this would be funny if it were not the case for a lot of us sadly
getting appointments at the drs: this would be... - PMRGCAuk
getting appointments at the drs
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Stills
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Made me smile 😊. I know exactly what you mean.
Of course there’s always the walk-in centre recently renamed walk-on- by centre 😝
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer
😊
😊
Waited 3 weeks for f2f appointment with GP this week, I was the only one in the waiting room. When I went to reception on leaving a man about 70 came in and said I would like an appointment please, (agent they are now called) said there are no appointments, he said can I have one as soon as possible please, she said no, you have to go home and ring us up!....it was like something out of a comedy....so I suppose the poor man who was walking had to find the walkin centre.......shocking.
I had a similar experience at the union office that helps with Italian officialdom. I didn't know it is now all appointment only when I went in. Woman says you'll have to make an appointment - so I expected her to make one. No - handed me the card with the phone number! Was bit slow, should have taken out my phone but so unused to having one ...
Ludicrous! Makes me angry because I don’t think the man I saw had a phone, hopefully a landline at home. To look at 3 (agents) sitting there and he couldn’t be helped to have an appointment, and me only one in waiting room. I have been rung up about blood tests I had Tuesday, I thought great, some answers, no, she said doctor wants to talk to you about statins, your reading is high, 6.1, but she won’t be able to ring for two weeks, we are booked 5 weeks ahead…….I give up! I won’t be going on statins from what I’ve read about them!
My cholesterol was similar. I refused statins. Drug company benefits ?
Having read a lot about it I don’t believe 6.1 is dangerous. That’s only my opinion of course.
Yes, I agree!
It’s really explaining that 40 years ago the danger level was much higher. It’s been brought down to benefit the drug companies because once you’re advised to take them you are on them for life.
Again …that I agree is only my opinion.
Agents ……aliens more like
Ours are now called "Care Navigators". All I can say is that if they were navigating a ship or an aeroplane you'd end up stranded on a desert island or crashed into a mountain!
What on earth makes them think changing to silly names will improve the service?
That is absolutely ludicrous. If that was me, I wouldn't have moved and demanded an appt then, good grief!
The same thing happened to my daughter-in-law trying to make an appointment for her toddler. I remember when receptionists were allowed to use their common sense!
Quite worrying especially if you have children, why did it all change because of covid but never went back to how it was?
Many are so young they don't have the lived experience. And often not a lot of common sense, which isn't that common these days ...
Poor chap
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We’re all coming! Hope you have a large house!
The community nurse described it as "extra mini" when OH was ill and needed aids ... But plenty of hotels, B&Bs and flats 
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Got it in one!
OMG - do I know this. In DK we need an appointment to go to the ER unless you arrive by ambulance ! You have to phone them first and be referred by the emergency number (doctor or nurse on the other end). If you just show up, they will ask you to call the number!
But apart from being the most digitalized country in maybe the world, we are not as short of doctors yet at I understand the UK are...
That's really interesting. Do you think that system works? I wonder if that means people ring for an ambulance more often, but perhaps deters the non urgent reasons.
I’ve decided if I ever feel dangerously unwell I’m bypassing GP ( they wouldn’t notice anyway) bypassing 111 ( 4 hours for a call back saying go to GP) and bypassing the walk in centre which is now appointments only and calling an ambulance. Even if it takes a day to arrive it’s a quicker route to treatment. I would of course only do this if desperate but we shouldn’t have to be in this position.
Well, if they do that does not always mean it will come, as again it will be assessed, and sometimes they send some paramedic to see if you really need one ! You often are skaed to see the doctors ER, just a doctor on call. Many fail to see the difference between the 2 - so no it does not work
A paramedic would be welcome if I’d reached the emergency ambulance call stage 😀
Paramedics are often better trained to identify the patient who needs the ED and even better trained to keep you alive until you get there than the average GP unless they do emergency work, some do. My daughter had a severe asthma attack at the GP and she told them to call 999. A colleague duly appeared, a paramedic plus a driver trained to do basic obs, and asked if the GP had administered the first line approach to such a case (can't remember the name of the rescue injection). The reply was "Oh, I think we have that in the fridge but I don't know the dose!" The non-paramedic trained driver assistant knew.
My daughter waited 3 weeks for a call back from gp.Gp rang her while she was working in a public area at work so couldn't she answer as she was dealing with client,she had previously asked for an afternoon call.Now she has to wait another 3 weeks.!
This is what really annoys me, with gp phone appts, why can’t they operate a timed appointment system - even if it’s just within an hour window or so. Just saying to people it “could” be anytime between 8am and 4pm, it’s not a bloody Amazon delivery you know!!!!
People have lives, jobs, children to sort etc…..we’re not all just sitting on our backsides constantly with phone in hand 😠. If the old f2f system gave an appt time, why is it any different with a phone call.
Suspect it’s so that the gp can now concentrate, in the comfort of their own homes, on their own preferred duties, including any private work, etc and us poor nhs patients can just wait in line.
Just saying to people it “could” be anytime between 8am and 4pm, it’s not a bloody Amazon delivery you know!!!!
Even Amazon [and most delivery firms] give a 2 hour window nowadays… not exactly rocket science even allowing for the odd emergency..
…oh silly me, they don’t do that, do they ?😳
Emergency….. at my surgery that’s classified as when a patient actually gets inside the Drs consultation room and speaks to the doctor…. and then they call security and one is escorted off the premises 🤣
So desperate was I that I ended up discussing UTI on mobile in detail in a crowded restaurant. Hope they all enjoyed their meal!
🤣the things we have to do to get treatment , it’s shocking and after all if our bank phoned us up and wanted a personal chat about our private matters we’d be double checking it wasn’t a scam. I do wonder if we should ask for verification from medics who phone is asking about our private parts ……
I would probably have given the bank my symptoms too - but absolutely take your point...xx
🤣🤣🤣
i heartly agree about the dreadful system. i had an abdominal swelling following surgery and needed to see a gp urgently. had to wait for one and a half hours before speaking to someone. the previous month having to phone for appointments etc my phone bill was over £80. not possible to make an appointment online or to walk in to the surgery. very smart surgery obviously a lot of money spent on it and always empty. i complained to a local politician and was told that long holding times were due to the shortage of gps i replied saying the solution wasn't to try and recruit more gps but to upgrade the district nursing teams and pay them a decent wage as they are the ones doing the work. diagnosis can be done online and nine times out of ten gps refer on to hospital. the district nurses do most of the work and the gps get paid for it.
I hope not to upset everybody with my response. I think I’ve got the best GP practice in all of Norfolk. A few little moans occasionally depending on which receptionist you speak to, but generally when I phone up on the day I can usually get a callback from the doctor on the day in question. They then decide if I need to come in urgently but it’s usually within a few days. That’s for a face-to-face appointment.
One example. A number of months ago overnight I had some bad chest pain on the left side. I phoned up in the morning and I spoke to the receptionist and I explained what happened and she took it very seriously. I could have someone phone me back or I could see a GP practitioner. I decided on the GP practitioner whom I saw that afternoon. She took all the details, checked me over and went and consulted with her senior GP. I then had an ECG of my heart. Although that was okay, they decided to refer me to the assessment unit at the hospital for a blood test. If done within 24 hours it can usually can tell if you’ve had a heart attack or a mild one. This I did. They also did an ECG. Everything was okay in the end. However, in the meantime, my phone had lost all charge and my dog at home was sitting with legs crossed. The receptionist at the hospital desk passed me the phone so I could phone my daughter to let my dog out. The NHS operating at its best.
The long and short is the following morning I had a rash all around my neck on the left side, which is where I had the chest pain as well and although I’ve had shingles occasionally you can get it again. So in the morning I phoned the doctors practice and got a phone back from the doctor. I was asked to come in before they would give me antiviral medicine so they could check the rash which I did on the day and I got the anti-viral medicine. Honestly I can’t fault them.
I’ve chatted with one of the nurses there and she’s agreed with me that she’s never worked in a doctor’s surgery which has operated so well. Well done Lakenham practice in Norwich.
They deserve a medal, I spent 12 hours in a chair in ER last week just for bloods and ECG that 111 told my GP to do but they only offered a nurse phone call the next day. I dud however get a diagnosis and meds. Lucky you..,, never move away!
My sister lives on the edge of Lakenham, I will tell her because she is with the Horrendous one in the city, won't name it. My son lives 8 miles out from Norwich and has an excellent surgery too......he says why don't you change doctor's......no, because the rules are you have to live in the catchment area!....my other sister has the lowest rated surgery in Norfolk but can't change because of the so called catchment area!....years ago could change to any of them.....Next time ask one of the nurses why they think it operates so well.
It will be because the senior partner cares about the service he provides - top down. If the top has the right ethos - so does the bottom.
My surgery is one of three, th ere are two partners both female, one I saw th is week, the other I have seen over the 30 years of going there.....there are other salaried doctors but have never seen them. Weather its the pol icy of all 3 surgeries to do what is happening now I don't know, have never been to the other surgeries either, we have to go to the nearest we are registered with. It was an excellent surgery before covid, not recognisable now....
So true Pro. For over thirty years we had the most amazing doctors who led the practice, took a holistic view, very caring. After they retired there were a few glitches but the ethos remained with medical care. However, recently the practice has been taken over/linked to another (don’t understand why - reminds me of how schools became part of large academy chains). The GP who has monitored my GCA closely has left, along with another very good doctor plus a long standing superb receptionist. Have to keep our fingers crossed that things stabilise but it does seem it’s difficult to keep medical staff.
Some American healthcare company has been allowed to buy a whole load - they are a chain of practices so employees rather than partners with a sense of pride, come and go if they want to at the drop of a hat and the result is a poor standard of care in many respects. No continuity and all too often no pride. The patient is just a number and a cash cow ...
That figures. There was a kerfuffle at the point of takeover re IT systems and initial inability to request repeat prescriptions online. A friend whose husband has multiple meds described it as feeling a bit scary. I’ve never had a problem getting appointments to see a GP but I think it might get more difficult. It’s hard for those of us with several long term conditions. I’ve welcomed the continuity up to now.
True...my doctors is an absolute joke...first
tly you have to get past the receptionist,who asks personal questions which are not relevant,then if you're really lucky you may get a telephone appointment in 4 weeks....I've given up....If you say you feel like throwing yourself off a bridge,they ring you.....and I'm a nurse myself so only ring the gp if absolutely really necessary....I'm really ill if I want to see a doctor.
Oh yes, indeed. I’m in the USA- nearby 2 huge university medical systems. Can’t get a 15 min RA checkup appt with my regular rheumatologist until 2/2024!
Not just UK then!
& they often charge $250/visit- which you don’t find out for 3 months until the paperwork arrives to show what they charged/submitted - good thing I have medical insurance.
Ever heard of any another professional service that doesn’t tell you the cost/bill until after they submit it to insurance?
Should be illegal
I wonder which country has actually got it right for the patient!
It's quite civilised here. Though the waits for hospital appointments are getting longer.
I’m fortunate to have a very good GP practice although I haven’t seen an actual GP in a few years. I usually see a Practice Nurse and they are excellent. We have a very nice receptionist too. (I have witnessed the receptionist being on the receiving end of some really bad behaviour and rudeness from some patients) It must be some kind of fluke as there are other surgeries in the area which have dreadful reputations.
Many people are out of control. I had an annual checkup last week & all patients are now given a “zero tolerance for bad behavior” memo at the reception desk.
This is the new norm
it's not just the gp practices that are suffering from the splintered administration systems. I'm on crutches, but trying my best to stay as mobile as possible, little and often, with a few pushes to see if improvement is possible (lawdy i hate those days). i was being blood monitored for a medicine once a month at the rheumy department which is in a hospital three quarters of a mile away, by the time i get through the doors and into the department. sufficiently a challenge, a mile and a half, that i did not want to do it twice in a month, and the appointment was meant to be in the same week! so when that f2f review was due, i requested it be in the same day and time coordinated with the monitoring clinic, if possible. apparently it wasn't possible. they just were not on the same day, said the scheduling team. the month before the appointment date in question, when i was in for the leeching, i went to the rheumy desk and explained the situation. and asked if it was at all possible to coordinate the appts. because otherwise it meant requesting hospital transport or trying to scrape up for a cab who would accept the fare under a mile. or overexertion. which would likely mess with the review! and it's a system being messed up for the most part; given a chance, an opening, I'm finding most people are as lovely as they can be, even if they are under pressure and aren't allowed to do the kind of job they'd like. she'd ask his secretary what was possible, see what she could do, it would make sense to come in as seldom as possible... leave it with her. i got a letter saying my appt was changed, that i should come in for the f2f, then whenever i was done, go get the the blood test done. that was a smooth bit of humans working together.it all fell apart in the end tho, because i got a letter about a week before hand saying my f2f had been changed to a phone appt. and a quick handwritten that as soon a i was done on the phone, i should go for the blood monitor. but no explanation why. and no tip as to where in the hospital i could hang out and have a consult in private on the phone and then go direct to blood monitor. so i got coffee and water and sat at one of the tables in the transport pick up area and talked my rheumy case in public for about half an hour.
individuals were great and kind and apologetic and made sense about why things were happening like that, but the overall system let us all down.
Some are the exception. We get appointments the same day f2f if we ask. My GP referred me on Friday am to the Endocologist Two hours later the dept rang and I was I given an appointment four days later. Our GPS and surgery are on the ball
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