to think phone appointments aren't always convenient?

[TheGenealogist]

I need to speak to the GP, menopause related. They do not run a specific menopause clinic, cannot see the nurse as she is unable to prescribe, should it be decided I try HRT.

Phone surgery, telephone appointments only. They can offer me Wednesday morning, any time between 9 and 1. Have already arranged to see a friend on Wednesday for coffee. They can offer me Thursday morning, when I volunteer in a charity shop.

Now I know I am very much not being U by not wanting to discuss my hot flushes, recurrent UTIs and other symptoms in front of my volunteer colleagues, or all of the customers in the cafe.

If phone appointments are here to stay, why are they not being offered in slots? Even half an hour? Because yes I could do after 11am on Wednesday, but no.

Must be a nightmare for people in open plan offices or other roles where you can't just step away to take a call in private.

@LakieLady

My surgery don't give a time for phone appointments, but when I explained that I may be on a work call or driving and unable to answer, they said that the doctor would just keep trying until he got hold of me.

If you had a F2F appt, presumably you'd have to take the time off work to go, OP, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't take the time off to have a phone consult.

There's a difference between a F2F appointment booked for a specific time even though the surgery will always be running late and a phone consultation that has a wider appointment window than Yodel and Hermes combined. I need to take more time off for a phone appointment than for a F2F appointment because they cannot give me an appointment time.

I work in a supermarket, I am not supposed to have my phone on the shop floor but even if I had it in my pocket, if I'm on a checkout when the doctor calls what am I supposed to do? Just walk away from my customers without a word, as I can't risk the doctor ringing off before I answer?

I cannot be available to answer my phone for a whole day. If I have a doctors appointment that I cant schedule outside of working hours then my employer will allow up to 2 hours off to accommodate and that is usually more than enough time to get to the surgery, have your appointment (as booked for a specific time) and return to work. If I have a phone appointment, my doctors run a "We'll call you at some point between 9am and 5pm" system.

Why should I have to take a whole day off work for a 10 minute appointment because they can't narrow it down any further? Even if it was an hour window then I could arrange with my supervisor that during that hour I would do jobs that I can step away from if the doctor calls - eg processing parcels in the parcel room; returning left/damaged items to the shopfloor/warehouse; covering the self scan checkouts (there's always at least 2 people so if I had to step away then they would still be covered) - and whoever would normally do those jobs would cover me on a checkout or behind the customer service desk. That is not an option for an entire shift, so my options are take the day off or risk not being able to take the call, being put down as a DNA and put to the bottom of the list again ... all because I work in a job where I can't drop everything the second the phone rings.

Wider time windows that do not provide an option which excludes the time that children are taken to/from school is unfair on family life. The majority of children are taken to/from school by their mothers, especially collections in the afternoon.

So it is to all intents and purposes another example of everyday sexism.

We get an appointment time in the same way as a face to face appointment, although it's true that time and the time of the call often don't bear any resemblance, that's better than sitting in the waiting room for ages if they're running late though.

I think you take the morning off the volunteering or cancel your friend, like you would for any other medical appontment. Even if you had a specified time, it's unlikely it would be at exactly that time, you have to be available for a bit either side.

YANBU.

Our practice doesn’t let you prebook appointments at all. You have to ring at 8.30 and try to be lucky enough to get through, whereupon you’re allocated a call back that day, and firmly instructed to keep your phone with you and answer it.

I have no idea why they can’t allocate phone appointments like normal ones.

I’d prefer a time and GP would not call before that time. That would be more like to F2F. If I know I have an appointment from 11am I know I can get on with work until then even if I then have to be available without knowing a time after that if GP running late.

You're going for coffee - cancel it.
You volunteer - then ask someone to cover you for a few mins while you take the call.

How lucky for you that you have time to volunteer and float about meeting friends for coffee. Try fitting in the phone appointments when you work full-time.

Our surgery don't do online ANYTHING. We can't book an appointment online, or order a repeat prescription online, anything. Everything has to be arranged on the phone or in person.

They are a pain. All my follow up hospital appointments have been over the phone.

I'm a train driver and can't answer my phone at work. So I have to take a day off or try to rearrange. If it was an in person visit I'd get a day off work to attend.

@234Pepperplant

Slots would be easier, for you. Presumably not for the GP.

But in the current circumstances in healthcare and for a non urgent issue, I think the onus is on you to be a bit flexible and keep a morning free - you clearly do have spare daytime time if you’re meeting friends etc so you’re not in the circumstances of a full time teacher or something.

How do we know its "non urgent?" Most people are not doctors that is why they consult one there have been many times when I have been out and about functioning as normal and been a few points away from a thyroid storm one time the lab called my doctors to ask which hospital I was in as it only had the doctors details on it the doctor duly informed them I was actually at work I was seriously ill and didn't know

I had a phone appointment last week, after having filled in a long online form for why I wanted to 'see' a Dr. First I had a text saying I would be called at 9.15 so I cancelled my meeting to be ready (no call) I didn't ring the surgery as that would take at least half an hour. After lunch I got another text saying I would be called at 2.15, so again I cleared my diary, the call finally came in at just after 5, and the first thing the Dr ask was for me to tell him what my problem and symptoms were, I did ask if he had read all the information I had to submit for him to call me, he said yes but still wanted me to tell him, OK that was a way to waste 5 minutes, he then had no solution or plan just decided that I needed to get blood tests before they could think about what may be wrong and told me to google our local hospital that does them to find out how o book one, and that he was on holiday for 2 weeks but to book an appointment with one of his colleagues when I got the results.
So a day of skipped meetings, a wasteful call which fortunately I was at home for, then I had to work out how to book an appointment and then call the surgery to tell them I had done that and ask them what to do next.
I have now been given another telephone appointment in 2 weeks to discuss the results

@fatvegan

You're going for coffee - cancel it. You volunteer - then ask someone to cover you for a few mins while you take the call.

How lucky for you that you have time to volunteer and float about meeting friends for coffee. Try fitting in the phone appointments when you work full-time.

And that's just bloody rude.

Not going to start justifying myself, and my working patterns to anyone.

There are a million and one reasons why someone can't be available from 9am to 1pm on the offchance a call comes through. All are valid. Work is just one reason.

And besides, for someone working from home, taking a call at any point during the day might not be an issue.

you've been offered two slots - if you want to prioritise coffee, and are not able to say at the start of your volunteering shift that you'll need to take a call from your GP somewhere quiet, then maybe you'll have to wait a bit longer - down to you to decide priorities.
Breaking a coffee meetup or 10 minutes out of your volunteering shift sounds a lot more convenient than a trip to the surgery

How do we know its "non urgent?"
Because the OP prioritises going for a coffee FFS
currently going through an e-consult process for a gynae problem - when calls come through I excuse myself from the office and take them.

Whilst I find phone appointments a good idea for some issues and could work great, I don't agree with the current system we have in place here. If they are to stay we need proper time slots, not a vague anytime between 9am and 6pm, or if pushed any time in morning/afternoon.
Our GPS will call twice, but within about 10 minutes if each call. But if you miss it you can't call back etc. You have to start all over again the next day.

I teach and can't have my phone on me. I can't leave class to answer a call. Not all medical appointments warrant me taking a day off work as sick leave.

Like with in person appointments I need a time slot.

We have an online form and then you get a call back at a random time. I've had to do a few of these for DC and they ALWAYS phone when I'm driving. By the time I've parked up safely to take the call they've stopped calling and won't take a call back.

The whole thing is set up to prove we don't need primary care and can manage with apps, an algorithm and a call centre.

I quite like the telephone triage appointments - my GP is excellent and I’ve spoken to her about anxiety over the phone during the pandemic and I felt quite comfortable.

However, agree it should be an appointment time. We are given an appointment time and told it will be as close to this as possible, just as it would be if you were physically in the surgery.

If you had a F2F appt, presumably you'd have to take the time off work to go, OP, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't take the time off to have a phone consult.

Yes, but no more than an hour usually. And I have some say over times so always had them either:

• first thing in the morning at 8:30am - less likely to be as late and can usually still be at work by 9
• after 3:30/4 when I can then leave early or just as school finishes
• linked to a free lesson, my PPA time or next to a break/lunch time so time missed was minimal.

With f2f I never need to take a full day, ir even a full half day off to attend a doctors appointment unless I was ill enough to be off on sick leave.

I completely agree, there should be set appointment times. It's very inconvenient to have a call any time in a 4 hour window. It's also unprofessional to need to keep your phone on you all morning in case of a call from the dr. IMO they all need to pull their fingers out and organise themselves. It's embarrassing what a shambles getting a dr appointment is now.

@FrippEnos

OverByYer The whole NHS needs a complete overhaul and cross party review. I’d suggest nominal fees to see a GP for a start like the European model.

So if we went with the "nominal fees to see a GP" would you also be happy for the GP to pay a penalty for late or cancelled appointments?

So people with long term health issues end up paying a ton of money to maintain their health?

This only works surely if there is a special rate for ongoing health issues or affordable health insurance including for those with long term disabilities or health conditions.

I'm fortunate that I could afford it as I have to see someone at the surgery at least 4 or 5 times a year, sometimes much more, for ongoing health conditions.

But if someone didn't have the money are they then left to suffer???

Halloaten I wonder why its only so difficult for the NHS. In Germany we have face to face appointments which are pretty much on time, give or take half an hour sometimes, and never wait more than a day or two unless we want a very specific time (a non urgent appointment for a child, avoiding school hours and their sports training times, might be booked for late afternoon in three weeks time but that's ok - an appointment important enough to miss school for is same day almost always).

Abraxan the "European model" isn't that - in Germany it's 15.5% of your income for state health insurance, and the state pays if you're unemployed, and children and stay at home spouses are insured with the main earner at no extra cost. So its effectively from each according to their ability to each according to their needs.

There used to be a 10€ fee for the first appointment of the quarter (so never more than 40€ per year whether you had four appointments per year or fourty) but the charge was scrapped years ago as the administration was more expensive than the amount gathered in charges, and it was considered unfair.

I Don't mind phone appointments but not instead of being seen if it really needs to be looked at.

I had this with ds. I work and can be in a call which several people will have coordinated diaries to speak to me so I can't just drop out. A slot even a 2 hour window can be blocked out but I can't just hold the whole day.

That’s only convenient for them. I’m working from home, I cannot sit and wait fur a call that can come at any time.

If you had a F2F appt, presumably you'd have to take the time off work to go, OP, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't take the time off to have a phone consult

I am a teacher - in normal times, I would make an appointment for first thing in the morning or as late as possible to minimise the inconvenience to my school. My GP offer a call ‘at some point today” .To have to take whole day off for a 10 minute appointment is ludicrous.

In addition, I have elderly parents and telephone appointments are a nightmare. Both parents are very deaf and do not always hear what is being said on the phone, although neither of them will admit to this. I was at their house recently with my father, who has Parkinsons, had a telephone call with his Greek consultant. The combination of my father’s poor hearing and very poor processing of language combined with the consultant’s strong accent made the conversation almost impossible. Had I not been present, the consultant would have been given completely incorrect information as my father did not understand what he was being asked.

If you had a F2F appt, presumably you'd have to take the time off work to go, OP, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't take the time off to have a phone consult

With a F2F appointment you have a fixed time. I can take that time off. I cannot take the whole day off to wait fir them.,