Has anyone ever just turned up to a GP’s office because they can’t get them on the phone for an aopointment

[Plinkety]

Posting here for traffic. Sorry.

Just that really.

DS needs an appointment quite badly. Certainly can’t send him back to nursery until we know what’s going on. He’s 3. Can never get through on the phone in time for an appointment. They always say phone 111 if we get through later as they are ‘full’.

Don’t want to be an arsehole so wondered if turning up as they open was a reasonable thing to do.

In our GP practice the average wait for the call to be answered is about an hour - surely the receptionist didn't just answer? That would be very unusual.

most people in our village have given up trying to phone for an appointment and just join the queue outside the surgery to make an appointment in person.
I went yesterday just before 8am and long queue already of people doing the same.

This was whilst his temperature was almost 40 and he was terribly listless

That would be a trip to A&E if it were mine.

I discovered last year that you can turn up to make an appointment when they open in the morning. It’s been our default option since then, although we have teenagers, I can see it would be tricky with a sick small child, unless one of you can go and the other stay home. Hope you can get an appointment.

Yes, but it's only 4 days away.

Yes this is the ONLY way I interact with them now.
They are a 10min walk so I just walk over.

it’s improved my stress levels no end as it’s way less frustrating than being no 2 in the queue for a literal hour THEN having to hang up because you have a client meeting.

yesterday at 3 I went in because I need an urgent prescription they hadn’t actioned. I had used the external post box for prescriptions and shared a hospital prescription request but had got filled in a specific gp surgery prescription request form as it’s double yellows with no parking outside so I couldn’t go into the surgery.
they had apparently seen my urgent prescription request (which hospital marked as urgent) and simply scanned it into my medical file without processing or actioning anything as I hadn’t copied the information onto their made up additional form 🤦🏻‍♀️

they then had it urgently reviewed and had the prescription sent to my local pharmacy before 6…

fair play to people who work there the bureaucracy would kill me.

I did this recently in desperation because I had been on hold for 45 mins. I walked to the surgery with the call still connected and still on hold and when I got there, the receptionist told me that no one was logged onto the phones. Would be useful if they put that message onto the phone system rather than just repeating the automated ‘your call will be answered shortly’ message.

I have, for my daughter. Just politely explained that I had no idea how else to help her and I would wait in the waiting room until someone, anyone, could assist.

“I don’t mind how your system works I care that the result is my daughter being well”

Hope you get your child sorted OP.

The pharmacist phoned exactly two hours as she said she would but by that point it was 8pm on the 23rd. She was deliberately unhelpful and as said by a PP I don’t get it. It just makes more work for our overstretched NHS

In what way was the pharmacist 'deliberately unhelpful'?

We’ve done it quite a few times, but it’s literally a 2 minute walk away. There’s always a little queue of older people there doing the same.

OP yes if course, call down. Or take him to A&E if sufficiently concerned.

Yes as I live around the corner - it’s no different than phoning

I walk in at 8am on the way to doing school run and book an appointment, they open at 8am but phone lines are allways rammed and near impossible to actually get a line with them!

Not the pharmacist. The person I originally spoke to. As I said I had been told he needed a face to face. If she had just said go to x or y walk in centre that would have been useful. Instead I needed another online call two hours later before it was deemed serious enough for a GP appointment.

I've done it after school pick up last term. He was listless and temperature was 40, according to the Dr. Strep A again... Still annoyed the teachers didn't notice he was so ill... I just walked in, apologised, told the receptionist what it was, that it was gp or a&e for hours, and they saw him 5 minutes later.

Do they call at a specific time or can it be any time between, say 12pm and 3pm?

Because I do a job where I can't answer the phone if I'm with clients. I can, however, organise my day for a specific time.

I also can't understand how this is a more efficient system. Surely phone call + appointment takes up more time than an appointment on its own?

Or is it just that it puts off the worried well (or the actually sick who can't push for what they need)?

Yes DH has done this several times over the years, but it was pre-covid and I don't know if they let you game the system in that way these days.

We do have a drop in centre locally now (only since a few weeks ago) so that will make things easier.

By the time I have listened to the interminable recorded message and a load of crap about being kind, I can walk across the road and look the receptionist in the eye. Go for it.

Yes. Not meant to but it worked. I turned up as the phone said I was 20 something in the queue, with a child in pain with ear ache and crying in pain. Seen within minutes, child crying in waiting room I think helped. I just apologize for turning up like I did. Gp couldn't be nicer. Got antibiotics and all sorted.

I'm pretty sure you can walk in at ours,...to make an appointment and to be seen. You might have to wait a little. However, it's also relatively easy getting an appointment on the phone. (I rang up yesterday morning and have one later today. To be fair, they close at noon on a Wednesday so didn't expect to get a same-day appointment. When I ring DS's pediatrician, they usually see us on the day...despite the fact that there are only two pediatricians for three towns.
We aren't in thr UK, though.

I do understand why 111 do this - for that service you do have to speak to someone qualified rather than the call handler. The pharmacist would probably have made you a GP appointment - there is out of hours GP right round the clock.

I don't think it is correct to say someone was 'deliberately unhelpful' - what do you mean by this?

I think we aren't in the UK is the key bit of info here

I would go to your nearest hospital. Go to children’s A&E instead.

Yeah - had to get there first thing but I seem to remember I was able to get an appointment this way. Good luck.