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G.P. appointment - unbelievable.

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thelis

thelis

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I rang the surgery yesterday and couldn't speak to my GP as he was on holiday. I think it was a locum I spoke to. I told him I wasn't coping with the Metformin and after describing my symptoms he told me to stop them and have a blood test in 6 weeks - even though I only had one 2 weeks ago. My own GP had already told me to have one in 3 months although he doesn't know I have stopped the treatment. Anyway to cut a long story short he has no appointment for at least a month so I asked for a telephone consultation and was told the same thing, none for at least a month. She said I could see someone else but whats the point. Eventually she gave me an appointment for Thursday 26th Sept. with my own GP.
Its always the same at our surgery you can never get to see your own doctor and usually its a different one every time. The same with the diabetes nurse. I was diagnosed in 2011 and I've had a different nurse every time.
I feel better now after that little moan. Sorry.:confused:
 
Time to change surgeries maybe? The NHS Choices website has a GP search facility where you can enter your postcode and find the nearest. You can then search for that surgery's website to find out a bit more about it.

If you want to try complaining first, there are details of how to do it in the Links thread HERE.
 
It was exactly the same at my GP's practice, impossible to get an appointment with a doctor let alone a preferred doctor. They have recently started a new system where you request for a doctor to ring you and then the docs will decide if you need to see them.

Only snag is if you want a preferred doctor you may have to ring several days on the trot to get that doctor to ring you. Some I refuse to see as I just don't trust their abilities.
 
I serve on the patients panel for my surgery. We have ensured that everyone gets an appointment on the day they phone in. But there is a triage system i.e. you will get a phone call back from the Dr on triage and you might get a nurse appointment if they can deal with it. If you ask for a particular Dr you will still get the triage system but I've never been denied an appointment with my dedicated GP. Then again I am not a time waster.
 
It is a pain getting an appointment with my doctor, it can be up to three weeks. If I feel really ill I go to the drop in centre or A&E who then phone my doctor and tell I need an immediate appointment.

On changing doctors, we are trying to but have been told we need things like a driving licence, a passport and a bill as ID, but it is worth a try.

I hope you feel better soon
 
I'm lucky in that I can usually get an appointment relatively quickly, certainly the same week. If it's urgent I'll take pot luck or speak to the duty doctor on the phone. Most of the docs at the surgery are on the ball and only one I'd rather not have to deal with. They've even been known to come and see me at home when things have been really bad.

It can be so frustrating having to see different people every visit, you waste most of the appointment going over the whole story each time and feel you're getting nowhere as a result. In that situation, I reckon, a letter to your surgery outlining your concerns would be a good first step. If that fails then NHS choices sounds like a reasonable route to take. I hope you can find a satisfactory solution, going on as you are clearly won't work.
 
All this is quite shocking, it seems that some surgeries are incapable of dealing with anything other than long term conditions that do not require urgent, or even prompt, attention :( I can usually get an appointment with my preferred doctor in a week to two weeks. For emergencies I would probably take pot luck with the free-for-all walk-in clinic they do a couple of times a week. I'm fortunate though, as I don't see a GP for anything diabetes-related, so don't actually need to see a GP very often.
 
I have to giggle. Husband had a blood test last week, and having seen the vampire, made an apt to see a doc re the results. Earliest they could offer him - bearing in mind he wasn't actually ill, just routine, was a week today! So over a fortnight. Ridiculous really, you could get knocked over by a bus in between.

Phone message on answering machine when we got back from a few days away on Weds afternoon - could he ring the docs? he rang. Could he please make an apt to see doc to discuss blood test results? - I already have, a week on Friday. OK thanks and off she goes.

5 minutes pass. Ring ring. It's the docs. Have spoken to Dr Bloggs, who says can you please come today or tomorrow? So he went and basically not good test results and he's been referred to hosp so now has to wait for that instead, as well as one he's already waiting for to have an unthreatening skin eruption removed.

But it is amazing how things change when you actually DO potentially have summat wrong with you, isn't it!
 
I tried to get in to see my GP today, no appointments until 2nd Sept! Advised me to go to Urgent Care in my local A&E, so glad I did, was in and out in under an hour clutching 14 days worth of penicillin. Saw a lovely GP too which made it even better
 
Aoife said:
I tried to get in to see my GP today, no appointments until 2nd Sept! Advised me to go to Urgent Care in my local A&E, so glad I did, was in and out in under an hour clutching 14 days worth of penicillin. Saw a lovely GP too which made it even better
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Glad you had a good result 🙂
 
Pattidevans said:
I serve on the patients panel for my surgery. We have ensured that everyone gets an appointment on the day they phone in. But there is a triage system i.e. you will get a phone call back from the Dr on triage and you might get a nurse appointment if they can deal with it. If you ask for a particular Dr you will still get the triage system but I've never been denied an appointment with my dedicated GP. Then again I am not a time waster.
Click to expand...

I don't believe any of us are TIME WASTERS. Are you referring to anyone in particular. I thought that was a rather peculiar statement to make.😡
 
thelis said:
I don't believe any of us are TIME WASTERS. Are you referring to anyone in particular. I thought that was a rather peculiar statement to make.😡
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Thelis, I don't think TW was saying anyone here is a timewaster, but I can see how it could be read that way. I think she was meaning the doctors would know it was serious.
 
thelis said:
I don't believe any of us are TIME WASTERS. Are you referring to anyone in particular. I thought that was a rather peculiar statement to make.😡
Click to expand...

I thought that the "time wasters" statement was a bit funny as I don't believe any of us are time wasters. To turn that around if doctors took the trouble to read patients notes or listened to what the patients are saying it would save appointments.

I have now had it several times where a doctor has prescribed medication that would cause an allergic reaction and could then require hospital treatment. The notes clearly specify allergies to certain medications, as a result of the doctor not bothering to read ones notes, one then has to make another appointment to get the correct medication. If one paid for the prescriptions that would also double the cost to the patient, let alone the cost of the wrongly prescribed medication.

On other occasions been in with a doctor that can't be bothered and one is left wondering what is going on, and give up. I then have to get another appointment with a preferred doctor who knows what's going on.

Both these require double appointments, due to the doctors lack of care and attention.

On another occasion/s a doctor said there's nothing wrong :( only a short while later then had to call out of hours doctors out (at night they come in pairs) or 999, so the added cost was even worse than the initial appointment.
 
It wasn't me, it was Patti and I can assure you (since we know one another in real life as well as cyber life) she wasn't referring to anyone specific or here - she meant that certain people in every GP practice, are time-wasters. Law of averages says so, doesn't it?

Years ago I had an acquaintance who was ALWAYS at the doctors yet in the 20 years I knew her, never had anything wrong with her as far as I know. She was the first to tell you someone else had been diagnosed with some awful affliction too. I bet her GP practice LOVED it when she arrived .... AGAIN. LOL

Whereas the rest of us would much rather never need to darken a surgery door!
 
Hope you feel better soon.
 
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