doctors making it as awkward as possible to be seen

Penny-Pincher!!

I havent read all the thread but our surgery used to have open surgery for 2hrs each morning and I thought it worked well and there were never loads of patients there. There are 3 GP's though and an excellent set of nurses.

About a year ago they changed to set appointments and each doctor has seperate surgeries and times. I have never had a problem not seeing a GP the same day for my DD or OH when needed.

I rarely see my GP as all my health/illnesses are looked after by London hospitals directly but he is very good and I have his direct mobile number and email address if in urgent need. Sometimes if he is making house calls he pops by to make sure I am okay. Alot of folk dont like him as he is a very direct GP and says it how it is, but I prefer that.

Not much help Im afraid.

Good luck and hope you get it sorted. If alot of you are not happy, then maybe consider a pettition (sp)

PP
xx

Alybea

My doctors is fine for advance appointments - you can book a couple of weeks in advance, try to get an emergency appointment and you get interrogated by the receptionist (after spending 20mins on hold or engaged :rolleyes: ) and asked if seeing the nurse will do.
Last time I did this I spent 10 mins talking to the nurse, who called the doctor in for 5 mins then, spent 10 mins talking to the doctor in his room. :rolleyes: clearly messing up everyone elses appointments.

Also why is it if you are 25 and have abdominal pains you're pregnant???? I got asked this three times last time... I'm on the sodding pill which you prescribe to me and I said the first time i'd taken it properly and hadn't missed one. :mad:

Ishtar

We can phone for an appointment 'on the day' if we ring before 10am. However, our practice runs a system where we are supposed to see our doctor, so that we get continuity of care - a problem for us as ours only works 2.5 days a week - and the reception staff are reluctant to book with an alternative unless it's an emergency. So, an 'on the day' appointment can take place in a week's time....

In all honesty I've had to put up with condescending and downright rude reception staff on almost every occasion that I have phoned - and I can count these on the fingers of one hand. We're not ones for rushing to the doctor at every opportunity!

One notable occasion was when I was trying to get an emergency appointment for my 4 year old daughter who had been unwell for a couple of days but whose temperature had risen sharply to 105 deg F, and was not coming down, despite the Calpol/Nurofen that we'd been using for a couple of days. I was told that it was almost impossible to fit her in and that I should have phoned earlier....

Anyway, I'll be voting with my feet in a couple of weeks time - I'm currently pregnant, but once the baby arrives and I've been discharged by my midwife, I'll be going elsewhere.....

funguy

As above, if you are not happy with your practice then vote with your feet and move to another practice. As practices get paid partially for numbers of patients, the bad practices will earn less and the good ones more....

annifranakapan

My doctor's are excellent.

Appointments from 7am - 7pm Monday - Friday
Saturday Morning Surgery till 12 0'clock
Sunday Morning Surgery for emergencies

Phone on the day for an appointment (from 7.00 for morning surgery, after 2pm for afternoon and evening surgery). You can also book appointments up to a month in advance if you need to. There's never a problem in getting an appointment.

A range of clinics run by excellent nurses e.g. HRT, Weight Loss. Diabetes, etc. etc. with a doctor on call for the clinics if he's needed.

Pop repeat prescriptions in the box and pick up next day - though to be honest if you tell the receptionists that you've 'run out', they'll have it ready for collection within a couple of hours.

This practice is just fantastic. They seem to be very organised and 'on the ball' regarding treatments, patient needs, etc. I really can't praise them enough.

They really are a shining example of the NHS at its best. It's the type of practice that all patients should have access to.

Sorry if I sound a bit over enthusiastic about them it's just that they are light years away from the previous GP practice I was registered with.

Oh, and the receptionists are lovely :D

Annifran.

oystercatcher

What's this about voting with your feet?
In the town where I live it is impossible to change GP, one practice is completely closed to new patients and the other 3 only take new patients who have recently moved to the area. I have tried to change GP twice unsuccessfully.

Our surgery run the system where there are a very few advance book appointments which you can book two weeks ahead, they get snatched up very quickly by the 'regulars' otherwise you have to phone up at 8am , the phone is constantly engaged until around 8.40 when you finally get through they say they have no more appointments. If it's urgent the Dr will phone you back. That's no good for many things though. When I'm feeling really ill it's horrible having to spend so long on the phone. I often wonder if this could be the last straw for someone depressed trying to seek help..........

That being said, when you can finally get to see them the GPs are all very helpful.

Oystercatcher

funguy

I sympathise with you if there are no alternative GPs to move to - there isnt a solution to the problem and its only going to get worse...

Essentially to cut a long story short :

The funding to General Practice gets reduced each year whereas the number of patients at most practices are increasing - this, together with an increasing elderly population, more costly medication being prescribed and more work moving from hospitals to GPs means that surgeries simply cant cope with the number of people needing appointments. The doctors always get the blame for this but as you can see above, there is no capacity in the system - we need to campaign for more money to fund more doctors in general practice.....without this, i fear general practice will become private like the dentists (the government's long term plan).

Another option would be to make all GPs salaried like hospital doctors so that pay is consistent, quality is consistant and service is consistant across the whole country.....maybe a national debate is needed??

Glamazon

annifranakapan wrote: »

My doctor's are excellent.

Appointments from 7am - 7pm Monday - Friday
Saturday Morning Surgery till 12 0'clock
Sunday Morning Surgery for emergencies

Annifran.

This is probably one of these new surgeries that have been commissioned under Equitable Access in Primary Care. It probably has less than 1000 patients, the provider HAS to have a GP on site all the time it is open so they will be twiddling their thumbs waiting for patients to come in!

As for not being able to change surgeries - I would suggest writing to the Partnership of one of the other surgeries and explain the problems you are having at your current surgery (no need to name names) and say that you have heard how good a service they provide and would be really keen on moving. Worth a try.
GP's get paid a global sum based on how many patients they have so moving surgeries can have a big impact if lots of patients did it. The problem is most people can't be bothered to change so just stay and put up with it.

Fire_Fox

Alybea wrote: »

Also why is it if you are 25 and have abdominal pains you're pregnant???? I got asked this three times last time... I'm on the sodding pill which you prescribe to me and I said the first time i'd taken it properly and hadn't missed one. :mad:

The contraceptive pill, even when taken correctly, is not 100% effective. Few women actually do take it correctly all the time which further reduces the effectiveness. Studies have proven time and time again that the British public outright lie to their doctors (and even themselves) about their health behaviour.

Being pregnant - or possibly pregnant - significantly affects the tests and treatment that should be given by the medical professional. Xrays are contraindicated, certain types of physical examination are contraindicated, most types of prescribed and over-the-counter medications are contraindicated in pregnancy.

ALIBOBSY

Well again I am glad we live in a ruralish area. My local docs is a small surgery with just 3 docs. 2 are in each day. The shut early on a weds so that they can open till late on a thurs, they are quite strict on the late appointments only being for those unable to attend in the day ie working. You can book an appointment usually within a couple of days if non urgent and the same day if urgent without too many problems. Sometimes with an urgent appointment they may ask you to see a nurse first to see if you really need to see the doctor. When I had some bleeding in my last pregnancy my doctor actually phoned me back to say it was a waste of my time coming in. He discussed things with me and was very reassuring and supportive and booked a hospital scan.

In our area the out of hours is dealt with by a central surgery that just opens out of hours. Again they are very good at getting you in to see the doctor (but it is harder to get a doctor out to visit) but we prefer going to the doctors anyway. The surgery is about 10 mins by car. I do know some people who use this out of hours service instead of taking time off work to see the doctor, its a bit cheeky but they don't seem to mind. We have only used it for the kids if we had to and the service is good.
These days it seems you have to accept you won't see the same doctor each time you go.

ali x