Apparently you can no longer call the GP to book a GP appointment.

[AngeloMysterioso]

You now HAVE to book online, and it HAS to be through the website and NOT the app.

I found that out the hard way today when I tried to book an appointment for my son, the app said none available so I rang up and waited half an hour on the phone to get through to reception, who told me I had to book it online.

You make a request and they’ll get back you within 48 hours.

AIBU to think that’s bloody ridiculous?!

Yes - but the charge varies from say £20 for an online consultation to £120 plus for a face to face one.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

I've had this over and over and over again..

No one will see you for anything.

What's happened?.

@Royaly82 by 10!!

Ours you have to be in the queue as it hits 8.30 to even be in with a chance to get a phone call and that's only after the receptionist has asked intimate questions

I filled an e-consult for my elderly Mum the other week. Included my mobile number but didn't hear anything within 48 hours so chased it up. Got a text message to say it would be triaged about a week later by the GP. The original text message went to my Mum's mobile. When I logged onto the Patient Access App they had arranged an appointment on the date it was supposed to be triaged.

How is this supposed to work if you are old or incapacitated? My Mum has dementia and it's been a bloody nightmare trying to navigate it for her at a distance.

I only seem to get any sense from this particular practice when I go in and arrange things face to face.

Yes there are. I discovered this a couple of years ago when I was told that there was a 10 week wait to see a GP at my surgery.
I did some research on Google and got an appointment the next morning for 60 pounds.

I agree with you. It is better than having to speak to a receptionist who has no medical knowledge and allocates slots on a 'first come, first served basis'.
My practice was an early adopter and I agree, because everyone is using E Consult at a time which suits them, those who need to telephone, can more easily get through and be dealt with appropriately.
48 hours is okay for routine stuff but they need to triage and sift out the more urgent stuff which the E Consult questionnaire allows.
I like that it asks what you hope to achieve i.e. what you want the outcome to be. Questions are a bit repetitive though and could be fine tuned, so I do a full spiel and then cut and paste to make it less frustrating.
The best thing is when you send an E Consult in on a Sunday afternoon and you get a phone call the next morning telling you to a/b/c...=result.

Not everyone owns a computer, nor wants to.

I'm thinking of my mum's friend, who is about 85. She is an ex-teacher, and is very competent at life skills, but has never had a computer. If she is ill (and being in her 80s, of course she is ill sometimes) what would she do? Struggle out to the library or somewhere (maybe on a bus) in the hope they could help her book a GP appointment? That's if the library is even open.

Next you'll be telling us that 15 years ago people should have foreseen that normal activities like making a GP appointment would require you to have a computer and got themselves future-proofed.

So they are all on the day appointments - that's crazy.

So what if you need a follow up in two weeks - you have to go through the same process of calling on that day two weeks later?

Yes, we have private gp's that cost an arm and a leg, (excuse the pun).

We also have the out of hours service and NHS 111 which are usually a waste of time. Out of hours will call you and try sorting your problem out over the phone and 111 direct you to urgent care or A&E

Bloody useless!

Juniper 111, I've no idea, about this letter, I imagine that NHS, direct would be emailed by surgery to confirm I was a patient there. Ironically I actually worked for the NHS nursing for about 30 years,so I know my way around a lot of the pitfalls, but have never managed to get an appointment online. The NHS site, said I last logged on in May 2022, I have managed to book both flu and COVID jabs no problems . The surgery site takes you to "patient plus", THEN my surgery say that they don't use that site.

Its this level of ignorance and disablism that results in large parts of the population being excluded from essential services and paying premiums for basics.

Home computers in the UK only became widespread about 20 years ago and even then, women in particular tended to be excluded from their use in households.

Smart phones have only become widespread in the last 10-15 years.

The design of most apps and websites is shockingly bad, despite waves of legislation (including many government sites which don't even work unless you have the latest smartphones/OS).

If you have any kind of disability or functional learning problem at any age many are difficult to use. Guess which people are most likely to need regular interaction with healthcare? Guess which people are most likely to have old and outdated tech if they have it at all?

I’m not sure why the Walk In GP surgeries have closed down. I only used them when my husband was having sudden chest pains but they were a great resource.

I’ve been trying to contact my GP for a while now (including today). They close e consult when they are full and I sent a message through admin means who said it’s basically first come first serve from 8am. Not ideal when I need some advice now! 111 online is just as useless

There are just more people wanting GP appointments than GP appointments available so each practice has their own system of rationing the appointments. We still use phones as computers benefit those at least need of appointments and that way those most ill and frail are more likely to get an appointment.

The majority have closed as not enough doctors and nurses to staff them.

A surgery local to me has a new system where you have to fill in a form online and they'll get back to you if they deem you suitable for an appointment. Housebound/terminally ill are allowed to ring the surgery, those who aren't and cannot use the online service have to physically go into the surgery and fill in a form. They only accept a certain number of applications per day. It's crazy!

Normal to close the system when too many people have made a request so that they can have a chance of giving appointments either online or virtually. It helps manage expectations as to how quickly you can have an appointment.

Our surgery used E consult during covid then stopped. Lots of elderly here. Now receptionist ask questions. I had cystitis so needed treatment I'd done three days on sachets still not cleared, but not a GP a nurse is fine. Nurse phoned back prescription at chemist. That's great.

I've seen patients throwing a hissy fit in reception because they categorically refused to see a nurse. I've seen a nurse who called in the GP there and then when I went in with a hot boob with red lines running through it. This during lockdown.

That is how mine works too apart from the closing it, if they get too many. I don't believe my practice does that. You can send the E Consults in when they are closed. They then triage them appropriately to their workload which is the beauty of this system.
Still don't provide blood test results easily on an App or email though which is the main change I would welcome.

My 17 year old moved to the Uk and hopefully tried to register for an appointment but he needed a letter which never came so he popped down to ask the receptionist what to do. After five minutes of being screamed at he left and won’t try again. Which is causing all sorts of issues because he went for mental health and learning difficulties. But he just couldn’t log in and I can’t see him asking a friend to help. I wonder if I should look for a private GP, but the private psych we tried first was really really disorganised. Never did get the assessments he did.

“We can't safely assess your symptoms through this online request. You need to talk to someone today instead.

Yes I've had exactly that , our surgery must use the same system.

My GP surgery in Portsmouth is fine IF you can manage to get an appointment, but even though I'm retired it isn't always possible to phone at 0800hrs prompt in the morning to try to get an appointment. As the surgery is only quarter of a mile away from my home I find it easier to walk there and speak to the receptionist in person, to avoid having to go through the rigmarole of online Q&A before they decide whether or not you can see a GP or not.

I still have to give the receptionist my full name & adress, date of birth but it's much easier to explain anything to a real live person ratherthan a machine.

Only time I really try to phone in is if my angina is giving my gyp, in which case the walk to and from the surgery is too much for me. It does get frustrating at times when you want to see a GP !

Really? And what if you have a disability that makes using them difficult Poor sight, arthritis in hands or learning difficulties etc.

Or no money to pay for smartphone or Internet. Easy for everyone on here as we all connected and know how to use the net but not for everyone

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan i know exactly what you mean. I was a teacher until this September, and have been told many times by the receptionist to just “step outside of the classroom and answer the phone”. I’ve gone mad explaining that I can’t just leave the classroom unattended for a start, nor do I feel like discussing my private medical issues in the school corridor. Then I was told to just arrange someone to sit with the class, to which I burst out laughing because you’re not allowed an appointment time, just a vague “we’ll call you some time this afternoon”. We had a 25 minute lunch break, I’d request a call then if possible and without fail they’d ring me back at 2pm in time for the next lesson starting.

I once found a lump, told reception who booked me a telephone slot, only for the GP to ask me to come in that afternoon because obviously she needed to actually see and feel the lump. Common sense has apparently gone out the window!

It’s a shit system in my experience.
I have elderly, poorly, parents and it is a nightmare to get to see a gp.The online form you have to fill in is shit, they are ‘open’ to receive phone calls at weird hours and then say you have to fill a form in and when you may have an ‘urgent’ problem they begrudgingly fill it in whilst you are on the Phone and maybe in the next day or two a gp phones and asks for pictures - it is shit. we have been asked to just go to a&e by the receptionist and a&e staff then scold you for turning up there - it’s shit. Sorry to use bad language but we are weary, worn and sad at ❤️