Doctor's appointments - what a farce.

moonrakerz

The only time I ever saw Tony Blair lost for words was when a lady pointed out to him (on live TV) that the way her Doctors had met the "no longer than 3 day wait" target, was to make it impossible to make an appointment for more than 3 days in advance - simple, really !

Dreamnine

Routinely I'm offered appointments 10 - 12 days away. They say I need to phone at 8am every day, but they don't answer the phone 'til after 9 then say all the appointments have gone.

Twice, when I felt I couldn't wait I've gone to A & E. Have also embarassed them by going to my M.S.P.

Poppy9

Why do you need to use A&E if you can't get a GP appointment, doesn't your surgery or LHA have an out of hours service?

I remember when DD was a baby (14 years ago) if you need to see a doctor after hours you rang a number and went to a central clinic where you would be seen by a doctor. We only used it once and it was quiet and DD seen within 10 minutes of us arriving. I know we still have an out of hours service as my friend took her son a week ago when he was taken ill at night.

Don't all areas have this (I'm in Wales BTW).

WolfSong2000

I go to a clinic in Scotland, as it's the one my uni "recommended", and while I can usually get an appointment within a reasonable time frame, the doctors themselves are absolutely useless. One keeps telling me every time I see him (we're at about 5 times now) that I don't have a brain tumor...very random. He also told me it's okay for me to take recreational drugs and alcohol "in moderation" (after I'd told him I didn't touch drugs, smoke or even drink a lot)...crazy. Eventually gave up and saw another GP as I suffer from depression...had a total breakdown in his office (fun, eh?) and all he did was look at me weirdly, try and force anti-depressents on me (while claiming there were no side effects) and tell me he could give me the number for a psych nurse if I felt suicidal. Took the guy nearly 10 mins to offer me a tissue (I was crying).

I also had hell trying to get my medical file transferred from England to Scotland...English practice kept sending it, but Scottish practice kept insisting that it never arrived...chased both up, both blamed the other and eventually the English practice faxed a copy to the Scottish one...Scottish one said they received it, but had it destroyed as they couldn't accept it as a fax?

English practice wasn't much better...they knew I had thyroid issues for 2 odd years, but the first time I heard about it was after a blood test 2 years later (still complaining about tiredness, etc) and I received a phonecall telling me to come collect my "repeat" prescription. They went very quiet when I asked what prescription - I'd never been prescribed anything....gggrrrr.

ts_aly2000

You really couldn't make it up.

With my past medical condition I ended up going private, paying for it ALL myself, ...keeping ALL of my paperwork, and organising everything. On the occasion that I have had to go to the NHS, something ALWAYS GOES WRONG.

I'm not exactly saying that they're incompetent. Just that their Admin is utterly atrocious! They lose things, pass the buck, deny everything, and manage to foul things up to such an extent that frankly, they're not coming ANYWHERE near me with a scalpel.

An organisation that can't even master the most basic of administration tasks, now wants to cut me open. Ermmmmmmm!! HELP!

RadoJo

Whilst I sympathise with everyone on here, I think part of the blame should lie with the people who make appointments in advance and then don't turn up! I know that this was a huge problem for my local GP and that's why they switched the system to try and avoid it. They also offer an online booking service, which is great and can be used to book appointments for routine matters such as checkups and clinics etc. in advance.

Not sure if it would help people here, and I understand that sometimes people don't want to divulge details, but whenever I ring up and they have no appointments, or ask if it's an emergency I always say 'I've got x,y,z symptoms' and more often than not they'll offer an appointment with a nurse (who can get scripts signed off by the GPs) or fit me into a related clinic on the same day.

I have also called up to get some medication (not available on repeat prescription, but for a recurring condition that doesn't really need to be seen) and the doctor called me, confirmed that my symptoms were the same as before, and I had the prescription waiting for me at the desk within half an hour.

We also have an out of hours service which I have used - apart from anything it's much less of a drain on the NHS coffers as A & E is an expensive alternative. Plus with the out of hours service, they know I'm coming, know what's wrong and so I don't have to wait for triage etc which you do at A & E, so it's much more convenient for me as well!

All in all, I think I am very lucky, and I really sympathise with those on here who have been left worried sick and unable to be seen - maybe it's worth writing to the practice and explaining the difficulties you have, or checking whether there is an alternative such as an out of hours service, phone appointments etc which might be more convenient.

Minxy_Bella

tsimehC wrote: »

They have a lot of cancellations so perhaps yours was one.

No - they have a fast track clinic on three mornings a week where you can just turn up and wait to be seen. However, Monday was the first day of their new policy of making appointments for the fast track patients - due to the swine flu shenanigans, apparently.

Aspiring

Same system here too. But, if I can't get an appointment for my child with the GP (and I only call if I think it is absolutely necessary anyway), I won't go to A&E as a next step - usually because it's not an A&E issue otherwise I would have gone there in the first instance I call NHS Direct, explain my health related concerns and ask their advice. On one occasion, it was to take my son to A&E, immediately. (Worse than I thought then). On another occasion, they put me in touch with the out of hours service, who phoned me back and gave me an appointment time to attend at their clinic for an hour later.

Halloway wrote: »

Why would anyone called you 'cynical' when they could call you 'wrong' and save a couple of letters?

May not be quite so "wrong" actually. This has been mentioned in newspapers recently as a potential for the future of the NHS. Lots of Government debt, not enough money in the pot to support public services = reduced public spending, solutions needed

System

If it an emergency appointment they will usually either see you hat day or get someone to phone you back.

was there no option of seeing a nurse?

Ahh i feel bad..i'm one of those people with regular appoitments

PasturesNew

I went into a surgery a couple of months back and was told I had to phone at 8.30 the next day. So the next day I sat in the car park from 8.20 and started to phone .... engaged/redial/engaged/redial/engaged/redial.

At 8.40 I walked up to the reception and booked one. It seems if you are there at the time they tell you to phone you can do the equivalent of phoning. I only then had 20 minutes to wait until the appointment they set for me.

Mind you, I then had to have tests and to call back ... which I've not got round to doing yet ... 2 months passed and I just keep forgetting.