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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Refused doctors appointment - so annoyed

207 replies

hopelessmeringue · 20/12/2022 09:10

bit of a rant here but I could bloody scream.

The doctors surgery was closed most of last week and the previous week and were only seeing emergency appointments due to sickness. I phoned on Wednesday and Thursday at 8.30 and all the appointments were gone. Asked if I could book in advance but no that’s not possible, it’s only on the day and there’s no advance booking. Phoned on friday and there were appointments but the receptionist said she will pass along my information to the doctor and they will just send a prescription to the chemist. I said I really would prefer to have an appointment instead, and that I don’t mind if it’s with the paramedic, nurse, doctor etc but they said no that’s not possible because it’s a problem I’ve had for years so they can treat me without seeing or speaking to me. It’s a pre existing condition that has been at bay for the last few years and now is starting again, so I would like an appointment rather than just a prescription of something I had 3 years ago. She completely refused to make me an appointment and said the doctor will send a prescription straight to the pharmacy. Unfortunately with Christmas etc, I won’t actually get the prescription now until it reopens after Christmas as the pharmacy don’t even have it yet and it usually takes 2-3 days for them to receive it from the doctor, then 3-4 days for them to make and check it. I asked if I could collect a paper copy for the chemist myself but that’s not possible either. Eventually she just hung up and I tried to phone back to speak to someone else and couldn’t get through. I tried to phone again today to check it’s gone to the chemist and also to ask again to see someone but still haven’t got through.

AIBU to be frustrated by this? I’ve taken the last week off work to try and get an appointment and I don’t have any more leave now until April. I genuinely have no idea what to do! I know I’ll get the prescription at the chemist after Christmas but it’s a condition that hasn’t always been easy to control and I wanted to actually speak to someone about it as it’s been at bay for a few years and now it’s starting again. And if it doesn’t work and i do end up needing an appointment it’s going to be a nightmare getting it off work- I’ll have to start the calling on the day thing all over again and it could take days to actually get through and get one.

I could bloody scream

OP posts:

helford · 31/12/2022 17:14

Theheartmustpausetobreathe · 31/12/2022 12:46

@helford - Time wasters, i m friends with a recently retired GP, this is what he says, look at the waste with 999 calls?

Also, e consult still takes up considerable time.

I'm not sure I understand the point here - is the suggestion that there are people endlessly redialling surgeries for no reason ? They've no reason to be ringing and aren't put off by the effort of trying to get through ?

I'm sure e consult takes up a lot of time and has to be triaged .Also sure you're correct about shortage of staff .
E consult is quite a thing for many to navigate but surely helps with a fairer distribution of scarce resources than the lottery of daily ringing ?
But I suppose using e consult puts more of a burden on already breaking GP's .Ringing every day might lessen that but to me it then puts more of a burden on those who are not well and didn't choose the life of being a patient .The stress of which they can't manage by confining to a part time week .And yes I do know that GP's nominally working part time hours are in fact putting in a whole working week .

He meant that if you allowed direct access to GPs via email (which is what a pp suggested) he feels it would be abused, we talked about this a while ago.

We have a website (system on line) that allows non urgent booking of appointments or it did, not used it for a while, i know during covid it stopped doing them.

SnowlayRoundabout · 31/12/2022 17:58

Shivermytimber · 31/12/2022 09:32

“ there were appointments but the receptionist would not give one”

There are limited appointments and these will have been saved for people who were struggling to breath, had infections that were becoming septic and babies who were so ill they were no longer feeding. Elderly people who’s infections had caused delirium, people who had fallen and sustained head injuries, abdominal pain that had them curled up and struggling to walk. Chest pain that could have been a heart attack. . “
These are the kind of things that make it through to me as a clinician and even to see all those on the day we have no lunch, stay late and juggle lists that are not safe.
A&E has collapsed ( 26 hour wait yesterday) so we are now the front line emergency service.
so yes, I understand you want to see a clinician but at the moment if you are unlikely to immediately die from your condition we simply have no capacity. Trust me, we hate this as much as you. This is not what we signed up for either.

But some surgeries - for instance the one I go to - do offer the facility to make appointments for non-urgent conditions several days or even weeks in advance - which was all that OP needed. And it would make sense to offer it to her, because otherwise she risks her condition becoming unnecessarily serious and therefore needing much more treatment than would otherwise be the case.

CrazyLadie · 08/03/2023 17:12

BrewandBiscuit · 20/12/2022 09:44

Completely awful service! I called for an appointment yesterday. Got my appointment and my prescription was immediately sent to the chemist next door where I collected it. Your doctors sound appalling! Was the receptionist medically trained??

Same with my Dr, if I need meds urgently they call ot through to the chemist then I get a text feom the pharmacy an hour or so later to say its ready, its not right next door,

CrazyLadie · 08/03/2023 17:13

MandyMotherOfBrian · 20/12/2022 09:49

Has your GP practice got a website? If they have then there may be a separate phone line for the prescription team - I’ve had to call and ask them to prioritise medication before when I’ve had none left and they have done so.

If you are on regular meds and run the pharmacy can give you a few days worth to tide ya over till ya get new prescription

CrazyLadie · 08/03/2023 17:17

HowcanIhelp123 · 20/12/2022 11:11

It's ridiculous at the moment. I have to get hayfever tablets from my GP as OTC doesn't touch it. I get 28 days worth in a pack and a week before I run out I submit a new repeat request, they have to approve and send to pharmacy.

This summer I submitted a request, a week later I was on the last of my meds and it still hadn't been approved. I called and they told me they were too busy for repeats and I needed to give them 14 working days notice! I pointed out thats 3 weeks notice for 28 days worth of medication, so I'd have to request a new one as soon as I got it!

I asked if I could get bigger packs (e.g. 2/3 months in one go) and they said no because it was controlled and I should only be asking for a new months if I was still experiencing symptoms 🤔. I'm sorry but what is the difference between you giving me 2 months worth in one go, and me submitting a request as soon as I pick the first months up because you now require at least 14 working days notice?!?

After getting put through to someone higher up I left the phone call with an emergency approval for my repeat with 2 months worth of tablets.

Ya can ask for a CMS prescription which is sent to the Oharmacy annually and they dispense as per Dr orders. This means ya don't have to faff about and its less time consuming for the Dr etc.

CrazyLadie · 08/03/2023 17:26

Shadope · 23/12/2022 01:46

I phoned on Wednesday and Thursday at 8.30 and all the appointments were gone

not that clear. But also if you’re this aggressive then maybe they’re not wanting to go out of their way to help you. Being polite gets you better results

Not always!! I called Dr one day and said I was struggling with energy and the pinks of my eyes were very light, as I'd had iron many many years ago receptionist said she would organise a repeat prescription. I said no due to have blood tested to be put on another medication few months previously. I argued and argued and argued with her as I knew I didn't need iron, she finally relented and got a Dr to call me, I was 100% correct and did not need iron, the meds I had been given previously can kill me and any new news need to be checked and often my blood too before new meds can be added. I could have died cause some idiot thought she knew better than me just by looking at meds I had a long time ago and that os not OK

MrsTag · 08/03/2023 17:28

ZOMBIE THREAD!

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