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

[QuacksLikeADuck]

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 .

Costs £45 a time to visit the GP here. So yeah, we only go when we need to and always get an appt for that day.

of course they have targets to hit the costs have to be justified we are talking about huge amounts of money a target has to be put in place to make sure funding is spent the best way possible

but the wasted money from the disregard of so many towards the nhs is something that has to be challenged more as others suffer because of this (i know this is not the only area where money is lost)

Our surgery has a stupid system too although things have improved a bit since they brought in a sit and wait clinic to see a nurse.

Ringing though is a nightmare. There is a call queuing system but when you finally get through you can only book to see a GP either that day or 2 days ahead. Longest I've been on hold listening to very crappy Greensleeves was an hour - and that was to cancel an appointment.

Some of the specialist clinics are a little better but they still won't book more than 3 weeks in advance as "we don't know when they will be working yet". WTF?

Oh dear, you can't beat a good "GP appointment booking hell" thread!

I should add, I value and respect all NHS HCP, and the wonderful job they do. It's just the management and organisation that could do with a kick up the arse.

OUr practise is fab. Turn up and wait daily from 8.30 - 11.30 which is generally only bad on a Monday and then appointments in the afternoon which are booked in advance.

YANBU - my old surgery was the same and the calling first thing is a silly system.

At our v small (2 gp) practice, you can book in ahead without a problem.

I would also de-register anyone who missed more than one appointment unless due to sudden hospitalisation or bereavement. Anyone who makes an appointment has a phone by definition, and can cancel it.

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment behind this and similar remarks, it's worth remembering that GPs are the main first point of contact for people with mental ill-health. Failing to show for an appointment may be for a reason that would preclude ringing to cancel (eg panic attack or other delirium, feelings of worthlessness, etc) and patients should absolutely not be barred from care for failing to attend.

The fact that some practices can organise a sane system shows that the others could too.

DD's dentist and orthodontist both have a way to help avoid forgotten bookings - which for them are generally months ahead of course - they send an automated text message reminder.

Ours has lots of same day emergency appointments and when i have phones up with baby have been offered appointments within the hour.

Routine ones are about a week to two weeks. I like this system.

I too think non attenders should be fined, it was over 100 appointments in in one month a few years ago. That's just taking the piss.

DD's dentist and orthodontist both have a way to help avoid forgotten bookings - which for them are generally months ahead of course - they send an automated text message reminder.

True, so does mine. Booking six months ahead, for a date you don't have on your calendar yet, does mean you're more likely to cock up. The text reminder has saved me a couple of times when I could have sworn I'd made an appointment a week later than I really had.

€60 to see the GP. You don't get any no shows here.
€100 for A and E so it's no advantage to go there instead.
And medical card holders have a drop in a wait clinic so can't book and not turn up.
NHS might have its disadvantages but at least it's free at pos!

my drs is really fab,

8:30 for emergency morning ones if they all go you can ring at 11 for the appointments let go around midday and the you can ring at 2:30 for an emergency late afternoon evening appointment.

you can book a normal drs appointment with about 2 weeks wait for early appointments (half 8 sort of ones) or evening ones.

If you ring in the morning and there isn't any appointments or its something that can be dealt with over the phone the Dr will ring and either get you in that morning or write prescription/sick note ect for you to pick up at lunch time. I've never not been helped and the one time there really was no appointments and my dd had awful tonsillitis the Dr told me to come in at the end of the day and he stayed late to exam her and write prescription.

Ours is another excellent system - 8am for same-day appointments, 11am onwards or online for future appointment (all you need to register is your dob).

Previous surgery was turn up by 10am and you'll be seen that morning (though that did involve waiting for a couple of hours sometimes) and phone after 11am for routine appointments.

I did check the appointment system before I moved practices tho, as my other option for new practice involved the stupid 'phone at 8.30, same-day appointments only unless a doctor has seen you already'. Luckily I live in an area where I have a choice - it'd drive me mad to use up an urgent appointment slot for something which is ongoing / routine.

Another caveat for the missed appointments - if they are sent out by post then it would be nice if they got sent out in enough time to arrive before the appointment. It's really annoying when you get your appointment through, look at it and discover it was three days ago... Because with the best will in the world, however much you would have liked to have gone, it's not going to be possible to go back in time to do so!

My old surgery had this for a while. It drove me potty. If I needed to see the Dr but wasn't ill enough to be off work, I would have to bring my laptop and files home the day before so I could work from home if I did manage to get an appointment. I would then have be constantly dialling the phone for an average of 45 mins to get through, usually to be told all the appointments had gone. At that point, I would be late for work anyway when I went in. I would then need to do it all again the next day on the off chance I could get an appointment then. When you really did need to see a Dr that day, most of the appointments would get taken for non urgent stuff. Thankfully they changed the booking system. I suspect those who think it is a brilliant system are fortunate enough to not have to work.

If the paying for GP visits ever came into force here I think it would be horrendous. But I'm not against the idea of fining non showers (unless they have extremely good reasons) who didn't bother to cancel.

No, I work Eurochick, I would call while driving to work (handsfree of course!) if I got an early apt I would just turn around and go back.

On Mondays, the madly busy day, our GP has a triage service so you ring and speak to the practice nurse who decides how urgent things are and gives appointments accordingly.

Our surgery doesn't do that. We're lucky to get a same day appointment if we actually need one!

I do lose appts. It's a particular aspect of the very subtle and strange memory problems I have as I can know beyond doubt that I have an appt on, say Friday 23rd Jan at 5.40, but I find it next to impossible to translate that into 'today'.

My old GP had this system and it was ludicrous. I called every morning for 2 weeks once to get an appointment. Same story every morning when I managed to get through - all full call again tomorrow. I gave up in the end and joined another practice.

Ours is $15 to see the GP if you turn up to your appointment, but if you don't turn up it's more like $150.

Works like magic.

We've had the same day only system for a few years now. Stupid system as it says on ticker in waiting room that almost 100 appointments are missed each month. Obv this system isn't working :/

The problem is that there is no one system that suits everyone.

Young healthy people who only visit the GP when they have an acute illness are happy to have a book-on-the-day system. They're likely to be off work anyway as they're ill, so no worries about planning their day.

People with chronic conditions that require regular review prefer to be able to book in advance.

Young working people like evening appointments.

Older retired people like daytime appointments so they don't hit rush hour traffic or have to get the bus in the dark.

Some people like to physically see the Dr, others prefer to have telephone consultations when possible.

Where I work we offer a mixture of pre-bookable (some on-line) and on-the-day appointments, and will obviously always see anyone who has an urgent problem whether there are any free slots or not. We also offer telephone appointments. But people still complain. As I say, no system suits everyone.

And we have a pretty standard number of no-shows (or DNAs as they're known), regardless of when they booked. We also send text reminders.

Our surgery keeps changing the system. It used to be - turn up before 10.00 and wait and you will be seen. Then they switched to come in and put your name down and be given an approximate appointment time to come back - you weren't allowed to ring in on this system (not great of you'd got a sick child as it meant wrestling them into outdoor clothes and the car seat twice). The system then changed to ring up on the morning and they would allocate a certain number of appointments - when they're gone they're gone. Now it has switched to only absolute emergencies can be booked for the same day, any thing else gets next day or day after. Repeat appointments can only be booked up to a month ahead - so If GP says come back in 3 months you have to make a diary note to ring in 2 months and book the appointment.

Those of you who are complaining about having to go in to the surgery to register for on-line appointment booking, whilst I appreciate that is a nuisance if you want to book an appointment now, why not just get registered now for the future. The system our surgery uses is done through Patient.co.uk website. You get a personally printed letter with a code number on from the GP surgery computer and use those details to register on line. You can then order repeat prescriptions and book appointments from the comfort of your own sofa. Simples.

If you have a same day only system, then how does that work with someone like me, who needs to have a blood test then see the GP five days later?

My GP allows booking, but also someone has always seen me or my children the same if necessary ( we even got to see a GP within 1 hour after school one day, when it was considered an emergency).