to think that there must be a better way to get a doctor's appointment?

[cornflakegirl]

I needed a doctor's appointment for 3mo DS2 this week. I started calling at 8.15am - got an engaged tone every time until just after 9am, at which point I was put through to the queue system where I was on hold for 20 mins. When I finally got to talk to someone, I was told all the morning appts were full and I would have to call back at 1pm for an afternoon appt. I couldn't book a pm appt as they are 'locked' in the system till 1pm.

I can't imagine any commercial organisation trying to use this system. I understand that GPs have different pressures, but I feel that they should either be inflexible on the times but have plenty of people to answer the phones, or keep everyone on hold but be more flexible around booking. The cuurent situation seems impossibly rude.

I'm yhinking of complaining to the practice manager - does anyone's GP have a better system that I could suggest they implement?

We have the same problem with busy line at 8.30 - wish they'd bring in queuing, though I guess that costs more. However, after that, if there is no available appointment, they'll get duty doc to call you back (within an hour), and if they can't help you directly they'll advise if you need an apptment and you can come in at 11.30 to be seen when possible (before 11.45 when I've done it). They'll also ask if it's something practice nurse could help with. I find it all very good and have never gone without seeing doc when I want to.

Sounds rubbish!
Ours has a pretty good system where they have 'open surgery' from 8.30 to 10.30 every morning and appointments in the afternoons - 2-6.30 which you can book any time.

You could suggest a similar system to your practice manager - ours has only had this system for about 5 years; they ballotted patients to see what system we wanted when they changed from all open sugery.

We have an system where you just book when you need, if you want to see a specific doctor at a specific time you will have to book in advance, but if your not fussy who you see you can usually get an appointment within a day or so

They're some appointments each day for 'emergency' but even when these have gone they will try to fit you in if its an emergency

I find it incredibly difficult to get an appointment. In order to fiddle the waiting times (i.e. no-one waits more than a day for an appointment!) we can only book from 8am for an appointment the next day. Line usually engaged and if all appointments are gone then you have to wait until the next morning and repeat process. Im always driving to work at 8am so unless I can get someone to ring for me I could potentially wait weeks.

My surgery has the same system as yours and it is very very frustrating. I wish they'd have an open surgery for even a couple of hours but the practice doctors have vetoed that option

we have a system which works really well

we ring at 8.30 everyday if we need an emergency appointment after you always get one after 11 they become 5 minute appointments ( and your told this on the phone) this is a great system as if its really an emergency then you can usually deal with it in 5 minutes.

I have rung them after collecting my daughter from nursery at 11 and have been given an emergency appt but I think these are rare.

you can book morning and afternoon ( and evening) appointments in about 2 weeks notice

I am really happy they have always seen me and my kids when its been a real emergency

II used to be with a doctors with a walk in clinic all morning and it was nightmare when you are really ill the last thing you want to do is turn up and wait for hours and hours with other really sick people.It was truly the worst system and I would leave my surgery if they implemented this

Our current GPs are great (it is a fairly large group practice of about 7 drs). The phone system has queuing, and adults can book appointments (and you can see where the availability is) online as well. You can book ahead if you want for routine stuff, and can also get emergency appts. The way this works is that the nurse practioner calls you back about 10 mins after your call, then decides if you need to be seen urgently either by her or the duty GP. This has always been the same morning/afternoon for us. She can shove you straight into the GP if needs be, or prescribe.
They do two late nights a week as well which is fab.

I really can't complain about them at all

We can book ahead online / automated phone line - but it's over 2 weeks ahead. Generally when I want to see the doc I don't want to wait 2 or 3 weeks, but I don't necessarily need it to be that day. My son has had nasty nappy rash and a persistent eye infection so we've been back to the doctor repeatedly - but it's never been an emergency. We've managed to get the appointments we need - quite often by requesting a phone consult, so that the doc then tells us to come in - but it's such a palaver. I mean, I'm at home with a 3mo, so I don't reaaly have pressing engagements - but the system shouldn't be predicated on that assumption...

Hadn't occurred to me that the same day thing would be about waiting times. Crappy example of the need to be careful what you measure I guess!

Might suggest that they do something like TigersChick's practice does and have pm appts you can book any time - you don't get if you don't ask, right?

Mine has the same system where you have to call first thing in the morning but they always make an exception for babies and small children. A doctor will call back and then decide whether the child needs to be seen, and then you get an afternoon appointment as a priority. I've only used it once so far but it really was a weight of my mind. With a baby you really need that reassurance that someone can see your little one the same day!
cornflakegirl your system reminds me of one my surgery had a few years ago when I phoned with what turned out to be pneumonia and was offered an appointment in ten days time... I just laughed on the phone and said in ten days I'd either be dead or better. Was seen that day!

this was like my old gp's practice. have just changed practice and the new surgery is fab. phoned at 10am and was offered 1 appointment that afternoon and 2 the next day. pleasant receptionist. v helpful.

I must have sounded shocked as she asked if i was alright!

We don't have many difficulties with our surgery. If I request an appointment that day or the day after, especially for one of the dcs, I find I do have to be quite firm but polite.

Typically one of the staff will say in a sharp tone "is it urgent?" and typically I will say "well I'm not sure but may I just tell you it is for a ...insert age of child.. year old and I would rather a doctor did see her today if possible" I must stress this is only one of the staff, most are helpful at our surgery.

My old surgery had this (which I hated), then we moved and the new surgery you could call anytime (actually they had a period of 2 hours that was for emergencies only, which was a brilliant idea) and book a few days in advance.

Now they've changed to the call at 8am or 3pm system, and you can only book in advance for after 2 weeks. Highly frustrating, especially as our schedule means we aren't usually awake at 8am.

same system at ours. only way to definitely get an apt it to queue outside from about 8am (surgery starts at 830) lunacy.

YANBU. This sounds like our system. It is a nightmare - I regularly spend the school run with my mobile clamped to my ear dialling the surgery over and over again because it is engaged. Even worse, sometimes you get into a queue but then it cuts you off if you aren't answered within 10 minutes, which costs a fortune on a mobile! Driving or herding a 4yo and an 18mo through a busy car park while on a mobile is also really dodgy.

If you ring later, you can't get an appointment. They don't do emergency appointments, just 'same day appointments'. You can pre-book, but need to do that about a fortnight in advance. I now take the kids to the out of hours service (booked via NHS direct) at the hospital if they are ill, because getting a same day appointment is so difficult/impossible if you are busy doing other things between 8.30 and 9.

The alternative (done by some mums), is to pre-book a couple of appointments a week and cancel them if you don't need them. But I haven't been able to bring myself to do this. Yet...

Sounds like they cannot cope with the number of patients. Any chance of a change of surgery?

Our old surgery used a system where you call at 8 and get a call-back from a doctor who then makes an app with dr or nurse as appropriate. I never had a problem with getting an appt that day if needed.

I really loved the system of a ring-back from a doctor as with kids I sometimes just needed to talk to a doctor to check something out and didn't even need an app.

Our new surgery is, on the face of it, better as you just ring up and get an appt. But I preferred getting a call-back from the dr. I also think it is a more efficient use of resources - you may make a dr app when you didn't need to, or a nurse would have done the job just as well.

Am considering complaining to the new surgery that I think they should operate the call-back process as they are being inefficient at present! Don't think it will go down well though it is full of old folk, whereas old surgery was more balanced with kids too.

The whole appointments thing is a no-win situation for GP's I'm afraid. Hvaing worked for a surgery for five years, there is no magical system that will suit everyone and what works for SAHM's with small kids is just as nightmarish for OAP's or those working or whatever.

The one thing I would say is that your surgery should be willing to see a three month old ASAP, whether they have an appointment free or not. They may well have a lock on the afternoon appointments but there should be nothing stopping them adding an appointment into the morning surgery either for you to go down or for the GP to call you back.

Ring them back, stress the age of the child and the symptoms and demand (politely!) to be dealt with. The receptionist is paid and trained to keep her doctor's from being swamped but that shouldn't affect a baby this small. Just accept that you may not get a time that's terribly convenient and that you may have to wait to be seen once you arrive.

Our GP has a similar system and it drives me mad. It used to be open surgery in the mornings, so you knew if you turned up by a certain time you'd get seen, though you may have to wait quite a while - fine, if it's urgent, get there early. Now you have to ring at 8:40 - as I have to be at work by then, that causes significant problems if one of the kids is ill. There's no guarantee of an appointment even if you ring at 8:40 on the dot, I have frequently been kept on hold for over an hour, so what do I do? Keep the kids at home while I call, but then risk not getting an appointment and being late for work for no reason? Or alternatively, take them to nursery, go to work and call from there - to get told 'yes, there's an appointment in 15 minutes, can you get here?' errr...no. Which is what leads to dd2's nappy rash getting so bad she's crying when we change her nappy.

It's absolutely ridiculous the way surgeries work, same here. When DD2 was very poorly with croup last week I just walked in there and burst into tears and demanded to see someone. It worked.

The week before though I had to take DD1 to A&E simply because we couldn't be seen by the GP and the walk-in centre was closed

I hate the fact that ours has an 0844 number which is supposed to be lo-call but is not included in my minutes on my mobile ( i only use my landline on weekends as it's free! But have hundreds of minutes to use up on my mobile)
Also there is a queuing system and i have been on hold for over an hour before, it's infuriating.

ginnybag - I have always managed to get the appts I need for DS2 - although it does sometimes take some polite demanding It's just the sinking feeling I get whenever I know I need to call up! And I get your point that there's no system that works for everyone - I jusy can't believe that the current system works for anyone!

the exact same thing happened this morning when I was trying to make an appointment for my husband. I was calling from 8am on finally got through about 8:45 only to be told they only had emergency appointments left at 6pm.
You can book ahead for routine appointments but today wasnt routine. There clearly are not enough appointments as all the appointments were booked and the emergency appointments were also overfull and overran by a LONG time. They need more doctors I think!

My gp - you telephone or pop in and make an appointment for a few days time or the next week.

If you are sick on the day then a duty pg will telephone you and aks you about your problem and then the pg will decide if you need an appointment that day and you go in to the surgery.

It was all like this 11 years ago when I first went there. Then it changed to be just like the op's pg's - a nightmare trying to get an appointment but apparently it is a much better system

Now though they have gone back to the older system? strange if it wasn't any good - but it works far better for me and a lot of other people I know that go there

sorry duty GP not pg

It's not terribly efficient for anyone, no!

And I'll be the first to admit that there are things in the NHS that seriously need fixing. It's just that it's not always in the GP's control... you'd be amazed how much we get dictated to by Whitehall via the PCT.

For example... it took me months to get a change to how we dealt with the early morning phone rush... we were taking emergency appointment calls and dealing with repeat script requests at the same time, because we had to be able to issue ugent repeat scripts that day....

Now, which is more important... the sick child (or adult!) who needs to be seen by a GP. Or the chap whose forgotten (for the third month running!!!) to re-order his tablets in time...?

We began refusing to take repeat scripts (normally a trun around of 48 hours btw!) before 10am, but this meant a knock on effect that they absolutely wouldn't be ready before 5pm.

My God... the howls.... and the complaints. We were actually told we had to go back to the old system by the PCT because they'd received complaints....

I seem to recall telling them to go jump and showing them my call time logs before and after the change! That seemed to sink in, but we still got moaned at by Mr-and-Mrs-Can't-be-bothered-to-remember.

OP - glad you normally get seen. I have a thing about young children and access to medical care. I've had several screaming rows polite discussions with both GP's and receptionists about this one. They get seen, end of. If it turns out they've got life threatening headlice, we can bollock the parent then for wasting our time!