Routine Appointments

[Brendan]

Hi I was diagnosed last year and prior to that was generally in good health so I do not have much experience with doctors surgerys. I got a letter asking me to make a routine appointment as I had a blood test last week. When I phoned I was offered an appointment on the 12th June at 7:20 in the morning. Is this normal to have an appointment booked that far (3 weeks) away? Well I suppose it means that there is not much wrong with my blood test 🙂
I turned down that one and strangely thay managed to find one next week in the afternoon so a much more sociable hour and less time to wait.

The surgery informed me that a routine appointment could be booked anytime up to 4 weeks away. Is this normal?

 

[Northerner]

Probably varies from surgery to surgery. At mine, you have to ring very early to get an appointment on the day or day after, but you can book appointments for any time in the future greater than a week (my experience anyway!). They also have walk-in surgery where you can just wait to see any doctor, but it might take an hour or two of waiting.

If the one they give you doesn't suit it's perfectly OK to ask them to change it to a date/time more suitable to you - a lot of people might like and early appt. if it meant not missing work and your cancellation will now be available for someone else who would prefer it - your new appt. may also be a cancellation from someone else! 🙂

 

[Doddy]

I would say it was totally normal.
At my surgery, you can book up to 4 weeks in advance to see the Doc of your choice. However, if you need an appointment urgently, you need to ring before 9 and then if you are lucky, you get to see A N Other GP, no choice.

I needed to make an appointment for 10 weeks time...but I can't do it yet as their diary only goes up to 4 weeks in advance. Strange, cuz my dairy goes up to 2013!

 

[Mark T]

At busy times, it can take a few weeks to get in my surgery. Two to three weeks for the phlebotomist (vampire) isn't unusual.

But we do have a walk-in-centre that we can also use, or worst case, head off to the local A&E.

Booking things a couple of months ahead hasn't been a problem up to now.

 

[Abi]

I prefer to be able to book appointments well in advance for routine check ups. That way it's easier to shedule diabetes around work and other committments

 

[trophywench]

Mmmm - at my surgery in theory, all things are possible, however in practice quite a lot of things aren't.

I currently wish to have a discussion about my thyroid results and to have a conversation with someone reasonable, that means the GP who is nominally in charge of all the diabetics. (I say nominally becuase in practice he has knob all to do with my diabetes. That's between me and the hospital !) So I rang last week; first appt with him is 07.50 on 1st June, then the next one 3 weeks after that ..... so am going at 07.50 on 1st June ......

To do their annual diabetes checks (and let's face it, they ARE the only people who do the toe test for me!) They send a diabetes nurse appt through. I will ring to cancel it because I'm on holiday or whatever and they make another. I turn up and they say eg Oh she's off sick today or once - said She's on Annual Leave !!!! (Which she was; she's had an organ transplant and was in trouble and needed an urgent hospital appt, but she'd run out of Sick leave so had to take a day's holiday! - how f(ootl)ing abysmal is that?) And so it goes on ...... and then after I've seen her I have to make an appt again with the nominated Diabetes One to get all my scrips renewed. That could be another month hence. I very often run out of repeats in the meantime and although they never refuse me insulin, it's always laid on with a trowel how I should have had this blooming doctors appt before I get it ....... and this is ALWAYS MY fault???????

If I try to be clever and make Vampre, nurse and Dr appts at suitable intervals well in advance, one or other will just get cancelled ..... And Fasting blood tests are The Worst to book. As has been said, about 3 weeks delay normally for a suitable early one because the slots get booked by working people for non-fasting blood tests ......