How easy is it for you to get a doctors appointment?

[Anxiousmums]

mum of two here and i really have been struggling to get an appointment i call and im in a que of 23 and by the time i get to 1 the appointments for that day have been taken up and i have to try again tomorrow if i go to Ane its a 12 hour wait, i was wondering how other mums were finding there GP service , i am relieved that now you can get NHS GP appointments on the weekend but these are limited

I email my GP and get a reply by email, either a face to face appointment or a telephone appointment whichever my GP thinks is best.

6 week wait for face to face, have to submit online form for initial contact from someone (upto 5 working days for response is considered to be reasonable!), then if you’re lucky you’ll get a phone consultation within 3 working days before you’re considered eligible for a face to face then the 6 week wait begins so whole process is currently up to 8 +weeks from the initial contact. Is farcical.
We have two very part time GPs working to rule, no doctor in the surgery two days a week.
And they’re threatening to close the surgery on cost cutting grounds meaning the nearest surgery will be 6 miles away, no public transport to get there.

Honestly, I have never had a problem getting an appointment when calling up in the morning. I've even done a call later on in the day and they've managed to fit my child in (not sure if they'd manage to be as accommodating for adults!).

Think we must be very lucky!

We can book phone appointments (urgent and non urgent) online. New ones are released at set times and as long as you log on at those times it's not too bad.

If you can't do online though, our surgery is nigh on impossible to get through to on the phone. I think a lot of people go down in person at 8 am to try and get a same day appt.

Do you have a walk in centre in your town?

Alternatively, call 111 and they will refer to SDUC if necessary.

If it's urgent yes. You submit an econ or ring and a doctor rings you back to triage then appt same day.
Not urgent and it's 4 weeks.
There doen't seem to be an in between where I don't class it as an emergency but it's much more urgent than 4 weeks.

We never have a problem tbh. I get in the phone queue as it opens and never have an issue getting a same day appointment, I am less sure about not urgent appointments, maybe would have to wait a week or 2.

In Germany it's pretty easy where I am. You don't need to call to make an appointment, you go to the surgery when you want in the day. Give your insurance card to the receptionist and they tell you to sit in the waiting room. Last time I went I was called after 15 minutes. There is one Dr in the surgery and he goes between 2 rooms so the patient is already waiting for him.

If you ring after 8:15 or try access PATCHES for an appointment after 8:45 you are out of luck unless it’s urgent or for a preschool child.

Non-urgent appointments are full up to 4 weeks ahead; you need to ring on a Tuesday when they release the next available week’s appointments to have a chance.

The same day. Last two times I've had an appointment before 10am.

Admittedly I do have some pretty nasty health issues, so always get seen the same day.

Where I work we have apps left most days at the end of the day

Where I'm registered, always within 48 hours unless it's an emergency

Really easy where I am in the UK. We have a small local country GP practice, can always get same day emergency appointments when needed and having just checked online, next routine appointment available to book is this Tuesday.

I am aware we are very lucky. 😅

I live in a village outside a small town, we have 2 surgeries that serve the town and villages.
I am registered at one of them and work at the other.
My surgery I have no issues getting an appointment on the rare occasion I need one, you ring up and briefly explain the issue and a clinician calls you and triages you then they decide whether it's an in person appointment, a prescription provided from the phone or signposting you on. It's a brilliant process and for us has always worked.

The one I work at is the total opposite and its a call at 8 and hope for the best system, appointments are booked on a first come first served basis regardless of what the issue is. We save 3 pm appointments for any urgent things that come in once the rest are gone.
Patients can request a routine appointment online but there's a 6 week wait on them and there's 250 people waiting for those right now. I wouldn't register at the GP I work at for that reason- I think their system is broken and unfair.

Submit an online form and a GP will triage it and call you back and book an appt if needed. For children under 3 you still call at 8am and we’ve managed to get him in the same day everytime we’ve called. Really lucky to have our GP, they seem to be on the ball.

Mine is amazing, I called at 10am the other day because my DD's ear started leaking and they saw me face to face at 3pm. I always get a same day appt for her, with adults they do mainly over the phone but could have gave to face if I really pushed. My docs are incredible but I know it's very rare these days and we're super lucky.

You have to ring on the dot at the time they open, and I mean on the dot. So the second my phone ticks over to 8.30 I call. Leave it 30 seconds and you'll be number 20 in line.

It's relatively easy to get an appointment. Just ring at 0800am and always managed to be given one.

However, to speak or see an actual doctor post COVID is a different kettle of fish. You are asked to describe your symptoms with the receptionist who then allocates who will phone the patient. (FTF as rare as hens teeth these days)

Example - I have suffered with chronic lower back pain for quite some time now. Paid to see a private chiropractor who said I really needed a scan and to contact my GP. Rang up and was told I had to speak to their physiotherapist who phoned me later that morning and after speaking with me for a minute told me I had Degenerative Disc Disease for which nothing could be done and to just Google for exercises to help.☹️

Did this and do my exercises religiously twice per day but no improvement and it's actually worse these days and has spread to my hip and upper thigh. I posted on the health boards at the time and people, who have DDD, said there is no way this can be diagnosed without a scan.

There's a new clinic opened in our village with very modern equipment for private patients only. Am going to make an appointment there as it's pointless ringing the GP surgery again.☹️

We simply fill in an econsult form at 7.30 am and they ring us back. Either we get a face to face appointment, same day, or we talk to a doctor/ health practitioner. No problem.

you can get online nhs GP appointments on the weekend one which ahs been a godsend ! 4-6 weeks wait is so long !

Phone lines open at 8.30 so it's a lottery where in the queue you are and if you'll get an appointment. You can submit an e-consult from 8.00 am but they are full and not accepting any more by 8.15am. They don't accept in person requests.

I always start work at 8am so have no chance of getting an appointment and when I pointed that out when I went in to docs to get appointment I was advised to get someone to ring in for me!

E-consults really are the best. If I do an e-consult before midday, a GP will always call back on the the day, problem discussed and either resolved over the phone, prescription sent to pharmacy etc, or, a f2f appointment made. Sod calling up at 8am. My GP surgery is quite large though so lots of GP’s on duty at any one time. My brother lives in Norfolk and getting an appointment at his local surgery is quite a task and they don’t have the e-consult technology implemented yet.

I usually get an appointment when I need one, I don't know if this works for all surgery's but for mine when you call at 8am there's a lot of talk e.g if you need an appointment press 1, prescriptions 2 etc. as soon as the automated voice starts talking press the number you need and it will cut it out and go straight through, I'm always number 1-5 doing this since I discovered I could do it where I used to be 50+

My old GP surgery was a nightmare to try and get an appointment. Urgent ones you'd have to phone on a morning and be sat in a queue for sometimes up to an hour to then be told no appointments left. Routine appointments would have about a month to wait. Was always having to chase results too.

Moved house and my new GP surgery is wonderful (not that new as I've been there almost 2 years) phone at 8:30am get straight through and offered an appointment for the same day. Any other appointments can be booked for the same week generally. Always on the ball with any follow ups or results etc.

Really easy. Can usually get one the next day or day after. I always phone in the afternoon, never first thing.

Mine's not too bad thankfully, have to call at 8am on the dot, usually end up in a queue of 5-8, have only been told once that there were no appointments and that was due to two of the doctors being sick.

I sympathise though, it's a joke that I even have to do that, nevermind the ridiculous rigmarole you have to go through in some areas.

You have to do an online form but everytime I have I’ve been called within a couple of hours and offered a same day appointment. So recently did the form about 2pm, was called about 3ish and offered a 5pm appointment. Never has it been urgent urgent either. DH was seen same day by a pyshio for a knee issue.