GP Appointments

Why not just ask for a prescription renewal in the meantime?

I don't because I always book on line ahead of time. What I have found though if you are running out of drugs your pharmacist can often get a repeat or holding prescription for you.

As the others have said why not register with the pharmacy for repeat prescriptions , mine is just issued automatically as one lot runs out the new ones are ready to collect , no contact with the GP surgery unless a review is needed.

Just reread your post jean48 and realise you need to see the doctor which is a different matter .

If the doctor really says she needs to see you (meaning quickly as opposed to in a few weeks) then I don't see the problem.

Tell the receptionist this and stand firm.

I suppose it depends what your medical condition is and if a delay would be life threatening or disabling in some way.

You need to set up a repeat prescription deal with your local chemist. Getting an appointment here is impossible. You can get an emergency one on some days but only with a locum who may lack interest. Got an appointment with 3 week wait with a surgery doctor despite being in pain.

A three week wait is usual here.

Two or three weeks is usual where I live too, but the doctors all have emergency slots which you can book on the day if you phone early.

First get past the receptionist .....

Our doctors are brilliant. They have a drop in every morning, Monday to Friday. You can book an appointment online, if you want to see a particular doctor and you can order your prescriptions online.

I usually see the same doctor and she's been so good with me. I suffer a lot of health problems and it's important to me to see the same doctor.

I can see my lovely lady Doctor within 24/48 hours or can have a phone consultation. Repeat prescriptions are ordered online.

This is a very sore point here. Getting an appointment to see a doctor at our large practise is very very very difficult..... ggggrrrrrrrrrrr

Two or three weeks to see my GP is usual, when I thought I had something serious I bypassed the GP and self referred to a consultant. We have a sign in the waiting room asking us to be patient as they have problems recruiting doctors, not a lot of help when you are really ill. This time last year the GP thought I had pneumonia but I was told to go and queue outside at 7.30 in the morning in the hope of being seen before they closed for Christmas.

Our receptionists are excellent - friendly and helpful. The nurses and some of the doctors do telephone triage and if it's deemed necessary to see a doctor, they will sort out an appointment though not necessarily with your usual doctor. Home visits will also be arranged. Nurse practitioners also see patients and can prescribe routine antibiotics for infections like earache and tonsilitis.

Isn't it bad that GP services can vary so much? We were talking to our family about this over Christmas and it's made us realise how lucky we are.

Our GP practise have just started a pilot Suffolk GPs+ which is offering appointments during the evening,weekends and bank holidays it has a bank of 75 GPs and additional practise nurses. Not really clear how it works as it has only recently been announced but the reality is we could always get an appointment in a couple of days anyway. I assume it will be open to patients who are registered within the town / county and is being done to relieve pressure on the local A&E.

It is impossible to get an appointment at our practice. You are not allowed to book an appointment more than 7 days in advance, which means getting up early to book an appointment on line when they go live at 6.30 a.m.

At my surgery a 4 week wait is normal and that's with ANY GP. There are emergency slots but those are generally given to serious conditions or children and even getting someone to answer the phone in the morning is a challenge. They are also going to limit the timeframe you can call to make an appt from this month as well to 2 hours in the morning. Outwith this time, they will not book an appt!!

And no, it's not a large inner city practice either - they've just built lots of new houses and not recruited enough staff to cover the increase.

Had a blood test taken before Christmas but NO appts available to discuss the results. Been told they will phone "if there's something serious though" well, that's comforting..,

Fortunately I can order our prescriptions on line from my doctor and ring the the local chemist to collect the prescriptions and make them up (and they deliver if I wanted). I also always make sure I have two week's worth of tablets in just in case of emergencies ie bad weather, holidays etc. Our doctor's surgery has a daily 'walk-in' centre each morning where we can just go down and wait to see a nurse for appointments that don't always require a doctor. Also because I am over a certain age, I have been allocated my own doctor and if I should need to see him (not often may I add), I would not have to wait more than one day, so I really can't complain.

When this happened to me got app in 24hrs .

Our surgery offers online appointment booking but those appointments are likely to be 2 weeks away. But it does mean that if its important you see a specific doctor and its non urgent you can do it without hanging on the phone for forever.

You can order repeat prescriptions that way too.

Generally if its urgent you can see a doctor the same day but you wont see the doctor of your choice , it will be whoever has space.

Our surgery also has a nurse for routine blood tests which we will soon be losing thanks to redirection of local funding to a 3rd party outsourcer |!! I hate going to the local hospital for blood because the parking is awful and hugely expensive, and the queues are so long you can kiss your morning or afternoon goodbye. Being able to give blood at the surgery was such a bonus .... I always think when some anonymous bureaucrat makes decisions like these they have never experienced the real service...what saves them pennies( and often not even that) costs the users of the service a lot ! Grumble over :-)

I have the same problem getting appointments. Sure I can do it on line but it's still a two or three week wait.....which really helps when you suffer from health problems and anxiety /depression. I feel that no one cares anymore....gp's think of it no longer as a vocation but as a business. Home visits.....you are joking! This has all changed in the last ten years, and is getting worse and worse. At one point I was seeing a different doctor on every appointment....now I tend to make an appointment every week and cancel if I don't need it, and therefore I don't get that panicky feeling about not getting an appointment if I am concerned about anything....,,

How about a phone appointment? Unless a blood test is required (which your GP won't do anyway!!!) I can't see many reasons why you need to be seen face to face! If it's just an efficacy review a bit of a delay won't matter, just request a repeat script for now! Simples

I've had the same problem, so I went to the surgery yesterday and as I have booked appointments for my annual review I was able to order my prescription without any problems even though it had been blocked on line. The problem for me, and everyone I guess, was the fact that the surgery has been shut on and off for the holidays, so getting a review before the monthly pill supply ran out was virtually impossible!!!