To think that over three weeks is too long to wait for a doctor's appointment?

[MrsKlugscheisser]

I rang up today to make an appointment and told no appointments until 22 July. They could offer a phone consultation with a GP, but that was all. I don't think what is wrong with me can be diagnosed over the phone. Fortunately I got a cancellation and an appointment next week, but is it no wonder that people end up going to A & E?

[Sirzy]

Phone consultations make perfect sense to me gives a chance to discuss things and allow someone with the knowledge to decide if anything is needed.

As for the if you need to see a consultant - surely if you are under a consultant and something changes you just phone their secretary and let them sort it? Not sure why you would go back via your Gp for someone you are already under the care of

[DistortedPerceptions]

Same here. Spent 30 minutes redialling to get through yesterday morning after trying to get an appointment last week only to be told there are none this week either or next week! I have a post op complication that I'm concerned about and needs checking asap. If I can't get one today I'm going to minor injuries.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

I agree its lack of doctors

Our village has about 15k people

7 part time doctors and one full time. One is retiring next month and i know that they tried retiring a year or so back but couldn't...one assumes due to lack of cover

[Flowerpower321]

Phone consultations are no good for those of us who work though! Our surgery started triaging everyone over the phone which meant I could never get an appointment because I was at work. Also didn't help when the problem was deafness. They now do some phone calls, some pre booked, some on the day and some online. Easiest way to be seen is to make a nurse minor illness appointment and they call in the duty doctor if they can't deal with it.

[HipsterHunter]

It's worth just paying for a GP appointment at a private practice - phone up, choose time, right next to work, pay your £40. Done.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

£90 at the local spire hospital for a private GP

I did pay for one the other day when my shoulder was causing me isssues

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

And even if people can afford the £40 they probably couldn't afford the further investigations like blood tests if they were necessary

[Notanothernamechangeaddict]

For a rash pop along to your local pharmacy, no appointment necessary no waiting, pharmacist can tell if it's eczema/fungal/bacterial and recommend a treatment you can buy or refer you to the doctor if it is more serious, think pharmacy first

[Ilovecoleslaw]

If the rash isn't just an example and you do have one that you want to get checked out, go to your local pharmacy. They're very knowledgeable and can advise you on creams or whether you should see a dr.

[Brittbugs80]

My Drs is in a building on the top floor with a separate Dr's surgery on the second floor. The second floor surgery has 8 Dr's, 4 working each day. My surgery has 1 Dr working each day. The surgery below is impossible to get appointments and my friend has to phone twice a day. My surgery I've never had a wait longer than two days.

Our phonelines open at 830, however the surgery opens at 815 and often people get to there for when it opens to make an appointment. We also have online pre booked appointments that you can make but if you pre book then cancel, you lose the privilege of being able to do it online.

Could you go down when surgery opens to make an appointment that way?

[claritytobeclear]

I got one the same afternoon, after ringing to see about a suspected breast cancer (it was). I gave all the information to the receptionist though, doctor rang back and was keen to see me ASAP, then referred. So to get an important appointment you have to communicate that urgency IMO.

[londonrach]

I know. Im waiting 3 months for a dentist appt and my filling fell out...another month to go.... ive given up on gps now. Last time went to a&e walk in with dd (9 months)

[bigbluebus]

First port of call for a rash that looks like eczema etc should be a pharmacist not a GP appointment. As others have said they will recommend if OTC lotions and potions will do or if you need a GP to prescribe - in which case a telephone appointment will probably do as you can say "XX Pharmacist says it is YY condition and needs ZZ cream/antibiotics etc.

I went to the Pharmacist when I thought I had Shingles. Phrmacist confirmed it probably was and that as I had had the rash for 2 days I needed to see a GP that day for antivirals. I called at the GP suregery with that information and was given an appointment for 40 mins later - in a practice where you normally wait a week.

However, I did seek advice at a Pharmacy yesterday about a sprain - which is clearly a sprain and not a break - and was advised to get it X -rayed. I shall be ignoring that advice!

[HundredMilesAnHour]

Having to phone at 8.30am to try to get an appointment that day or the next day is a nightmare if you're working. My surgery recently switched back to doing this as there were too many people not turning up for appointments when they were booked 1-2 weeks in advance. I must admit that I'm quite p*ssed off (and I've told the surgery this) that we've gone back to the old 8.30am phone frenzy. Apart from the nightmare trying to get through on the phone at the same time as 1,000 other people are calling, it makes it impossible with work. I start work at 7.30-8am so I'm already at work when I call at 8.30am. If by some miracle I get through on the phone and the surgery says to come in at 9.20am, I can't get there from work in time. If I agree with my boss that I can start late so I can ring the surgery from home at 8.30am, then I get through and they say "sorry, appointments are all full, ring again tomorrow morning", then I'm in trouble with work as I can't keep having time off and not even getting an appointment.

I'm so lucky that I can book a next day appointment online (usually), even if I don't get a choice of GP. Most of the locals where I live don't use computers/go online (it's one of the poorest areas in the UK, with a high proportion of ethnic minorities) so that's why there are still online appts available. Makes me feel guilty but it's also a blessed relief!

[harderandharder2breathe]

Take the phone appointment, if the doctor needs to see you they'll then give you a physical appointment

[Dionysuss]

DHs surgery has a three week wait to see a GP. There is a different one across town that has a walk in service at weekends that he will use. You don't need to be registered, turn up, take a ticket and wait. He hasn't used his GP in years.
At mine you can phone from 8, wait on hold for up to an hour, and they will arrange for a dr to phone back. This works well. In the past I've had prescriptions written and left for me to collect without even seeing the doctor.

[Daffodils07]

Here its phone on the day, there are no appointments you can pre book.
So if you dont phone up at 8:30 (even then you could be on the phone for 40 mins and still not get an appointment) then you wont be getting an appointment and have to try the next day.
Had to take my 1 year old to walk in last week for an infected foot, 5 hours we had to wait as only had one doctor for the whole of a large town.
There are just not enough doctors.

[alpacasandwich]

Patients DNA (do not attend) hundreds of appointments per month. There aren't enough GPs and the ones we do have are being worked into the ground.

If you don't like it, vote labour.

[Redredredrose]

There are two GP surgeries near enough for my family to register with them, and both run a triage systems. You call up and the duty doctor calls you back, usually within 15 minutes, then you nearly always get an appointment that day. This is fine for me because I have a job which is flexible enough to allow me to work from home and nip out for a doctor's appointment, but would be much less use if you worked in eg Tesco's - because you can't just book an appointment for a chronic condition for a day when you're not working, and even if it's something which isn't bad enough to stop you working, you'd still have to take a day off to call them and get a randomly-timed triage appointment.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

Weirdly i was not very well at lunchtime

Range the triage nurse and got an emergency appointment for 4pm today

[goose1964]

Our practice is usually a week to 10 days but I've got a 3 week wait to find out what the problem found on my scan was. However when I had a telephone appointment and the doctor wanted to see me he got an urgent appointment for the next day

[SweetieBaby]

My surgery has just changed appointment system. You can only phone to book an appointment - routine or emergency - before 10.30am. I work and am not allowed to use my phone at work. I can't spend ages on the phone trying to book - 4 week waiting time here - or wait for call back if it's a routine appointment. I have a chronic health condition and am on medication that requires regular monitoring. Walk in centre/OOH will only see emergencies, not routine cases. What do I do?

If people DNA then they should be charged or made to jump through these bureaucratic hoops as punishment. Why should we all suffer? I have never missed an appointment so why am I punished when these measures may have no effect on some regular sinners?

[MrsKlugscheisser]

If so many people DNA, why not let people come in at 0830, and if people don't turn up, they just take their appointment?

My local large GP surgery has no doctors who work full time. None of the doctors there work more than two days a week. They have 10 consulting rooms - they all used to be used, now it's no more than 5, and one of those is the nurse.

The rash has been seen by multiple doctors, none of whom seem to know what it is. I've been prescribed myriad creams - fungal, steroid, antibiotic, have had fungal and antibiotic tablets and nothing has worked. I've asked numerous times to be referred to a dermatologist or at very least for the rash to be swabbed, but it's always "Oh let's try something else..." Five years on, the rash is still there, intermittently.

[YoungGirlGrowingOld]

We have always got an appointment same day/next day, but our previous surgery was godawful and we used to wait weeks. I think the OP INBU but I also think questions should be asked as to why some surgeries are so much more efficient than others as clearly bastard Tories no money not enough doctors is not the only explanation.

[kali110]

That's a short wait for my gp and my previous one