To be surprised by how difficult it is to get (non-urgent) medical attention?

[VelvetSpoon]

I phoned my GP surgery today to make an appointment.

I am not ill, it is not life threatening. However, it is something that ideally I would prefer to arrange sooner rather than later.

The next available appointment is on 10 June.

The surgery used to operate open appointments on certain mornings (between 8.30-9.30 I think) where you could turn up and wait to be seen. This has now been replaced by an arrangement where you call in on the morning, and there are 10 appointments available (so if you're caller 11, hard luck). However, the next one of those is not til next Tues and of course absolutely no guarantee I'll even get seen then.

I asked if there were any other options - yes, apparently I can attend a local clinic. Great, I thought. Except it then transpires the local clinics only see the under 25s

I was left feeling distinctly unimpressed, and still no closer to actually seeing a Dr! Oh, and to add insult to injury, the only appt they had on the 10th is at 1pm, too early to get to if I take an afternoon off, and too late to get to work in time if I have the morning off. Surely I should not have to take an entire day off for a (pretty routine) Dr's appointment, and have to wait 2 bloody weeks for it?!!

I don't think charging for appointments or fines for wasting the GPS time are necessarily a good idea. Even forgetting that it flies in the face of the aims of the NHS I think it would discourage the "don't want to be a nuisance seven further. I think people may actually die. I also don't think it would have a significant impact on time wasters as they are generally adamant they need medical attention. There's a joke that says a person's need for care is inversely proportional to their demands for it.

^It's a joke, I've never seen it used to make decisions about whether a person needs treatment or not.

retro people already do without prescription items. I remember years ago when they cost less than £5 people asking which of their items they could most do without. They didn't have enough money to shell out in advance for a prepayment. I'd imagine it's worse now.

Macdoodle to be honest I do think they could show a little consideration for others commitments.
On Tuesday I requested at 930 a quick chat with the midwife as the issue I had was minor but worrying me after a week of leaving it to sort itself out. I had to call back at 430 as I had heard nothing and was told I was probably on phone or out when she tried - neither correct. I had been home all day andnot on phone at all.

Then was offered a triage call with doctor yesterday instead of an appointment and asked if it could be after 3pm as I was running revision sessions till then. They called at 230.

Its a bit like someone trying to call you in the middle of surgery - not professional to take a call.

I dont expect after hours appointments but some ability to be able to minimise the impact on my work would be appreciated.

With regard to other professions then most of the time I fit them into my holidays or arrange them for late afternoon when I can get home. Or my dentist and hairdresser are local to my work so easier not an option with Doctor.

ISeen the texts come from the computer system which the surgery use for appts etc. We need patient consent before they receive texts though.

X post again. It may well have decreased DNA rates but a good 60% of DNAs have had a text reminder.

As an aside we have private pt's at our surgery who we will always book straight in no questions asked. £50 for the pleasure though. We also always book under 2s in straight away.

reading these posts and going by own experience .. if its routine and you can plan in advance then its usually not a big drama
If its your little one or life threatening its not usually a big drama
its people like me this week.. I have come down with tonsilitis (I am prone to it) .. can I get a prescription without an appt.. no .. can I get a same day appt .. no.. I can phone at 8am and play 48 hour access roulette game.
When you have something thats not life threatening but you feel genuinely ill there should be a quicker way to get help.

Part of my problem is the new surgery I have moved to in booking three appointments the way the reception staff have treated me has been appaling. The doctors have been fine.

Also before I called the midwife I had googled my symptons to no sucess plus spoken to a friend who was a midwife who recommended seeing my own but I tried to minimise my impact by asking for a chat on the phone.

frasers - That is interesting. My appointments are all routine, so booked in advance, usually by the GP during my actual appointment, or are emergency on the day ones. I always get seen on the day, even if they have to squeeze me in when there are no appointments. My GP also offers on the day telephone appointments which is really useful if I know that because of my health condition, I need a particular medicine prescribed. This can be done in a quick 3 minute phone conversation instead.

But I never go to the GP just because I am feeling ill in a non serious way. Are they not the kind of things that can usually be dealt with by pharmacists? So I have went to the phramacist when my ear hurt a bit. She examined it and said it would get better on her own, but I could buy ear drops to soothe it.

Hit and miss at my surgery. Getting an emergency appointment isn't usually a problem. Ordinary appointments seem to either be three weeks' time or choice of five times the following day.

Becca - I think that sounds pretty good. Why do you think that is a problem? Surely if you are ill, getting seen the next day is pretty good. And if it can wait, then three weeks would be fine.

calmet the pharmacist is great but if you need an anti biotic then you need a gp to prescribe it and usually they wont without seeing you for obvious reasons. To be honest cases like mine are probably a very small part of any gps week but across the nhs there must be a fair number i just think its something that should be dealt with better

Yes I understand that. I just tend to pop by the pharmacist first, and if they say I need to see the GP I say that to the receptionist. Most minor things just clear up themselves anyway.

I called today for an appointment and was shocked to get one for this afternoon.

Usually it is 3-4 days which is pretty good I guess although at my old surgery you were guaranteed a same day appointment and if they couldn't get you in you were allowed a sit and wait one if it was something that needed to be seen the same day.

Unfortunately my GP's just rush you, they are always over 30 minutes late and you are lucky if you get five minutes with them, let alone 10.

Ah yes, that reminds me.

Pharmacist will not recommend any treatment due to the medication I am on. Before that, pharmacist wouldnt recommend any treatment as I was breastfeeding. So for both of these, I'd have to see a gp.

That is wierd. My pharmacist gets out the BNP and cross checks for any reactions or side effects. In fact they tend to be better than the GP's at picking up any potential issues with different medications.

I think it just depends on what area you're in really. People always sad drs receptionists are horrible, but I am lovely

I've just spent 40mins on the phone in order to cancel an appointment. DH had an appointment this afternoon but FIL is seriously ill in hospital 3 hours away from us. DH had hoped to be back today but called last night to say he wouldn't make it and could I cancel his appointment . I deliberately didn't call at 8am as I know it takes forever to get through. I phoned at 9.15 and was in a queue, didn't get off the phone until 10.00. If I had been working today I wouldn't have had the time and it would have gone down as a missed appointment. I booked it 3 weeks ago as DH wanted to see his usual doctor about an ongoing health issue, I expect it will be at least another 3 weeks till he can get another appointment.

I'm quite saddened that people are scathing of nurse practitioners. My rheumatology nurse specialist (yes I know this isn't primary care) is fantastic; she is a phone call away and her urgent appts are within a few days rather than within 6 weeks with the consultant.

I am in Ireland and people complain about the health service here but my God its much better than the NHS imo. I rang today about getting an appt for ds2 tomorrow and while they are busy she was able to fit me in at 9am tomorrow. In fact she asked me could I come in today instead as tomorrow is very busy due to Bank holiday weekend here but I am in work so cant. He is not urgent, its not an emergency (but he is ill iykwim) but tbh they dont even ask. I know the down side is you have to pay but believe me I would rather pay than wait 10 days or whatever!! Anyway about half the country has a GP card (we do) or a medical card so don't pay for GP visits anyway.

And the system is an ass. I have a chronic medical condition, nothing terribly serious but it needs a tablet once a day. A very cheap tablet with a very long shelf life. Two things get my goat.

1. Because of my condition (which could be dealt with by one or two prescriptions per year) I get free prescriptions for any medicine I might need, not just for my medical condition. I don't need this - our annual tax bill exceeds six figures. I do accept it though, because it's about the only thing I have ever got from the system and it makes up for the times I have paid for physio, and for smears (because my practice nurse can't seem to take them without me called back and the receptionists have been know to yell across the surgery "is it a smear you are here for - very respectful that.

2. If the NHS is so stretched I really don't understand why someone like me with a well managed condition and who is responsible, can only be prescribed two months of medication at a time. I need it every day and will do for the rest of my life. Surely this is a complete waste of both clinical and administrative time - it's certainly a complete waste of mine especially when the prescriptions are sent to the wrong chemist, not sent to the chemist, or simply forgotten entirely When I was first diagnosed 20+ years ago the Queen's physician told me I should only ever need one blood test a year, one prescription and one trip to the doctor once it was all under control. But oh no, the NHS has to waste time mucking about with this rather than on people who actually need to be seen because they ill.

Darkesteyes Wed 28-May-14 23:13:56
Forward planning is not always possible In 2003 I went on Depo provera which has to be administered sometime during the first 3 days of your period. And you don't always know when its going to start.

I went on to Depo in 2000. I had the injection and made a follow up apt for 11 weeks afterwards as I left, every time. I didn't need to wait for a period, in fact I didn't have periods at all. I wonder why the advice was different?

People don't want to self medicate or pay for over the counter stuff if they can get a little piece of green paper "for free" - just because they don't pay means they don't stop to think that we (the GP surgery) does.

Excuse me but as my husband is high risk with breathing problems and ischemic heart disease we both are eligible for flu jabs. DH had his last one done at the surgery but I had mine done at Boots. This was the winter just gone. I did it for quickness as it was the run up to Xmas and i realised that a lot of elderly ppl might have needed the appointment. Im getting a bit fed up of the theme that seems to be running through this thread that we all seem to be malingers after a freebie. It feels like the medical version of benefit bashing.

And for the record i think our NHS is great and i cant fault the surgery or the hospital for the way they have been with DH They have been great.

Agree with that nearthewindmall! If i could just get two months meds at a time, that'd half the admin.

And agree darkesteyes. As if we with health problems dont have enough shit to deal with, without being branded as hypochondriacs for seeing a gp