Getting a doctors appointment

[iv-tecman]

The NHS is rubbish, basically. Just like the public transport system, the roads, the police...

This country is falling apart at the seams, but everyone is too busy watching Freeview to do anything about it.

quoted for the truth.

Only in the UK can you buy faqs at the front of the supermaket, and then expect the ill to walk all the way to the back of the shop to get pills etc..

It's true though, the UK is now such a mess with the NHS. It's such a shame.

 

[Phantom]

as said above... nurses in private care are generally motivated by the amount they earn rather than your health!

 

[KaHn]

I love all these people slating the NHS yet what other country provides a free service to everyone, with no preference on wealth or power?

Tbh this country would be a lot worse with out the NHS

KaHn

 

[Haly]

I love all these people slating the NHS yet what other country provides a free service to everyone, with no preference on wealth or power?

Tbh this country would be a lot worse with out the NHS

KaHn

Although I did have a slight moan earlier in the thread about having to wait for an appointment, I do agree with you.
With both my parents on strong painkillers for most of their life, and both having had major operations in my lifetime, they would have had no chance of the kind of life they've got now if they had to pay for it all. Because simply put, they wouldn't have been able to and they'd be in a hell of a lot of pain.
Throw in other things like dental care and opticians appointments as a kid, and I dread to think how much it would have all cost

 

[paul8811]

Lots of GP's do this thats way there are NHS walkin centres now scatterad around the country, They are good as you can go to one near work to avoid taking half day for a docs visit.

I went to one this morning only to discover my Tonsils had grown back & i have Tonsillitis, I had them removed when I was 11.

check out http://www.nhs.uk/england/noAppointmentNeeded/walkinCentres/default.aspx

 

[tom_nieto]

Every GP surgery has different appointment systems. AFAIK they're bringing them into line with one another as they're introducing the choose and book and connecting for health IT schemes. They're also trying to standardise targets (the reason why appointment systems differ).

 

[Borris]

my Tonsils had grown back

My finger was hovering over the Shennanigans button on my keyboard, and I was inches away from a scorn ridden, gloat-fest of a post.

Luckily I done googled a bit.

And, by the way - Ick.

 

[paul8811]

My finger was hovering over the Shennanigans button on my keyboard, and I was inches away from a scorn ridden, gloat-fest of a post.

Luckily I done googled a bit.

And, by the way - Ick.

Yep, apperently if they leave even a tiny weany little piece behind they can grow back.

 

[red11]

Why on earth can you not phone up for an appointment for tomorrow?? Every time I try they always say, nope, you can only make appointments on the day. Cue spending half the morning trying to get through on the phone!

National Health Service??? More like National Health Scandal!

Thats really good though, because currently here in N.Ireland, you're lucky if you can make an appointment for the same week. I rang my Local Health Centre a few weeks ago, it was a Monday afternoon, I wanted an appointment for Tuesday or even Wednesday that week. I was told by the receptionist that the earliest appointment I could take would be Thursday the following week at 2pm.

 

[Amoeba]

Why on earth can you not phone up for an appointment for tomorrow?? Every time I try they always say, nope, you can only make appointments on the day. Cue spending half the morning trying to get through on the phone!

National Health Service??? More like National Health Scandal!

This is due to the govt. targets of having x% of appointments made x amount of time after the phone call. Not sure of the exact figures, but for example 50% of phone calls need to have an appointment made within 12 hours.. And so to achieve these targets surgeries just don't allow people to phone up in advance.

This was brought up at the last election by somebody at PM question time, and Blair promised he would do something about it, but clearly has not

 

[Blackstar]

I used to go to a small village doctor they were great you could phone up one day and say 'can i get an appointment tomorrow at 4:25' they'd say yes you could make appointments up to a month in advance.
Now this morning i had to phone up my new doctors a exactly 8am wait in the call line till ten past and got an appointment at 10:30. and i'm in a lot of pain.

 

[leaskovski]

Right, so i phone up to make an appointment...

<them> Sorry there is no available time for you today.
<me> Ok, so can i sort one out for tomorrow???
<them> No, you can only get an appointment on the same day

Next day...

Finally get through at 9am

<them> Sorry there is no available time for you today.
<me> Ok, so can i sort one out for tomorrow???
<them> No, you can only get an appointment on the same day

GOTO 7

 

[basmic]

Getting a doctor's appointment is a walk in the park, compared to getting a dentist appointment.

 

[Vonhelmet]

This was brought up at the last election by somebody at PM question time, and Blair promised he would do something about it, but clearly has not

I saw that too. He looked utterly amazed that his targets had made things worse, rather than better.

 

[Andr3w]

i have a doctors app in 40minutes

i booked it(well mum did) on friday afternoon

 

[leaskovski]

Funnily enough, i don't have issues getting a dentist appointment. I managed to sign up to an NHS place just round the corner from my house on the day they were taking new aplications. I make sure that i book my next appointment when i am leaving the previous one. Checkups every 6 months... no problems.

Its a funny old world!

 

[red11]

Right, so i phone up to make an appointment...

<them> Sorry there is no available time for you today.
<me> Ok, so can i sort one out for tomorrow???
<them> No, you can only get an appointment on the same day

Next day...

Finally get through at 9am

<them> Sorry there is no available time for you today.
<me> Ok, so can i sort one out for tomorrow???
<them> No, you can only get an appointment on the same day

GOTO 7

Gotcha now mate, I didn't know that's how they run things now, maybe the only option is to go down and make an appointment as soon as reception is open. They should always give preference to someone standing in front of them when the phone is ringing behind them.

 

[Werewolf]

Why on earth can you not phone up for an appointment for tomorrow?? Every time I try they always say, nope, you can only make appointments on the day. Cue spending half the morning trying to get through on the phone!

National Health Service??? More like National Health Scandal!

My current GP's surgery is pretty good with appointments, probably in part because it's now pretty big (about 5-8 GP's I think), and you can make emergency appointments for the same day, book in advance a few days, or do what I did not long ago, book severall weeks in advance (I needed to discuss the results of a test with a GP who was going on holiday).

I think it depends partly on how big the practice is and how many people they've got on their lists, as some practices are heavily over subscribed.
The is also of course the problem with NHS targets, and the manner in which if a practice wants to meet the "same day" sort of targets they may have to end up leaving a lot less slots for advance appointments (obviously a bigger practice should be able to get a better balance than a small one).

 

[PinkPig]

It seems to depend enormously on where you are. At home it now seems to be you must phone within 24 to 48 hours before the appointment, at uni my only experience has been getting a cancellation 45 minutes after I phoned!

I don't quite get what people are saying about being "really bad" or "going to die", if you're in that much of a state then you can ask for an emergency appointment - or just go along and they will see you eventually (though expect to wait many many hours) - or indeed go to A&E. Routine appointments are supposed to be just that, routine.

 

[Bracco]

I can make an appointment for the same day, or up to several weeks in advance. I did deliberately change to this surgery though, because my previous one was far too overloaded and it was always at least two weeks wait, unless you called before 8am for an emergency appointment.