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?!

screenshot that and email it to the GP and the practice manager?

I agree this excludes anyone who doesn't have or not able to use the internet which is hugely wrong
Conversely my local twat mp Julian Lewis refuses to accept emails, its quill and parchment only if you need to contact him
He has been warned by a parliamentary committee that he cannot do this but nothing has changed
Accepts emails from his colleagues of course but not from pleb constituents

And that is the compromise whereby everyone benefits.

As opposed to introducing a system that discriminates against a wide range of people on the basis of age, physical and mental disability, economic hardship, educational issues.

The sort of people in society that a GP should care about and for which, in the event they don't give a shiny shit, we have laws to prevent.

Getting a GPs appt is like winning lottery.
Really why is it so hard!
Ours do econsult but you can also phone up.
Econsult form takes forever asks loads of irrelevent questions, repeats same questions then frequently defaults to go to A and E/ phone an ambulance when you know you dont need to. So you go back change your answers -48 hours later surgery acknowledges form , 24-48 hours after that the GP phones back ( which can be anytime between 8.30-6) if you miss the call you have to repeat the process.
You can still phone for an appt but have to start at 7.59 am and repeat diall until you get a line then your number 30 in the queue, and line is prone to discounting, by the time you get to speak to someone all appts all gone try again tomorrow.

Prescriptions also drive me batty now its paperless, if you see a GP he wont hand you a prescription it goes to your named pharmacy - which for me is the one convenient for repeat prescriptions but its not convenient when im actually at the surgery.
So drive 20 mins to pharmacy , then queue only to be told its takes 48 hours to dispense after prescription is sent through! Used to be able to leave GPs clutching paper prescription go next door to phagmacy and leave with medicine 10 mins later and start taking it immediately- sadly not anymore!!

No online booking system at all at my GP.

Wish there was.

Blimey that's awful. I hope mine never goes like this. You can ring and book OR pop in and book OR book online. What about people who don't have the internet? How ridiculous!

E Consult works well so long as they respond quickly. 48 hours is too slow. At my practice you can still phone the reception direct for children and for elderly people who can't use the internet. It also allows you to send an E Consult when they are closed which is a good thing.
If you get the message about it not being safe to continue on E Consult, you can phone reception for a same day slot/referral to wherever.
It massively cuts down on hanging on the phone and enables the most acute cases to be given the same day slots efficiently.

we have had e consult for a while … I love it - I often get a response or phone call to book an appointment within hours … however we can still phone up for an appointment .

there has to be an option for the vulnerable

bundle them all together and post them back saying that you can't get an appointment and you are just hoping you're ok?

my mum used to be ok with computers, early adopter and so on. But she's 83 now and she is now much less able to handle the internet etc. Luckily her GP practice will take calls from her and other elderly patients

Ours disabled online booking at the start of covid and hasn't started it up again. You need to call at 8am and hope you get through before all (telephone) appointments are gone for the day. Then if you speak to someone and they feel a face to face appointment is necessary, they'll book one in.

It's not working.

I fear I'm going to get shot down for this but here we go...

I'm a GP Practice Manager at a surgery where we have recently introduced an e- consult only model.
The reason it is becoming so wide spread is that the government issued a new contract to GPs this April stating that they needed to respond to all patient contacts the same day. The only feasible way to safely do that is through a single point of contact. All queries or requests are triaged and dealt with as they arrive. If we reach our clinically safe capacity for the day, we have to switch the form off and direct patients to 111 (this is rare).
Our phone lines remain open and the digitally excluded can call (and get through now that phone lines are not jammed!) and we will complete the form on their behalf but they will still go through the same system.
The majority of patients really like the new system as they get a fast, appropriate response and our GPs time is being much better spent seeing patients who require their time and expertise rather than people whose needs could easily have been met by an alternative service eg pharmacy.

Mine haven't done this for appointments but they have done it for prescriptions. And they only let you use the online stuff if you have a passport or a driving licence or passport. Which neither me or my dc have. Repeat prescriptions are ok because I can get boots to order them for me and just collect. But the GP has decided that dc4's chronic medical condition isn't chronic any more. So I have to go 2 miles to the Dr surgery, fill in a form and then go back in a week to get the meds. Massive pain in the neck, especially during school holidays when I have dc with disabilities in tow.

Ours uses e consult and honestly I think it's a massive improvement. No more having to redial the phone 128 times at 8am! I start work at 7am so it was near impossible for me to phone when I needed to.

I've always been contacted within a few hours offered appointments on the same day if needed.

@Viktorella What about those people without the internet? (Many people over 75 don't have it.) Or is this the idea, to exclude and brush off older people who you feel take up too much time?

If you turn up to our drs surgery and ask to book an appointment you are told you can't. You can phone so people just now phone while standing in front of the receptionist - its mad

A few years ago GP friend was telling me about problems with patients who spoke little or no English. If lucky they had a family member who could translate , occasionally a translator had to be found. E consult must be an extra challenge.

I think we must be registered with the same surgery.
DH tried to get an appointment for a lump for 8 months; in the end we went private. Fortunately it wasn’t cancer and we could afford to pay. But what about people who can’t?

The trouble with this is when they contact you 'within 48 hours' but you can't pick the phone up (eg working) and miss out and have to start again. I don't agree it's an 'appointment' if they don't tell you when they'll phone and would rather wait longer and have a concrete plan. I don't always want to pick the phone up and have a private or serious consultation where I can be overheard or while driving .

It was a pain having to phone at a set time to get an appointment, so it's good to log on, but I can't stay in for two days waiting for them to get back to me.

More than a bit ignorant
My mum used to use a computer a lot, buying, selling, social media, emails but alzheimers means she has completely forgotten how to but she's still otherwise capable of many things and lives a very active life.

That's how my doctors surgery did things during covid. Now you have to call at 8am to be told All the appointments gone, call back tomorrow. Every day until you either get better alone or die.

As I said, anyone who is digitally excluded (including the elderly) can call and we will complete the form on their behalf. Why would a surgery run by doctors whose sole purpose is to care for and improve the health of their patients deliberately try to exclude any body?!

I had to give up recently as it was bad enough trying to take calls at work but then my phone sent them straight to voicemail and they gave up on me.

Our GP surgery has a tablet in the waiting room so that anyone without access at home can do the e consult in the surgery with assistance as needed .

Why indeed?!

My mum is 78. She could no sooner book an appointment online than fly to the moon.

She does not have internet, a smartphone, laptop, tablet, any of it. She will not be the only one.