GP didn’t call me because their “workday has ended”

[angelinlothian]

I had a telephone call booked in at 15:40.

It rolls around and no call. 17:30 comes and goes which is when the surgery closes.

I get a text to say it’s not been completed as they got to the end of their workday and couldn’t make the call, which means at least 8 people were in the same position as me, they didn’t have their calls made.

So I now have to compete again tomorrow for an on the day call, and even having one booked in doesn’t guarantee it!

AIBU to think this is exactly why so many people end up in A&E? We’re told to go to our GP, but our GP won’t see us!

I think at the bare minimum patients should be seen somewhat close to the time they’re allocated.

I understand emergencies happen, but in that case it needs to be communicated directly to the patient and something better is done? If I didn’t turn up I’d be receiving texts and letters, but they don’t carry out appointments and they’re just given a pass?

And there's talk of fining patients for missing appointments and what these missed appointments cost so can the patients fine the GP?

I had the same problem as you the other week and im in Stirlingshire. Still trying to get that phone appointment.

Its a shittin nightmare.

I mean issue plan not always to stick to the appointment schedule? Serious question, what do you think comes up for the appointment order of the day to slip?
Do you think the GPs are just arsing around doing nothing?

I understand that things crop up but I can't understand why they haven't automatically booked you in for tomorrow and you have to rebook yourself. Id definitely contact the practice manager about it.

It depends how you look at it. You are sort of right that people shouldn't work past their hours but that isn't real life. Most people on a GP equivalent salary would be expected to meet their deadlines and, if that meant staying late, you stay late. There's no way I could just pack up and go home on time if I still had work to do - most private sector people wouldn't. It's not a race to the bottom and you could argue that private should come in line with public rather than the other way around. But whilst ever we live in the world we currently do, I think its appalling that a GP is just allowed to dump their list to go home and, even worse, expect the patients to go to the back of the queue the following day.

That’s just not how healthcare works though OP. Nobody can guarantee you’d be seen close to allocated time because any kind of emergency can crop up and you can’t simply shove someone having an emergency into a cupboard so you can do your calls.

I think that the better solution surely would be to just book anyone missed into the first slots available tomorrow so that everybody is seen/spoken to still, but I can’t blame the GP for leaving when their day is done to be honest. They are just people like everybody else who may have their own caring responsibilities etc at home, and today it is you but tomorrow will be another you, and the day after, and the day after, they can’t just work endlessly.

I would also say that a contributing factor though is not just emergencies but the slots allocated for appointments meaning it is almost planned for them to run behind and therefore run out of time.

That's ridiculous, and don't even get me started on the fact they are shut on a weekend

Don’t be so ridiculous! Doctors are still people at the end of the day and can have other commitments like the rest of us!

Certain jobs it's just expected you stay until the job's done. Anything where appointments are booked whether that's a dog groomer or doctor - you cannot just not do the appointment. Lots of other roles are contracted to do the job rather than set hours e.g. teaching, community healthcare, police...

At the very least I'd expect the surgery to call you to say would you like to speak to a different doctor/nurse/appointment tomorrow to offer a solution.

Not true.

I’ve been unable to get a GP appt for my 2 year old because they were full. My 2 year old had an infection/fever and needed antibiotics. So despite it being somethinf GP could easily treat, next step is to ring 111 who send you to a&e.

I’m wondering if the OP has misinterpreted this? I find it hard to believe that they have to go through the process again 🤔

Oh for goodness sake - of course an individual GP shouldn't necessarily be expected to stay two hours late to get through routine appointments.

But it is extremely rare these days for GPs to be individual entities - most are part of larger practices with multiple GPs, nurse practitioners, paramedics and other medical professionals.

If something had come up for the GP that had been assigned to call @angelinlothian then either the remaining nine calls should have been distributed among other medical staff OR the receptionist or practice manager should have called, explained and ensured that whoever couldn't be spoken to today was first on the list tomorrow morning.

The one thing that absolutely should not have happened is what did - the OP being told to play online form roulette again tomorrow morning!

This type of shoddy service from GPs contributes massively to the issues that are currently rife in A&E.

People always want appointments to never run over and emergencies to never be slotted in until they are the one in need of those.

I'm surprised so many people are defending the GP, this seems appalling to me, and I work in medical complaints so have seen a lot!

It's not like OP was the last call of the day at 17:20 and the GP couldn't overrun as had to get home for whatever reason (although even then I would expect OP to get an apology and automatically be put on the first call tomorrow morning, not having to rebook) - her appt was 2hrs before the surgery closed! It must have been apparent at some point before 17.30 that the GP was running hugely late and wouldn't get to OP's booking in time, let alone the people booked in after her.

Either this was because of an unexpected issue - i.e. someone became seriously unwell in one of the appts before OPs which caused a knock on effect - in which case there should be capacity for the people whose appts got cancelled today to be rebooked tomorrow and staff should have contacted those people to apologise and sort a rebook.

Or it is normal for the surgeries to overrun by at least 2 hrs, in which case the practice manager/lead GPs need to reorganise their booking process, even if that means reducing the number of slots available/not booking anyone after 3pm or whenever, as multiple people just not being seen at all after being told they would, and potentially taking a whole day off work, etc., is clearly not a professional or fair way of doing things!

It's not fair to just blame the GP and say 'they should work as long as it takes.' But it is fair to blame the surgery as a whole for both poor time management and communication.

Most people like that will have some element of control over how they work to deadlines etc (unless their workload if completely off) or tend to be very well compensated for it. GPs have zero control of if someone gets very unwell or needs more time.

It's a joke that in the UK GP access isn't 7 days a week.

Especially as most surgeries have multiple GP's.

In France Dr's are seen same day, you just go and sit in our Doctors in my home town and are seen usually within the hour, less depending on who got there before you.
They also do minor surgeries themselves and if they need to take blood they do it themselves. Like the ones in the UK used to. And they don't rush you out of the door if you want to discuss any concerns. There's no 5 minute limit.
They also are happy to visit you at home as standard.
7 days a week.

In the UK our GP practice has about 8 Dr's working there but only ever two actually working, you're lucky if you can get in that week, they close twice a week half days for 'training' and they don't do any blood tests etc themselves. You have to go back on another day to see a nurse for that.
You're only allowed to discuss one ailment as well and the appointment is rushed because there are another 30 people in the waiting room desperate to see a GP in the 4 days a week they seem to work.

That’s outrageous OP.
I’m a GP and I’m afraid I often run late, but I would never ever not call someone who had an appointment. Our last appointment slot is about 5.30, the surgery is open till 6 for the last patients to be seen, and the reception staff leave at 6.30. But the doctors are usually there till about 8pm, and just stay until the work is done. I called a patient at 7pm yesterday.

Or don’t schedule so many appointments in the first place. GPs are always running at least 30 mins behind in my experience - surely this suggests to them that despite their optimism each day, they never manage to actually keep to just fifteen or so mins for each appointment and need to allocate more time. It’s just greed.

I don’t mind if the call is late as long as I get called. I think it is appalling you have been left like this and it would never happen in the practice I go to.

But that's what she's saying. Doctors are people like the rest of us. We all have children/caring responsibilities, hobbies etc but if you're not finished, you're not finished - you stay til you are whether you're a GP or an accountant. The rest of us frequently stay late to meet our deadlines. So why shouldn't Doctors?

People often need to leave on time, eg picking children up from nursery before it closes.

The communication was bad though, I agree.

That's terrible. I have had phone calls from the doctor as late as 7:30 when they run over. I've never just been left. They should certainly call you tomorrow instead of making you go through the process again.
I hope you get it sorted.

Can you e-mail the Practice Manager to complain about having to re-book ?

Ask for the doctor to write you a prescription for pain relief.
Tell them you need pain medication. If they were going to talk to you on the phone about it then they've already agreed it doesn't need a real appointment. (Else triaging hasn't worked)
It might be they decide they need to see it to identify if it's hot and swollen etc. in which case they shouldn't leave you til next week.

If you're making out on ibuprofen and paracetamol and have been to the chemist of course.