To think it should be possible to get a GP appointment at a specific time?

[WithTwoGiantBoys]

My GP surgery now has an eConsult first policy where you answer a whole bunch of random, repetitive or irrelevant questions to try to explain what you need which is then apparently triaged by a doctor. They then send you a text with a day when someone will call you, but no hint of the time. You have no say in when this day is.

I work in an open plan office in a workplace where there isn't anywhere appropriate to discuss private medical information without being overheard. If they gave me a time I could walk the ten minutes to the staff car park and sit in my car at the right time to wait for the call but they don't - I don't want to have to take a day off of work to wait in at home for the call when an actual appointment would take half an hour out of my day. It is like waiting in for a delivery window!

I called to complain that I just can't manage this and they have changed it so that I know the call will be in the afternoon, so I only have to take half a day off. I don't really think this is appropriate! It was also not possible to specify that I wanted to talk to a female doctor which, with the nature of the thing I want to discuss, makes me very uncomfortable, but I will just have to suck it up if I want any kind of treatment. It doesn't help that I absolutely HATE talking on the phone, an in an ideal world I would have a timed, in-person appointment with a female GP where I am comfortable to explain my issue.

YABU - medical treatment is the wild west, you cannot expect any aspect of it to be convenient

YANBU - privacy and dignity still matter, of course it should be possible to book a timed appointment

Both your options say the same thing really. GP services and community medicine have deteriorated so much over the last 15-20 years it's awful. Our surgery went from being the best in the county to absolutely everything being at arms length and online. There is virtually no human interaction at all, I can't remember the last time I saw a real doctor, in fact I don't know who my GP is or what they look like.

Oh god I agree with you OP. It's beyond ridiculous. I've been told to expect a call anytime from 8am to 6.30pm within the next two weeks. It's completely untenable. What the fuck am I supposed to do.

If it’s for an appointment that doesn’t require a physical examination (although photos and videos are accepted), I can’t recommend Kry (used to be called Livi) enough.

You have a video call with a GP, and appointments are available between 7am - 10pm during the week and 9am - 5pm on the weekends. They release new appointments everyday and I’ve never had a problem getting one. They can make referrals for you, and prescribe medication.

Oh, you've been to my workplace?

I don't know what they do, presumably they feel annoyed and frustrated at the lack of ability to book a timed appointment?

My DH is a bus driver - when he needs to do an eConsult he puts a note in to that effect and states what times his breaks are.

It has worked the last 3 times - they have called him while he was on his break. I think it helps if you can get the econsult in first thing in the morning.

Might be worth a try.

I have a similar problem so have been putting off trying to get an appointment. I can only leave my desk in dedicated breaks and i definitely I can’t take a call at my desk.
i can’t phone to book a routine appointment, everything is done by the econsult form. They also take 48hrs to get back to you and the form has to be completed by 0730
I have to leave anything medical for annual leave and if I have any plans during that time I often can’t go.
bring back phoning and getting an appointment!

Many gp practices will now not let you book an appointment.

you have to go through the e consult service and they decide if you need a phone call.

mine is like this.

It is ridiculous and I’m glad for these reasons I’m not currently in the UK and have health insurance.

My GP surgery have send me a link to book a face to face appointment to review my blood test results. But there appear to be no appointments available on the link between now and the last week of December. If I phone to speak to someone, they refer me back to the link which has no appointments…

I run a busy medical/ welfare room in a school. So I feel your pain. There is never a moment without pupils in my room and I can’t leave them and just walk outside.
i always request a call before 8am ( that is to prove I am available very early) or after 4.30 pm.
Usually I get a call about 7pm, when the GP is driving home.

You're not wrong @WithTwoGiantBoys the whole system is broken and completely impossible.

I miss the pre-austerity days where you could get a normal appointment this week.

The way things are puts people off trying to see the GP!

The only way to deal with this is to escalate to the practice manager.

Just tell them when you answer. They'll either wait or call the next person & then call you back. They might be able to do an exact time if you let them know

They will deal with this exact scenario multiple times a day & be used to it.

The surgery I work in, the patients can request a specific time to be called, and emergencies permitting, I and my colleagues do try and accommodate this.

Mine gives a 30 minute window on the same day and you can always ask them to change it if it’s not convenient.

There isn’t a single office, private room in the whole school? How does that work? What if a parent or child needs a private 1:1?

I’m glad my access to healthcare isn’t dependent on whether I can pay. OP’s situation seems extreme and not without a sensible solution. My GP will call back when convenient, as others have stated here.

Well good for you. I am glad that my health concerns get treated rather than being kicked down the road.

Nope, not in our GP surgery. It's triage first, then a phone consultation, and only after that, do you get a face to face if the GP deems it necessary, which is usually very rare. You can't request a face to face first, regardless of the reason.

No, there isn't an office or private room just sitting empty, we have no spare space to the extent that the Head's PA often has to vacate her office if a parent meeting is needed at short notice with someone. Very few people have their own office, they are all shared. If I knew when the call was coming I might be able to find a free space when someone is teaching but I can't run around the site barging into rooms in the hope of finding an empty one.

For those asking why I don't just go into the street, it's sensitive and personal to discuss test results and treatment plans, I'm likely to cry. I don't want to get in a state somewhere public. I don't think that's unreasonable but amazed how many people here think this is perfectly ok!

I agree. Even more challenging if you work somewhere you can’t have a phone on and can’t take annual leave - I’m a teacher and it’s essentially impossible, though I appreciate that it’s not any easier if you have to take your precious annual leave for this if you have to cover all the school holidays, which I don’t have to worry about.

I an obviously very lucky . My GP always calls back on the day and will try to fit in to my schedule. These other systems sound close to impossible for many workers.

In every open ended box in the e consult put that you can only take an appointment at xyz days or times. Don't only offer one as that's not really fair. Give them two or three convenient windows. I'd imagine they'd endeavour to put it in then.

i suppose if that were possible, it would be an option. I don’t suppose GP’s are deliberately awkward about these things

Of course it can be. Why the hell can you be sure where the OPs office is in relation to anywhere else?? OP i get it. I'm a teacher, so cant get up and walk out of a lesson. Fortunately my surgery group run an after hours clinic that you can pretty much always get an appointment at.