Overseas visitor charge for using A&E

Okell

@Grumpy_chap

Going back to this "Call back tomorrow at 8am", I thought GPs had been told to stop doing this years if not a couple of decades ago?  (Even my practice used to do it too, but hasn't for at least ten years)

IIRC it all stemmed from Tony Blair as PM saying people should be entitled to get a GP appointment on the same day and not have to wait.  Somehow this got mangled into a perverse and counter-productive NHS performance indicator which meant that if a prcatice couldn't give you a same day appointment, it made more sense for them to tell you to call back tomorrow than to give you an appointment on another day.

So the expressed desire to have people be able to see a doctor on the same day meant that practices became reluctant to book any appointments that weren't on the same day - making it almost impossible to see a GP!  

Tony Blair was confronted with this on a TV interview and he seemed visibly shocked that this was how GP practices were dealing with requests for appointments and denied all responsibility for it.  (It wasn't the first time or the last time  that off the cuff remarks made by him had an adverse effect on the NHS).

Soon after that interview all that nonsense stopped - or was supposed to have stopped.  @Flugelhorn might be able to confirm if my recollection is accurate or a figment of my imagination.  (Which is possible...)

If your GP practice is still doing this you might want to check with the practice manager (or your local Integrated Care Board) if this is correct procedure    Find your local integrated care board (ICB) - NHS

Grumpy_chap

Okell said:

Going back to this "Call back tomorrow at 8am", I thought GPs had been told to stop doing this years if not a couple of decades ago?  (Even my practice used to do it too, but hasn't for at least ten years)

I don't know what GPs have been told.

I do know that we have to call at 8 am on the nose. 
They fill all available appointments (which is up to three weeks, but not beyond).  Certainly not "same day appointments".
It actually usually means they are taking bookings for three weeks' time as all the appointments up until then were taken the day before.  There may sometimes have been a cancellation that gets back in the list of available bookings.
I have commented that by the time three weeks are up I will either be well or dead, but won't need a GP either way.  The response then is if the appointments are not quick enough to call NHS 111.  The stock outcome from NHS 111 is advice to make an urgent appointment with GP and if none are available to go to A&E.
I understand that is how all the local practices operate within the PCT.

When I have had appointments, the outcome from the GP is a form for a blood test and a referral to outpatients secondary care.

I am fortunate enough not to need medical attention on a great deal of occasions.
I do know people who require more regular attention.  Some comment that they make bookings every week for three weeks' time as then they have a slot if needed and can cancel if they are not in need when the appointment comes around.
I am sure that is not what Tony Blair intended either.

elsien

Calling at 8:30, failing to get through, or  getting through to find out all the appointments have gone - try again tomorrow, eventually giving up and waiting to either die or get better of your own accord is still going strong with my GP practice.

The alternative is to submit an online request, which you can only do when the surgery is open (which is completely ridiculous) and wait for someone to eventually get back to you to tell you they don’t have any appointments.


 Because there are some that can theoretically be booked in advance, (which gets around the same day appointment thing,) but there are so few of them and I work an hour away from my GP surgery that in practice I’m not getting one.

Zinger549

At my practice you have to ring at 8am. You are then put into a queue. You can request a callback which means you can hang up and they will ring you back when your near the front. I did manage to get a same day appointment the other day. You can book some appointments online if you're registered. If you miss the 8am phone queue the you have to try again tomorrow.

sheramber

Our lines open T 8.30am

Dilinv at 8.39am prompt puts you number 32 in the queue.

There are 6 face to face appointments available on a first come first served basis and the it is a phone consultation  with the duty doctor for that day, if there still some available, when you get through. 

Our surgery have explained there is physically not enough hours in the day to give appointments to all who want one. 

There has been several housing estates built in the town with no increase in GP facilities. 

If you want to make a face to face appointment or see a specific doctor it is a 3 week wait. 

Okell

My wife and I are obviously very lucky then as we never have any problem getting timely appointments.

Our surgery (which is only 5 minutes walk from our front door!) is one of three surgeries across our city which combined some years ago into a single practice.  According to its website it has 7 GP partners, 9 salaried GPs, and 3 GP registrar/trainees.  Whereas 10 years ago the waiting room would be full (8 or 9 people or more) these days there is usually no more than 3 o 4 patients waiting to see a doctor.  Whether the practice has more money or more GPs than other practices or is just properly managed, I don't know, but we don't seem to have the same problems that other posters here have experienced or that I've read about in other parts of the country.

Similarly my wife and I have used our local general hospital quite a lot over the last ten years and we've experienced none of the horror stories you hear about on TV or read about in the papers.

It's not all sunshine and smiles though.  I worked for our local mental health trust which has been considered one of the worst performing trusts across the UK.  It's featured frequently on the national and regional news and it's rarely good news.  Woe betide you if you suffer mental health problems in its catchment area.

Okell

sheramber said:

... There has been several housing estates built in the town with no increase in GP facilities...

Yes.  Although we haven't been affected by this (yet) there have been a lot of new developments on the outskirts of our city and I doubt there has been adequate provision made for health services.  Especially with several new "retirement villages" having sprung up.

sheramber

We have 5 or 6 GP’s but most are part time . 

I had my last 6 monthly check up 14months ago and the one before was 12 months  from the previous one. 

HHarry

I chatted about this thread with a family member who sits on the board of one of the Trusts.  A&E should be chargeable when used by foreign visitors along with other services, but rarely is because it is difficult & time consuming.

‘Free to all, regardless of immigration status’ is different to ‘free to foreign tourists’

itsthelittlethings

I’m guessing maybe they were worried she had appendicitis which you can die from quite quickly.