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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

GP just told me why we are only allowed same day appointments!

94 replies

QuacksLikeADuck · 23/01/2015 11:16

OK, a caveat - if you see a Dr they can book appointments for you in the future. But if you phone reception, they will only ever offer you an appointment that day. It means the phone lines are jammed for the first hour, then all appointments have been taken by 9 am!

I was moaning to the doc about this and she said, "well I think the official line is that when you phone up, if they offer appointments beyond today, then people often forget to turn up"!

So as patients we are apparently too stupid to be able to manage the concept of an appointment beyond today. Why do some idiots who don't turn up have to ruin it for everyone else.

I think the best idea would be to offer appointments in the future, but have a one strike and you're out policy - so as soon as someone performs a no-show, a note is put on their file that they are only allowed same day appointments from then on! If I was feeling kind perhaps I might let them have a clean slate after 12 months .

OP posts:

Original poster

QuacksLikeADuck · 23/01/2015 11:17

Sorry forgot to add:

AIBU to think this is a stupid system!

OP posts:

Hoppinggreen · 23/01/2015 11:19

My GP told me it was because the NHS have targets on how many people can get a same day appointment so to make sure they hit those targets they make 80% of the appointments book that morning at 8 ones ( when it's impossible to get through as the phone is constantly engaged)
To be fair the amount f people who fail to turn up for GP appointments is generally stupidly high.

Ohfourfoxache · 23/01/2015 11:22

Yanbu but it's all bullshit anyway. Mostly it's because of targets, ie when you phone, how quickly can you get an appointment? There are so many pathetic targets in place across the system that poviders essentially have to introduce ridiculous policies to get round them and get the targets met.

Another example, the 4 hour A&E turnaround. They introduced short term assessment units so that they could discharge them from A&E. The end result is still the same, patients still have to wait for a certain amount of time, but they are in a different part of the hospital so the target is met.

NickiFury · 23/01/2015 11:24

My GP does this and I think it's a great system. I have never not been able to get an appointment when needed. Me or dc are ill now thanks, not in a week when you can fit us in.

Tinkerball · 23/01/2015 11:25

Our surgery has a similar system but you can either phone first thing for an appointment, phone for one the next day or up to a week I think, all the appointments are divided up so they are divided equally. So I might phone on Monday afternoon for one for Tuesday and not get it if all the prebooked ones are full and then phone again on Tuesday morning and get one. It generally works ok here.

timbrrr · 23/01/2015 11:26

I think it's a good system too. Either you need to see the doctor or your don't.

The alternative is you call up, needing to see the doctor and get given an appointment for a week on Tuesday by which time you're either better or dead.

CyclopsBee · 23/01/2015 11:27

At our surgery, if you phone at 8am you can get an appointment if you're lucky for that morning,
But if you want to see the Dr in the afternoon, you have to phone up at 1 o'clock,
'Tis madness!
Oh and my GP only works Mon,Wed,Fri

SavoyCabbage · 23/01/2015 11:28

Where I live you have to pay $120 to see a doctor so everyone turns up.

BeautyQueenFromMars · 23/01/2015 11:31

timbrr What you say is true if you have a one-off illness. But if you've got an on-going issue you're only slightly concerned about, so want to see a doctor next week when you're able to take time off, it's not such a good system.

Original poster

QuacksLikeADuck · 23/01/2015 11:32

Not all GP visits are for immediate urgent illnesses. Sometimes it's for chronic conditions, in which case an appointment for tomorrow or next week might be perfect.

It would be nice to have the option of future appointments for non urgent conditions, and surely it would relieve the pressure of everyone ringing like mad at 8am on the dot?

OP posts:

Tanith · 23/01/2015 11:33

Same day appointments are useless for patients who need monitoring. Not everyone is acutely ill and the system fails those who need to see the doctor, but are not urgently ill.

Original poster

QuacksLikeADuck · 23/01/2015 11:34

X-post Beauty

OP posts:

mousmous · 23/01/2015 11:35

yanbu
you can't book apps any more at my gp's.
you call and will be called back by gp or triage nurse after about 10 hours they will then decide if they need to see you and book you in.

no wonder a&e and walk ins are on their knees!

bruffin · 23/01/2015 11:35

Our surgery you can book non urgent appointments but otherwise the doctor will ring you back that day and then either ask you to come in or leave a prescription to be picked up etc or you can book a telephone appointment online.
It works really well. DH rang last week and gp rang him back, then asked him to come in for an examination.

BertieBotts · 23/01/2015 11:37

They should have separate systems for urgent/time sensitive and non urgent/routine appointments. Mine was always happy to book me in at the desk for a follow up but it's getting that first appointment which is tricky.

Thumbwitch · 23/01/2015 11:38

The biggest problem with this is for return visits - when the GP says "make an appt for 2 weeks time so we can assess how things are going/give you your results/whatever" - and you try to do that, but you can't unless you remember to phone up at 8am on the day two weeks later! Receptionists just refuse to make appts for 2 weeks' time, despite that being what the doctor has said to do!

TeenAndTween · 23/01/2015 11:38

Crazy.

They need to keep a proportion of slots free for the urgent-ill.

But they also need the check-up, monitoring, concerning but not urgent appointments to be bookable in advance.

Theoretician · 23/01/2015 11:39

This thread has just reminded me that it would be highly desirable to be able to book appointments online. It is apparently possible, but only after going through a long-winded registration process. So every time I've (re)discovered the possibility, after failing to be able to make an appointment using the phone, I've abandoned the idea of doing so because by the time I'd registered, it would be to late. I definitely don't need Dr today, so I'm off to register.

....

No I'm not. Apparently to register for online services, you have to physically visit the GP surgery. What genius thought that one up?

SirChenjin · 23/01/2015 11:40

I think this is a stupid system too. It's good to have the option of same day appointments for urgent "I'm v ill now and need to see a doctor today" type of illnesses, but useless for the less serious "this probably needs to be looked at" type things that can wait a week or so until you've booked the time off work.

Thumbwitch · 23/01/2015 11:40

Ha, xpost with Bertie - my sister's GP surgery don't book follow up appts, as per my post.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 23/01/2015 11:40

Also think it's a good system. If you're ill, you need to see a dr that day (and will rearrange other things to do so). If you're not ill and need something checking out/a chat/something routine then you can book one in a couple of weeks. Preferable to being desperate to see a dr and they don't have any same day appts so everyone ends up in A&E.

fluffling · 23/01/2015 11:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Baddz · 23/01/2015 11:44

In our surgery...same system...countless hours of appointments are lost each month.
It makes me really angry.
How hard it is it phone and cancel? There is even a dedicated cancellation line!
They even give you a little sticker print out of your appt time and date for you to put in your diary/notebook.

ouryve · 23/01/2015 11:47

Not all surgeries have that ridiculous system, fortunately. We can book up to a month ahead and some appointments are available to book online.

Redling · 23/01/2015 11:48

My GP is good, I almost always want a same day appt and I know to call at 8am for that. But when I wanted to discuss a back issue post pregnancy they made me one for the next week, which was find as it was an ongoing issue. And loads of people don't turn up for appointments days later. But I've not heard of a GP surgery that literally does no prebooked appointments at all, so maybe I'm lucky where I am.

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