Getting a doctors appointment

pigpen

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Did you ask the practice manager why this was their policy?

How are they defining ethnic minorities? Can you claim that you have some, say, Welsh ancestory and so be allowed to book an appointment?

they got fed up of getting (expensive) interpreters in to explain that they had a different appointments policy and it was easier to just let them make the appointments.. in this case ethnic minorities are defined by 'cannot be made to understand what the receptionists are saying' .. I can see their point but it still seem unfair to everyone else.

fluffnutter

pigpen wrote: »

No that is their policy I have spoken to the practice manager about it after struggling to get even an emergency appointment for my son who I was fairly sure had diabetes and couldn't get to see the GP.. They do try to fit in those who are known to have certain illnesses and the elderly before anyone else too.

Your practice manager actually said 'We give preferential booking to those from ethnic minorities' (or similar)?

Why aren't you reporting them to the NHS or GMC or whomever regulates GP practices?

ETA. Your post above explains why they're doing it. Still a load of rubbish though, isn't it?

j.e.j.

pigpen wrote: »

they got fed up of getting (expensive) interpreters in to explain that they had a different appointments policy and it was easier to just let them make the appointments.. in this case ethnic minorities are defined by 'cannot be made to understand what the receptionists are saying' .. I can see their point but it still seem unfair to everyone else.

madness..

the Daily Mail would have a field day :rotfl:

DaftyDuck

I called my ex-GP surgery eleven times in the morning: no answer. It's only 3 minutes walk away, so I walked up at 2pm. There were 2 receptionists, nobody else in the waiting room. I stood and waited for nearly 2 minutes before one of them stopped typing and asked what I wanted. I asked for an appointment and, while receptionist 1 was arranging this, a third receptionist poked her head in the window, and a conversation between the other two began.. "didn't think you were on today... no I'm not, but I needed to pick up my... are you on tomorrow? yes, but from..." while this banter was going on, the phone rang. Receptionist 2 picked it up.... and replaced it, unanswered, on the receiver. I asked... "what if that was important?" to be told "Oh, they'll ring again".

I am a doctor, but not a GP. I did not let the matter rest but, although I no longer frequent that surgery, I know similar behaviour continues. I know those receptionists still work there, and are still as argumentative and aggressive with elderly patients who do actually need to be seen.

pigpen

fluffnutter wrote: »

Your practice manager actually said 'We give preferential booking to those from ethnic minorities' (or similar)?

Why aren't you reporting them to the NHS or GMC or whomever regulates GP practices?

For the regularity I go it isn't worth the hassle.. I've been 3 times in maybe 8 years.. all 3 in the same week ironically .. plus anyone who even dares to complain is removed from their patient list.. including my dad and my sister who both complained after an incident where my sister almost died after not getting an appointment then being told to take paracetamol when she was having multiple organ failure due to toxic shock syndrome and peritonitis.

The surgery is not popular with pharmacists either.. they are slow and get repeat prescriptions wrong if they bother doing them at all.. changing gp is not an option for us at the moment but I do keep asking around.. 1 of my children has diabetes so requires a fair bit of medication and another is on growth hormone replacement so is expensive so no one else will accept them at the moment.

claire16c

At mine you call at 8am if you want an appt that day. Its very hard to get through.

If you want an appt in general, you call at any time and try to book one - if you want a specific dr you might have to wait up to 4 weeks in advance. If you ask to see anyone and are flexible with times you can normally get in the same week.

But when I used to commute to London I couldn't do the call at 8am thing as Id have had to be on my train by then! Luckily I never needed an emergency appt in those 4 years. When I did need to see a dr or nurse it was always a non urgent one so I just booked early mornings and early evening appts. They are also open on a few Saturdays.

GoldenShadow

I feel so lucky with my GP. They are all generally lovely, a couple really fantastic. We have to ring at 8.15am and its very rare I don't get an appt, they are usually great. There is this Patient thing online which we can pre book appts via. Normally that's a couple of weeks time in advance but its helpful none the less.

My previous GP you could go sit in the surgery any time between 8am-10.30am and as long as you got there between those times you could sit and wait and they would see you at some point that morning it just meant hanging around a bit.

It doesn't sound like your surgery is very accommodating to your needs, they should have X amount of pre bookable appts and emergency appts reserved and I would think they should be able to help you in booking a closer appt. I am a student and work part time but appts start from 8.10am at my surgery so I can normally get a convenient one. It worries me an awful lot how difficult it seems to be for some people in some areas. I know here we are only *just* in the catchment of my current GP and otherwise would have to travel quite significantly to another. I don't believe its that common to be in the catchment area for more than one GP surgery sometimes either.

lostinrates

Fwiw for emergency appts walk in centres are fabulous IME. In some cases I am quite happy to tell the receptionist why I want an appt, it makes everything easier...

Recent examples include...

' I have that swollen eye/rash and want any gp to see it today or tomorrow while its still here because they keep missing it' done, got an appt that afternoon just before surgery started.

tayforth

alwaysskint96 wrote: »

My doctors like many others it seems have got this daft system of having to ring at 8am for an appointment. How do people manage this for non emergency cases ? And what about people who have difficulty using the phone?

I popped into the surgery today as need an appointment- quite happy to wait a week or so, to be told that 17th july at 9am was the ONLY prebookable one available. That seems ridiculous but took it. as no other choice but also asked the receptionist how it works. Apparently there is a limited ( obv very) amount of pre bookable appts the rest you have to phone at 8am for one that day.

I am partially deaf and find phone difficult. I used to call in surgery at 8am to make appt - this is no longer allowed, get told to go home and phone ( no good to me need to SEE peoples lips move when they talking to me

And I live in a commuter town- most people are on the train/tube into London at 8am, And even if they did get through its only same day appointments available, no good if you need to book time off work. Also majority of parents are doing school runs around that time- not easy to be ringing to be constantly getting engaged tone


The receptionist tells me the system works- yes for the elderly perhaps ( surgery was full of elderly people) but it seems very difficult for anyone else to see the doc

So how does everyone else get round this system- must be some way Ive not thought of

Yep - same here! It's a nightmare. The lines open at 8:30am - cue 5 minutes of engaged tone, then "sorry, no slots left".


Thankfully, they do the phone triage thing each morning, but the receptionists ask what's wrong with you! :eek:


You should definitely complain to the practice manager about them insisting that you phone. That's horrid xx


My main bugbear is the lack of appointments early or late in the day. I think that they should reserve those appointments for people who work. Anytime I go first thing in the morning, it's full of pensioners. Now I know that they generally like to be out and about early, but they have all day to go (and i include my mum in this ). Surely it would be fairer to let workers have the early/late slots so that they can get out of work with minimum hassle.

ETA: no offence meant, honestly

morganedge

My surgery is the same where the receptionist always asks what's wrong with you, and then she'll tell the Doctor and you'll get a phonecall back later.
Embarrassing.