About pissed off playing roulette with GP appointment servicce on a monday

[lolaflores]

doing the dial and redial on the phone. its like a test of mental stamina. get through after several goes of dial redial. get appointment if lucky. get up there. wait for possibly hour before being seen. takes most of the day for an 8 minute consultation
have been in fucking horrible pain all weekend. no to GP OH service as this is ongoing. so frustrated and pissed off at the palaver to see the gp. try to avoid as much as possible but when I have to its like jumping through hoops. anyone got a good gp service where they are?

Nope, exactly the same here. In fact I've had to accept that I don't have access to a GP at all, that it's A and E or nothing. Every single time I've needed a doctor in the last few months I've rung at 8:30 again and again, and finally got through only to be told "no appointments left." They don't prebook for other days. At all. So that's it. I need to change surgeries but I haven't done it yet, and others have told me it's complicated. But I'll have to because as it stands if my little boy gets ill then he's screwed.

If it's ongoing can you book a regular slot in advance? Or are you specifically talking about walk in appointments? Monday will always be busiest!

Our practice are very good. Open at 8am and I've always been able to get a same day appointment when I've asked for one. YOu could write the practice manager a letter to express your feelings? It may be that they are trying to make improvements and complaints are helpful to give an impetus to that.

It's a pain in the arse but when more people want appointments than their are free slots then it's inevitable.

I think a triage system whereby you phone up and a dr/nurse phones you back and decides if you need to see them, just need a prescription leaving at reception or just wait a few more days and see how it goes is the best way to focus appointments where needed

YADNBU

Ours is rubbish too. Plus ours is not a local phone line rate -it is more expensive. Can be on hold for twenty minutes in a queue - only to get cut off.

On the plus side you can usually get an appointment with someone eventually, but it more often than not a nurse/nurse practitioner - which may then mean that you have to come back another day if it is an issue which they cannot deal with.

I miss my old GP practice - where i saw the same, naice lady doctor each time. This is a big health centre (the only surgery in our town) where you don't really get to pick and choose who you see. Le sigh.....

Hope you get sorted out soon!!

sirzy that sounds like a really good idea. And I shall write to the practise manager. The staff are really stressed too and trying to negotiate through them is a pain in itself. The practise is in a very busy location and what have you but trying to get to see a doctor feels like an awful mountain to climb. Does it have to be this way?

Ours has "open surgery" between 8.30-10 every mon-fri for urgent appointments or if you can't get a regular bookable appt for over a week. It's staffed by a nurse practitioner and one of the 3 GP's at our surgery. A system which should be rolled out everywhere!

my drs is similar with the ring at 8 and you just have to keep redialling, whenever they havent seen my ds i say well i'd like a call back from one of the drs and they do give me a call back with advice (usually to come to surgery) but my ds has something wrong that leaves him a bit more open to illness so not sure but lately can't fault my gp's apointment service

Must admit in the past I've just turned up at 8 with DS when he is ill. The receptionists have to see to the people standing there before they answer the phones.

wednesday is the next appointment. so will have to go to A&E me thinks. ffs

Did you tell them that you wanted to speak to someone if it wasnt possible to be seen before wednesday? And they still told you to go to A+E?

We have the same system as sirzy, they have a doctor available for telephone triage/appiontments from about 9am and if she thinks you need to come in she books the appointment for you there and then, admittedly I habe only eber called about my young babies but have always either been seen same day, or having discussed on the phone haven't needed to see them.

Lola, ask for an appointment with the nurse. At mine (who are actually very good in general) they tend to have more time, and if you need a prescription they just nip off and get the Dr to sign it!

I switched after a series of crap including a Dr who missed pneumonia resulting in my first ride in an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask. It's not hard at all, just go to the new one and fill in a form!

At my GPs usually if you say it can't wait, then a GP will call you back and if it is urgent they will fit you in, or leave a prescription if appropriate.

We have a ring in the morning system for that day's open surgery, and you can pre-book apointments for anytime but only by calling on a Friday afternoon. You used to be able to call up anytime and pre-book an appointment, but I think it was getting a bit too manic for the receptionist. Saying that, if they can't squeeze you in they will offer a call back by the GP. In all I'm pretty happy with it - it's not the most convenient system for me, but it's not that difficult, and they're obviously trying to do their best. Plus the receptionists are lovely; bad receptionists are horrible.

Yep my gp s is awesome they always give you a appointment the same day if you request it and if your child is Sick they always tell you to take them straight in emergency or not. Works well as if it's not urgent patients are prepared to wait a few days as they know if they need them they can just go and they will be seen. I'm a little in love with my fabulous, patient and reassuring gp

At ours you can also sign up to use their online system which means you can then book appointments and request repeat prescriptions online - no more telephone queuing systems!

You can also request a phone consultation which can be very useful (and if the doctor wants to see you after that they will often squeeze you in).

And we have a nurse practitioner who is very good too.

I live out in the middle of nowhere so had to change to the local country surgery, they could not have been more rubbish. Receptionists with no medical training telling me that I didn't need an appointment... I was pregnant, heart condition playing up, with chest infection. When I managed to make one for 3 days time the gp went nuts at me for not going sooner, I time him it was his receptionists fault. I had a lot more problems, thought stuff this, I'm not playing this game when the baby comes.
I wrote a letter detailing the problems I'd had to my old town gp surgery (had to move gp as new house was out of catchment area), alongside normal new patient form. The next day I was registered at that practice. Bloody brilliant. They do early opening at 7am for people that work, 3 days a week, and late opening until 8pm once a week.

It's not hard to change gp practices, find the one you want and ask to register there.

We have a mix - it used to be just the "phone on the day appointments" but now you can phone appointments up to a week in advance to. Sounds great but obviously they go quick. So I could phone up for an appointment tomorrow and all the appointments available may be gone but then have to phone at half 8 when they release more.

Ours is the same, call at eight, get through to a receptionist who seems pissed off that you are phoning at all. Explain WHY you need an appointment, get told all appointments are gone, phone again the next day!

This weekend we took DS to a walk in centre, it amazes me that you can see a doctor there with less hassle on a Sunday than during the week at the normal surgery.DS had a shockingly high temp, we were seen within 5 mins, by a wonderfully patient nurse, who also dispensed the antib's needed along with extra calpol as we were running low and there was no chemist open.

There seems to be a culture at our gps of being pissed off at the patients. I know it is because they are stressed. No one told me to go to A&E but its that or OH tonight. there does seem to be less hassle to see a doctor at the weekend. all i really need is painkiller so will see if they can do a call back. line still engaged.
There do seem to be some wonderful ideas on here for better management of patients needs. am seriously thinking about changing gp. everything in our part of the world does seem over stretched though to be fair.

This is what our GP was like where we used to live. Although when you got there our GP was excellent.

We've recently moved & have only been once although thus far I am impressed. I rang at 2 as I was concerned that DS1 had painful infection in his finger. Got a telephone consultation with GP at 4, who told me that yes he would probably need anti-b's & could I come at emergency clinic at 5pm? GP was great, prescription done & out within 10 mins.

I've resorted to turning up at the surgery at 8am and then waiting for one of the first appointments. By the time I get through on the phone (about 40 minutes of repeated dialling) the appointments have all gone.

So I turn up at 8am with a flask of coffee, cartons of OJ for the kids, brioche or cereal bars and fruit for breakfast. And we wait to see a GP.

yes i agree, its same here - my heart is in my throat esp if DD is ill.....constant redial etc and have been cut off then its too late.

What I tend to do now is see out of hours docs, I find it MUCH easier and calmer....so I wait if I can and do that.

YANBU. The NHS is good, but so many people experience problems with getting GP appointments, it obviously doesn't work well.

When I had pneumonia, I was on antibiotics issued by my GP which weren't working and getting sicker and sicker. Couldn't get an appointment but got an emergency one by pleading, unfortunately the doctor was too rushed and too busy taking phone calls during it to pay attention. Ended up collapsing the two days later and being taken to hospital by ambulance.

I appreciate there are probably a lot of hypochondriacs/timewasters who need to be filtered out, but all too often it seems like a matter of chance if you're seriously ill. Even the hospital told me to go straight to A&E if I felt that ill again.