# Getting a GP appointment



## whirlypig (Feb 20, 2003)

Not been to see my GP for a good few years but I do remember that you rang up and they booked you in for the earliest available/convenient appointment.
Not so now, apparently they've got a new system where you can only ring for an appointment on the day, no booking ahead so that you can plan a bit of time of work. Who on earth thought that one up? 

The last two mornings I've rung up early and been told no appointments are available, try again tomorrow. Well tomorrow I'm back at work so I can't stop at home on the off chance that I'll beat everyone and their Granny to getting a place on the list. It's a bleedin' lottery.

What a stupid system, the only benefit I can see is to keep patient numbers down. I'll just have to try again when I'm not working or just give it a miss full stop. It's a shame it's not possible to opt out of the NHS completely, I'd be happy to pay for some sort of service.


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## teucer2000 (May 14, 2002)

Save yourself the trouble...take two aspirin and come back in three months if you are still alive.


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## jgoodman00 (May 6, 2002)

It is normally the psycho nurses on reception which try to act like Dr's & dismiss you. Just come up with some really strange symptoms & they will find a way to fit you in.

Alternatively, threaten or attempt suicide. Apparently all patients who have attempted suicide are garaunteed an appointment...


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## jam (May 8, 2002)

Went to the doctors the other day and found to my disbelief that they actually give you a book now to try and treat yourself so you don't have to bother them next time if you get anything that you can sort out on your own.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was a busy inner city surgery but it's out in the fucking sticks in a village with a population of about fuck all and there wasn't one other person in the waiting room besides me (and i still had to fucking wait for 5 mins!)

Lazy twats! Â 

cheers

James


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## Dubcat (Jun 10, 2002)

yup - we have the same shit in our local clinic  It makes it IMPOSSIBLE to book time off work to see the doc. When I explained this to the woman on the phone there were suddenly no more appointments available for that day :

The world is going insane... if it isn't already that is!

W


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## whirlypig (Feb 20, 2003)

Doctor's Receptionists are generally a nightmare. I should know my Mum was one and she can be a real pain in the arse.

Not sure about threatening suicide, my other halfs a psychiatric nurse so she'd probably section me.

Don't know if it's worth the hassle getting to see a GP anyway. Last time I went there it was obvious he was no expert on the problem, fobbed me off and out the door in less than 3 mins.

I say privatise it then the lazy twats might have to work for their money.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Is this because they are measured for performance by our astute Gov't based on appointment time compared to average patient waiting time?

Without an appointment this cannot be measured or the measure is zero wait- which is great for Tony's NHS stats.

Am I right?


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## Dubcat (Jun 10, 2002)

Yup - Thatcher changed the way we count unemployment many MANY times to reduce the figures. Blair is doing the same with the NHS.
All imho of course.
W.


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## andytt (Sep 25, 2002)

If you have a day off work can you not ask to be called if there is a cnacellation....

alternatively visit the out-of-hours doctors. we do some software support for them and the place up here has a large waiting room etc, i'm sure you could get seen there?

just a thought......


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

Oi! Blame the NHS not the Gps.

GPs work damn hard (well, the majority). They usually have vastly oversized patient lists, and full clinics. The worst thing is they are set a limit of on average 6 minutes per patient by the trust / NHS or whoever. Imagine trying to elicit a complicated medical history or perform an accurate examination in 6 minutes. Impossible. So, most clinics always run over, putting the next clinic behind, snowballing throughout the day. Add in several home visits, some time to manage your practice accounts, meetings with other partners, compulsory Continuing Education sessions, minor surgery lists etc. and you may appreciate why GPs are always busy.

The recent change in the system is mainly designed to discourage timewasters - and there are a lot of them! Figures range from 10 - 40% of lost appointment times by people failing to turn up, and around 50% of GP visits are probably 'unneccessary' and could be dealt with by the Practice Nurse / Pharmacist / NHS direct.

If you want to go private then go on. Just ring BUPA or Nuffield and they will sort you out.

In an ideal world everyone would be seen the same day. The only way this will happen is if the Government dramatically increase GP numbers. Unfortunatley this would require major long term investments which no Government has the balls to do for fear of it losing their next election.

So don't flame Gps. They work hard, their hands are tied by decrees from above, and most of them are as pissed of as you are. By all means flame the system or the NHs or the government as they are to blame.

Best of all know what you are on about first.

I am a Doctor, but not a GP. None of the GPs I know are lazy.


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## teucer2000 (May 14, 2002)

Would help if they turned up at the surgery on time in the morning.....


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## whirlypig (Feb 20, 2003)

I stand corrected and have changed the topic title accordingly. 

My gripe is not with the GPs though mine is particularly poor hence why I haven't been for a couple of years. That's another story.

It's the new system, it just seems to penalise those that work. I can't keep booking days off in the vain hope they'll have an appointment. I've rung the last two mornings before 9am and nothing is free. I really don't need to be seen the same day, all I want to do is book a day and time and I'll be there. If they want to clamp down on timewasters then make those with a record of missing appointments go through this farcical system.

It certainly helps keep people off waiting lists if you can't even get to see a doctor.

JDN, I wasn't aware I could go Private for a GPS consultation. I'll have to check my Private Health plan and see if it's included. Failing that any idea how much it costs?


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## DXN (May 18, 2002)

I'm sure JDN prices are reasonable. 

PS remember private medicine is not necessarily "quality" medicine.


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## ChasTT (Oct 17, 2002)

DXN....define 'quality'....

I'd say that being able to fix up a convenient time (for both parties) a few days/weeks in advance was a quality service, and not being able to get to see your NHS GP was piss poor, irrelevant of the quality of medical advice dished out.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

And do check out exactly how much you donate to the NHS via NI, then add back any employers contribution, to correlate true 'value'.

Suspect.


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## CapTT (Mar 2, 2003)

Surely the important point here is that you ring up for an appointment to see your GP because you are ill and need medical attention. So surely you should get the help you need when you need it. If you ring up on monday morning you don`t want to wait until thursday surely.?. You could be dead by then , who knows what all these nasty viruses do nowadays .?. 
So the system is wrong somewhere. If you ring up you should at least be asked by a nurse what your symptoms are to assess what can be done right away.Surely thats what the NHS is for.?. But alas you usually get a hard nosed receptionist who simply hasn`t the training.So its catch 22. What do you do.?.


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

Thanks to Whirlypig for changing thread title.

Captt is correct. System is poor and fails patients frequently. The *only* answer is more doctors, nurses and practices. That goes for the land of GP as well as hospital medicine.

Then, there would be more free appointment times so the hard nosed receptionists would be out of work.

What do you do now? Well, the less scrupulous patients just go to A+E. Don't get me wrong, if you are serioulsy ill then A+E is fine. But we have seen people turn up with a sore throat, or a bad knee they have had for weeks. Neither accidents or emergencies.

Is NHS direct the answer? No. It is staffed by poorly trained non-healthcare professionals who simply follow pre-defined algorithms. Throw them a curve ball anyhwere along the line and the algorithm defaults to either 'See your GP' or 'Go to A+E'. They are apparently banned from using their common sense to deal with problems. I guess as a result of our blame and sue culture.

Trying to devise a system that effectively triages patients for a GP to see approrpiately is very difficult. As per JGoodman00's post - patients will lie to be seen sooner, and the system breaks down. Perhaps more serious you get the classical elderly patients who just don't want to be a fuss, and sit at home haemorrhaging or with crushing chest pains before finally resorting to calling a doctor.

Out of hours services are also poor. Many practices co-opt into a dedicated out of hours service, usually based miles away from the GPs patch. So, many times an ambulance is called based on a phone call, and the patient is unneccessarily admitted to hospital. Not ideal.

Our local GP runs a "reasonable" :-/ setup, where if you want to be seen that day you turn up that morning (as early as possible). One GP is the 'put aside' to plough through all the patients in the waiting room. It is remarkable how many people pitch up at 11am, see the room is full, and say 'it's not worth it' and bugger off. Not perfect, but a reasonable way of screening for 'genuine' patients. Downside is that the GP on that day cannot do his normal work / home visits so clealry somebody has to wait longer somewhere. You can still book advanced appointments although these run at about 2 weeks.

So, write to your MP and ask him to explain why there are so few GPs per-capita compared to any other European country, and what he intends to do about it.

Back to Whirlypigs question, if you know what speciality your malady lies in, contact your local private hosiptal directly and they can book you in to see the appropriate specialist. Price depends on speciality / time / procedures etc. but 45 mins with a general physician is about Â£80. Most private places also do thorough health screens which can be useful.

Rant over.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

> Thanks to Whirlypig for changing thread title.
> 
> Captt is correct. Â System is poor and fails patients frequently. Â The *only* answer is more doctors, nurses and practices. Â That goes for the land of GP as well as hospital medicine.
> 
> .


Trouble is that more doctors etc as you say, inevitably means at least as many administrators and managers if Blairs past actions are anything to go by. That in turn means bigger burden on the exchequer and cuts eslewhere.

Did you know that now 1 in 5 people working works for the Gov't? This is a massive increase in bureaucracy 'cos they ain't all nurses and coppers


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## cuTTsy (Jan 31, 2003)

Wirlypig

Have you looked at this http://www.doctorsdirect.co.uk/?
It might be the opting out of the NHS you need!

There is also NNS direct in which you can phone and speak to Nurses and doctors I think.

I would avoid the online diagnosis as this can get a little scary.
A few chest pains can soon come up with the response of call 999!


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

> JDN, I wasn't aware I could go Private for a GPS consultation. I'll have to check my Private Health plan and see if it's included. Failing that any idea how much it costs?


Our local Nuffield private hopital runs a Private GP service. Inital consultation costs Â£50 with extra charges for test and prescripitions. I assume a similar service may be available elsewhere. Not sure Health care policy would cover this though.

you could try: http://www.nuffieldhospitals.org.uk

Hope that is helpful.


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## r1 (Oct 31, 2002)

> And do check out exactly how much you donate to the NHS via NI, then add back any employers contribution, to correlate true 'value'.
> 
> Suspect.


Not forgetting to deuct out of this your future pension..for what it's worth. :


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

> Not forgetting to deuct out of this your future pension..for what it's worth. :


By the time I retire, I don't believe that those with private or company pension will be entitled to ANY state pension, regardless of contributions made during working life.

Bastards.


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