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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Doctors appts as rare as hen's teeth (as my granny would say!)

72 replies

punicorn · 01/02/2018 17:36

AIBU? I just want a Drs appt for my DS. Rang surgery this afternoon for a fairly non-urgent appt and was given a date THREE WEEKS AWAY!! Took it but after I had put the phone down I thought to myself 'No Way'! Rang back and was given an 'out of hours' appt at another surgery 3 miles away at 7.30pm one evening next week. Checked with DH to make sure he could be home in time to be here for DD6 but he reminded me he was at a conference that day and couldn't guarantee being back. Quite apart from all that I would quite like an appt at my local surgery 10 mins down the road and surely out of hours appts are for the seriously ill/urgent cases. What happened to the days when you rang up, got an appointment for the next day or so, saw the Dr and got on with your life? Aggggh......

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 01/02/2018 17:46

We have to ring at 10am for routine appointments that will be same week, 1 week or 2 weeks away. Getting through at 10am is the worst Bit! Dh rang on Tuesday and his appointment is tomorrow. You phone at 8am for urgent same day appointments

ADuckNamedSplash · 01/02/2018 17:47

YANBU. I phoned on Tuesday to make an appointment and was told that they only take bookings for a two week period and every slot was booked - advised to phone again first thing the next morning in the hope of getting a slot when the following day opened up. Of course, everyone else was doing the same thing the next morning, so the phone lines were rammed.

Worlds0kayestmum · 01/02/2018 17:49

That's frustrating. We have a child sit and wait service at our local clinic. You turn up between 4 & 4.30 any day of the week and get seen. I think it's good, I've never had to wait more than 20 minutes to be seen

InteriorLulu · 01/02/2018 17:55

Appointments are 3 weeks away for routine. For urgent, same-day appointments you have to phone, get a triage call back from a GP and then be given an appointment if they deem it necessary.

There is no middle ground.

I have a lump on (I suspect) my thyroid, I don't think it's urgent since it came up quickly and is quite noticeable, but I'd have liked to have been seen sooner than three weeks away.

It seems all GP surgeries in my area are the same.

Original poster

punicorn · 01/02/2018 17:55

DH has reminded me there is a walk in clinic most mornings for 'urgent' appts and we should just go there. Apparently if you have a prebooked appt you have to wait for that clinic to finish in any case before you get seen! Looks like we'll be doing that one morning next week!

OP posts:

PumpkinPie2016 · 01/02/2018 18:01

Same where I am - weeks for a non urgent appointment and trying to get an urgent one is a nightmare.

God forbid you work in a job where you can't easily take time off and need an app around working hours!

CantChoose · 01/02/2018 18:13

I'm a GP and we had four appointments still available by lunchtime and there's one that didn't get filled at all. We had 7 patients not show up. (3 doctors).
Our next pre bookable appt is one on 7th Feb. Then nothing until we have 8 appointments available on Saturday 10th feb. For all the 'what about the workers' rhetoric, our Saturday clinics are rarely fully booked. Plenty of appts the following week.
It varies and we are extremely lucky that we have the right number of doctors, that's really rare at the moment.

Original poster

punicorn · 01/02/2018 18:27

CantChoose - can I register at your surgery please . Our surgery don't have Saturday appointments (or any weekday ones as far as I can gather!)

OP posts:

Worlds0kayestmum · 01/02/2018 19:34

I also rang this morning and said I was worried about my 9 month old's cough and wasn't able to get to the 4pm sit and wait and was offered a 10am appointment. It sounds like it differs hugely in different areas

Tistheseason17 · 01/02/2018 19:39

My practice has appointments tomorrow and every day next week. As @CantChoose says it's down to having the right number of GPs which we do. But, we are lucky

Cavelady67 · 01/02/2018 19:45

I can always get an appointment, routine or urgent, and with the GP of my choice. I know it's not the same everywhere but I don't think the surgery I go to can be the exception rather than the rule.

I needed a non urgent appointment which could have waited for a few weeks, I went online on Tuesday evening and got one for this Friday, my preferred day, at a time that suited me, with the doctor I wanted to see.

FuzzyCustard · 01/02/2018 19:59

DH phoned for an appointment on Monday at 10am and was seen by one of the usual practice Drs at 4.30 the same day. That's great service. It's a 3 week wait if you want a named Dr, but all the ones we've seen at our practice have been equally good. (And there is a long standing vacancy for a permanent GP, so they're busy)

SilverySurfer · 01/02/2018 20:06

I don't usually have a long wait for an appointment but preferred my old doctor in London where if you went to the surgery you would effectively join the end of the queue and sit and wait but would always get to see the doctor.

Floralnomad · 01/02/2018 20:11

Our GPs are excellent , they have a walk in surgery every weekday morning so if you turn up between 9-10:30 you are guaranteed to be seen and you can pick which Dr you want , although obviously that means sometimes you have a longer wait . Pre booked appts are released every monday for 2 weeks time . You can also book online if you have registered for the service .

megletthesecond · 01/02/2018 20:13

Our GP's non urgent appointments are two weeks away. I did get an urgent apt last week on the day, but I had to stand my ground a bit.

CPtart · 01/02/2018 20:15

I'm a practice nurse. I haven't a free appointment for nearly three weeks. My next double appointment is the middle of March, and my colleagues are similar. I was in early today, had twenty minutes for lunch and then late off.
Horrible at the moment.

BexConnor · 01/02/2018 20:20

Our surgery is terrible for this. Pre-bookable appointments are one month (!) in advance. If you need to see a Dr urgently, you're told to phone at 8am, but getting through at 8am is nigh on impossible - the line is always engaged and it's not uncommon to spend twenty minutes trying to connect. Only to get through finally at 8:20/8:25 and be told all the appointments for the day are gone!!!

It's enough to make you cry. Being ill is stressful enough without having a fight to see a Dr. No fault of anyone actually working at the surgery, it's just that the service is terribly over stretched in this area.

Hazel210 · 01/02/2018 20:27

I work at a gp Surgery, appointments are a nightmare everywhere! Routine appts for the same week are pretty much unheard of these days. I would suggest you ask for a GP call back as they are often more readily available for the same day and more suitable for ‘none urgent’ matters. Then the GP can decide whether they want to see you sooner or not.
Good luck :)

Twinkie1 · 01/02/2018 20:27

We can ring at 8am for a morning appointment or 2pm for afternoon/evening appointment. Receptionists are truly lovely and I've more than once shot down there with DS whilst in the throws of asthma attack and he's gone straight in.

No service at all at weekends and our OOH is in another town.

We only have one Dr but he does seem to live there and never leave. It's near impossible to get an appointment for the practice nurses though.

I suppose depends on area and demographics too.

MeadowHay · 01/02/2018 20:31

My old surgery was great. You could get a routine appointment in about a week, usually with whichever doctor you wanted, and same-day access appointments if you called up at 8.30 in the morning, and these weren't reserved for 'urgent' issues, anyone could take them - there were a few times when you couldn't get through and then find them all gone, but if it was genuinely urgent they would always squeeze you in at some point. A couple of times DH called on my behalf in the afternoons when I was in MH crisis and they always insisted I come straight in and be seen by a GP.

New surgery it's about a 3 week wait for a routine appt and then there'll only be a few odd appointments at inconvenient times if you work 9-5 like me, with a few doctors. I've seen lots of different doctors here, most of them have been great but I do prefer the continuity of seeing the same GP, in my old practice I had a long-standing and good relationship with a particular GP which was very important for my mental health. I'm much better now and only been in regular contact with the doctors at my new surgery due to pregnancy complications but it does provoke my anxiety having to see a new doctor virtually every time I go in. This practice is huge as well because I've already seen so many and yet my next appt in two weeks time is with someone I've still not seen! I think 3 week wait for a non-urgent appt is long and difficult. At the moment I want to go about a chronic pain problem so it's not urgent, but the pain is very difficult to deal with atm and the thought of another 2 weeks before I even have a consultation is emotionally difficult as I'm really struggling with the pain.

StrawberryLemonade · 01/02/2018 20:33

Simple answer really - not enough doctors and too much demand on the system. There’s no easy answer. Rising indemnity costs and fear of litigation is putting junior Doctors off general practice.

ParadiseCity · 01/02/2018 20:36

I called my GP today and they offered me a medically urgent appointment today or a non urgent appointment tomorrow. Brilliant choice. Unfortunately the surgery itself is a shit heap of a building with no regular GPs just a hit and miss selection of locums but because it's unpopular at least I can get seen. And most locums are ace and energetic and helpful.

CPtart · 01/02/2018 20:38

Some of our GP's are reducing their hours to relieve the stress. They've had a sum total of zero applicants for a new GP to make up the hours.

Didiplanthis · 01/02/2018 20:44

Our local practice currently has 2 unfilled vacancies. Nice practice in a nice area. No one wants to be a GP and those that do dont want a permanent job with all the additional stuff that goes with it. Demand and expectation is out of control and the litigation culture is terrifying. Well over half the practices in a 10 mile radius have unfilled vacancies.

Glassofredandapackofcrisps · 01/02/2018 21:51

Awful. I'm exceptionally lucky. Large semi rural practice north of England.phone for appointment and get one that morning plus the surgery has a policy that all under 5s be seen the same day. I've brought my daughter out of nursery and been worried about her at 3.30 and been in the pharmacy with a prescription by 4.15 it's that good.

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