To ask if other peoples’ GP surgeries are this shit or is it just mine?

[Whatisthisfuckery]

Every day, multiple times a day for the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to call the GP surgery. Every time apart from one I have been told the phone lines are at capacity and to call back later. The but one I was told that they were shut for staff training. Our doctors is one of a chain of about 8 in the area, so my guess is that they have one person on the phones taking calls for what is more or less the entire town of 150,000 people, it’s a disgrace.

I can’t use patient access because it’s for my DS who isn’t old enough; I don’t want to call out of hours because it’s not an emergency; I can’t find an email address to email them instead and you can’t just walk in off the street to talk to them.

I literally cannot contact the doctors, at all.

Is this unusual or are we just unable to access a GP anymore?

When you do get through, ask them to arrange for your ds to have a Patient Access account linked to yours. I have them for all three of my dcs (one under 16 and two over 16 with additional needs) and it makes things so much easier.

You can then just log in as yourself and switch user to book appointments and order repeat prescriptions for your ds.

Ours is that shit on the phone, but I have online accounts for each of my DC that are linked to my login. So I can book appointments online in their names (when there are any, which isn't that often)

Someone posted on our local town Facebook page the other day that they'd been trying to get through to their GP by phone for 4 days. They had also sent messages which had gone unanswered. This is a 3 practice group - soon to be 4. So it's clearly not just your surgery. I try to avoid ringing mine as I lose the will to live listening to the 5 minutes of recorded messages before you even stand a chance of speaking to a person.

I think it is pretty shocking that the service varies so much. I am fortunate that my surgery has been really good, with online and telephone consults readily available. However, neighbours registered with a nearby practice have had similar problems to the OP.

I don't understand why GP surgeries a mile or two apart can't run a similar service.

Could you email your MP? This is the sort of thing they should be looking into.

@Becles

Just yours.

I'm able to get through easily on the phone and can email with a reply the same day or next. They suggest ringing after the work day starts because of the volume of callers. I've rung at 10/11am or the afternoon with no issues.

I can get a GP appointment (outside covid) in a day or so, but longer if we want a specific GP as that one only works part time so means limited slots.

Mine is like this. SW London.

@moosemama

When you do get through, ask them to arrange for your ds to have a Patient Access account linked to yours. I have them for all three of my dcs (one under 16 and two over 16 with additional needs) and it makes things so much easier.

You can then just log in as yourself and switch user to book appointments and order repeat prescriptions for your ds.

We have patient access but they no longer let you book appointments on there

Oh yours sounds so bad.
We can do e-consult usually get a reply within 1-3 days and a script if needed.

We have a bit of a wait sometimes on the phone maybe 15 minutes etc.

I'd be tempted just to go down.

Are you sure you can't do it for him?
My kids are registered with their own log in details, I have been booking appointments for them since they were tiny.

Ours isn’t that bad but I have friends who have surgeries just as bad as yours op. The NHS is in crisis but it seems taboo to admit it.

Ours is pretty good, it’s part time so out of their hours we have to go to a partner surgery in a different village 25 mins away though. We are rural, but it’s a pain for those without transport.

You can get a same day appointment if you call at 8 or 2 and can usually get through but not always Monday morning. I did a booked appointment the other day for DD (non urgent) and had to wait a week for that (telephone appointment).

They are doing telephone appointments with GP or advanced practitioner, then a face to face after that if required.

@Whatisthisfuckery I’d raise a formal complaint. Write to them citing all the occasions you have tried and send by recorded delivery. Copy it to your MP.

I just posted on my local FB page and got the usual snarky ‘they’re working hard in a pandemic, stop moaning and be grateful’ response off one woman.

Erm, no, they are not dealing with the pandemic, in fact they are probably the most insulated people in the country from the fucking pandemic. They haven’t even had the usual levels of winter illnesses to deal with because people have been kept apart. People have been suffering for months with ailments they can’t get apts for and one woman just commented that she just tried to book an apt on the app and the next available telephone apt was in 16 weeks time. 16 weeks.

They have 8 surgeries with accompanying admin and medical staff and one phone line that presumably only one person is answering as everybody says the same, that they can’t even get in the queue, and when they can they can’t get an apt with an actual doctor.

So what the fuck are they doing?

I am absolutely fuming. I am going to write to my MP, although he’s a fucking tory, so...

Mine is fucking shit as well. Up until last year you had to literally try and get through on the phone at 8am on the day required. Now there is a queue system in place! Much better, but when you're in position number 20, you know that all the appointments are going to be gone by the time you speak to the receptionist.

Perhaps they are getting telephone calls about patient's eligibility, queries and timescales of when they are getting their covid jabs. I know they have been told not to as it stops people needing medical help getting through but they still do.

@Whatisthisfuckery do you have a walk in centre / urgent care centre where you live? 111 can make you an appointment with a GP there so you don't have to sit and wait. My nearest walk in / urgent care is open 8am-8pm 7 days per week, so perhaps worth checking?

Do they have an email address on their website? Email and explain the difficulties you are having getting through and see if you can arrange a call back that way.

@Whatisthisfuckery we have a Conservative MP and she's bloody brilliant. The nearest town had issues with their GP surgery and she made a massive song and dance about it and they put in a new phone and appointment system so I wouldn't write yours off, it's worth a try.

Also contact PALS, they can help with any NHS issue not just hospital.

It is extremely difficult to get through to my surgery on the phone, with long to very long wait times before even the automated system kicks in, and if you want to talk to reception (i.e. not book an appointment) there is not even an option to press for that.
The wait for even a telephone consultation is generally four days or more. You can no longer make any appointments at all online.
This is a large rural/semi-rural practice and the 'on-dit' in the village (generally former employees) is that the partners are drawing very large salaries from the practice but are unwilling to employ more GPs despite the severe and ongoing shortage of appointments.

No it’s not people ringing about covid jabs. They have a separate line for that. which you can either access by calling the surgery number and pressing 1, or there is a separate number entirely.

Ours is actually marginally better than it was pre-covid as its forced them to do something other than physical appointments. Now once you get through you might actually get a call back from the doctor rather than being told all the appointments are gone.

We technically have patient access online to book appointments but I've never ever seen a doctor's appointment available. None of the 3 surgeries in our town use econsult.

Not just yours
My parents' is the same.
A hospital nurse said to my dad, 'Get a blood test at your GP' then paused and said 'Oh, no, you're with X. We'd better do it here'.
A friend of theirs had to go to the walk-in place and was stunned by the friendly receptionist and general attitude of interest and care. All the GP's patients have come to accept that not answering phones, not giving appointments, appearing actively uncaring, defensive and even aggressive at times is the norm.
I should say the actual doctors and nurses seem fine if anyone actually makes it through to see them, but that is a very rare occurrence.

Ring the covid line then and tell them you want to put in a formal complaint through the practice manager amd see then if you get to speak with someone....

Ours is mostly doing telephone consultations but you can get through quite easily and they will see you face to face if they feel that is necessary.

DH was having abdominal pains and was called back after speaking to the receptionist to go in and be examined.

When I needed to speak to a doctor I had a telephone consultation within 2 hours of calling and speaking to the receptionist. I did however have Coronavirus at the time and I think I was prioritised. It might not have been same day if it was for something else.

I have finally spoken to them, after a concerted effort of trying every couple of minutes for over an hour, then it took 17 minutes for me to get to number 10 in the queue, which is the first position in the queue where they tell you where you are. Still, I’m glad I finally managed to get through.

I have a telephone consultation, on the 27th, at an unspecified time.

Still, it’s progress.

@Whatisthisfuckery real feel your pain.
I was registered with a surgery like that, when I needed urgent care for newborn prem I couldn’t get it, when I needed urgent help for MH issue, couldn’t get it. After second child, I again struggled, and at one point was told (when someone finally answered the phone), wait for us to close and then pop into your urgent care centre...erm what?

Anyway, I’d had enough and changed surgeries.

Sorry should say really*