To think not having any pre bookable dr's appointments is very inconvenient?

[SweetElizaRose]

Apparently my GP is changing so you have to phone on the day you want the appointment and can no longer pre book even for routine type stuff like medication reviews.
Why? If you are working this will be very difficult to manage because you won't be able to book or arrange any time off. I don't understand why they are doing this?

The way I work around it is getting a telephone consultation (though still annoying because they don't give a time; they just call when they are free - understandable obviously) and then if it's something that they want me to come in for, they directly book it there and then over the phone. I love my GP surgery - it's not a perfect system, but they are fantastic.

The trouble is the phone calls don't work because they expect you to be available at their convenience within a four hour window. They have zero cognizance that one might be at work and paid to do that, which involves meetings and calls, etc, and it is not possible to clear down a diary at short notice. No understanding that the patient might have responsibilities to fulfil too. My surgery will only call twice and then you go back I to the queue. In the real world people get sacked for not fulfilling the terms of their contracts. The NHS doesn't seem to understand that, nor the fact that it's better to support people to work because for as long as they are working, they are funding the NHS. It isn't rocket science.

I'm sure most managers wouldn't mind people stepping away from their desk to take a call from their GP. After all you are at work instead of sitting in a doctors surgery so this has to be the lesser of two evils as far as an employers concerned? The NHS are over stretched and over worked and that is not their fault either. If they are in with a patient or on another call, and miss the specific time they are supposed to call you, would that not annoy you even more. Kudos to all doctors, nurses and other health professionals who work in a very challenging environment with long hours and not a lot of thanks. Stepping out to take a short phone call isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things and we have had the 'call in the morning' system for years and it hasn't really impacted my life in any great way

There are a lot of night workers who work long hours with not a lot of thanks and then have to try and get some sleep while other people are making all sorts of noise in the mornings. Now they also have to stay awake or set an alarm to wake up after very little sleep so that they can ring a surgery at 8am.

At my practice you can book appointments online and a relative routinely books about 3 appointments and then nearer the time cancels the ones she doesn't want....

One of the biggest issues at my practice is no shows - there is always a sign up showing the number for the previous month and it is always several hundred. While I don't think there should be a charge for appointments there should be a penalty for not turning up.

Helena I do appreciate your point but surely night works have this issue with most things as not many services are available through the night, so I'm not sure why GPs should be thought of differently

Julius I think that's fair, you are charged when you don't show up to the dentist so why not the doctor

Agent the problem is that not all jobs involve sitting motionless at a desk waiting for a phone call. If I am at work then I might be in meetings, assisting a colleague or on the phone to a client. Or I might be driving back to the office or to a client - typically with a colleague in the car. The reality of many people's working life is that it may not be possible to take a call at any time within a 4 hour window.

We hear a lot about wasting GP's time but I get pretty fed up with my time being wasted by jumping through so many ridiculous hoops just for the temerity of needing occasional medical attention. I have lived overseas for many years and this only seems to happen in the UK.

I agree with that Julius. But I was once a "no-show" because for two days I could not get through to cancel the appointment. But I did write to explain and got a snotty letter back.

Pineapple I wouldn't mind I I was one of my staff bit I am the manager and if I'm I a meeting with clients, actually, no I can't have my mobile on and excuse myself.

What would you expect my DH to do "I'm sorry your honour, I know I'm cross examining a prosecution witness, but my GP's on the phone with my blood results and refuses to post them.". Doesn't wash really does it. Not exactly professional, not exactly appropriate.

Young they are not wasting your time, they are trying to fit in as many people as they can and keep waiting times down, there has to be a little give. In a meeting (phone on vibrate and step out) in the car (hands free or pull over) down a cave with no reception (maybe tell your doctor when exactly you will be available) they will try and assist. I personally don't get the big deal

Yes Agent but those other services dont require you to sit up for ages after little sleep waiting to get through on a phone call because it can take ages to get through.

Beau if you are completely unavailable, then tell your doctor when you are available. They will do their best to call you then.

Helena "can you let the doctor know I'm just off the nightshift and I need to get to bed, can you ask them to call me before Whatever time or after whatever time they are not unreasonable people and will do what they can

The problem is though AgentPineapple is that I feel I do a little too much giving in the equation.

The example re my DH is hypothetical because he has given up and now has a private GP. He pays twice now . The fact is though that the NHS stopped being accessible for him - even reasonably so.

Agent you have to be able to get through in the first place. Last week it took 192 calls for a friend of mine to get through to our surgery.. This took nearly two hours.

If she was a night worker thats 2 hours sleep lost simply trying to get through.

Beau but do you agree that as much as you or DH could be completely unavailable, so could the doctor? They can hardly tell a orient to leave in the middle of an appointment because it's time to call another patient, if I were that patient I wouldn't be too happy either! It's a total lose lose situation

I have done that Agent and reception have told me that the doctor is very busy and isn't obliged to call at the patient's convenience. The doctor will call twice and that's it. I've missed the second call trying to return the first before now.

Agent sorry but they are wasting my time! A telephone appointment for something I know needs attention in person is an inefficient use of the GP's time. If I can't get to see the GP until after I have been "telephone triaged" it's just adding further delay for me and wasting GP time that could be more effectively deployed elsewhere.

I hate being infantilised in this way by the NHS. In the country where I currently work I can self-refer direct to specialists and usually get a same day appointment. It's free at point of delivery but health insurance is mandatory (and it costs less per month than a Sky subscription!) Those who can't afford the premia are subsidized so nobody goes without. Blood tests, scans and X rays usually happen immediately after appointments which saves a huge amount of admin (and another layer of cost). Some of the NHS problems are financial, but others are just down to systemically poor organization and administration.

Helena if that is true, then your friend should complain because that is unacceptable. But I have never experienced anything like that and have had several doctors surgeries over the years and if I have disliked something about them (for instance my last surgeries prescribed 3 times the dose of medicine for my five year old by accident!) I have left and moved to another surgery

Yes I do agree with that Agent but if I tell the reception is I'll be unavailable from 2.30 to 4, because like the doctor I have someone with me, I do expect that request to be respected but if it's in their four hour window they refuse.

If your practice is near Epsom, do pm me and let me know which it is because it sounds perfect and I'll come and register with you first thing on Monday

Complaining doesn't make any difference whatsoever, in my experience. At best, they will make sympathetic noises. At worst, there are people who have been hoofed off the GP's list and told to go elsewhere.

Young that sounds like private medical care which is better funded and staffed than the NHS. Beau I would complain about that too

Beau I'm in Scotland so it might be a bit of a trip for you!

Why agent? Because it's not shit? Is that the best we can hope for?

Most if not all other countries deliver healthcare privately. Self-evidently, having a service delivered by the state does not make it "good". There are better ways to ensure equality of access.

No Young it sounds like that because you pay a monthly subscription!