To think there should be a way of reporting GP surgeries that don’t have online booking available from 8.00-6.30

[BurtsB33]

We were told by Wes Streeting that online booking would negate the morning rush, facilitate being able to get GP appointments and more importantly make booking easier. We were told all GP surgeries would now have this.

In reality like many our GP shuts online booking down early in the day. There is no other way to book. It’s far harder to contact our GP surgeries and to see a GP particularly if you work full time.

So if surgeries aren’t keeping to government promises and declaration of what is/ should be happening surely there should be a quick way of reporting them so the situation can be rectified.

I imagine they shut them down when appointments are full but if you really wish to report them then you can do to whoever commissions them. There’s no quick way of rectifying no staff/appointments, a complaint won’t fix that.

But they are supposed to be offering that service. Wes Streeting told us all surgeries now offer those online booking times to stop the morning rush.If they’re not offering them surely they should be held to account and in quick way so NHS users can access the service we were told is available for all.

Also if they shut down the online booking service surely they hold be forced to open a telephone booking service during those times instead.

The online booking for our surgery has about 3 appointments available if you are lucky, usually with their latest locum. It is a farce.

They shut down the bookings as there are no longer any appointments available.

They can't book appointments that aren't available. So what do you expect them to do?

Wes Streeting says a lot of things, but unless he puts his money where his mouth is, then how are surgeries supposed to magically provide all these appointment slots?

You may want to complain, but it's the NHS, not Amazon. Customer services aren't going to sort it out for you.

Full for how far ahead? I don't want an appointment the same day. I want a flexibility to book an appointment ahead. This option seems to have all but disappeared in the last five years. Why?
I don't know ins and outs of how GP appointments are structured or released but surely, there is a way to release urgent appointment slots daily and keep 50-60-70% of slots available for booking in advance. I doubt absolutely everyone needs (or wants) to see their GP this exact instance.

Not my problem. They are supposed to be running an online booking service from 8.30-6.00. We all get held to account in work if we don’t keep to deadlines. If surgeries aren’t sticking to what tax payers are being told should be happening then surely they should be taken over as per Ofsted in schools.

Streeting also seems to think practices can pull extra staff and appointments out of their arses free of charge but him thinking that doesn’t make it possible.

if you said to a pub - “here’s £1000 for an open bar but you have to serve until everyone that wants to come has gone home and we’ve advertised it to the whole country” what would happen?

Unless they are taken over by timelord Dr Who himself then the realities of the situation won’t change.

Well yes, that’s the expectation but the reality is different. How does a GP surgery offer more appointments than they have available time or staffing for? Would you like staff to work for free or 24/7 with no sleep to offer those appointments?

I’d like to be able to book any doctors appointment. You can’t even book non urgent if the whole system is switched off early in the day. If they’re shutting down early and can’t run the surgery properly then there should be a body that takes over-like in education.

Jus leaving parents with nothing is not ok so the government either need to put proper bodies in place to make sure it’s happening or admit it isn’t everywhere and force surgeries to go back to phone booking so those that work have some way of booking appointments.

Ours is open all day, and your form is triaged almost immediately. It’s far more convenient and sensible than the old call up at 8am system.

As I said not my problem . Patients should still have a method of booking and getting on a list.

The same way any business does. My hairdresser is booked for months but I can still log in right now and book an appointment into the next available slot.

Bully for you. Many other surgeries aren’t doing that so they should be held to account.

It’s not ideal, but that’s when you use 111. They will make an appointment for you if needed and you can be seen same day. If it’s not urgent, try following morning before they close the triage service.

I’m commuting then!!! And don’t have access to my phone until lunch time by which time it’s shut down.

I can’t use 111 for non urgent appointments.

Clearly it is your problem, even if you wish is wasn’t. I can always get an appointment, 111 can book them too either with your own GP or an out of hours service or via a walk in. I have two pre school aged kids and two jobs and I can always get an appointment somewhere, maybe you should try harder.

Totally agree with the not my problem stance.

But very quickly they would be booked 6 months ahead and that would be even worse for any urgent / semi-urgent issues. Also then the FTA rate goes through the roof which is a huge waste.

You say you are held to account for targets at work. If your manager turned around and asked you to triple your output immediately with zero extra pay or resources would you be able to? If you couldn’t would you think it was fair if you were fired? Genuine question!!

Ours is available all day except lunchtime, and you get a response within an hour usually. They either offer an appointment (same day if needed, otherwise in a few weeks) or a phonecall, or they offer advice or a prescription if it's a quick and easy query.

It's a million times better than phoning at 8am and being on hold for an hour. I'm sorry yours doesn't work well.

Sometimes you need to make time.
Not ideal I agree, but system is broken and GP surgeries do their best with what they have.

There should be a list of surgeries who do this, investigations why with them put in a kind of special measures bracket until they are supported to offer what they should be.

At the very least patients should have phone booking with lists they can get on in the mean time when online booking is down. It’s not about seeing a GP the same day but any time. They are more than capable of taking names over the phone to go on a list for the next available slots

No I should be able to use the online booking system we were told is available all day until 6.30. Not a harder system with the same people grabbing all the slots.

Our Drs doesn’t offer this either but I’m glad, the system they have works perfectly. You phone up and are guaranteed a Drs appointment that day, either face to face or telephone.
They used to let you book in advance all appointments were getting booked up which meant those who needed a same day appointment never got one. You can pre book nurses’ appointments.

I don’t think they’ll ever be a perfect system which suits everyone unfortunately when you have a budget to stick to.