Do any others have the same problem when trying to see your GP? My GP does not "do" bookable appointments therefore patients are advised to ring between 9 – 930 am the morning they need the appointment. Unfortunately the phone is permanently engaged and you spend all your time on redial. When you do eventually manage to get through usually just after 9.30 am you are informed that all appointment slots are full and to try again tomorrow. In the pas, out of desperation, I have stood in the surgery for 30 minutes arguing that I/a member of family needs medication due to being discharged from hospital with limited medication before I have been able to obtain an "emergency" appointment. I am now in the onerous position of not being able to get a sick note – without which I cannot be paid – until I see the GP but find it impossible to get an appointment. Can anyone please advise?
Ours operate a similar system with similar problems. At least ours have a phone queuing system.
I would ask to speak to the practice manager. The whole ringing in the morning thing came about as a response to government targets for waiting times. The thinking being that you couldn't wait two or three days for an appointment if you couldn't book them two or three days in advance. That target has now being abolished (or at least drastically changed). As I understand it now, they are not allowed to deny you the option to book an appointment in advance. If you need it for something like a sick note, then I'd definitely complain!
I had to take the little one down this morning & despite being on the phone at 8 precisely I was only offered two timed slots, neither of which really suited. Luckily the little one was happy to eat his breakfast a bit earlier than usual!
Can you tell the receptionist you need the sick note and are willing to turn up and wait for a cancellation?
I've done this before, and I think she got so sick of me smiling broadly at her and showing every evidence of enjoying the wait that they slipped me in between two other appointments.
;D
I had the same problem, so changed to a different doctor. I still had to ring in the early morning and hope, but since I have been treated for a mental health problem I have no problem being seen. Yesterday I rang in the afternoon and was seen within 3 hours. Not that I would wish bipolar disorder on anyone! I would rather wait a few days for an appointment, and not be falling apart in my head.
Can you be at the GPs the moment it opens and book an appointment face to face? I have done that it the past as our GP phone is always busy and I always seem to be 20th in the queue despite dialling at 8 am when the lines open - and then when you do get through 15 mins later all the day's appointments are full!!
We had the same problem as Mrs Gumboot, to meet the government targets of offering you an appointment within 2 days, they would not let you book more than 2 days in advance and you had to ring at 8am 2 days in advance and you had about 30 minutes before all the appointments were booked, it was so stupid.
Tony Blair was on the telly on something like 'The audience questions the prime minister' where this was pointed out to him. He said he was supprised it happened and he promised to sort it out, but nothing changed until this government got in and scraped that target, and our surgery is a lot better now.
Rant over...
Can you book online, I have not been to my GP for years, but my OH goes often and she always books online and says it is so much better than ringing up.
No problems here in Beccles, Great service and never any problem seeing my GP. Iam very happy with the process.
Same problem at our surgery, althoug if ou do get through and they have no appointments they do have a "ringback" service where a GP will ring you back and decide whether you need to be seen.
We have no problems with our Comberton Surgery, I usually book an appointment online either with my GP or an associate. If an emergency, we can always get a doctor from our practice. They even do housecalls if necessary.
We also have what is known as "telephone diagnosis" where the GP will ring you back after the survery and decide whether you are ill enough to be seen, but no other appointment service.
This and similar things were why we moved back to Canada, It is just plain stupid. Here I have my Drs home phone number as well as the surgery number for appointments.
If I need a basic appointmanttment I get it the next day, if it is urgent I am seen the day I phone.
Test results take 48 hours and the Dr rings me with results.
Appointments are 15 minute slots but if need be they go over. It seems to work just fine, I usually wait about 5 minutes tops to get in.
Why should it have to be so different.
Makes no sense to me at all.
XX Jeannine
We can get an appointment 19 mins though you can book longer but if you want to see a particular doctor this can often be three weeks wait. Otherwise you can book an emergency appointment 5 mins. These you have to fight with the receptionist about. You can also book a phone appointment. I find it very difficult to remember appointment in three weeks time, and keep asking if they will call the day before and remind me but seems this is not possible. The have a special electircally operated door if you are in a wheelchair, they have a special sound system if you are deaf there is a notice on the wall stating you should ask for assistance if you need it but you are not allowed to have memory problems. All the appointments are on a computer I do not knwo why it cannot send out an email or text message.
At one stage it was easier to get an appointment out of hours, but they have rectified that problem. But out of hours we have to go a half hour drive which can be a problem if you cannot drive. But the system is good if you can get there. OH can'r drive now.
My OH goes to a different GP and they have a totally different system and you leave your phone number with the doctor who rings back and decided when they will see you, quite a lot of the time the phone call solves the problem. But it is a bit of a problem if you do not like a particular doctor you have to remember which days they are on shift and call on a different one. And if you are busy it can be difficult to remember to call at a particular time. He still has the half hours out of hours drive situation but then I can drive.
I would suggest writing to your GP if you have a problem and getting them to provide a solution.
I left the doctor a letter over a week ago asking for a sick note in order to get paid but despite constantly calling into the surgery have not received one. The practice was pretty good up to about 5 or y years ago when the appointments system changed.
If you are ringing the surgery on an 0844 number, that cost 6p connection and up to 5p a min !
( edit .. the BT call set-up fee I think is now 11.5 p inc vat )
the British claim the American medical system is bad.
I go to doctors office wait 15-30 mins depending the time of day.
I see one doctors on duty. they do usual prelims. doctor sees me
tested me for pain since last time was in was for back injury.
I got note for work , script for pain and anti swelling meds.
went to pharmacy to drop off scripts. 3/4 hour got my meds cost $15. doctor visit not counting what insurance covered $80. total time 2 hours.
Our surgery went over to this system... under protest.. apparently to meet some target or other. They still let us "side-step" it... if you want to see a Dr that day you go down and go in @8:00am and they fix you one of today's slots before opening the 'phones...
not ideal but you can get a "today" appointment... :-X
At our Surgery you can Book Appointments Online and renew Ongoing Prescriptions Online, saves ringing that expensive 0844 number.If you want an Emergency Appt which is not often, you then have to ring.
If we need to see the doctor the same day, we are asked to ring the surgery as soon as possible after 9.00a.m. This of course does entail being able to get through, but it doesn't usually take long, and we have been known to have to wait until 11.00 a.m. for an appointment.
Being a small village our GP surgery also dispenses medicines. You take your repeat prescription round, and 48 hours later you have your medicines. You do have to undertake a review (quite rightly) every so often.
We can make advance appointments to see either the practice nurse or doctor. All in all we have no complaints about the service we receive.
Should we need to be referred to a hospital consultant, we have a choice of which hospital we are sent to. We tend to choose Burton upon Trent. We have found the service extermely good.
If we need to be admitted as an emergency, we would be taken to North Staffs. Having spent a night there with a head injury, OH and I were not impressed. Wednesday night, hardly anyone in. it took OH ages to get anyone to see to my wound. You could have probably understood it if the A&E department was full of drunks on a Friday/Saturday night, but midweek
They are not quite as bad as Mid-Staffs, but I don't think they have a lot to learn.
valmarg
How nice to get a choice, my husband was given the choice of several appointments on the same day and when we said this was not suitable he was allocated to an appointment same day of the week no choice of times. Certainly no choice of hospital.
My GP dspenses medicines but is not allowed to do so for people who live in towns with a chemist. So people who live in outlying villages and so drive to the GP can get their prescriptions but other people who walk a long way and would need to walk even further to the chemist have to use the chemist. And people who have to get a disabled child in and out of the car also cannot use the easy option if they live in the wrong place. They are expected to get the child and the wheelchair in/out of the car twice however difficult and awkward this might be.