GP won’t give me a smear

[Kanfuzed123]

So posting for traffic really but I’m starting to get angry and a bit worried. I can’t get a smear at the GP, they won’t give me an appointment. I’m calling every morning at 8 but by the time I get through all appointments are gone.

I will complain but I’ve not had one since 2018 due to pregnancy and I’ve been trying to book one for 4 months and I just can’t. No other GP in the area will take us on as ‘we’re out of the catchment area’. What else can I do to make sure I get the screening?

@Merryoldgoat My GP surgery is brilliant. This kind of appointment I can make myself online. It takes a minute. But they have always been very forward-looking.

You need to go private I am afraid. NHS will take 5 years gap f you dont have HPV. A lot can go wrong with bodies during 5 years. Get it sorted privately for peace of mind.

You need to go in there and refuse to leave until you get an appointment. Demand to speak to whoever is in charge. Don't be a doormat.

@UnshakenNeedsStirring she does not need to go private. Ridiculous suggestion.

I’ve said I’ve got letters and everything, it’s just ridiculous. I’ve not as of yet turned up because I’m on mat leave so I’d have to drag my 2 kids there too and it takes 17 times longer to get up and out of the house with 2, but I will.

i asked them if there was another service and they said no, the only clinic around me is the under 25 one (which I am not sadly) and the main sexual health clinic is in the city centre about 30 mins away, which again, really difficult to get to and tbh I didn’t know they did smears

If you have had a letter and you cannot arrange an appointment in the usual manner , write , fairly formally, to the practice manager requesting a solution.

Why is it ridiculous to be able to look after your health and have peace of mind?

So take them, I'm on my 2nd mat leave its not that hard. I bet you made it to the docs when the baby's jabs were due. This is just as important. Do it today.

That's odd, it's the nurse that should do it so it shouldn't be an emergency appointment that you have to call for every day.

pop in to the surgery and just explain it. When I asked for an appointment for mine, the receptionist immediately went to "you have to call" and I said i need a smear and she said thats different and booked it.

Depends where the OP is. Wales and Scotland are every 5 years but England and NI are still every 3 years.

I agree. On-the-day calls are for on-the-day GP appointments. Either OP is not being clear or the receptionist is at fault.

It's surely easier to drop an email to the practice manager than to turn up moaning at the same receptionist who answered the phone. Just send an email and ask them to call you back with an appointment.

She will be put on a whole different pathway if she says she has symptoms.

a smear is not diagnostic.

on childcare.co.uk there are people who will look after your kids for free whilst you have your smear test, perhaps worth contacting one of those?

I think you'll have to go in and tell them you are overdue and need it doing. Maybe they only have one nurse who is trying to do everything? it does seem very odd. And the MN mantra is that it's a screening test, not a diagnostic test so saying you have to have symptoms is plainly inaccurate, so I'd pull them up on that anyway.

My GP have a separate clinic for smear tests and you can phone and make an appointment about 2-3 weeks ahead. It is the one thing that seems to operate very efficiently!

I usually have to wait 8 weeks for a smear appointment when I book, why can’t they just book you in advance? Ringing in the morning for an appointment is surely for a more urgent appointment? The receptionist is being an arse and this is why people don’t go for smears!
Can you book via your app? Mine has a smear test option for an appointment
Failing this, you need to take it further with the practice manager!

I second the pp who said it’s a poorly managed surgery. Mines not great but I can get a smear ffs.

Why do toy have to fing at 8am? That's usually for a same-day appointment with a GP.

You need to pre-book a smear with a practice nurse, not a GP.

That’s absolutely bizarre. It sounds like your practice haven’t trained their receptionists properly. Sorry to be patronising but are you definitely explaining clearly to the receptionist that you are overdue for a smear and you’ve received letters from NHS England inviting you to make an appointment for one? Or can you book it online? Whether or not you have symptoms is completely irrelevant (in fact if you had symptoms you’d need to see a GP surely?)

I find this so frustrating - there’s been a huge drive to try to encourage women to take up the offer of cervical screening. GP surgeries should be making it as easy as possible. My surgery isn’t perfect but to be fair they do make it incredibly easy to get cervical screening! I agree with others that you may need to write to the practice manager.

No, the point is that she’s due for an NHS smear and has had letters from NHS England inviting her to book one, but she can’t.

I think it's the receptionists who can make or break a doctors surgery. The doctors at mine are all excellent, the receptionists not so much. Recently I had to call 3 times about a certain issue, I spoke to 3 different receptionists and each one gave me a completely different response.

Don't do this- once you have symptoms you shouldn't be offered a smear- you'll need referral for a colposcopy

Our Doctors isn't great but it's the nurse that does the smear test's at our's. No matter what time of day I ring if I tell them I need to make an appointment for a smear they can get me in within the next few weeks. The nurse has a few times slot's each week specifically for smear test's. Phoning in the morning is to get an appointment for that week.

It sounds like the receptionist doesn’t know what they are talking about.

A routine smear, as others have said, you should be able to call in the afternoon to get an appointment.

If they fob you off again ask to speak to the practice manager.

I'm currently on a waitlist for my smear and have been for about a month (without any timescale for how long it will take). I've never had problems booking one before apart from this time , I've been told I will be contacted when I'm next to have one