How important do you think it is to be on time for a GP appt

[Ireolu]

Just that really.

Do you think it is important to turn up on time or early for a GP appt? Do you think you shd still be seen when you are 10 mins or more late for a 10 minute appt.

This is just for adults over 18 not for children. TIA for thoughts.

I'm amazed at the number of people who are convinced it is never ever the fault of a GP that they are running late.

I posted about my GP who dropped her kids off to school daily at exactly the same time the surgery was scheduling her first appointment of the day. She was absolutely not doing anything job related first thing, she just didn't care about running to time and a lot of medical professionals just don't

Because seeing everyone that turns up three or four minutes late delays everyone else.

I’m always on time for an appointment. Wouldn’t be surprised if GP couldn’t see me if I was late as that’s sort of drummed into you. But I think I’d be pissed off because I honestly can’t remember when I’ve had a GP see me at the appointment time and that’s been the case for the 40+ years that I can remember what it was. I expect to wait half an hour or more. I’m pleasantly, but very rarely, surprised if it’s under 20 minutes.

I suspect it’s a lot more to do with the appointment slots the NHS dictates not being long enough, since dealing with people who turn up 3-4 mins late would only lead to a 3-4 minute total delay, and that’s not what people experience.

Considering half the people posting seem to have an infinite amount of free time turn up 15 min or more early, you'd think it would even itself out throughout the day, if it really was about some patients turning up 4 min late

Having been literally unable to get any gp appointment for the last THREE YEARS, I would love to have the opportunity to be on time! Our surgery are utterly useless. DH needs a form signing by the GP. It’s a simple form, no appointment necessary (thankfully 🤦‍♀️) just a signature. They have currently had it 7 weeks. DH calls every day to be told “no, he’s not done it. You’ll have to call tomorrow”. Quite why they think their time is so much more important than anyone else’s is beyond me, but they do.

Always on time.

However every single time without fail, my GP was at least 30 minutes late.

She must always have had emergencies.

1. Have you tried registering with another surgery if they are so useless?

2. 'just a signature' can be a significant legal issue - if the form asks the GP to say that he is fit to do something, they may not be able to (though they should tell you at the start and give you at timescale if they can do it)

I was 40 minutes early for a GP appointment once. Because of train strikes, I'd allowed plenty of time to get there, but the journey was straight forward and on top of that, I'd misread the appointment time, so was double early.
I was the first patient in the building.

It was an early morning appointment and surprisingly I got seen straightaway.

When I've been late on two occasions, I've always called ahead and managed to still be seen.
One appointment I was late by over an hour. Unexpected road closure due to an accident and closest other route shut due to roadworks.
Still got seen even though I'd half given up by then.
I imagined they'd had cancellations and early arrivals who they were able to see first and moved my slot down each time.

NumberTheory but multiply three or four minutes several times (not unusual) and delays soon adds up to longer. Plus dealing with the walk ins who should have gone elsewhere. More time.
Appointment times too are absolutely not long enough.

No, because the people being late delays aren't cumulative. If everyone came in 3 minutes late and that was all that was causing delays, the whole day would just run 3 minutes late.

It's the other stuff that makes it impossible to fit in. For Drs' sanity, presumably someone who is a few minutes late is a good candidate for being skipped to make up some of that other time.

I got to my old GP a few minutes early once due to traffic but by the time I got to the receptionist due to a few people in front of me having weird queries I was “late” and they refused to see me. So I changed surgery!!

So I arrive early, if you can digitally check in at GP I would say as along as you have checked in by your appt time then that's fine.

I don't think you should be seen if you are late

Why not? If there is a delay anyway, or someone else was early and available to be seen in your original slot, why can't they just switch the order?