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?!

With our surgery (surrey) you can't make an appointment. Everyone has to phone at 8am or at least before 10am to be seen later that day

You sound nice.

My sister has learning difficulties due to being starved of oxygen at birth. She's also blind. She doesn't want to share her medical details with someone who would need to fill out an online form on her behalf.

My 101 year old MIL was in her 70s when computers became mainstream and had no interest or capacity to learn.

GPs need to cater for everyone.

Same with my doctors . Dont get me wrong - econsult has worked for me just fine in the past. Doc told me last week to make appointment to discuss some results / asthma test thing. Guess what? - Econsult!! So i had to piss about describing symptoms i dont have , just to get a follow up. Bloody Annoying

God, are there really people that think like this................... I despair!

I thinks it’s brilliant, far far better than the old phone system. I used to spend 30-60 minutes on hold from 8am only to be told all the appointments had gone. Sometimes days and days on repeat til we finally got an appointment. Now I fill out the online request any time of day, it only takes a couple of minutes. Then all the requests are read by a medical professional who prioritises the requests. If it’s urgent the Dr calls the same day or a face to face appointment is given. If it’s less urgent I get a text telling me I have a phone appointment in 2-3 days time. I hope they never return to the old system.

Ours has moved to partly this. It’s handy that you can have message and request something simple with no face to face appointment eg antibiotics for a UTI. But a pain re appointments as you can’t be very specific on timings and for example I have a 90 min commute so they will allocate something totally undoable and tou have to go back to them to ask again for a better time. Hopefully it will evolve and get better over time.

Are there private GP's in the UK? Like GP clinics where you can phone and make a same day appointment if needed with no drama? How much do they cost? Free GP sounds great in theory but reading through this thread has me thinking it's not worth it.

My DM was blind. Presumably she should have just gone without healthcare because she was unable to use a computer. Yes she was a lot younger when computers became widespread but as she got older she struggled with a lot of things due to anxiety. Jesus, some people are thoughtless 🙄

We have access to both via health insurance

I check NHS first and usually get it quickly, eg same day, but have used private a couple of times

Whenever i have done the econsult its said to ring the dr for an appointment

i rang at 8 this morning and was 25th in the queue, by the time i got to number 1 there were no appointments available for this week

its a lottery

A really really shit lottery

I ende duo with a burst eardrum, from an ear infection, due to this system at my Drs. Fill in a form. 48 hour min return time. They text you with a call. They then decide if you need to be seen. Simple conditions will end up serious.

That’s really mean . What if you have Parkinson’s or eyesight problems or dementia or many other ailments which mean you can’t use or access a computer . My parents were lucky as I had POA and did everything for them . Some are not so lucky so let’s just dismiss their needs shall we ?

I am just lucky I still have a GP, we were told they were closing down and we would be contacted, other GPs were told not to take on any of our surgeries patients about 4,000 of us as they wanted to manage any migration, found out last week they are now not closing which is good as planning permission for over a 1,000 new homes in the catchment area has just been approved

Ours is completely the opposite, @AngeloMysterioso - we used to have the choice of booking in person, over the phone or online, and I found that booking online was the easiest way to do it - I could see the times available, and book straight away - but now they have removed the online booking option, so it’s back to phoning and hoping to get through.

I think that all options should be available.

Because there are more people wanting appointments than there are available. Excellent GP’s like my DH (25 years as a GP) have now left working in the Uk as the NHS has been destroyed by the Tories.

Yes, they all work for the NHS!

I Have an issue at the moment that I am really concerned about. I can't get an appointment without a phone consultation. For reasons too long to go into I don't want my husband to know just now. He is already stressed beyond belief and I don't want to add any more. We are retired and always together at home so a phone call doesn't work for me currently as I can't talk privately. If I could get an appointment I could always say I'm meeting a friend. I don't know what to do.

I haven’t needed to go to the Doctors for a long time, fortunately, so I have no idea if the system has changed or not but I might email to ask because when I do want to go, I want to know how far in advance I need to plan to be ill to get an appointment.

Mine is the opposite, they refuse to use Patient Access and you have to phone them at 8am to get an appointment. You also can't visit the surgery to make an appointment, they won't do that either. Once you actually get to see the doctors they're lovely, but I don't like the practice setup.

Yes there are.

The one I've used previously charges £45 for a phone consult , £70 for a 10 minute face to face and £90 for a half hour face to face.

You do get private prescriptions though and they cost to fill.

There are loads where I live. I admit I use one but I’m never sure if they’re part of the solution or part of the problem. But my surgery has no appointments so 🤷‍♀️.

Just curious as I live overseas. My FIL age 97, lives by himself in the UK. We have a lot of trouble getting any info from him but he's fine. However he doesn't use a computer or mobile phone so how does he contact the GP?

@DoraSpenlow that's a tricky situation to be in. Could you email the practice manager, see if they can help? Best of luck.

Re private GP services, some life insurance policies come with access to free GP consultations. Especially policies taken out in the last few years. It's worth checking your policy to see if this is bundled in with it.

@TheBarbieEffect
So who knew euthanasia was a consequence of not learning to use a computer because you have special needs. Well we all know where your sympathies lie.

It's good that the option is there though. I'd find it really stressful to not be able to get an appointment when needed. I guess you can use the NHS for non-urgent plan in advance things but know there's a backup for when you really need to see someone today.