Emergency doctors appts- does your surgery give priority to babies and little children?

[Evenhope]

I've been really fed up with my GP's appointment system for some time. Can I canvas whether this response is "normal" for surgeries before I complain?

We have to ring at 8.30am on the day to get an appointment. The phone is engaged for 20 mins or so and when you finally get through there are none left. If it's an emergency they will sometimes let you come at 10.30am to wait.

7 mo DD up all night screaming refusing to feed. No appts- come at 10.30 and wait. Had to wake her up to take her.

3 patients already waiting- all adults. Wait 15 minutes before the patient already in with the doctor comes out and the first of these gets to go in (isn't it a 5 minute appt?). Another adult patient arrives to wait 10 minutes after we arrived.

We wait- with a sick baby- for 45 minutes in all, while not only do the 3 who were already there get sent in first but also the man who arrived after us

I have been with the same GP for 22 years. When my other children were little they always gave priority to babies and children and for emergencies fit them in between appointments. When visiting yourself as an adult you would then expect and accept that a child coming in would push your own appointment back.

AIBU to expect to be seen promptly with a baby? What does your surgery do?

weebles basically you ring at 8.30 for a "that day" appointment. I don't know how many are available but obviously not enough because by the time you get through there are none left. So receptionist says "no appointments left- is it urgent?". You say yes and you get one of the emergency slots which are after the main surgery closes, and are with the spare GP and not the proper one we signed up with.

But what I was trying to get across is that there is no check on how urgent your complaint is at that stage, and there is no triage when you get there.

I try not to go to the GP at all if I can help it because it is so hard to get an appointment. But I was so worried about DD, especially since she went 14 hours without a feed, that I needed her to be seen. Another time I will call the out of hours service during the night instead, and not bother the GP at all.

I do agree that questions should be asked of the person ringing for the urgent appointment. It is common practice at my surgery to be asked to say briefly what the emergency is before being transferred to the gp.

Sorry, but I have to ask what a 'spare' gp is.

Maybe evenhope you just need to be a bit more bolshy insistent on the phone.

I think drs receptionists have a hideous job trying to ensure that as many people as possible get the care that they need, when they need it.

I don't think its reasonable to expect them to do telephone triage, but you know if its an emergency for your child

Evenhope - it is a similar system to my GP practice.

You phone at 8am for a morning appt but guaranteed the phone will be engaged for half an hour, and when you finally get through they are no appts.

My practice DO usually give priority to children though, however, on one occasion I was told to turn up at a certain time and 3 adults came in and the GP saw them first (ok so they had booked appts) but then a women came in and we had been waiting for nearly an hour by now and she was called in straight away WTF? I was really pissed off about this.

Total sympathies.

If your given an appointment time your seen in the order of the list, thats how it should be surely, who are we to determine if anyone elses emergency is better or worse than our own situation.
Sorry for the rant bad day at work!

babies and children are priority at this one.

most of those who go to this practice are pensioners who don't work.

and aren't that breed of vicious, bitter nasty old person who begrudges the doctor seeing an ill child.

'If your given an appointment time your seen in the order of the list, thats how it should be surely, who are we to determine if anyone elses emergency is better or worse than our own situation.'

a)Because children or infants may be unable to communicate what is ailing them.

b) Because children and infants can often become very unwell very quickly. They tend to 'crash' more than an adult and unlike an adult, they don't know to say, 'I'm getting really ill here!' or 'I'm getting worse I need seen fast!'

Those are just a couple of reasons why.

Denny the "emergency" slots you are told to come at 10.30 and wait. So there is no order AFAIKS. Logic says you either go in in order of turning up, or there is some sort of triage.

So when a man who has arrived after you (who can't have a time because timed surgery appointments finish at 10.15) gets to go in first when you've been sat with your sick baby for 35 minutes, then you go GGGRRRRR.

Expat and Suzie I'm glad someone agrees with me. I'm starting to feel like a MN pariah just lately

Evenhope, I hope you don't think I'm getting at you. I'm just talking as someone who works in the surgery. Sometimes you need to bear in mind that when the GP looks at the list of people coming in, they may know that the person that came in after you has a condition that will require immediate attention.

Sure, they don't know what your child has before they're seen but they have to make a judgement call on the information they have infront of them.

If the GPs are not asking for information on the patients who are coming in for the emergency appointments, perhaps you should be taking this up with the Practice Manager.

We actively encourage patients to air their views. It's the only way things get changed.

Mine always fits in a child on the day, usually in the morning. And they have sighns up saying if you have been waiting more than 20 minutes to go back to the receptionist. I have only once had to wait that long. It's still a pain getting through though.

Evenhope, your system sounds crap. Babies should be given priority, like expat says, they go downhill so quickly and they can't tell you.