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.

I wouldn’t be able to take a call between 8-2pm on a weekday

And no I’m not discussing my private medical problems while I’ve got a patient sat in my dental chair with my hands in their mouth listening
I’d get in a lot of trouble for that

Just phoned back as instructed by the woman on the phone yesterday.

The FIRST appointment for a call they can give me is 1ST SEPTEMBER. 3 weeks away. Narrower window of between 9am and 10am but fucking hell. Three weeks.

Agree with others who posted that it seems like the NHS is just not fit for purpose.

So a consult for a non-urgent issue is in just under 3 weeks in the middle of a pandemic when it is widely publicised that services are under significant pressures both in terms of staffing (pinging, a chronic doctor shortage etc) and in terms of demand (with most practices reporting a 15-30pc bump in demand since the beginning of the year). And in a narrow time slot like you wanted.

You seem really outraged by this. What were you expecting.

Non-urgent as in not serious enough that i'm in my bed. Or likely to deteriorate to the state that I need A&E. That doesn't mean it's some wee minor thing that can wait THREE WEEKS.

We all know GPs are working hard. Well, most of of them. But it's not OK to expect patients to be grateful for getting appointments three weeks in the future! It's not good enough.

No idea where the blame lies, probably with everyone who thinks the NHS is a sacred cow never to be criticised.

Well your wait is commensurate with the amount of your tax that goes to primary care (£150 per year regardless of how much you consult or should we say are able to consult) and the prevailing conditions in healthcare.

Personally I think they should scrap free at the point of (ab)use primary care and have either a co-pay French type system or alternatively something similar to Australia. But it will end up costing more than now, for sure.

fucking hell. Three weeks
Maybe should have fitted in the first appointment offered around the coffee morning?

But how does one know if something is non urgent without being “seen” by a doctor?

It could push back significantly things like the two week urgent referral to a consultant, if that still even exists.

It’s precisely because of this nonsense that there is such pressure on emergency medical services.

8 to 6 or between 9 and 1 is not an appointment, is a time window at best. It is misusing English to call that an appointment, and if at all possible should be challenged

Which is exactly what i do with my HA because this is what they do with the gas safety check "appointments"