ChatterBank0 min ago
Do Any Of You Find Getting Appointments Etc Difficult?
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Does anyone else find liasing with their gp surgery incredibly difficult. I was advised by my local phrmacist to speak to my go as they couldn't help my issue.
So I rang up the surgery and the receptionist convinced me that I don't need to see my go and that she would get the surgery's own pharmacist to give me a ring.
Fair enough, I was going to ask the gp something else too but as it's minor I thought forget it. The receptionist said the pharmacist would ring on Monday afternoon, I asked her for a timeframe as I'm working and can't always drop what I'm doing to answer the phone but she said it will be anytime Monday afternoon.
It brings back memories of when I was working on the wards during Covid and missed a few gp calls due to the same reason.
Maybe it's me but don't you think the NHS could at least be better organised in terms of appointments and give people timeframes for when they ring.
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I feel incredibly lucky .. my well-run Surgery usually can offer a next day appt. or at least a telephone call from a GP at a pre-arranged time. On the odd occasion, a same-day appt. can be given! However, at a nearby Surgery, people have to wait three weeks to get an appt. It seems as though it is down to good organization by the staff.
We are lucky with my practice. When I had shingles a year and a half ago I phoned the practice first thing in the morning and had a telephone appointment with the senior nurse practitioner at 9.15am. She confirmed my diagnosis and sent a prescription for antivirals to the pharmacy for me to pick up that afternoon. The early availability of antivirals made a huge difference to the severity (and I suspect the duration) of my symptoms.
My GP Surgery is located in a ruaral village in East Sussex.
Due to the fact that it has low number of patients(per Doctor),I never have (in 24 years with them) had any problem getting a day or next day appointment to see my GP.
I shall soon be moving to a new GP Surgery in East Sussex,as I am moving house (about 10 miles from the old one) so we will see how different that will be?
My doctors surgery uses the new(ish) DrIQ online app, where you type in an online consultation with as many details as poss - this goes thru to the surgery, where it is read, and depending on the severity they then reply with a time for either a fone call or a surgery appointment. So far it's worked brilliantly. A few months ago I said that I felt v short of breath, my inhalers weren't helping much, and wasn't sure if I had a chest infection - within 45 mins I had a reply asking to come in within half hour, and I was put straight on a nebuliser.
Its when the issue needs referring to a hospital that it then becomes a major problem as it's out of the doctors hands. I'm still waiting for my 2nd serious spinal steroid injection, which I was meant to have 3 months after the 1st one as it was a course. That was last August : ( , and yes I've rang/emailed the relevant hospital department at least 6 times.
Since our surgery started patchs online thingy, can't fault it, was pretty good before to be honest but now there's no hanging on at 8am to get through in the morning.
I did patchs at 7.30am last Monday, had a message from gp at 9.10am to say he'd made me an appointment with the advanced clinical practitioner for me at 11.20. Saw her, she sent a px to the on site pharmacy and I was home by 11.45 taking first antibiotic.
No complaints from me.
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