How do you book appointments at your GP surgery?

[doreeen]

Just moved, previous surgery had started doing a bit of online booking for certain things and had an app.

New surgery is just ‘phone up the surgery at 8am’ 😭 then wait in a massive queue and hope you get an appointment. All are done by 8.30. If you don’t then try again at 8am the next day. Too bad if that’s the time you’re driving to work or doing a school run.

Surely in modern times there must be a better way? :/

Sorry all are GONE by 8.30 not done

Phone bit can't get through so I just arrive at 8 am.

You need a letter from god just get a phone call from a GP at my surgery. I haven't set foot in the place since before covid. If I've needed a GP I've either got it online or had a virtual appointment though the medical insurance provided by my employer.

With difficulty.

That's the way our GP surgery does it, @doreeen it's awful, it's virtually impossible to get an appointment.On more than one occassion we've gone to a walk in clinic at the nearest hospital (which has a gp) or minor injuries instead (both 20-25 min drive and potentially hours wait v GP 10 min walk away and an appointment time)
I've no idea what the people who do get connected at 8.10, are doing different to what I do

I went into the surgery last time
Usually I phone. It isn't that hard to get through.

I fill out an online form and they contact me within a day to either offer me an appointment that or the following day if it’s urgent, or a couple weeks later if it’s routine.

My mum’s surgery still expects everyone to call at either 8am for morning appointments or 2pm for afternoon appointments. My mum never manages to get one when she needs it so I do it for her but pressing redial repeatedly from around 2 minutes before the lines open which usually gets me within the first 10 callers.

Phone ours, I’ve never not been able to get an appointment, I do have to either constantly redial or phone using both our mobiles though.

I use an app, but it’s rare to get an appointment within a few weeks so if it’s urgent it’s phone lottery as above.

Our surgery are great. I usually phone and manage to get an appointment that day or the next.

Online form. Really good; triaged same day & appointments given on a timescale appropriate to urgency (may be a couple of weeks or same/next day).
Blood tests: self-booking on NHS App.

You can’t book at mine.

you ring the reception. They will decide whether you get a text, a phone call, an actual appointment or told to go away.

Ours is an online form that opens at 8am, and they get back to you that day with either an appointment, or a phone consultation. I never have a problem getting an appointment, it works fine although I’m not sure what people do if they don’t have internet access (elderly etc), so I hope there’s an alternative option if needed.

That’s is booking though!

you call at 8 and cross all fingers and toes that one is available. Most of the time, they have gone so you rinse and repeat the same thing again and again and again. They will suggest trying to book online but there are never any appointments available. I just looked and not a single one for the next 6 weeks (you cannot book further in advance). In the end, either the problem sorts it self (cough stops, pain goes, MH improves) or we go to a&e (OH had progressed to a kidney infection recently, and mentally very unwell teen took an overdose). It's just all an utter shit show. There is an econsult but the form is do short, that it is beyond pointless and you cannot explain anything.

Online form, open from 6.30am until lunch time, then reopens until all appts gone. It used to be open all the time which was super helpful when you had those middle of the night I need an appt tomorrow morning problems.
Anyway, I've always been seen the same day - as have my children. They are pretty good at getting you seen. Even though I find some of the GPs annoying and abrasive particularly with women's issues) I won't change as I know other GPs in the same area aren't this easy to get an appt at.

Ours used to be ring at 8am but now it’s an online form only. The main issue is if you can’t make the appointment they give you. You need to cancel it and fill out the form again the next day. And repeat this until you might get a suitable appointment. They seem to ignore the section that you fill out which asks if a particular day or time suits you. Obviously I understand that you can’t please everyone. But when you used to talk to someone it was so much easier to say oh do you by any chance have a Wednesday available?
I recently filled out the form and got a phone call booked for two weeks later. No problem. Did that. Doctor said needed to refer which could take two weeks. Didn’t hear anything for a month. Rang doctors. Told to fill out form again as reception couldn’t see anything. Did that. Appointment booked in another two weeks. Another doctor rang. Said I needed to come in for a face to face before getting referred. Booked that in another two weeks. Went to that. Actually turns out I didn’t need referring and it was an easy fix. I’m fine now. But it took about 10 weeks to just actually see a doctor face to face to find out it was a simple thing and it’s wasted 2 phone calls and 3 days off work for me. As well as the worry that they thought it might be bad. Thank fuck it wasn’t actually serious though because waiting 10 weeks could have been really bad.

@Changingplace

pre Covid I used to be able to just ring and book an appointment.

now I ring and it’s triaged and they decide whether I’m worthy of one.

to my mind this isn’t booking an appointment.

(I am severely disabled with complex needs and on occasion have had to go to hospital because my GP deemed my issue not important enough but it was actually very bad for me, the receptionist just didn’t read my file before going oh, it’s a simple X infection without being aware that in people with my condition it really isn’t.)

I believe the hospital complained about the one. The nurses treating me were pretty eye rolly about my GP refusing to see me and groaned in an “oh no not again” way when I said which practice it was.

On an app only here, they don’t do phone calls whatsoever. app opens at 8am and all slots are gone by 8:30. Appointment comes back via text message usually for 3 weeks time, you don’t get a choice of the appointment it’s just dictated.

childrens appointments for urgent things great - usually seen same day. Otherwise above for everyone else

Need to ring in the dot of 8am, and not guaranteed a gp, it may be a nurse or varying degrees of qualification of doctor.

If you ring later and it's urgent they do try and fit you in with the duty gp, usually with a telephone consultation first.

If you want to see a particular gp it's usually 3-4 weeks wait.

I ring first thing and ask, or I ring at 6pm for an evening one. Never had any issues getting an appointment

Fastest finger first at 8am, which is a problem if, like my mum, you don’t have very fast fingers!
It helps if you know the extension for appts, if you have a system like ours (3 in our case), so if you phone at 8am on the dot and press 3 immediately, you have half a chance of not being number 27 in the queue (because you don’t have to listen to the “press 1 for emergencies”, etc

To be fair, our surgery is very accommodating :)

I can book appointments up to 6 weeks in advance via an app. I can choose the type eve face to face or telephone or if I need the nurse and even a preferred GP. Usually there’s a 2 week or so wait though I’m sure there are procedures for emergency requests just can’t remember them but involve having to call up reception. Thank goodness for the app as I don’t have to speak ti any snotty receptionists and can check against my work diary for my preferred times anytime day or night.

Call up whenever, get a call back within 2hrs if surgery is busy and usually same day or next day appt if needed. Benefits of rural living.

We can either book in advance online, use an online form or ring up. I've always managed to get a same-day appointment without any issues.