... to ask what the system at your GP practice is for appointments?

[nomorespaghetti]

I've seen a few thread on here along the lines for "should I make an emergency or routine GP appointment for this", and it made me wonder what the system is for getting GP appointments where others live.

My GP surgery has a fantastic system. Between 8 & 9:30 they have a telephone triage system, where you call up and leave a message with a receptionist or voicemail asking for a call back. A GP or nurse practitioner (presumably one is assigned each day to deal with the phone calls) phones you back and you can discuss the problem. Outcomes are that you're invited in for an appointment that day, or you're dealt with on the phone (a prescription issued/referral made), or you're politely told to call back if problem persists, but they don't need to see you.

Me and my family have had same day appointments for things like suspected infections (ear, chest, uti, etc), acute stress, suspected sprains (turned out to be broken ).

We've had prescriptions issued for things like eczema. When I found out I was pregnant I was referred to the maternity hospital after a phone consultation. It's great not having to actually go in when it's something straightforward.

I think this system must keep a fair amount of people out of the surgery, freeing up doctors time for more urgent appointments, but allowing everyone to speak with a healthcare professional. If you miss the triage hours they will generally arrange a call back if possible.

Routine appointments take several weeks, for general things like smear tests, vaccinations, etc.

I think this is a brilliant system. So, being nosey, what's it like where you are?

Ours is great.
You can ring that morning or even afternoon and usually get an appointment for that day. Or you can book an appointment in advance.
When I phoned up and was describing dds illness, the receptionist said 'you can either come here in 45 mins or go to xxx surgery (15 mins away by car) in 15 mins'
We went to our normal one and it turned out dd had Scarlett fever, we were in and out pretty quickly, avoiding everyone else, they even sat us out of the way when we walked in.

I’m happy with my GP system.

Either phone at 8am for same day appt.

If new problem there is a walk in service from 8am until 11.30 am.

Online appointments for specific doctor or extended opening hour appts.

I love the system with my GP. In a morning she has a walk-in set up. No appointments you just wait your turn.
In an afternoon it's appointment only.

It works really well. Seems to find a good balance between meeting the emergency need and allowing you to plan an appointment in advance.

Three ways of getting an appointment.

You can book online if you want one within a week or so but not same day. You choose the GP and time slot that suits you.

Alternatively you can call and book through a receptionist; there are usually appointments available for the next few days. If you need one that day you can also usually get one - I’ve never had to argue with a receptionist for it, just said that I needed to be seen that day (or more usually, my child did).

It’s a great system. However - I’m not in the UK. I pay $45 per appointment, plus extras if equipment is used (eg disposable speculum for smear test is $40). Children are free up to 13. I wonder if people had to pay whether the GP system would be used more sensibly.

Our gp opens from 8 and if you can through u can usually get an appt on the day either at the surgery or at the Miami clinic which is minor injuries. Also book routine appointments online and same with repeat prescriptions online.

Mine is call in the morning for an emergency appointment or book a routine one usually about a week ahead. You can also ask for the nurse practitioner to call you the same day and she will get you in that day if she thinks is needed. The waits used to be horrendous but since they started sending text reminders the waits have gone down due to a lot less no shows. They do send a lot of reminders though

My gp surgery is fantastic, they have open surgery on a morning doors open from 8:30am as long as you arrive before 10:30am you are seen that morning. The later you turn up may mean you don't get a choice of gp. I've never waited more than an hour to be seen.
Afternoons are by appointment only which are realeased on a Thursday afternoon. However I have called on an afternoon and managed to get a same day emergency appointment for ds after a phone consult with a gp once for asthma and second time for scarlet fever.

I ring and ask for an appointment. I don't particularly tell the person picking up the phone what it's for, as I prefer to discuss that with the doctor.

As all appointments are either same day or next, it doesn't really matter if it's urgent or not. I can request one next week if I think it doesn't need immediate attention.

I have had bad experiences with interfering receptionists and physician assistant types, so I refuse to discuss my medical issues with anyone except a doctor.

Ours is shit!

You can, in theory, book online. However the appointments are released as and when (no rhyme or reason as far as I can tell) and loads of people found out this was the best way to book after it was posted on the local facebook group so now there's hardly ever any available.

You can phone up or book online and a doctor will ring back and decide if you need a same day appointment. If you book online you can choose a timeslot which is then totally ignored (seriously, I rang up when they were 30 minutes late and was told "oh yeah, that just puts you on the list, it's not the time they'll call")

You can ring to book a routine appointment and depending on the receptionist, current system, etc you might be able to book one or they might tell you that you have to ring on the way you need it and use the system above...where you might get an appointment or they might tell you it's routine so you can't have one that day. It changes all the time!

You can book for contraception with the nurse...or they might tell you that you can't and you need a doctor's appointment. In which case, you have to go on the list to be phoned by a doctor - if it's a nice doctor they do a prescription, if not you get told it's not an emergency (so then you have to try everyday until you get a nice doctor or run out of pills).

Oh and they now send your prescriptions to a local pharmacy...which takes 2 days...then you stand in the pharmacy for half an hour while they fill it after searching through hundreds of prescriptions for yours.

Phone up and be told that the GP hasn't released any appointment times for routine appointments but if it's urgent usually can be fitted in that day, but with a locum not the practice GP. Told to phone back for a routine appointment the next day, usually have the same response - no slots released, phone back...

It is daft because people then get frustrated and lie to get an emergency appointment for routine matters, because it's the only way of being seen, or (like me) give up trying and let your mental health deteriorate.

There is no online booking, no online or phone prescription requests, and the GP is a complete technophobe who (if you actually manage to get a slot) spends half the appointment talking about the football and the other half moaning about the NHS funding and local hospital. I'd switch surgeries but the only other local one with vacancies for patients is almost as inefficient.

Ring at 8 am for 48 hour. Same day appointments are released in batches during the day and you are expected to take the next available appointment. They are though flexible with appointments for ds because of his needs.

Each doctor has their own nurse and an administrator. You phone up choose your team and say what's your query. The nurse or doctor calls you back and speak in more detail and confirm if you need an appointment. You get a same day appointment, unless very late in the day.

A few options:-

1. I can ring up between 9-5 and request an appointment and be told that the earliest appointment is three weeks away even if I’m waiting urgent test results. I can then request a telephone consultation and denied that as well.

2. I can sit waiting in a telephone queue from 8 onwards and if I’m lucky get a same day appointment if I’m willing to describe thoroughly what’s wrong with me to the reception people.

3. I can go on an app and search for appointments. They do release same day ones on there as well as ones days away and it seems to be the only way I have any luck.

It’s only ever doctor appointments I struggle to get though - there’s always plenty with the nurses.

It may be obvious but I really dislike the way my surgery is ran.

We have the telephone consultation thing. It's terrible. Appointments for that go really quickly. Really disadvantageous for anyone who has to commute to work. It's like you're supposed to stay off on the off chance you will get a telephone consultation booking. And getting actual appointments on the day? You'll be lucky.

If you call up to try an make an appointment at mine , you are told your best bet is to attend open surgery between 8am and 10.30am each weekday morning.
You are usually told no bookanle appointments available for x days or x weeks (even months) with some doctors.
I've had to use open surgery every time in the past 5 years or so.

Ours is excellent. When you ring you have a menu - 1 for routine appts, 2 for urgent/ same day appts. 3 for getting results. 4 for anything else. Whichever option you press you’re never on hold for more than a few minutes.

If you press 2 you go through to the triage team. You then speak to the triage nurse who if necessary books you a same day appt with the duty doctor (who is lovely and very thorough)

If you’re not sure if it’s urgent or not, you can also use this option to speak to the triage team who will then decide whether you need an urgent or routine appt based on your answers to their questions.

We don’t have to ring at a certain time and everyone is lovely and friendly.

My mum has ongoing health problems and on a Friday evening she had a knock on her door. It was her GP delivering her new prescription!! He said he didn’t want her to wait until Monday for her prescription for new meds. (She has cancer and is in a lot of pain. These were different pain meds). He thought if he dropped it off, my Dad could pop to the late night pharmacy and get them so she could start them straight away.

Now that’s going above and beyond the call of duty!

I’m very sorry to read on here that others aren’t getting such a good level of service.

You can book online up to a month in advance, but if you ring on the day you'll always get seen, just not necessarily by your own GP.

ring up any time and use an automatic booking system where the next available appointment is always 2/3 weeks away and if you stay on hold and wait to speak to a receptionist they never answer

We have a 30 minute window between 8 and 8:30 am to book an appt same day. I dont always have phone credit so walk to the surgery and try to book ahead.

Ring at 8 for appointments that morning - be prepared to be on hold for a very long time and then all the appointments have gone.
Ring at 2 for appointments that afternoon -
Other mystery appointments can be booked with GP in their consulting room. I got one of those today for 10 days time and was astounded - 'you mean I don't have to go through the desk?" GP 'no, that's booked for you now"

other far distant appointments can sometimes be booked but their availability seems to be random. I was on hold for 40 minutes recently and then told - no appointments for the next 3 weeks.

Call at 8.30 for urgent appointment, 10 if you need to speak to a dr. Appointments are 2-4 weeks.
They don’t take walk ins. My mum took me down at 8.20 with the feeling my chest was being crushed and some other quite scary symptoms. She was told to take me home and call for an emergency appointment 😮 luckily a midwife was coming in and overhead and fetched a dr to the waiting room for me.

Now my lovely health visitor has retired I’m thinking of changing practices.

I just ring up any time during opening hours and can usually get an appointment for that day, or whatever later date I want. Ditto the online booking system (which is run by a third party and allows you to book an appointment at any surgery in the country). If, for some unusual reason, I couldn't get a time/day I wanted at one surgery, I'd just call around to other surgeries in the area and one will always be accommodating.

Unless I need to see the same GP for a follow up of a previous appointment I don't really care which GP I see, or at which surgery.

A few times I've rung up and explained the symptoms to the receptionist and she's told me to come straight down and the doctor has seen me straight away (usually related to pains or bleeding in pregnancy).

If all else fails, or it's out of hours, there are plenty of walk in medical centres available.

I'm not in the UK, although our systems is similar to the NHS. After reading threads here about having to book weeks in advance for appointments, the UK system is insane. No wonder so many emergency departments are overstretched and have people tuning up for things that really could be dealt with by a GP.

At our GP, you phone from 8.30am for a same day appt. By the time you get through, they are all gone. Lather, rinse, repeat...
The only way to actually get in to see a doctor is to go to the surgery in person from 7.30am and queue (generally there are at least a dozen people waiting by 8.30 often more) and request an appt in person. They then graciously condescend to offer you one for some time that day, if you are lucky it is one early enough that you can just wait.
The only other way to get an appt is if you are seeing the doctor and they say "come back in XXX days/weeks" then the reception staff will make you that appt, unless it doesn't suit their system in which case you will be told to phone nearer the time (good luck with that!)
Or if you have a letter asking you to make an appt for something specific, they will generally make it for you eventually but it could be a long wait.
This sounds bad, but ours is generally considered one of the best in town as they have two sites and are much "easier" to get into than most of the others....

"Or for other appointments (smear, non urgent, injections etc) you can book up to 3 weeks in advance"

And then have to cancel on the day when period arrives unexpectedly. Irregular periods are common in perimenopausal women.

We can ring or book online. Last time i booked online i got to see which doctor was available when. The appointments can be available that day usually. Surgery is open from early am to 9pm and half day saturday. No triage and ive only ever told the reception why i need the appointment if i am contagious. Never been asked. If we get sick outside those hours we can go to the out of hours clinic which is a gp attached to the hospital. No appointments but is triaged just like ED. Im in australia. Some surgeries charge but ours is free.