI. I actually think people shouldn't have to wait 14 days - half a month!! - to get those things sorted out.

RevoltingPeasant · 25/05/2012 19:07

The last time I had surgery my GP was supposed to see me 10 days after op to see if I was fit to go back to work. Next appointment? 4 weeks after op.

....So I went back to work without anyone checking if I was fit. I was dying, or bleeding, or having convulsions, but I really don't think that's great.

RevoltingPeasant · 25/05/2012 19:08

*wasn't - damnit.

DublinMammy · 25/05/2012 19:08

That's pretty crap but then again it is free - I can usually see my GP by using the walk-in clinic in the mornings but I have to pay 50 euros for the pleasure.....

Krumbum · 25/05/2012 19:15

Don't know if you do but I've found so many people will only see their doctor, the same one every time. If you say you will see any doc then it could be much sooner.

RevoltingPeasant · 25/05/2012 19:24

OP has already said she will see any doc, though. She has a skin complaint so might be sore/ itchy/ in discomfort.

I think it's a bit rubbish, and also, it isn't free.

landofsoapandglory · 25/05/2012 19:25

It's not that bad for a non~urgent problem, especially when you factor in the 2 bank holidays. It is,also, half term and starting to be the time of year when most people take their annual leave, so maybe there are doctors on holiday hence the wait .

Naoko · 25/05/2012 19:31

These threads always make me feel so fortunate to have my GP. I rang this morning at 8.05 and I was in this afternoon. That was a long delay for my surgery - usually if you phone at 8 they say 'can you be here in half an hour' and I have to decline as it takes me longer to get there...

I appreciate my GP probably doesn't have the most complex of patient demographics, but honestly, there must be ways a surgery can be run so that you don't have to wait 2 weeks for an appointment even if it's a large, busy practice with lots of elderly/very sick/otherwise timeconsuming patients.

DublinMammy · 25/05/2012 19:36

Revolting is it not free to see a doctor on the NHS?

SoozyWoozy · 25/05/2012 19:40

There are two main problems with GPs - the size of the population they serve and the age of the population.

Housing development is going up like fury, and yet there are no extra GPs / NHS services to cope with the rise in the volume of the population. Our local GPs cannot usually offer a routine appointment within 2 weeks, and yet they are still planning to add another 700 - 100 'family homes' in the immediate locality. There is no way the current GP services, or DGHs will cope.

Our growing elderly population puts huge pressure on GP services, as does the number of diagnosed chronic health care problems - asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, COPD to name but a few.

I work for the Out Of Hours doctors service and we take a large volume of calls from people who do not need to be seen urgently out of hours, but they are fed up of trying to get seen at their own surgery, so try and get seen by us instead.

Asking to see a Practice Nurse is a good idea, especially for something like a skin complaint. They can often diagnose and treat / prescribe or will ask a GP to prescribe on their behalf.

AmberLeaf · 25/05/2012 19:44

Well its free at point of use anyway.

I think if you need to see a doctor you will go to the convenience of hanging on the phone at 8:30am TBH.

Otherwise you can wait.

harassedandherbug · 25/05/2012 19:47

I phoned for an appointment today too, and next one available is 11th June! Then I'll have to wait for a referral to physio....

I'm in pain now, by then I'll be in agony. So I've made an appointment that I can't really afford (I'm on maternity leave and dh finds out next week if he's being made redundant) with a chiropractor.

AmberLeaf · 25/05/2012 19:53

Ive never had a problem getting an appt, I think if your are really in need [emergency/in a lot of pain] then you need to be more assertive.

If you need to be seen and convey this, they will fit you in.

Groovee · 25/05/2012 20:01

harassed can you not self refer to physio?

If I have an emergency I can be seen the same day i.e my back was in spasm and I needed stronger pain relief. But when it relates to my fibromyalgia and a drug review then it can take ages to get my own GP. I've seen him about it since diagnosis and prefer to see someone who understands it.

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