To think the government needs to stop selling online GP booking systems as an improvement as they’re not particularly when they’re switched off for most of the day

[Gr3yStar5]

Like many GP surgeries ours switched to an online system and no longer takes booking calls. This was some time ago so it has had time to bed in. You fill in a form which gets triaged and it’s decided if you need urgent or a 2 week wait. It was sold as improving patient care and a better booking system except it isn’t. The system is supposed to be open from 8.30-3.30.In reality the system mostly actually seems to close by lunch time until the next day due to being “overwhelmed”. So basically if you don’t get on first thing you’ve had it, you can’t even ring and you have to keep checking to see when it reopens. It’s worse not better and most of the time you can’t see a doctor for 2 weeks if you do get to fill out a form. There is now no in between. You are supposed to say when you can’t do appointments but it just ignores that. It’s nigh on impossible to get a doctor of your choice. If they don’t get you in for a 2 week appointment or you can’t do the time they’ve allocated you have to resubmit your form for the next batch of 2 week appointments( if it’s open). The setting up was dire with condescending staff on the phone just basically shooing the bemused elderly off. My mum has told me of several of her elderly friends who have been reduced to tears by the whole process. I thought this was maybe just our surgery but it isn’t. Lots online with similar tales particularly re the “overwhelm” switching off of the booking system. Oh and now apparantly our GPs can't do gynaecology appointments, that has to be in gynecology clinic and booked separately which is actually currently closed and not taking appointments. Back in the day you could request a female GP and have female issues treated by your GP, not now, being female is an extra loop to jump through.

So AIBU to think that the government needs to be honest and concede that the new online system is actually shite for patients and getting a GP appointment has never been so hard and stressful particularly when they’re apparently going to be investing in extra spaces at GP surgeries. Thanks but no thanks I’d rather have more GPs and a better booking system that actually benefits patients and gets you an appointment in a timely fashion.

We did have one brush with the NHS trying to get an urgent-ish rdv for my FIL, which involved 3 people phoning the surgery at 8:00:01 precisely and still fighting for two days to get rdv. I can only assume that anyone who think that submitting triage forms / waiting for call backs / links to book are ‘great options’, are only comparing it to truly shitty options like the 8am scramble 🤷‍♀️.

my GP works full time, 5 days a week 8am to 6 pm, though he finishes early on Fridays. He offers face to face and video rdv. No secretaries - so no guardian to get past, the relationship is between dr and patient - no one else.

Ooh, well done OP for highlighting this. Yes this is appalling. Haven't RTWT so this may have been covered already, but we used to be able to make appointments through the NHS app, it was a bit hit and miss and not really for urgent appointments but you could use it anytime and try to get the doctor you wanted to see. That system has been totally ditched now we have to use the online booking system which is completely surgery biased rather than patient biased so hopeless to navigate. Sometimes you just want to send a simple note to your GP because they have asked for a follow up. Impossible. I've started physically going into the surgery to sort out appointments out of shear devilment and telling them every time why their system is crap (yes, I know). But if course, they will never change back, because "progress".

In my old GP the form only opened 8-8:30am. That’s it no other way to get hold of the Drs. It’s actually terrifying to think there’s just no care for you. And no surprise at all people end up at A&E.

YABU. My old GP was like this and it was hell. BUT, I feel very lucky as my current GP surgery has both phone and online services and if you're not bothered about who you see then you can usually get a non urgent appointment within 3 days. The longest we've ever had to wait was 6 days and that was only because I needed a specific GP who is part time.

When I've requested an appointment online I've had to wait a maximum 3 hours for a response. And the longest wait for a prescription was 30 minutes. They don't make us fight for referrals either. They make them on the spot, print out the referral letter with the details, day you should chase if you haven't heard back, and the number you need.

The pharmacy deals with UTIs, and bloods and respiratory illnesses are centralised and have their own "hubs" around the city. But even those are quick.

We're planning on moving house in the next couple of years, and have been having serious discussions about whether we stay in the GPs catchment area because we know we'll probably never get this level of service again if we leave the area. Oh and I live in a city so it's not a lack of residents 😅

This, this this!!!!!

It makes me so angry that they push it back on you, that as a patient you’re an inconvenience, a hassle and entitled to want care of any kind. That you need to work round a full time job and commitments is just nothing. Staff who work in the sector and have medical knowledge and better access to care for themselves are so patronising,condescending, unkind and rude.

One minute we’re all being told to look after ourselves and the next the message is clearly- not with us or the NHS.

Ironically I have some caring responsibilities and had the same surgery a while ago ringing me re how they as a surgery can offer support. Yes the same surgery who makes it an ordeal and freaking impossible to make any medical appointments!!!

Since Covid it's been a nightmare, for the past 4 years it's usually a nurse phone appointment 6 weeks down the line. I went into our surgery, the nice receptionist was on duty, said to go home and get online. I got onto the GP website,it said put my email address,yup,creat user name,yup, password,yup, got email confirmation. THEN, I attempted to make an appointment, put in my name, dob,red box came up at the to of the page, ",hm,there seems to be a problem,you do not appear to be registered with this surgery, would you like to choice another surgery from the drop-down menu". I went into the surgery, opened this page,showed the receptionist, not the nicest one this time. She looked at it, said ",that's not us, I don't know what that is". I said it was their website clearly marked, what should I do, she was really nasty,pushed my phone across the counter to me. I was almost in tears, and getting angry, I left because I knew I would loose my cool,, then get struck off. I tried lots of times to logon, with the same result. Have been with this surgery 14 years.

Yep any time you point out things aren’t what they are saying, crap or they’ve made a mistake - you’re told to complain to somebody else so zero intention of anybody actually putting things right. I guess because they can’t,because the system is shit.

I’m shocked to read how bad some of these systems are, it’s absolutely shocking. The system at the surgery we use is really quite good- it’s open from 8am to about 5 and you generally hear back quite quickly. The surgery calls you to make a same-day appointment if it’s urgent, or allows you to log in and select from various time slots in the next few weeks if it’s non-urgent. All my appointments have been with a GP. But we live in a small, rural town, I don’t think our surgery has anywhere near as many patients as surgeries of a comparable size in more urban/surburban areas.

I found the same thing in the extremely rural area we used to live in. You’d call in the morning, no phone queue at all, have seen a GP by midday and this was only a couple of years ago. Once, there was a problem with sending my prescription to the pharmacy and the lovely GP receptionist popped over from the surgery to give the paper prescription to the pharmacist herself. I was gobsmacked, because the suburban practice we used beforehand before we moved to the countryside was an absolute shitshow.

I’m interested to know if this is typical of rural GPs or we’re just lucky. That said, it’s swings and roundabouts because we only have one A&E and it’s an absolute nightmare. So I’d rather have tonsillitis here than where we used to live, but I’d rather deal with a broken arm where we were before.

Small rural town here too so goodness knows how some can perform well and others can’t. There needs to be a different system re how GP surgeries are run. The amount of different online booking systems that are being used and no doubt cost £££ is madness for a start. Why hasn’t the NHS made their own and why aren’t GPs not using the same one?

Clearly many on here have had a completely different experience to me with my surgery here in SE London

And I do think it’s very “strange” that a triage system is turned off for most of the day because it gets switched off

Ideally the system should be open for several hours each day and so that the doctor who is triaging can filter the patients who need on the day/urgent, within a couple of days/within the week/or beyond one week

Personally, this move to online total triage has been really good- DC got a same day appointment when I submitted a form, they were 5 at the time, had fever/generally unwell- got seen within a few hours

Appreciate that my experience is different to others on this thread, but it’s just that- my own personal experience

I think what gets me is any business that did this would go under, can you manage the outrage if schools shut every time they became “overwhelmed”?

I don’t get why the amount of times and length of times GP surgery online booking systems are closed for bookings isn’t monitored with surgeries held to account.

If online bookings is opening the front door to the NHS ( it clearly isn’t)everybody should have equal access to being triaged for a start.

It's terrible and also discrimination against those who can't use forms/the internet. A relative is almost blind and can't yet the surgery moan when she phones. What the hell is she supposed to do?

Such systems are effectively age discrimination (as the elderly are far less likely than younger people to be able to get online) and disability discrimination (many people with learning disabilities lack literacy and digital skills). It’s completely unacceptable.

Absolutely agree- loads of people can’t use these online systems

Not read the whole thread but agree completely with your title! At my GP's surgery the system is switched on at 8am and has been turned off again by 8.20.

At my mum's it is a little better, and I've been able to get onto it for her in the afternoon. Though her surgery tries to pretend that you can't use the phone as an alternative, whereas you can still phone my surgery as an alternative (but not go in in person).

Also the systems vary so much. At my surgery it is easy to use. My mum's asks a million questions and it is much more complex to use.

It's awful at my surgery 😫

I tried to fill in the form weeks ago at 8am - it was closed because it was overwhelmed! Same all day, every day. You go on and it says they have paused it due to demand.

If you are able to, you can ring at 8am to see if you can get an appointment. Usually though, you end up 20th or more in the queue, so by the time you get through - no appointments.

I teach and collect my form at 8.15am, so can't ring as I don't have 45 minutes+ to wait on the line. Can't use the form because it's never open.

I generally just use 111 now - far better service!

I knew on Wed I had a UTI but because I felt sick/had low back ache, pharmacist wouldn't prescribe (fair enough).

I rang 111 , had initial consultation and was told I would get a call within 2 hours. 15 minutes later I got the call and was seen in person within half an hour. Prescription done and I collected it on my way home.
I finished antibiotic yesterday and was concerned I still had symptoms, so filled in the 111 online form. Again, got a call back in less than 2 hours, in person appointment booked for 30 minutes after, seen by a lovely lady and antibiotic topped up and collected on my way home.

No time off work needed either (would have loved to take a day or so because I felt grim but had loads on that couldn't be moved).

Didn't even bother trying to go through my GP surgery because it's pointless.

Yes the age/disability discrimination is what my mum has pointed out to receptionists at her doctors, at which point they magically find they can deal with her on the phone after all. They initially told her to get a neighbour to do it for her. Quite apart from the privacy issues - it's not for a disabled patient to make the reasonably adjustments, it's for the surgery to!

You can make appointments via the NHS app, but not all GPs use it - they should have to. I was able to use it to make an appointment for a blood test (although it told me in LARGE LETTERs that I could only do so if the GP had requested it - they had) and that's about it. You certainly can't make appointments to see the GP online and I can't even book an appointment for a cervical screening - I have to phone!

I work in a school too and as you know we aren’t allowed our phones throughout the day. We are also expected to make medical appointments outside of school hours. Our local hospital is fantastic at facilitating this. GP not so much. By the time the school day ends the system is well and truly down, seemingly by lunch time on the days I’ve tried due to “overwhelm”. How is this ok? If this was a school it would be RI or Inadequate. GP surgeries seem to be able to do what they like. Apparently these fancy costly new systems are opening up the door to the NHS and it’s all a big improvement for patients.🤔

UTI is taken seriously at our surgery, you phone and get a prescription within two hours.

Not ours.
You go to the pharmacy unless you’ve had it previously within the year I think however since the system seems to go down pretty frequently I fail to see how that can be checked in a timely fashion. Yet another female inconvenience for them. 🙄

I think the whole primary care system is just too fragmented now. Lose 111, lose private GP services and just put GPs back in bloody doctors surgeries. If they were all there instead of doing their side hustles there would be a lot more appointments. I have friends who are GPs who work part time as a partner in a surgery but do 111 calls because it earns them more. Fair enough but how have we ended up like this?

The booking system doesn't change the number of appointments, which seems to be the fundamental issue.

I don't blame the GPs trying to triage the appointments, I have family members who used to book an appointment for a few weeks ahead because they thought they would probably have something to see the doctor about by then, they would have appointments more or less monthly, regardless of need.

I don’t have a problem with them triaging appointments. Far from it. What I do have an issue with is the triage system being switched off for much of the day and people not having equal access to being triaged and the system being the same if not worse than before whilst being dressed up as an improvement for patients and a door being opened to the NHS. It isn’t. I also have an issue with appointments being same day or in 2 weeks time with no in between. That’s shit.

I also have an issue with some surgeries being able to provide good service whilst others offer a shite service with zero accountability.