So, how long does it take you to get a GP appointment?

[Titsalinabumsquash]

Just wondering really.

Yesterday I called and through after 12 minutes in a cue, I got a telephone consultation granted for 9 month old DS who's had watery, very loose stools for 3 days. All fine.

Today I've woken up and the usually tiny rice sized cyst in my armpit has swollen to golf ball size, it's really painful. I call the drs at opening time (8.30) and its engaged until 8.45 then I have a cue to wait in for 20 minutes only to be told the emergency clinic is full and to try again tomorrow, the next bookable appointment is next Tuesday.

Is this normal in all areas or just mine? I'm thinking of moving surgeries which is a shame because the GPs are really nice.

My surgery will always see actual emergencies same day, if no appts left then you can attend the sit and wait at the end of the surgery time - I think it weeds out lots of urgentish-ish but not emergencies.

They nearly always off me an appt same or next day, as long as you don't ind which GP. Prebooking for a particular GP can mean several weeks wait.

Mines pretty good with urgent stuff but I used to find it easier to book in with the nurse instead, who would then go get a doctor.

Sadly the nurse is hard to get a hold of now as more people caught on.

If you're in distress then they usually always try and fit you in that way.. even if it means going at the end of the day and waiting.

Our practice telephone triage anyone who calls for a same day appointment. I have ever known DD not to get a same day appointment when she needs one (she's a severe asthmatic). We call, speak to a receptionist and ask for a same day appointment and a nurse or doctor calls back within an hour and either gives telephone advice or makes an appointment if it's deemed necessary.

I called this afternoon for an appointment for a female doctor and the first available non-urgent appointment was for Monday morning.

I think our surgery does very well, it covers a huge area and always manages to see urgent patients on the same day, none of this call between 8am and 8.30am nonsense.

Our surgery is really good. Usually you can be seen by a doctor same day/next day, though if your problem can be handled by the practice nurse they'll encourage you to book in with her (and to be fair, if she sees you and it needs a doctor's prescription/opinion you get seen v quickly).

Sometimes you'll be given an appointment for the on-call doctor, which means you might have to wait a while after your appointment time if he gets called out but I think that's fine for an emergency.

The main problem we have with ours is if you need an appointment in 4 weeks (say for repeat bloods or something) they only open the bookings a couple of weeks beforehand so it can be difficult to book that sort of thing. It can also be difficult to book in with a particular doctor too.

I'd say it's not a great surgery I used to have a gp surgery like that it was a battle to get an appointment.
if you wanted to be seen that day phoning was useless you had to go into town and queue at the door.

you could casually mention that by law you have to have to be given an appointment within 24hours if it's an emergency appointment that sometimes works but if it were me I'd change doctors.

I rang my health visitor and asked her which were the 'good' surgeries in my area and the one she recommended is great.

Our surgery only has appointment slots in the morning, and you have to ring at 8 o/c, its permanently engaged I have occasionally been successful by ringing on the house phone and the mobile at the same time,if you haven't got through by 8.15 you have no hope of a same day appointment.
They are muttering about an online booking system, I hope they go ahead, although can see that it would be very unfair for a lot of people without internet access.

Ours is great, on Tuesday I phoned about 3.30 and got a same day apt (cancellation) for 4.50. Admitedly the Dr was then running about 30 mins late, but so what? They are brilliant, can't fault them.

We have a really good surgery once I've got through to reception, it's always engaged between 8.30-9.

They've always seen the ds's and me on the day if I've considered it urgent but it might be an hour or so wait.

When I've wanted to see the woman GP it can take a week to get in on a non emergency appointment, she's very popular.

Two weeks for me, and its a snow balls chance in hell of getting through on the phone so I have to go there in person to book the appointment.

Emergencies have to queue up from about 8am outside the surgery to get a same day appointment and the appointment could be way later in the day.

If I call by about noon they'll probably have me in the same day, if not the next day unless it's an emergency in which case they'll get me to sit and wait at the end of afternoon surgery. I have a few issues with our surgery but their appointment system is fabulous. Even the much-complained about 'the receptionist wants to know what the problem is' I've only encountered once, and for all the right reasons - I called for an appointment mid afternoon, there weren't any, I said oh well, tomorrow then. Receptionist says, what's the issue, I tell her I have awful earache and she proceeds to give me an emergency appointment because 'earache is so horrible and you shouldn't have to suffer'.

Mine is amazing. If I woke up with swelling in armpit I'd be seen within a few hours. They do a triage system but ask you if you think it's urgent and once when I said I'd be happy with a telephone consultation, the doctor said she'd like me to come in.

This morning my cystitis symptoms started to come back despite being on AB's for nearly a week. Phoned at 9.15 and asked if a GP could phone me.. The receptionist said she would and was really sympathetic. GP phoned back 10 mins later, asked me to bring another sample in to send off to the lab to check resistance again and that he wanted to change the ABs. Asked when the scrip would be ready to collect and he said he had written it. By 10 am I had the prescription in my hand. I so wish all GPs were this good.

For non urgent appointments you can wait between 3 days and 2 weeks depending on whether you have a preference regarding which GP you want to see. Some are v v in demand and you can wait ages to see them. But, if there's any doubt as to urgency, they always err on the side of caution.

I hint I just need to change surgeries then!

I'm sat here in a lot of pain now feeling rubbish. I don't want to waste an OOH apt so I'm going to have to try again with the GP tomorrow.

Why is it a waste of an OOH appointment? There's no reason to suppose you'll be able to make an appointment tomorrow either, I would go and get seen.

We don't get appointments ( unless it's the regular asthma clinic or similar )
Just turn up at surgery time , check in with one of the receptionists , tell them which Doctor you want to see ( there are 2 )
Sit and wait til you hear your name being called

Longest I've waited is an hour

I just hate thinking there might be someone who needs it more, I think antibiotics would sort it out, I assume its infected.

Village surgery covers 3 large villages, only once not been able to see my doctor the same day (unless he's on hols of course) longest ever had to wait is 1 day but if emergency they will see you at end of surgery.

You should have insisted that it was an emergency and they would have either fitted you in or a dr would have phoned you and ?left out a prescription . I think if you say its urgent they have to do one of the above . At our GP its much the same system , a few appts to pre book or ring at 8 am to get in the same day or get a phone consultation .

Well if you go to a Walk-In Centre you'll be triaged - and demand varies tremendously. Maybe give the OOH service a ring and see what they say.

Sit and wait appointments every day at the village surgery so no phoning you just turn up between noon and 1pm. If you want a morning or evening appointment at the main surgery you phone on the day and have never yet been refused in fact with children they will squeeze you in within half an hour if the GP feels it's urgent.No other surgeries in our village have such a good service tbh my friend has nightmares trying to be seen within a fortnight.

Same day here too for the children and usually for us too, or at the very least a phone consultation.
The doctors a few miles from here makes folk wait about two weeks before they get seen. I guess they figure by then you'll be dead or better

Mine is fine if you are on the phone at 8.45 any later then you stand no chance.

I once phoned about 11am to ask if someone could see DS (2 at the time) who has severe asthma as I was worried he was deteriorating and needed steorids to avoid it getting worse but they refused to see him. No suprise we ended up in A and E a couple of hours later!

Quickest was a 2 min phone call, call back from GP 10 mins later, then an appointment half an hour after that. It was an emergency though.

They are very very very good

Phoned at 8.00am this morning, got through first time, saw GP at 11.00.

That's pretty standard for our surgery.

Our doctors have appointments but the receptionist just one of them hates giving them out. I phoned at 8 am for a midwife sppt was told none, ended up phoning nhs 24, ante natal clinic triage then being put through to my actual midwife who said ''I've only had two ladies in today pop down when you can'' that's the reason I missed 9 weeks of care

They're good with ds' s appointments though, as soon as I phone - usually lunch time once I've decided something is definitely up - I'm in within an hour or so.