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Original poster

To think it’s disgusting you just can’t get a gps appointment these days

156 replies

Perimeopausepip · 30/01/2023 09:44

Been in the phone since 8 am trying to get an appointment
first 10/15 mins I couldn’t even get in the queue the phone would just say unable to connect you please try later …. Wtf

then 15 mins later was able to get in the queue
15 person in the queue
so 30 mins wait then to be told no there no appointments at all
all I can get is a phone call from there partnership
in the evening

when I said I really want a face to face with any dr as my face is swollen
just got told sorry no we don’t have any … and that if I get a phone call this evening and then they want to see me they will book it then ….

its just so fuckign shit

OP posts:
BlackFriday · 30/01/2023 18:37

@DorisParchment That is horrific. I'm so sorry.

Confuzzlediddled · 30/01/2023 18:37

Depends on your surgery, I contacted my gp's last Monday morning about a breast lump, was seen that afternoon and had a call on Tuesday to make an appointment at the breast clinic. Was seen (and given the all clear) on Sunday.

Yfory · 30/01/2023 18:38

What time do they open the phone lines and what time did you start calling?
Ours opens at 8am - essential to be trying to get through from 8am. Having got in the queue......... probably a 20-25minute wait for a receptionist. If I wait until 8:05 to call........... too late. The queue will be too long by then.

soboredtonight · 30/01/2023 18:40

In my experience getting a gp appointment has only became A problem in the last two years. Pre covid I had no issue.

I don't understand what's changed? Are there less doctors?

Minimochi · 30/01/2023 18:41

I called ours this morning at about 8.30am for an appointment. Had the appointment at 10.10am. Saw GP, left the surgery by 10.20am with a sick note...
There weren't many people there, either. Only one other person in the waiting room.
It's the similar with OOA here as well. Doesn't take long to get seen. I can get a same-day appointment with the pediatrician without any problems. My gynaecologist tries to organise appointments as quickly as possible, even before their official opening times. The only one I've now had to wait for for around 6 weeks is appointment with a specialist surgeon I've been referred to. It's not a time sensitive surgery, though.

We don't live in the UK anymore...but still have public health insurance.

Minimochi · 30/01/2023 18:42

Out of hours...not sure where the A came from...

MarshaBradyo · 30/01/2023 18:47

Confuzzlediddled · 30/01/2023 18:37

Depends on your surgery, I contacted my gp's last Monday morning about a breast lump, was seen that afternoon and had a call on Tuesday to make an appointment at the breast clinic. Was seen (and given the all clear) on Sunday.

It really does. We can get them same day

LovedFedAndNoonesDead · 30/01/2023 18:47

Thatiswild · 30/01/2023 09:50

They’ll call you tonight and if they need to see you they will. They keep appointments for this reason, try not to panic.

It’s all very well saying that the ‘partnership’ will call and, if they want to see you, they’ll allocate you an appointment - it may not be at the OP’s surgery meaning it stops being a quick trip down the road but may become a major journey. Once our surgery is closed, the nearest hub to be seen is an almost 60 mile round trip and, due to issues with driving in the dark, I’d have no way of getting there in the evening.

Davros · 30/01/2023 18:54

No problem here but you go through an online process and phone call first which can result in an appointment the same day (an hour later recently) or other response.

verdantverdure · 30/01/2023 19:34

soboredtonight · 30/01/2023 18:40

In my experience getting a gp appointment has only became A problem in the last two years. Pre covid I had no issue.

I don't understand what's changed? Are there less doctors?

Yes. There are fewer doctors.

Pre covid was also pre the end of the Brexit transition period.

Some never came here because of Brexit or left because they were not given leave to remain or because their partners or families weren't, their other half not qualifying for our points based immigration system. Some left or never came because felt unwelcome in our xenophobic society.

Some died of covid. Some have long covid. Some have caring responsibilities now, such as a child with long covid or a parent with dementia.

Some are traumatised by what they went through during covid and have left.

Some have left because of the scapegoating of doctors by our government.

Jeremy Hunt said the NHS needed a long term workforce plan back when he was Health Secretary under David Cameron five Prime Ministers ago, but they did nothing and so here we are.

JaffaMCCakey · 30/01/2023 19:41

I called on Friday and had a phone appointment booked for today between 3-5pm. No-one has called me I’ve been glued to my phone for over 4 hours so I don’t miss the call and nothing. I’m so down about it this is like the last straw. I called the surgery at 5:55 and was told if I don’t here anything I will have to phone back for a new appointment 🥲

soboredtonight · 30/01/2023 19:44

@verdantverdure thank you. Appreciated.

As an aside I called my gp receptionist, was 12th or 13th in the queue. Ended up going over there was it's not far and I hadn't moved position in twenty mins. I went in there and I had the phone connected and I was still in the same position when I got there.

Went straight the front desk as there was no one in there waiting the three of them were talking about fucking Sharon's back gate and it not being lockable.

Phone wasn't ringing although it might have been flashing I couldn't see, but they literally gave no shits.

Some of the issues in my gp seem to be caused by the reception.

I know they have a difficult job I really do but ffs.

bakewellbride · 30/01/2023 19:47

Our GP can be similar op - it's so annoying! I live a ten min walk from a hospital with an urgent treatment centre and if the GP messes me about when it comes to my kids I just take them straight there instead. Still not great as there's often at least an hours wait just to get triaged but better than nothing.

bakewellbride · 30/01/2023 19:50

Even worse is when they cancel your appt without telling you. Last month I walked with my baby in the buggy for half an hour at a really inconvenient time only to be told they 'had to cancel my appt and that I need to go home'. Ffs! I asked why they couldn't have phoned and I just got an excuse, they didn't know then blah blah. So an hours round trip for nothing. They are useless.

verdantverdure · 30/01/2023 19:52

That would drive me crackers @soboredtonight

To think it’s disgusting you just can’t get a gps appointment these days
soboredtonight · 30/01/2023 19:58

@verdantverdure they cancelled my blood pressure appointment and changed it to a telephone one. I asked them how that would work and they said it's all there is. So I accepted so I could explain to the doctor and he never called. They have no common sense.

GooseberryCinnamonYogurt · 30/01/2023 20:00

It's disgusting. Ever since the pandemic began the gp's appear to be on a go slow, I sympathise with you. I'm as fed up with it as you are.

Lapland123 · 30/01/2023 20:01

You’ve got a phone appointment today

there are not enough gps for the ageing and fat population we have become

Legrandetraitor · 30/01/2023 20:05

Blame all the morons who waste F2F appts by 1) not cancelling them and just not showing up 2) time wasting for minor shit like ingrown toe nails or a multitude of things that a pharmacist could deal with

I’ve lost so much sympathy though because you’re saying you have other issues to discuss which isn’t the point of the Gp you’re not supposed to go and unload several things at once. Also because yes you could have taken antihistamines for a week

people have contributed to this by general fuckwittery

XenoBitch · 30/01/2023 20:09

Mine is the same. Have to call first thing at 8am to hope for an appointment. Kinda takes the piss when you get a text from them asking you to book one to start with.
At last there is the vague option for a telephone appointment. Don't get me started on dentists. None at all here.

Legrandetraitor · 30/01/2023 20:09

Also this isn’t a sudden facial swelling it’s been swollen for a week - sending a photo and phone call sounds fine

StickofVeg · 30/01/2023 20:26

I agree it's awful OP. Honestly for the last 3 years on the very rare occasion I needed to see a GP I've gone private and just paid. They are busy, but you can usually get to see someone face to face on the same day so worth it if you are really unwell. I then went to the surgery as I was called for a smear test and she saw from my notes I was no longer seeing the doctor there, I explained that as I couldn't get through I had to go private as I was in pain. She then said "if you go to another doctor you'll be struck off here". Nice.

Thatiswild · 30/01/2023 20:29

@Perimeopausepip did you manage to speak to anyone and/or see the GP? I hope they do see you face to face and talk through your concerns. You’ve clearly done everything you can to get to this point with speaking to pharmacist etc, I hope you are ok.

XenoBitch · 30/01/2023 20:30

FFS, suggesting to go private is the new let them eat cake.

WolfFoxHare · 30/01/2023 20:32

I’ve lost so much sympathy though because you’re saying you have other issues to discuss which isn’t the point of the Gp you’re not supposed to go and unload several things at once.

@Legrandetraitor
This is such a short-sighted and ignorant attitude. If GPs actually saw people and were happy to discuss several issues, a patient get an appointment because say they’d been feeling really tired lately. Non-urgent and really hard to see someone about at a lot of practices now. But then they might mention in passing ‘I’ve been needing the toilet a lot more recently, I keep feeling bloated….’ Neither of which are major issues in themselves which you might go to the doctor for, but all together this would spell out possible ovarian cancer.

My father repeatedly had telephone consultations with different GPs because he was feeling a bit dizzy, had some breathlessness, and was feeling easily tired - it wasn’t until one of them SAW him in person that they noticed he had clubbing of the fingertips, put together his various complaints by taking the time to take a full patient history and realised he had congestive heart failure. But it was too late because he subsequently died from a heart attack while waiting for a bypass operation. If he’d been seen in person six months earlier for his dizzy spells and had chance to mention the other things, he might still be with us.

So fuck right off with your lack of sympathy and your ‘that’s not what GPs are for’. That’s exactly what GPs are for, because they should have time to treat patients holistically, not as separate unrelated symptoms. It’s not the patients who are to blame.