AIBU to say this system needs revision?

[longwayoff]

Have spent the morning trying to get through to GP surgery. 12.40 success. I've got a chest infection can I make appt. with GP?
Ooh no, you should have called earlier.
Grit teeth. RIght, how about tomorrow?
Ooh no, you'll have to phone back tomorrow
But I've been trying to call all morning.
Well we're very busy, just keep trying till someone answers.
I've just done that
I can't help.I'm not allowed to make appointments for tomorrow. Call tomorrow.
Ends call.

??? How am I supposed to see a bloody doctor? Is this what its come to, some kind of health lottery where you have to have luck on your side in order to be permitted to see your GP? I am furious. In theory this could repeat itself ad infinitum. What about people who need immediate attention? Children with sudden high fevers? Other crises. What's going on? This isn't good enough.

YANBU. When you're better find a doctor that does telephone triage. I love my surgery for this. You call before 1130 and a doc will call you back, do a telephone consult and book you in for same day if you need to be seen. Allows them to weed out all of the simple chickenpox, colds, flu sufferers they can't help and directs people who need a pharmacist/ dentist etc to right service too. Hope you feel better soon

It's a pretty common system. I appreciate your frustration but honestly, just call again tomorrow. Of course they fit in people with urgent issues, but it doesn't sound like you fall into that category.

Make sure you know what time the urgent appointments open. At my surgery it's 8am and 12 noon. Phone then.

When you say you'd spend all morning trying - do you mean ringing but hanging up when the line was busy? Does your GP not have a system where you can stay in a queue until they answer?

I'm struggling to believe you have been on hold since 8 or 9 when they opened? Its a common system call as soon a sthey open.

Or find a different doctors who do a better triage system, mine you email and they call you the next day. Most of the time you don't need a face to face and can discuss with doctor over the phone

If you can afford it I recommend Push Doctor
It will cost you about £50 but u will have antibiotics on your hand within an hour if your symptoms reveal a chest infection as you describe them to the facetime doctor

Ive used a few times, and its a lifesaver

Of course they fit in people with urgent issues, but it doesn't sound like you fall into that category.
Er...chest infection? I would assume OP thinks she needs antibiotics for this and if it were me, I would want that to be considered urgent (after all, if treatment is delayed, it can deteriorate quite quickly). It is very annoying, I agree but I am not sure, with the huge volume of patients that need to be seen, if there is any way round it (the telephone triage thing is good though as, presumably, the doctor can issue a prescription without seeing you in this sort of circumstance).

Does your GP not have a system where you can stay in a queue until they answer?

Mine doesn't, it's just a case of non stop dialling the number until you get through. Which does turn it in to a lottery rather than a priority system.

Do you have a minor injuries unit nearby OP? If you can't get through tomorrow I'd either ring 111 or go to minor injuries.

I mean, what else are they going to do? Wait until a chest infection escalates?

YANBU I took my DS to see a private GP as i couldnt get appointment. When I did see our GP she saw the notes from the other GP and asked why i had gone private. I asked her if she knew whatlt it was like trying to get an appointment. I appreciate it is nkt her fault personally but so frustrating.

Mrsjoyful I was referring to the OP's remarks about "What about people who need immediate attention? Children with sudden high fevers? Other crises."

A (self diagnosed) chest infection doesn't fall into those categories.

Our doctors tried this system. You had to call from 8:30am onwards for an appointment that day and there was no hold queue option.
I always managed to get through after one or two dials and it was never an issue but I recall seeing school mums tearing their hair out trying and one showed me her phone with 64 calls made that morning and still no joy.

They then changed to triage. A triage nurse would call back and basically direct you to the chemist and it was near impossible to see a doctor. Once I was told on a triage nurse call back to phone the doctors reception back (where they were calling from!) to get a number for physio, who then directed me to a website to search for exercises for my thrown out back even though I couldn't actually move to get on to the floor to do them! I only wanted some Naproxen or something.

Thankfully they're back to a better system. Phone for an appointment and they give you one. It could be that day or just that week. If you want a non urgent appointment and they have none for that week left they ask you to phone in on Friday.

Today is Monday. It's always hard to get through on Monday because the surgery has been closed for two days at the weekend. You may have more luck tomorrow as the mad rush was probably dealt with this morning.

Thank you @Densol999, that's very useful to know. This is a small place and other GPs are miles away, don't drive. No, no queue, cuts off when engaged after about 3 minutes of holding. Thanks Pilot, had forgotten about Mondays. This is a new system, it's always been a bit over subscribed and congested but I've never previously been refused or told you cannot book for later in the week. Sounds deranged. We may as well just go back to turning up and queuing.

At my old surgery, it was turn up and wait: if you weren't in the queue outside before surgery opened at 8, you were unlikely to be far enough forward in the queue to be seen that day. Nothing like being in the rain on a cold, dark morning, with a bunch of people desperate to cough and germ all over you

But - we have had over 10 years of our population increasing by 300-350k every year, combined with a fall in the number of GPs, for several reasons, plus an ageing population (so more likely to need regular healthcare by dint of age-related conditions) plus more success in keeping people with serious health conditions, of all ages, alive for longer and... And... And... Something has to give - and it's the appointment system.