Can drs have no pre bookable appointments?

[Franklyfranky]

I need some blood tests because I’m pretty such I’m anaemic and low vit d (have history of it symptoms are the same as when I’ve been quite poorly with it)

I cannot get a blood test without a gp appointment. I cannot pre book a GP appointment. I have to call the emergency line everyday. I cannot get through. Ive been told categorically the GP does not have pre bookable appointments. I thought they had to?

is anyone familiar with the guidelines to say if this is correct?

You can buy the prescription strength supplements over the counter.

The NHS crisis isn’t going away any time soon and people need to get comfortable reading NHS web pages, educating themselves and trying simple fixes first. For example you can easily google some trusted sources and learn taking prescription strength iron supplements every other day is almost as effective but has less side effects.

No self medicating what I think the issue is isn’t a substitute for actual medic advice

No it’s just taking resources and time of staff at the practice away from doing their actual jobs of seeing patients.

More helpful than my then GP then!

No the doctor will just authorise a nurse to do a blood test. No appointment needed. This is because econsult doesn’t seem to be available

These surgeries who do this seem to think they are the only ones who work

^medical advice

and this is the problem and it’s that attitude that causes adverse patient outcomes frankly

Phone 111. They can get you a phone call with a gp who could then advise you on what to do. Do you have an urgent care centre? You could then wait in line to see a gp. If you feel so rotten, and cannot see a dr, then you should try urgent care.

Can you afford blood screening with a private go? If so do it.

The more I read things like this, the luckier I think we are. Our practice doesn't have bookable appointments either. You phone between 8and 10, give the receptionist either a quick summary of the issue or say that you're not comfortable sharing except with the GP . They tell you that a Dr will phone back in either the morning or the afternoon (depending on how quickly the morning lists fill up), and you tell them any times that won't work for you. Dr rings ,talks to you and if they need to see you in person they book in an appointment for you. Otherwise they may give you advice/send you a prescription/refer you on/book a nurse appointment or whatever is required. Because they can tailor their appointments they can also alter the length according to how long to get think they might need. If a problem develops out with the 8-10 period you can still phone for advice particularly for children, the elderly or anyone vulnerable, so I've phoned about my mum at 5pm before, had a GP phone back within ten minutes and a prescription at the front desk for collection within 20 minutes. It seems to work pretty well. You do sometimes have to sit in a queue on the phone, but that's the worst of it

Not in Scotland they don't, the app doesn't exist here

The fully greyed out online appointment calendar happened in my GP too.
Now is the waiting list option.

Can you walk in early in the morning? Will they give you an appointment this way?

No you need an appointment through 111 to go to urgent care, they don’t do routine assessments though (blood tests and the like). We don’t have a local walk in urgent care centre.

but looks like I’ll have to try 111, I’d always assumed that was either for out of hours, or that step below a and e. Perhaps I was wrong

They used to and this was the way around the 8am phone line battle but now they won’t let you in, it’s phone line only

ive Looked and it’s several hundreds so tbh no

Mine usually has a duty dr on that triages stuff on the day. So if I had a history of anaemia and I called and said I was getting same symptoms, duty Dr would likely approve a blood test form for me to pick up and take to the city phlebotomy clinic without having an appointment. Then I'd get a notification on my NHS app when results available and a call from GP if outside normal.

I’d be happy with that

My GP is the exact same OP it's a disgrace you need to phone mine at 8an and wait in the queue, when I finally got through around 9.30 I was told all appointments for the day were gone & to call the following day I spent over a week doing this, which meant cancelling multiple meets at work to make these these 60-120 minute phone calls each day! I eventually gave up, 2 family members recently had the the same problem one of which ended up seriously unwell in hospital

Perish the thought that people think their GP should provide basic medical care.

Yeah, people died because of it and died in agony and in an undignified manner because of it here.

cqc investigated as a result of whistleblowers internally! And then there were several people who came forward from the community too, was in the local news

I’m in Scotland so no NHS app. Our surgery has no e-consult or online option. You phone at 8 for an on the day appointment, or you can phone on a Wednesday for a bookable one which is 6/8 weeks. The 8am thing is per OP and pps - fastest finger first but generally no dice.

We’re lucky to be able to access an online GP privately via video call because of DP having private health care with work, which is handy for eg when I had tonsillitis last year and needed antibiotics. I had a private appointment for a dodgy mole where the doctor said I needed referred to dermatology. My surgery wouldn’t take his referral letter so I still had to book an appointment to see a doctor there which was another seven weeks to wait, and now I am waiting for dermatology to see me - I got a letter from them saying I am on their waiting list. So we wait.

It looks to me like you need to mention this to your Trust.
I really feel for you, I know how it feels. Best luck.

We get an appointment on the day by filling in an econsult form online at 7.30am.We can also phone at 8.00. They have no pre-bookable appointments so even if you want to see them about something non-urgent that is the way we have to go.

GPs aren’t part of the trust though are they, aren’t they funded through the ccg? Or has that changed?

i feel like I need to complain to cqc as they were previously in special measures but I’m not sure one can do that, or do I complain to nhs England? I’m not really sure

If your proposed method of treating patients involves them not being able to access a doctor at all and having to guess what is wrong with them and self medicate based on their guess it’s probably a good idea that somebody is taken away from patients for a bit to focus on how you could do the actual job of treating patients who need to be seen.

A complaint of some sort seems quite reasonable. Sometimes it focuses people into fixing stuff.