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Moving Doctors

M

Mark72

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on what to expect after changing GP surgery? I moved house back in November which was about 5 months after diagnosis and two months-ish after my initial 3 month check in after going on metformin and statins. With my old docs I was expecting to be called back 6 months from then so sometime this month but unfortunately I'm outside their catchment area so have had to swap. So far since November I've heard absolutely nothing from my new doctors, I submit prescriptions on the NHS app and collect them a few days later from the chemist and that's it. I did sort of expect in line with my last one that they'd call me in as a new patient or ask me to make an appointment back when we moved. It's really annoying as the last one were great and very pro-active.

Do people normally expect to have to push for their appointments or do you get called in for them? Should I be having one at this stage or am I a few months too early and shouldn't need one until the 12 month mark? Amongst other things if the BG is still where it was last time I'm keen to see if I can start coming off the metformin. I suspect I'll be calling them on Monday in any case but I'm also loath to put more work on them if my expectations are wrong.
 
Did you not see anyone when you registered? We moved post Covid and when we registered we were both seen by a nurse, although they didn’t have details,I showed her NHS app and I was checked in line with my last test. Haven’t had much contact since then however, but that’s another story.
 
Mark72 said:
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on what to expect after changing GP surgery? I moved house back in November which was about 5 months after diagnosis and two months-ish after my initial 3 month check in after going on metformin and statins. With my old docs I was expecting to be called back 6 months from then so sometime this month but unfortunately I'm outside their catchment area so have had to swap. So far since November I've heard absolutely nothing from my new doctors, I submit prescriptions on the NHS app and collect them a few days later from the chemist and that's it. I did sort of expect in line with my last one that they'd call me in as a new patient or ask me to make an appointment back when we moved. It's really annoying as the last one were great and very pro-active.

Do people normally expect to have to push for their appointments or do you get called in for them? Should I be having one at this stage or am I a few months too early and shouldn't need one until the 12 month mark? Amongst other things if the BG is still where it was last time I'm keen to see if I can start coming off the metformin. I suspect I'll be calling them on Monday in any case but I'm also loath to put more work on them if my expectations are wrong.
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My surgery says when you register you would see the practice nurse for a new patient health check. I would have thought that quite usual, so I would definitely ring to arrange that.
 
Mark72 said:
Do people normally expect to have to push for their appointments or do you get called in for them? Should I be having one at this stage or am I a few months too early and shouldn't need one until the 12 month mark? Amongst other things if the BG is still where it was last time I'm keen to see if I can start coming off the metformin. I suspect I'll be calling them on Monday in any case but I'm also loath to put more work on them if my expectations are wrong.
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I get called in for some appointments, but have to give my surgery a nudge for others.

My experience over the years has been that appointments have been harder to get hold of generally
 
We moved to another practice recently. They are well organised and respond well to specific requests. They called me in for a annual diabetic review in January
I took the opportunity to ask for another HbA1c test in 6 months. It was recorded in my patient record there and then
 
Our previous surgery in Suffolk were fairly good with appointments before covid but seemed to be on a permanent back foot after then. Hubby hadn't had any reviews for over 2 years although he is supposed to have bloods tested annually for liver and kidney function due to his medication.
Since we moved to Lincolnshire the new surgery has been very proactive. They made sure within a year that he was up to date with all his checks. I have had quarterly blood tests and reviews since my diabetes diagnosis last March.
 
Thanks everyone, the responses have pretty much confirmed what I expected, a new patient health check being fairly standard. Annoying as the old place were great - picked up ahead of the new patient check there that my last doctor had missed the high blood glucose in the previous one's notes that hadn't been followed up on at all. I'll speak to them on Monday.
 
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