Getting 'emergency' GP appts

[FiloPony]

I'm starting to seriously wonder what my GP practice thinks they are for as they are so hard to get, this time:

Can I have an appt today pls?
What's the EMERGENCY?
Well it's urgent, dd baby has obvious tonsillitis and fever, I can't wait 1-2 weeks
How do you know?
White throat, fever....
White mouth, that's thrush
No.... it's not her tongue. It's her tonsils
Well... humph... come 5min before closing

Then stroppy GP starts, what's the EMERGENCY??? And patronises will a check and slightly snide comments until realising she needs Antibiotics. It was seriously painful to sit through and if she was my first I wouldn't have the balls to persist.

Last time other dd was very unwell and had to go on to hospital and time before that was related to multiple febrile seizures..: I've never time wasted there!

So what on earth are these appts for? When does the receptionist not try and back you down? Surely for an emergency you'd go to A&E?

I've ending up in out of hours twice for children after refusal to see (one resulting in a preventable hospital admission).

Mine's amazing, I've never not got a same day appointment

I spent several years working as a GPs Receptionist.

For us, the definition of "emergency" in the context of emergency appointments, was something that cannot reasonably wait until the next routine appointment.

So not necessarily something A&E worthy, but something that needs urgent attention. As a child with tonsillitis would.

I would imagine the Receptionist & GP using the word "emergency" when talking to you, was just to make you well aware that it was an emergency appointment you were having, rather than being fitted in somewhere as a favour (which lots of patients think Receptionists are always capable of doing - I wish!)

That said, some Receptionists do definitely take the interrogation too far. It IS normal to be expected to ask for a brief idea of the problem and/or symptoms, which are then passed on to the Dr. However, no Receptionist is ever supposed to be diagnosing anyone based on symptoms given! If the patient tells you they need an emergency appointment, then you deal with it as an emergency appointment. It is up to the qualified medical staff (i.e. GP or Nurse) to have a word if they feel someone has misused the system.

I wish GP,s would stop using the term emergency appointment. They are same day appointments. If it was an emergency then you should be at A and E

You get some awful practices. I had a receptionist ring me to tell me "my urine results showed I had an infection & I needed antibiotics"...only I hadn't submitted a urine sample. To which she repeatedly argued yes I had...No I'd had a biopsy taken "well I can't see those results". Well A) you shouldn't be giving results out, you aren't qualified & B) I'm even more disturbed that you are giving me the wrong results!. I wrote a letter of complaint to the practice manager.

They are NOT qualified to decide if you need seeing or not, ask to speak to a nurse or nurse practitioner who IS qualified to assist you.

I also asked for an emergency appointment- having been bitten by a dog really badly. Got a tonne of attitude from the receptionist, to which I pointed out I was more qualified than her (medical degree, not a GP) I would be coming down during "sit & wait" time to be seen. The stroppy mare had written "cut" as the reason for the appointment, GP a bit huffy-puffy, took my dressing off & his jaw hit the floor.

Stand your ground, I understand they are overworked & often abused but they DO NOT have the right to decide who is seen or not. If someone needs a bollocking for time wasting then the nurse or doctor can give it.

Ours are brilliant and I don't have any nonsense with any of them. I phone rarely, but nearly always get a same day appt if I want one, or book for a couple of days time or always within 7 days, if that's what I want.

Reading MN it is clear that I am in the 1% minority!!

Until recently, our surgery was on the day appointments only which was great overall but a pain in other respects (i.e. while I was working I'd have to call from work, the appointments were often within the next hour and it took me an hour to get back. Staying at home wasn't an option as I started work at 7am and you weren't guaranteed to get an appointment that day). It would have been handy to be able to book in advance for non urgent appointments.

Now they've changed it so it's emergencies only on the day, and you can book appointments up to two weeks in advance. I thought I'd prefer it this way, but I don't. Under the new system you have to tell the receptionist what the problem is but I don't mind that as I always have (gps at our surgery have specialist areas and you see a gp who specialises in your problem).

Last year, I had a hernia and was on the waiting list for surgery. I felt a change and was convinced to get it checked by my husband. I didn't think it was urgent and told the receptionist I didn't think it was when I called. Thank goodness it was still the same day only appointment system back then as the gp sent me straight to hospital where I was kept in, put on the emergency list for surgery and operated on within a day! My hernia had become incarcerated but I'd been in no pain which was one of the warning signs I'd read about on google, so I didn't think it was anything urgent (I do have a high pain threshold though). I'm the type of person who only goes to a gp when I really have to. I don't trust my own judgement any more!

I live in Ireland where it costs €50 for a GP appointment plus €55 for my migraine medication (8 pills). I get a 6 month prescription for my migraine pills so pay roughly €50 a month for the pills and €100 for two GP appts. a year, unless I'm seeing them for something else.
However, I can ring at 10am and be seen that day, no bother.

Luckily, I can afford to see the doc but many struggle to afford regular GP appts. on a very low income. You probably get fewer time wasters overall but I can imagine it will put if people who really ought to be seen although many people make use of the pharmacists over here for basic medical advice. I assume they refer to the GP as required and they seem to provide a very good service, in my limited experience.

Our GP is the same, rang yesterday to try and get an appointment and was asked if it was an "emergency". Well, no it wasn't really, but I still needed to be seen! So I was given the number for our GP extended service which basically gives you the option to see any GP at any practice in your area that can fit you in. I saw a GP at 7:15 last night (at a practice 20 mins away in a car, so it's a good job I drive....) and was told I have an infection and need antibiotics. So although it wasn't an emergency, it was also something that needed sorting as it wouldn't just clear up on its own! I know GP practices have a very difficult job to do, but the receptionists always seem keen to fob you off and not give you an appointment

Our surgery has a system where all urgent calls goes on a list, and the dr will ring you back. If they need to see you, they will call you in that day, or the next if less urgent, or they will resolve the issue over the phone. Routine appointments can be booked with the receptionist, usually two weeks, in advance,,for non-urgent appointments. Eg follow up appointments etc. The system seems to work.

...And the GP is all a lot of people with mental health problems have. It's easier not to see anyone than to feel like a waste of time.

Our GP id diabolical for adult appointments but they move hell and high water to see Under-18's on the same day. My 11 and 6 year old have never not got a same-day appointment if they've needed one.

DS2 is asthmatic so anything like tonsillitis (which we all have a history of) and he's seen within a couple of hours. DS1 has ASD and our GP knows him very well and will shuffle things around for him knowing it's better he's seen when the surgery is more quiet and calm than during the morning rush. That level of care is faultless, so we put up with the crappy adult side of things.

Why is the receptionist asking for symptoms? My response to that would be "Are you a doctor?" And I can't believe she tried diagnosing your DD with thrush

I wouldn't discuss symptoms with a receptionist, luckily this isn't something my doctors do.
We are normally ok for appointments as they do an on the day system but in winter they can be like gold dust, they was all gone last week by 8:35 when I get though to them they only open at 8:30

At my GPs you have to queue up outside the practice from about 7.30 to get an appointment same day.

I've always got a same day appointment for ds when I have asked for one. if it is possible one of us goes to the doctors to make the appointment as they recognise us and then don't question the need.
If I am ringing and they question it, I hold the phone so they can hear ds shrieking and hitting himself and they don't question any further.

I've only had difficult getting a same-day telephone consultation once at my practice when I had run out of antidepressants and the receptionist was sooo rude and snotty to DH who called on my behalf and was trying to fob him off with things like "why didn't she sort them sooner?" etc. This is the first time in 5 yrs of being antidepressants I forgot to order them in time but it is getting increasingly difficult to manage it on top of my mental health problems because the wait for routine appointments is steadily increasing. if I want to see my prefered GP at the practice, who only works part-time and is clearly very sought after, it is usually 3 weeks wait. She will only prescribe me two months of the meds at a time so I have to now try and organise booking the appointment for the next lot 3-4 weeks before I need them, which surely anyone can see how when you're busy as well as being mentally ill it can be sometimes difficult to organise. However the (very few) other times that I've actually needed to be seen on the day (I think both related to MH crisis) I was squeezed in sympathetically and it wasn't even early in the morning when DH called them, so they are very good with that. Although when you actually get there they are pretty useless when I've had to see other doctors who basically told me they couldn't do anything and to go to A&E if I was about to try and attempt suicide again. But that's not their fault really it's just lack of other services I guess.

I really REALLY disagree with receptionists being allowed to decide if someone should be seen, but I have realised it is a fight I cannot win by fighting it out with a receptionist who is just doing as she is told. Instead I am polite and friendly with the receptionist and explain the reasons why my child does in fact need to be seen that day and why it would be irresponsible of me to not insist upon it. It works.

^Well it's urgent, dd baby has obvious tonsillitis and fever, I can't wait 1-2 weeks
How do you know?
White throat, fever....
White mouth, that's thrush
No.... it's not her tongue. It's her tonsils
Well... humph... come 5min before closing^

Eek! That's quite scary. Our GPs has amalgamated and depending on where the staff are now you have to go to one of three/four surgeries.

DS (7) was very unwell in October. Literally up all night and it hurt him to even swallow. The only person we could get in to see was a hardened nurse who's known as the battleaxe. His coated tongue was the thing that sealed it for her that it was tonsillitis. On top of the glands being up and everything.

Hope DD is better soon OP.

I'm surprised 'suspicious moles' constitute same-day, but it's clear they do. I had one go odd very quickly about a fortnight ago & wanted to book a nurse or a phone appointment for a private referral (I try to use private as I get taxed on it anyway, and also it frees an NHS slot for someone else). The receptionist insisted I see a DR straight away. There was no-one else at the surgery though which was quite unusual.... usually it's full of people with colds.

I think it varies between practices and as with all things some are better than others.

GP friend's practice are trialling a "Dr First" triage system for most of the same day appointments. Patients can book routine appts 4 weeks ahead (sometimes longer if on GP instructions), including use of on-line booking. The receptionists do ask for reason for appt for triage- not because they want to be nosey or are trying to give a medical diagnosis (that is inappropriate), but because that can help the GP to identify which patients need to be called back most urgently and which can wait a little longer. Otherwise it's just where you are in the queue, regardless of need.

They introduced this system because the demand for on the day appointments was getting unmanageable and after an audit/analysis of what was going on they found that those using the on the day appointment very often did not need one and was a significant part of thatw problem- this system is to try and ensure that patients who NEED to be seen urgently are, and those who just WANT to be seen urgently are seen in a clinically appropriate timeframe.

I understand the frustration of posters who feel they are being questioned even though they use their GP services correctly, but unfortunately many people don't.

I usually end up going for a telephone appointment a lot as they always have same day of those available. I'm neutropenic and if I have an infection I need antibiotics quickly, the doctors are pretty good at prescribing them for me now

I am also really surprised about the suspicious moles!

I mean I do get that they need seeing pretty smartish but would love to know why they considered worthy of a same day appointment when so many other things are not?

I suspect it's not that suspicious moles are more urgent, but rather that it's easy to determine they need a doctor to see the patient in the short term. The GP won't ever be able to deal with them over the phone.

Problems that were not on the previous poster's list weren't kicked into the long grass, they were put on a list to be triaged and called back by a GP.

Like a poster above my other dd has autism, also epilepsy and a tendency to both get ill suddenly or just not cope with illness suddenly. I wish they'd somehow flag this kind of thing so receptionists see. My GP is a 20 min walk, a long long way with a distressed autistic child and a baby but they have been horrible at times with no helping both with appts and other things. One notable day her prescription was accidentally printed without the repeat bit, refused to listen to this on the phone and said they only did prescriptions if I'd come in walked a good 45min in total to utter the same sentence to the same person "xxx prescription needs a repeat", in there about 10secs as it was empty. It was then done wrong and I had to repeat the walk! They were so rude you'd have thought I'd made their mistake. Dd broke the buggy that day she was so upset

I hate my GP surgery. The receptionists are patronising arseholes. When they ask me what the issue is ( even when it's a non emergency appointment) I ask them why they need to know. They then reply it's so that they can write it down for the dr to see.

I always tell them that I don't want to discuss my medical needs / condition with them and refuse to as well. They can get very stroppy and very rude.

I have made numerous complaints over the years about them such as their refusal to give me an appointment for a GP, instead trying to advise me themselves. No, fuck off.

They really are so full of self importance and are utter jobsworths. Saying that, that's only based on my experience obviously.

Mine were wonderful until a few years ago, one rude stroppy woman joined, older ones went and new ones followed her lead