That GP waiting times are unacceptable?

[frustrationfrustration]

I very rarely visit the doctor, I have only needed to visit once in the past year. I have rang up for an appointment today and apparently every single pre bookable appointment to see the one female GP at the practice has already gone, she apparently only sits on a Thursday morning and a Friday afternoon. The earliest I can ring up in the morning for an on the day appointment to see her is the 16th of March. I was interrogated by the receptionist who demanded that I tell her what my concern is as apparently this dictates who she should book me in to see, she was sharp with me and asked why I couldn't just see a male gp with a chaperone provided. Has anybody else had similar experiences with GP practices recently? I can't help but feel that this is the reason that a+e's are being overused. This is a busy practice that serves a large council estate so I can't help but feel that the female GP provision is inadequate.

What happens if you get the female doctors referral and it's a male surgeon/consultant.

Another way would be to charge a small fee for the GP`s practice and also charge for missed appointments or get struck off their register

OP it's a three week wait for a non urgent appointment in my area but if it is urgent, they will see you, so no one going to A&E here for lack of gp help.

However, you sound so entitled I'm wondering if you are the poster who asked about breast implants on the NHS.

Stop being sexist and see a male GP.

Well I decided that I would have to make myself feel uncomfortable and discuss my problem with a man and I was told that the first pre bookable appointment is for the 20th of March so it seems that the problem isn't just because I want to see a woman

How very gracious of you.

Why not just tell them if you're available for cancellations, you might be seen faster?

you do realise if you get referred there is a very high chance that you will have to discuss your breasts with a male at some point.

This is your first stumbling block, not a magic key to female only NHS staff.

You could use a private doctor?

There are many available via apps on the phone or a computer these days. Appointments are available early til late and at weekends too.

I pay £20 for an appointment and I'm usually seen within 20minutes and the one time I needed antibiotics I had them within 40 minutes of booking my appointment.

Amazing service.

20th March sounds good to me, unfortunately. I have an appointment for 15th March which I booked over four weeks ago - currently a 6-7 week wait at our GPs.

It needs sorting out, I agree.

"I need a referral so paying for a private gp seems like only bloody option available to me."

Or see a male GP. I assume that they work more than one morning and one afternoon a week.

I don't think you should be entitled to see a GP of your chosing within a timescale of your choosing. If your preferences mean that it takes longer to see a GP then it's down to you, isn't it?

You're entitled to your preferences but you can't really complain when it makes it more difficult for all involved, including you.

What do you suggest is done? More and more women GPs are working part time. Should all surgeries employ a fuck ton more women in p/t roles to ensure there's 50-50 availability?

And what will you do if the cons you're referred to is male? Can't trust the letter, either. I got one that had a male consultant's name on it, but on the day it was a female. Personally, I couldn't care less, terrified I've got cancer so have urgent referral, but the fact is you may have no choice.

Around about the 6 week mark for a routine dr apt at my local surgery

I remember the good old days of 1/2 weeks

I think a lot of people need to understand that 'part time GPs' often work almost full time hours just on a compressed number of days

So where most people think of full time as 37 hours a week a 3 day a week GP can often be doing 12 hours a day which is 36hours so not quite the same as part time in many other jobs - it's important to remember sitting in the surgery seeing patients is only part of the job, they also do home visits, care home visits, paperwork and often they have specialist interest (sexual health, elderly care etc) work too.

Why does it need to be pre bookable, can’t you just call on the day?

26/02/2018 17:51 frustrationfrustration

London, almost 3 weeks for an appointment that I might not even get? If I don't manage to get one in time on that day, it will be another week until she sits again which would mean I have waited a month for a gp appointment

I once rang every morning for 3 months before I finally got through before all the apps had gone.

That surgery would book for a week later so if calling on a Monday they would only book apps for the following Monday. Once they were all gone they wouldn't book you in for Tuesday, you'd have to call the following morning and hope to be one of the first few to get through. And so on and so on and so on.

Once they finally saw me, I was in for 2 mins while the Dr wrote me a form to take to the X-Ray dept at the hosp (which was what I knew I needed and the reception wouldn't let me request without an app).

Once I had the X-ray, I had to wait 2 weeks for the results to make their way back to my GP.

So, I called every day after 14 days only to be told in the end that the results had been lost and I'd need another x-ray, which I needed the pink slip for, that I'd need to see the Dr for, so "please feel free to book an app" head tilt and fucking tinkly laugh.

I was fucking livid. And would still love to have caved that twats face in with her fucking telephone handset.

What would you do if you needed to be referred and the consultant was male?

I'm 33 now. I've had to see the gp at 17, 19, 23 and 31 about lumps I've found in my breasts (history of breast cancer in my family too). Every gp I've seen has been male. It never occurred to me to turn down the opportunity to see them just because they're male. A medical professional is just that regardless of their sex.

You should be very grateful that you can book anything OP. In our surgery, we cannot make any pre-booked and only acute cases will be seen. You basically go on the phone as the lines open at 8 and wait in a queue to see if anything is available for that day, Too late = no appointment and start again at 8 the next morning.
As a result, I have never had any health checks in the twenty years I have been with the practice and can't discuss or get any HRT.

I tried recently to avoid taking up a n appointment at doctors by doing an online appointment at pharmacy. However, they refused me a prescription and suggested I went to doctor. I took the first quick available appointment, it was a male doct or. I didn't mind which doctor, I was pleased to receive the appropriate treatment. I went to a walk in doctor when I was abroad and it cost £40

I rang up on Monday for an appointment for my husband. The earliest appointment was 29 March!! It’s terrible really, but only going to get worse x

@TheVanguardSix
If there's a female clinician, like a nurse, on duty, she can act as chaperone while you see a male GP.

@JaneEyre70
If I'm worried about my health, I see a GP. Male or Female, they are all trained and I would imagine that there is very little that they haven't seen.

And if someone has PTSD or similar after rape or abuse and is likely to have flashbacks/panic attacks if they're examined by a male GP how does having a female chaperone help? How does it help that 'they've seen it all before'?

'And if someone has PTSD or similar after rape or abuse and is likely to have flashbacks/panic attacks if they're examined by a male GP how does having a female chaperone help? How does it help that 'they've seen it all before'?'

Then what happens if they wind up like me, needing an urgent appointment to query cancer, and the consultant is male? Or need surgery or A&E treatment and the consultant is male?

@Solasshole

cold induced asthma is back with a vengeance and I struggle to breath whenever I go outside. Explained this to receptionist and said I needed an appointment asap as pharmacist couldn't prescribe me an inhaler without a GP appointment first as I haven't had one in years and years. She said there's nothing available and it's not urgent

Wow. I had wheezing a couple of weeks back. Saw out-of-hours GP as it was Sunday evening. Was given reliever inhaler, went home.

Thursday night I'm wheezing again. Phone GP Friday morning. No appointments left for the morning, is it urgent? 'Well', I said being all British and not wanting to make a fuss, 'I've been wheezing, I was given a reliever inhaler and it works for four hours then the wheezing comes back'. 'We'll see you at 10.20' was her reply.

I'd suggest changing surgeries tbh OP. Smaller ones tend to be better in my opinion; mine is a converted house with about 3 doctors, and I'm always seen on the same day I ring.

@expatinscotland

Then what happens if they wind up like me, needing an urgent appointment to query cancer, and the consultant is male? Or need surgery or A&E treatment and the consultant is male?

It's fairly likely their symptoms will be dismissed as 'all in their heads' because they have mental health problems so will never get that far - one of the reasons people with mental health problems have a lower life expectancy.

Otherwise, one would hope they'd be given support to help them cope. But that is unlikely to happen if they can't actually get to see their GP to start with, given that it's from there that you get to access most other services.