more a wwyd. No GP appointments

[Cheshiresquirrelsss]

I rarely see the GP so haven't had this issue but I need an appointment and need (don't wanna go into details) signing off. There are no appointments available to book online, when you ring the surgery they cannot book me in as there is nothing for 3 weeks and they cannot book one in further (so they say and I need a GP sooner anyways). There is no e- consult. The only chance is ringing bang on at 8 am but I cannot make a phone call at 8 due to circumstances and by the time I can call at 8:30, all appointments have gone.

I never had that problem. Any idea?

Could you leave earlier, drive part or all the way then pull over to phone at 8am? Or drop off child, phone GP and start work a little later?
Or take a sick day

It doesn't need to be you that books the appointment. Can a friend or relative call for you while you're driving? I've had my mom do that before when I've been stuck on the school run. She just had to give my name and say that she didn't know why I needed the appointment because it was personal, and that I was unable to call for myself at that time.

GP is unlikely to offer a sick note if you’ve not had any time off work yet.
If you need time off with stress then self certify for the first week and figure out a way to call at 8am after a few days off - maybe arrive at the school early or pull over on your drive to start the call then hands free while on hold.

When I've used the gp for my child recently it involved a lot more availability than just phoning once at 8am. It was a case of phone at 8am, press button to keep place in queue, stay by phone until receptionist phones back (eg around 8.30ish) then receptionist adds to doctor triage list, then receptionist phones back at eg 10am to say doctor wants to see child in person and to arrange time. So I actually needed to be available for three different phone calls plus the actual appointment. Two of the phone calls are at unknown times. It worked for me on the days I needed it and my child was seen the same day but it's completely unworkable for people like the OP who are in the car doing something essential at that time and I have been in that situation before so I really empathise.
OP, sorry that wasn't actual useful advice, just to say I do understand the systems can be really hard to navigate. I hope you get something sorted out - ideally you need someone local to you to advise on your options locally.

i cannot. I am out driving my disabled child to a special school further away. I cannot arrange appointments whilst driving and we need to be at school on time so I can arrive at work on time. We are on a very tight schedule. I just cannot be at home making phone calls at 8 (never mind the long queue on top)..

I thought you were off sick. The GP won't sign you off from day 1. You need to go off sick and self certify for a week.
Can you call from the car? Or get to the school early and sit in the car and call? Or leave later after you've got through to GP?
Once you're off sick you'll have more flexibility

Our surgery is like this, you actually can't get an appointment. You call at 10 when they open the lines, hold for the best part an hour, only to be told all the appointments are all booked. They tell you to fill in an econsult form when they are released at 6pm, you do this only for it to rejected because they've reached their maximum econsults. So you phone at 10 the following morning...and well you get the picture.
DD ended up in A&E and then 3 nights in hospital which probably could have been avoided if she'd seen the GP 2 days earlier. The system is a joke.
I'd try 111 first, or if you are able to pay for a private GP appointment.

DC is often noisy, does not let me talk, interrupts plus I cannot check my diary. it's really not a good idea in my circumstances.

Personally I'd pay a private online GP for the sick note. I just googled 'cheapest online gp for sick note' and the one at the top of the list is £25.

Go off sick first you can self cert for 7 days - then most GPs have a 2nd round of appointments that become available at 2pm (some don’t). Can you take your son to school later one day and just explain why. They can’t stop you from bringing your DC in late?!

Can you use a private GP many just ask you to fill in an on line form and they will provide a note. But you need to be off first.

This, just go private.

My GP doesn't offer sick notes until day 8. You can go off sick now.

Would also second switching to a GP that does e-consult, so you can just describe it online and they'll call you back to sort an appointment.

If you're self-certing then you don't need the work on time part of the journey. You may also not need the calendar viewing thing either as you're unlikely to be choosing from a vast range of available appointments and won't need to check for work clashes.

Driving to school early and sitting in the car to make call while parked up is good suggestion if calling while driving will be distracting. But DC would need to be quiet enough - can you drop them early and then make the call?

Ours won't book anyone in who turns up in person. You have to call (impossible) or do an e consult form (which is open for five minutes unless it reaches capacity before then...)

When I was struggling to get an appointment, I emailed the practice manager, explaining the difficulties. I pointed out that my issue (long standing spinal problem) wasn't really appropriate for a 111 service as they don't have the history and wouldn't be able to help.

They made me an appointment for the same day!

In your shoes, I would email the practice manager and see if that helps.

Everyone here just goes to tbe surgery and books an appointment as they can't get through on phone, obviously this makes phones queue longer, but l would just go in and book an appointment.

Ah, apologies didn’t realise. Could someone phone on your behalf if you gave them your diary? Mum/friend/sibling? I get it, I had to wait till late on day 8 to speak to my GP when I was off sick. IIRC after advice on here (I was panicking) your GP will date accordingly and work have to accept it, even if it’s ‘late’ (I.e. needed on Thursday but don’t receive till Friday).

Drive early to school so you arrive by 8 and make the appointment when you get there?

I'm sorry, it's shit. My kids' default GP is actually out-of-hours/A&E as there are never any appointments when I ring our regular GP. When I phoned with a 9 month baby who had been vomiting repeatedly for over an hour and couldn't keep fluids down, I was told there was nothing they could do and I should have called at 8.30 (bearing in mind my DC's condition had only worsened that afternoon) 🙄. We've seen the out-of-hours staff more times than our actual GP.

NHS 24 can give you an out of hours appointment. I have been a few times when I’ve been ill outside of practice hours. DH could never get in with on the day appointments so he called nhs24 in the evening and got an out of hours GP appointment but it might be in a local hospital or other health centre. He was actually quite ill and without seeing a GP would have been hospitalised.

Personally I have found the out-of-hours GPs excellent and a lot better than our regular GP practice.

If it’s a physical issue, then go to a walk in clinic.

You can look it up on the website and they tell you about waiting times etc so you can decide which one to go to.

I went a few weeks ago.
I literally just walked in and told the receptionist my issue (in front of the waiting room which was annoying) and then I waited for a nurse to triage me and then a senior nurse came and diagnosed me.

I needed a further appointment with a specialist (nothing too bad) and they sorted it out through their systems.

I would definitely try it.

Thing is, this is how it is now OP. Your only option is to ring at 8 and ring at 8 every day until you get an appointment. There's no point in saying you can't. You don't seem to have any other options, you'll have to figure out a way to do it. Get kid to school earlier and ring from there if you have to.

I can't even get to see a GP. I don't think our surgery has them any more. It's all nurses or shipped to other surgeries in the area.

I would probably go to a walk in centre

Do you have any kind of employee assistance program that gives access to medical services? Ours includes an online GP service of some kind and is often forgotten about

You won't get signed off unless you've already self-certified for a week, or you have a condition that means you'll definitely need to be off for longer (like recovering from surgery or something).

Call work tomorrow morning, say you’re unwell and won’t be in for at least the next couple of days. Drive your child to school, get home and give yourself permission to breathe. Perhaps try and meet a friend for lunch. Don’t stress about making a GP appointment for tomorrow, just try and be kind to yourself.

Then on Friday - call the GP at 8am and take whatever appointment you can get. Then drive your child to school. It won’t hurt for him to be late once.