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?

Have you told the receptionist you need a sick note? Oddly as my practice is run by locums if you ask for one they just issue it. Same as subsequent ones - as I asked the receptionist is no-one going to actually speak to my mentally ill husband to see if he’s ok? Apparently that was my job and they would only see him if he requested it.

I did that in the afternoon but there just aren't appointments available. You only can get one if you ring at 8.

I work for a GP practice and our ICB (commissioner) dictates that all calls, walk ins and econsults must have equitable access to appointments.

OP - perhaps raise a complain with your ICB.

The worse thing about it, it'll probably be the same NHS GP that you can't get an appointment with.

Why can't you just take your child in to school late after your phone call? Explain to school you got delayed. Nothing is going to happen if you are late... Presuming you aren't in work, you don't have to be anywhere after that either?

I always get an appt by ringing bang on opening time, is there really NO way you can do this? If it's that desperate could you not sort something out? It's the only way to get an appt these days.

You can have 7 days off with out sick note self certification. You then can apply for a sick note after 7 days. At my doctors you can request one online.

I am working but struggle and wanted to get signed off. also, calling at 8 doesn't guarantee an appointment, I will spend ages in the phone queue. If I don't get one, I have to do it again and again. It shouldn't be that hard and my child shouldn't arrive late at school and me late at work just to book a GP appointment.

It’s terrible. My dd was fainting at school and there was no chance of seeing a GP for over a month, so we went to minor injuries for her to get seen. Next time I will pay £125 for a private appointment. I know that I’m not taking myself or the kids to the GP for things we’d have got an appointment for in the past, as there just isn’t the availability. Most things sort themselves out anyway, and we’re fortunate to have good health, but it does seem, where we live, that primary care isn’t available so we have no choice but to go private. And no, £125 is not a trivial amount for us - it’s something we will all notice, but what other choice do we have. I don’t understand how there can never be any appointments - someone must be getting them, but perhaps they’re all being booked up weeks in advance or reserved for emergencies.

You're just making so many excuses. Call 111 tonight and explain and they'll sort you out. But really you just call at 8am, using Bluetooth or speaker in your car, stay on hold whilst you drive,, check your diary before you start driving then eventually if you get through you book the appointment. If you don't get through you call 111 and explain. But either way for the first week you can be off sick without a doc note anyway.

I had a Ukrainian living with me for a while and got to know some Ukrainian people though her. Can you believe they actually return to Ukraine, an active war zone, for medical and dental treatment because they can't get seen here.
I sympathise OP, it's a nightmare.

Is there a reason you can't just phone in sick to your work?

You don't need signed off by GP, that's not how the system works.
If you are unwell you phone in sick and self certify for first 7 days. The GP won't sign you off from day 1.
Then if you require longer you need a doctors certificate which can be backdated if it takes you a while to get an appointment

You won't get a fit note if you're still working. Go sick at work then when your 7 days are up phone your GP. If you can't get an appt explain you need a fit note for work as you've now been off 7 days. As a pp said you'll find there's someway they can accommodate you. They know how important they are. But you're wasting everyone's time trying to get one when you're not off yet

would you be able to call in sick for a day and accept your child will miss a day of school / be late for school so you can ring at 8am. It sounds like you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to do everything, and your health is more
important than your child being on time to school for one day x

Hi @Cheshiresquirrelsss. I get the sense that you want to talk to a doctor to 'get permission' to be sick, but that's not how it works. If you feel stressed enough to not be able to function properly, you call in sick and you self-certify for the first 7 days. That usually means that when you go back to work, you fill out a form for your line manager or HR department that says why you were off sick for those 7 days. That's what self-certify means - there's no proof. Your employer takes your word for it.

If you are off sick for more than 7 days, that's when you get a doctor's appointment.

It's difficult for you to call at 8am, so imagine just how much more stressed and frustrated you're going to be if you manage to juggle the school run and that call and then get through to be told you can't have an appointment after all because you've rung before you've even gone off ill!

You never know, you might feel better after the 7 days and not need to be signed off.

If you do need more time, you don't have to see a doctor on day 7 or day 8. They know how tough it is to get an appointment and can backdate the note a little.

I hope whatever is making you feel so rotten changes soon, and you can have some time to heal and feel yourself again soon.

It shouldn’t work like that, but it does because there is not enough funding in primary care. So either take the time to make an appointment like everyone else or don’t. After all health care is a choice !

My local GP practice in Scotland is just like this. There are zero alternative practices to move to and there are no walk in centres here.
When I found myself in a similar situation to you, I self certified for a week, during which I was able to phone at the required time. I still couldn't get an appointment so I went into the surgery one afternoon and had to basically cause a bit of a scene and refuse to leave until someone helped me.
They got an Advanced Nurse Practitioner to call me and I just about had a nervous breakdown on the phone explaining all the horrific stressful things that were happening in my life. She was able to arrange a sick note for me and I then just emailed if I needed it extending and this was always done no problem straight away.
I'm in my 50s and never had a sick note before. It's criminal the way patients are given the brush off and that I had to cause a disturbance to get any help. Good luck.

Yes you have a GP with a rubbish system but you do have to put yourself out a bit . Drive to the Doctors for 8 am , with child in car , book appt , drive to school and apologise if late .

As others have said, you won't get a fit note for the first 7 days of illness.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/getting-a-fit-note/

Does your employer offer any kind of health insurance or EAP? We have a health cash plan at work which includes online GP appointments. Our EAP also offers counselling. There may be support that you aren't aware of, ask HR or your line manager.

If you are so unwell that you can't work then please ring in sick and then see a GP when you can.

+1 for EAP support. However, private GPs via work rarely do fit notes/letters. (It's in the tiny print as an exclusion.)

I’m at the point now with my GP practice of filling in their online enquiry form with anything I need. I always start it with Please forward to Dr Roe then he either rings or replies, sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it’s a while, depending on if I put URGENT or not!

I literally get nowhere with the receptionists, they just say no appts.

Firstly you need to self certify for a week a gp will not forward date sick notes but will back date them. You don't necessarily need an appointment. What you need to do after the week is ring reception and say I need a sick note and it's for them to either get you an appointment or to pass the message on to one of the drs. Have you actually gone on to your gp surgery website as ours you just put an online request for a sicknote and state why and how long for

Our GP allows messaging via the app. I think only when they're open. Out a desperate plea in there if you have access to that.

Or just ring up and ask to speak to one. Difficult in work maybe. But if you need then you must.

You have to go off sick, self certify and after 7 days of self certification sick leave, the Doctor will sign you off for a FURTHER 2 or 4 weeks, or whatever

The Doctor won't sign you off for the first 7 days

Email the practice manager at the surgery. Tell them you can't get an appointment and ask for help getting one.