To ask what using your GP is like (trying to work out if mine is typical)

[HealthRobinsonCrusoe]

I can only make an appointment by phoning at 2pm. There's no online booking system. All the appointments are gone by 210pm. When they run out you just have to try again tomorrow.

This includes when they have texted you to tell you to make an appointment (otherwise they might stop repeat prescriptions).

There are no in person appointments except to see a nurse for samples. They call you over the course of a morning or afternoon. So you can't just take a short break from work.

They don't do shared care agreements. They don't recognise private diagnosis for prescribing so you have to go in the nhs waiting list before you can get treatment.

When they register new patients it's Tuesday mornings only. First 25 people only. You have to queue outside to physically collect a form. People go away disappointed.

The prescriptions are quite often wrong. When you try to phone to get them fixed you're cast into the chaos of the appointments system.

So aibu to think they're spectacularly awful jokers getting rich on suffering? Or is this pretty typical? It feels humiliating and scary dealing with them.

I'm in Edinburgh so I'd love to know if England/elsewhere in Scotland is better. Seriously thinking about moving because I feel like I've essentially no one to go to if I get seriously ill.

I was told that in England anyway, they have to roll out the e-consult system by the end of the year.

No, there's only one or I would have changed! It's a small town and there's just the health centre. There used to be two practices in the building but now there's only one.

Sure, there are time wasters, but I think most people don't want a GP appointment for fun.

Our local (which we've abandoned) is utterly terrible - they absolutely refuse to book appointments for tomorrow and beyond, only same day. The phone lines open at 8am, and within two or three seconds the queue is so big that all the appointments will have gone by the time your call is answered.

This, apparently, represents success - it's effectively gaming the system, because CQC don't measure against appointments where the attempt to book was never made.

Incidentally, this surgery has been "inadequate" or "requires improvement" since before the pandemic, and shows no sign of change; because the CQC only check stuff that was wrong on the previous inspections, they're just shifting around the incompetence and still can't get it right. However, they bought up all the surgeries in town when they marched in, and there's apparently no way to get rid of them.

We registered with a surgery about 10 miles away; we're fortunate in that we both drive, and we figured a 20 minute drive on back roads is infinitely preferable to not actually being able to get an appointment, ever. I've never called and been worse than second in the queue, and it's always been answered within a minute or two. As a bonus, we're now attached to Grantham hospital rather than Peterborough, and the difference in service is absolutely night and day.

If you have transport, registering with another surgery within driving distance is absolutely the solution to the problem.

You can look up others online and check reviews etc before changing, in England anyway

https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/practices-search

That sounds dreadful! I hardly use my drs but I rang at 9.20 the other morning, was 2nd in the queue, then got an appointment for 9.50, which I thought was excellent!

When you ring, if there's a long queue you can just request a call back, and this happens within the hour. Appointments for smears and bloodtests are usually a few weeks wait but if you're actually poorly they get you seen quickly, can't fault it

I can't get a smear test either, despite them harrassing me about it. It's actually maddening to get these texts, you know. CQC rated it as "Good" so this phantasm of a service is what counts as good according to the regulator. Not sure what bad would look like. Maybe then they come round your house and punch you in the face?

There's only this one practice. All the others round here say I'm outside their "boundary area".

Rural scotland. Our GP practice is excellent. Phone up at any time and it’s really rare you won’t get through to reception immediately. GP phones you back quickly and then either deals with it on phone or makes an appointment for you to come in. I’ve had appointments within 30 mins when necessary and then appointments for a few days time when that was appropriate. Prescriptions can be dispensed from the surgery or they can send them to pharmacy in town. Can order repeat prescriptions online. Routine appointments with nurse etc are easy to book and not too long a wait.

My in-laws however have to phone at 8am to be 87th in the queue, and even if they do eventually get through there are no appointments left that day anyway. It’s a nightmare, especially for the elderly. You spend all day waiting for the doctor to phone you back and they ring at 4.55pm right when you’ve just gone to the loo. That’s it missed, and you have to try again through the whole circus tomorrow morning. The actual GP surgery is like a ghost town if you do ever get to go.

So as a comparison, here is our recent interactions…..

I was asked to make an appointment to review my medication. Was given a telephone appointment, I called and asked if I could switch to in person as telephone means I loose a whole afternoon of income. They switched it and made me a real life appointment.

My teen daughter had an abcess, my husband sent the online triage form in at 8am and they had rung her to make an appointment by 8:10 and she was seen by 9:15.

They are generally very good and helpful although not perfect.

My surgery (London) is similarly shit. I haven't seen a GP in at least five years, although I spoke to one briefly by phone after a long and tedious series of gatekeeping calls with admin, nursing and practice pharmacy staff.

It's lucky I'm healthy tbh. I do not feel that I have access to any meaningful primary care services.

Sounds dreadful.
Rural practice in Lincolnshire.
You can book online via the NHS app or Systmonline. This will show appointments with GP, Nurse Parctitioner or blood tests. These are often booked a couple of weeks ahead but cancellations pop up.
Or you can do an e consult. They will ring or text you with an appointment.
Or you can phone the surgery.
I have never failed to get a same day appointment if it's urgent. Much harder is to get a routine appointment or to choose the GP.
Most are F2F but occasional telephone appointments which I loathe due to a combination of hearing loss, difficulty with accents and the wait. I was once "stood up" for an important hospital appointment for which I had sat by the phone for 3 hours.

Sounds better than ours. Ours don't even do blood tests anymore - apparently it's something else they can opt out of. So if a blood test is needed, we have to traipse to the hospital. As for wanting a GP appointment, you may get a phone call from a nurse practitioner if the receptionist deems you worthy. If the nurse practitioner can't deal with it, then you get a phone call from a random locum.

Heaven knows what the partners and permanently employed GPs do as they're completely absent. Havn't spoken to any of them in several years despite having a chronic condition. OH is the same and he has cancer - treatment very disjointed because of it being a succession of locums you never speak to twice.

We have a great eConsult system where y a Doc will call you back, sometimes same day. Otherwise they will make a telephone appointment and then if needed call you in. Jabs, blood tests etc done via a link sent in a text message. I can walk in and chat to a receptionist who are all kind and user friendly. Great practice nurses and specialists.

In surgery pharmacy has a pharmacist consult room where I can drop by for advice if something is concerning or a blood pressure check. Also auto repeat prescriptions are issued and placed in a robot that I can collect with a security code.

We are in a rural area and its great.

Local surgery to me use an online form describing your symptoms. You then get triaged and a call back but you have to be quite assertive not to be fobbed off to some practice assistant. Personally I've got used to using local BMI GP clinic. It's not cheap but I can see a GP pretty much any time I like. Works for me.

I assume I'm in a minority but my GP surgery, and GP herself, is flippin excellent. We can request appointments online, and I'm assuming aso by phone but I have no idea. The portal is open between 8.30am and 10.30am and you simply fill in an online form with what you need, or whats wrong and they'll ring you back wth an appointment to be seen in person or a phone appointment with an actual time. The face to face appointments are usually within an hour or so, and telephone appts that afternoon.

The best I've ever had was when I filled the form in at 10.29 just before the portal closed, and they rang me back at 10.42 having already phoned the hospital and arranged a time for me to attend an emergency clinic. That's simply outstanding.

It may be that I have a clinical background so I only ever contact them when absolutely needed, and usually when I've taken steps to remedy things myself. I'm to the point with what the issue is and provide relevant history conscisely.

I've even had prescription requests processed at 1.30am on Sunday mornings when they must be up late and log on from home to triage stuff.

Brilliant service. I'm very lucky and really do appreciate it.

Also to add.... They're also part of a GP alliance where is they have no appointments left or you phone later in the day they'll usually get you an appt same day, but it might be at a different surgery (maybe like 8 miles away) who have access to your records.

Mine is pretty good. Call at 8am for a same day appointment, there's a 75% chance of getting one. Blood tests/nurse appointments etc will have a good choice of availability for the next couple of days. There's an econsultation form to fill in online for things that aren't super urgent but a reply will always be in 24 hours. Gp referrals, repeat blood tests, that kind of thing are always done within the week. My surgery has merged with 4 in the local area which does mean you can choose any of them.

Ours are great once you’re actually speaking to one or sitting in front of them, but getting to that point is almost impossible. You can only make an appointment via their app, which requires the use of two other apps to log in and authenticate yourself, and is only available during their opening hours (negating almost any value in online booking, imo) In theory you can call between 8 and 9am, but you can’t ever get through. And you can’t ever, under any circumstances, make a future appointment- it’s same day or nothing, whether it’s an emergency or completely routine. They also close the entire surgery on a regular basis for several days at a time for “staff training”.

Most appointments at my surgery are by phone with a pharmacist a couple of days after you phone. This meant over 3 months back and forth trying to get help until I finally got a GP appointment and was immediately referred to hospital.
Routine appointments are released online on Mondays for 3 weeks ahead. There are very few of these.
If you get through at 8am and ask for an urgent same day appointment you will usually be told to go to the Minor injuries unit a few miles away.
The repeat prescription system does work well.
They keep changing the e-consult system so not sure of the current system.

Thanks everyone. Husband keeps telling me England will be no better but seems like parts could be. What a crapshoot, though. Maybe I just need to get a better job so I can see a private GP instead. So stressed at all the smug messaging up here about free prescriptions. Aye if you can bloody get a prescription before your leg falls off, amazing

I’m in Eastern Scotland and we have 24/7 online appointment booking. I’ve never had a problem getting an appointment at my current practice, I just fill in the online form and I get an email followed by a call back with an appointment time or if it’s urgent my GP calls me directly.

DH and I are registered at different practices based in the same health centre. The reception desks are literally 5m apart.

DHs surgery has fantastic access to pre bookable and same day appointments. He attended with red flag symptoms, made a same day appointment, seen, referred, diagnosed with cancer and has had fantastic GP follow up including a phonecall from the GP to check in after his surgery. Prescriptions, sick lines etc are so EASY.

My surgery is a nightmare. Phone at 8.30 am, no pre bookable appointments, locum GPs, worn down receptionists, constant cock ups with prescriptions and totally disinterested partners who really need to retire. My family member attended and was dismissed 7 times. He died of pancreatic cancer a few weeks after his last visit.

But the good surgery will not accept patients from the shit one.

You can check online and see how your GPS is rated

Ours is
in special measures ( I think it’s a different term but basically it means they need to significantly improve as they are failing in all areas ) which is no surprise.

They are checked by the Care Quality Commission

If one can work well why can't the other!! And why are there no sensible complaints systems for GPs?

See
Which article August 2024 explaining how to complain
Article entitled How to complain if you’re unhappy with your GP or Doctors surgery
The article explains what to include in a complaint

They say contact
mygov.scot For nhs Scotland