‘Call at 8am for a GP appointment’

[purplepufferfish]

I work for the NHS and personally understand the stress that the service is under. I get it. But does this frustrate anyone else?

Call for a GP appointment. Get told that the nearest one is two weeks away and to call back the next day at 8am for a same day appointment.

Call back at 8am the next day, as is everyone else of course.

Finally get through at 10am to be told that the next appointment is two weeks away and to call back at 8am for a same day appointment!

Again I know that this is no one’s fault and I genuinely blame no one for this.

Am I being unreasonable for being frustrated?

Mine suspended the online booking facility last year due to covid. Still not reinstated.

Getting a phone appointment isn’t too bad, generally, but they don’t stick to anywhere near the appointment times. I booked a 6pm appointment and was called at 11:00am when I was at work.

This is the system at my parents' GP. It is awful.

Ours is not like that and people get appointments within the week.

Send an e consult

This drives me potty. I also work for the NHS and understand the problems but I also have massive anxiety and are on some pretty brutal antidepressants which if I miss a dose tend to make me feel like I am dying (brain zaps, nausea, impending doom etc) so although I always try and call 7-10 days before I run out of medication what you've described in your OP happens to me until my anxiety about getting my meds is out of control and I end up using an emergency appt purely to get my medication on time. This week I have written to them I have ten days of pills left so will see if that works! (they spoke to me last time so won't need to this time and I answered all their questions preemptively in the letter including my blood pressure)

Felt like putting "Ha!" at the end of the letter too.

Basically there are not enough GP’s for the number of patients needing appointments. DH is a GP and his patient list is too high for the number of GP’s at their surgery but when someone leaves it is almost impossible to replace them. This is getting worse so wait times for appointments will continue to increase. You can’t have an appointment if there aren’t any free slots.

@Parker231

Basically there are not enough GP’s for the number of patients needing appointments. DH is a GP and his patient list is too high for the number of GP’s at their surgery but when someone leaves it is almost impossible to replace them. This is getting worse so wait times for appointments will continue to increase. You can’t have an appointment if there aren’t any free slots.

At which point the system needs changed.

Trying to call at 8am every day means people who need appointments will either give up and ignore what's troubling them or they'll seek help elsewhere, NHS Direct / A&E.

It leads to the potential that issues can get worse and people will eventually seek help when they are at crisis point.

I had this with my Dad's oversubscribed surgery (we've moved him to ours now). In the end I was at their door the minute they opened and made an appointment at the desk.

This is 100% the fault of our Conservative government, no-one else

I've had the same GP since about 1989. The period I couldn't see a GP mostly correlated with when there was a Labour government. In the last three years they've been quite to very good with appointment availability.

(I don't believe the Labour government were to blame, I think the NHS model is fundamentally flawed and it's the luck of the draw which administration you have problems under. There's actually not that much need for GP appointments to be free, insurance is supposed to be for expensive and very random expenses things, not inexpensive and fairly routine ones. If we all paid for GP appointments supply and demand would synchronise quickly and remain synched forever.)

I'm under SNP it's not any better.

This was happening at my parents' GP practice under Labour.

Change surgery I easily get a call back same day and then go in if they need to see me.

@FireflyRainbow

Change surgery I easily get a call back same day and then go in if they need to see me.

Changing surgeries isn't that easy, is it? You have to go within your catchment and if you live in a densely populated area you're likely to have the same problem at the new surgery, if you're lucky enough to have a choice within your catchment. I think they did enlarge them slightly a few years ago, but people are still now able to go to one near work, which is a real pain, causing some people to have to take half days off work just for a ten minute GP appointment.

@purplepufferfish

I work for the NHS and personally understand the stress that the service is under. I get it. But does this frustrate anyone else?

Call for a GP appointment. Get told that the nearest one is two weeks away and to call back the next day at 8am for a same day appointment.

Call back at 8am the next day, as is everyone else of course.

Finally get through at 10am to be told that the next appointment is two weeks away and to call back at 8am for a same day appointment!

Again I know that this is no one’s fault and I genuinely blame no one for this.

Am I being unreasonable for being frustrated?

Definitely not unreasonable. Exactly the same process in my GP and it's a nightmare. I was told to ring up when I came to the last week of my antidepressants. Started ringing about ten days before because I knew they were busy, but every single appointment was gone for the next 3 days by the time I got through. Started getting desperate and pointing out that it had taken me months to get the right prescription and acclimatise to the pills and now I would run out and have to suffer through withdrawal and then side effects when I restarted, all for the sake of a 2 minute sign off! Finally got an appointment when I was down to my last 2 and still had to have a day 'off' because of delays at the pharmacy.

And I'm one of the 'lucky' ones who WFH flexibly and can afford to ring again and again from 8am while setting up my laptop, and then, when I am finally given an appointment 'sometime next tuesday' can answer the phone whenever they ring. My friends who work in the police, schools, hospitality etc. can't do either!

A German friend gets 3 free GP appointments every year - any on top of that are €30, but if it's deemed a proper case, that's claimed back from insurance. This might stop some of the "worried well", but if there simply aren't enough GPs for the number of patients in an area, you're still stuffed.

Something does need to happen with the frequent attenders who don’t need to be there. In some cases it’s a knock on effect of cut backs in day centres, mental health etc so not straightforward

My record for calling my GP surgery at 8am was 72 redials. Such an inefficient system.

I think there needs to be a considerable investment by government for primary care at GP’s to provide a greater range of services, longer and quicker appointments. It would pay off as physical and mental health care needs could be detected and managed earlier. Unfortunately the government aren’t prepared to make the investment and would rather spend the money on nuclear weapons! I know where I’d prefer my taxes to go.

I got that response once.

Got told I should have called at 8am if I needed an in the day appointment.

I pointed out it was 8.17am and I'd been on hold in the queue since 8!

I then got told there was no need for attitude

I let it go because I understand they are under pressure but I wasn't exactly sure how I could ring any earlier than I already had!

I used to call at 8am & was on the phone for about 30 mins, if they answered they would tell me that all appointments were gone & to call back tomorrow. Or I would be number 27 in the queue, then when it got to my turn the phone would just ring, or I'd get cut off. I did complain in an email & they gave me an appointment, but this doesn't work any more. They always seem to say that they have no appointments but I just kept repeating myself, & that was when I discovered that I could ring after 12.30 too & get an evening call back. We have online appointments but it's 3 weeks before you can get a call back from the Dr. Then I discovered that if I looked the day after they always seem to have an appointment for that week. Or I'll make an online appointment for in 3 weeks time, then check the next day & I can make a new appointment for within that week & cancel the old one.

I've got adhd & morning calling is a high bar to making an appointment.

I'd started emailing as I can marshal my thoughts & be concise. They've now said I need to ring, sigh..

Start a petition to discuss in Parliament?!

I had this with my Dad's oversubscribed surgery (we've moved him to ours now). In the end I was at their door the minute they opened and made an appointment at the desk

I saw this happen loads at our old (hugely oversubscribed) city centre GP practise. They’d always say ring at 8am for a same day apt but you would never every get through and if you did the apts were already all gone. Then one morning I had an 8am apt so was at the surgery when it opened. Queue a line of old people/parents with small kids (people who didn’t need to be at work) making apts at the desk whilst the phone rang and rang in the background and was ignored.

It made no sense to me that bothered telling people to ring back at 8am when they prioritised people at the desk and they took all the apts. Luckily I lived 5 mins walk and it was on my way to work so from then on I just went in at 8am if me or DH ever needed an emergency apt.

I used to have this when I had small kids. I'd be crying on the phone because I'd be making an appointment for one of my DCs and 8 am is precisely the time when anyone with small children and SEN finds the most impossible.

Trying to get three DCs to school whilst at least one is properly melting down every morning and wanting an appointment that can only be booked dead on the exact time you have to leave the house
Yet another thing that's stacked against women without thought.

I moved GPs in central London fine to one that allowed advance booking (but kept emergency appointments aside too) - but it was a couple of years ago.

The system is unworkable.

A problem that isn't urgent can quickly become urgent when you can't get an appointment.

I've been reduced to tears by receptionists who've refused me appointments for my son saying it's not an urgent matter, but are unable/unwilling to book me an appointment the following week.

I am 100% convinced that there is a better, fairer and more efficient way to manage GP appointments.