To NOT expect doctors receptionist to tell me to come back an hour later as the doctor could not see both my children at the same time?

[notnice]

My doctors have a new phone system which you book appointments through. I booked an appointment for DD2 and then tried to book an appointment for DD1 at the same time - the booking system was playing up. I tried to ring and speak to someone but the phone line was constantly engaged and I needed to make the appointment I had booked. DD2 has a chest infection and is being sick and DD1 has an ear infection. I turned up at the doctors and explained that they both needed to be seen, receptionist told me I'd have to bring DD1 back an hour later which would mean dragging them both home and then out again. I said that the doctor would need to see them both as there is no way I was coming back - she said he could only do this if appointmant available which it was'nt - I said that he WOULD be seeing them both. I am pregnant too BTW. When I went into to see the doctor - he said it was no problem too see them both and was very nice as always. AIBU? I feel bad now even though the receptionist was in the wrong.

I always get group appointments for me and the DC at the dentist for checkups. But these are booked in advance and I have to be flexible to where there is a double slot. 3.30pm on 22 December as it happens. I think we get a double slot for the 3 of us. It is not the same for an urgent appt for an illness.

"The OP is being a bit disingenous in continually referring to two sick children"

and don't forget her pregnancy. because being pregnant gives you the right to act however you like.and if anyone disagrees with your rudeness they can be promptly dealt with by the mantra "what do you expect i'm pregnant"

YAB Completely U.

In our practice it states very clearly that each appt is for one person. If they were very busy that day and only allot particular times how were they supposed to accommodate you immediately?

Gosh you are rude.

"I said that he WOULD be seeing them both." . The receptionist was doing her job. She didn't have two back-to-back appointments to give you at that particular time - you should have called and spoken to someone before booking the appointment, and if your child is well enough to go to school then clearly she didn't need to be seen as a matter of urgency.

"I am pregnant too BTW." And? Pregnancy is not an illness and presumably you weren't seeing the gp wrt your pregnancy so the fact is irelevant.

Yabu. And if you continue to be so difficult don't be surprised if you find yourself removed from their records - gp surgeries don't have t tolerate that kind of rudeness.

The receptionist probably was just doing her job but sometimes IMHO they have a way of saying things that rubs me up the wrong way. And it is a silly system.

Pregnancy is not an illness but it does feel like one.

Give the girl a break - we have all been there before?

My stepmum is a GP and I once asked her why doctors' surgeries always run so late. She said it's because of people who book one 10-min appt then turn up with the family in tow or have multiple ailments that will take a long time to discuss.

You might have known that to see both your kids would only take 10 mins but the receptionist didn't know that. I agree that in a perfect world we should all be able to see a GP with no notice for as long as we need, but this isn't a perfect world and the receptionist was just doing her job.

I would expect to turn up to one appt and have both my children seen. I regularly book an appt for me, or one of the children, then speak to the doc about whoever in the family is also ill. The surgery is usually running late, but I take that as the price of having an old-fashioned family doctor who take an interest in us as a family unit.

With young children, it is hard hanging round the doc's surgery, it is madness to go home and back again, and those who are unsympathetic must have forgotten how tiring being preg can be, without having to look after sick children! I think the receptionist was being unreasonable if your children are young.

I think you are missing the point that EVERYONE looking for a dr's appointment is sick and tired, presumably

But surely it is more efficient to have them both in at one appt, then leaving the later appt free? Likelihood is they both need similar anti-b's etc, and looking at both children wd prob help the doc assess what is wrong with them. My dr would think I was insane if I went in with one child (presumably leaving the other in the waiting room?) then turned up again an hour later with the other!

If there is more than one person to be seen, book more than one appointment. If you have more than one ailment, book a double appointment.

If you have to have more than one person seen, go in together (for two appointments of course).

GPs run late for all sorts of reasons, including patients running late and GPs sitting there twiddling their thumbs (didn't believe it till I read it here...)

FWIW, I spend a lot of time at various appointments and it would p*ss me off no end if one of the reasons I was waiting was because some woman took her two children in when she'd only booked one apointment...even if she was pregnant...

notnice, the reality for the receptionist is as follows:

Scene 1: Patient turns up with 2 children, one appointment. Refuses to accommodate 2 children, gets it in the neck from patient.

Scene 2: Patient turns up with 2 children, one appointment. Allows 2 children to be seen, gets in in the neck from doctor.

I'm not a doctor but an optometrist so in a similar situation. I've seen how it works!

mummygorilla, there's no 'surely' about it, surely? This is why the GP surgeries are usually set up for one patient one appt...

It might seem more efficient to you, but presumably the GP needs double the time to examine each child properly, ask the right questions, have some contingency time, double the note writing up time, double the prescription writing time etc etc...

It is their decision what the best way is to organise their appts and the receptionist was doing her job properly.

My doc always takes the view that he likes to know what's gong on with the whole family - so I went for an appt for me, had to take my daughter as no babysitter, she coughed while I was in there, so doc examined her, said she needed anti-b's. I said my son (at school at the time) also had the same cough, so doc gave me a prescription for him, too.

They set up and run the surgery to help patients. I can see the argument that 'that is the system' absolves the receptionist of blame, but it is a shame that the system is so rigid. It is meant to be a public service for ill/vulnerable people. I just dread the day when my doctor retires or gets forced into some dreadful super-surgery!

And I really would not mind waiting an extra ten or fifteen mins if a heavily pregnant woman had two children that needed seeing in one appt. I've jumped the queue, with the agreement of other patients, when I was ill and pregnant. I was grateful but thought that was common decency - like giving up a seat on the tube - and would do the same for someone worse off than myself.

I think YABU, to be honest- sorry! I'm a vet and it makes me when a client brings in two (or more) animals when they have booked a single appointment. For one thing, it means I have to retrieve the notes for the unexpected animal. I pre-read notes before I start my surgeries, so I am au fait with the patient's medical history, but obviously if an animal turns up unexpectedly I haven't had time to do this, so I find people tutting at me and saying "but he's allergic to such-and-such- it's on his notes!!"- yeah, the notes I haven't had a chance to read! It also means I do run late and then have the next 16 clients coming in boot-faced and narky with me- when it's not even my fault!

Having said that, there are times when rules have to be broken. And your booking system may need to be looked at- a polite letter to the practice manager might help that along. But I think you handled it all wrong, tbh. If it was me (and it has been!) I would have been very apologetic, explained the problems I had trying to book a double appointment to the receptionist, explained how worried I was about the other child, accepted that I HAD only booked one appointment, and that I KNEW it was a pain, but asked ever so nicely if theer was any way she could even ask the doctor, as it was going to be terribly difficult to come back. And smiled pleadingly. Then been ever so grateful when I was allowed to bring the other child for the doctor to see. We have SO much more time for people who approach the problem nicely and politely, and very little for people who DEMAND and INSIST, and basically come in with a belligerent attitude which seems like they are looking for a fight! You definitely catch more flies with honey...The receptionist doesn't make the rules, so I hope you also had a go at the doctor- or were you nice as pie to him/her, even though they must have agreed these rules?

I think the quality of the admin system matters as much as / more than the quality of the GPs in terms of how effective a medical centre is in terms of treating and preventing illness - which, in the community, is often chronic rather than acute, uncomfortable rather than life-threatening, and speedy recovery is directly related to quick access to simple medicines and a positive experience.
The OP sounds like a pita but so does the engaged phone and the inflexible phone appointment system. Things like this can result in busy / stressed people leaving things untreated and perhaps escalating. It's all so unnecessarily opaque and obstructive.
Also where / how is the layperson supposed to find out what constitutes an emergency, for a GP appointment? I always thought an emergency was a 999 type thing, but it isn't, because I have been bollocked twice by a GP when I eventually turned up days later for a non-emergency appointment with, respectively, cystitis and tonsilitis. Apparently these should get seen and treated straight away. How should I know? All the leaflets discourage you from wasting doctor's time, how are you supposed to know you can also be bollocked for not being pushy enough to get an appointment?

The OP has said that she tried to book 2 appointments and was'nt able to!

I am surprised at the way alot of you are treating the OP - I have noticed that sometimes on MN posters are like sheep, apart from a few (ewe)!

YANBU.

From what I read the reason she couldnt; get an appointment or speak to anyone was because the appointment system is automated and the automated system was playing up and wouldn't allow her to book a double appointment ie she got cut off or something.

In that case she is being highly reasonable.

Hallulayah (sp). Well said island.

Vezzie, I sympathise. I booked a non emergency appointment for dd when she was 2 (and ds was 14 days old) for a problem with her nose. I waited 7 days for the appointment and she was subsequently sent to hospital the next day for a minor op.

The thing I don't get is how nobody seems to have picked up the fact that OP had a child who was being sick with her and had a chest infection. The OP was putting her child's welfare first - would any of you want to drag a sick child home and then back to the doctors agai? I think that would be almost neglectful.