GP Appointments

Today I had a letter from the gp surgery asking me to make an appointment in one month to have bloods taken by the practice nurse. Phoned there and then and was given a choice of appointment times.
No problem at all.
When I attend that appointment I 'll make another with the gp for a few days later so that we can discuss the results.
That's normal procedure here.

Our practice has the on call GP ring you back same day either lunchtime or pm.
If deemed necessary an appointment is made there and then by the GP.
I really like this system. I have MS. It saves me having the hassle of going to the surgery. Even if i didnt have MS I'd still be pleased with it.
Often when I've been offered an appointment by the GP I say no because I can't be bothered with going up there.

We can still make routine appointments (as far as I know I don’t use them very often) but if you want a same day appointment you see a paramedic who decides if you need further treatment with a doctor or not

We have two options, 1, you can just turn up and wait in a queue. 2, you can make an appointment and maybe wait two weeks, longer or shorter depending on how many want to see the doctor. However we have massive housbulding going on with no new g.p surgeries. So I wouldn’t be surprised if our wonderful doctors have to introduce somthing similar in the future. I agree that for those who for one reason or another can’t do it on line it may be a problem. I’m not sure I’d be happy to input my private sensitive medical information online or talk about it in a full waiting room. Do you live in a big city JustGrandma ? I hope whatever was the problem that you’ve now fully recovered.

I can make a GP appointment by telephone (easy to get through if I pick the right time of day, and never try to call on a Monday morning); or I can log in to the practice website and choose a doctor and a day and time of my preference, for all appointments.

What if you don’t have the facility to fill in an online form? I know several elderly people who won’t have anything to do with the internet. It sounds rather a circuitous way of doing things, but as morethan has said, with the increase in new patient pressure, GPs have to find new ways of making the best of their time. We can still make telephone appointments and don’t usually have to wait too long.

It can be difficult to see a doctor at our practice without seeing a nurse practitioner first, but the receptionists are very good and will bypass if necessary. There’s usually a couple of weeks to wait unless it’s urgent.

They also do telephone consultations with the doctor which are great. Dead on time, and a decision made on the spot with a prescription waiting at the chemist or surgery within the day.

It's almost impossible at my practice. If you ring first thing you might just be lucky enough to see a nurse practitioner at some point but otherwise, no chance. Even online appointments are very rarely available. It's a huge problem. I recently needed a referral for hospital tests and ended up writing to my GP to tell him what I needed and why. Fortunately he responded and I'm now booked for those tests, but goodness only knows how I will get the results.
I can fully understand, although I don't condone, why people use A&E around here.

justgrandma, in your situation I would change my GP's practice.

What happens to those who are not online, not just the elderly but the learning disabled living in the community and others?

What about those who are not good at assembling their thoughts and might leave off information that might trigger an appointment?

At my surgery, you do wait weeks for routine appointments, but like you I rarely go to the doctor and most of my appointments, when they occur, are acute appointments and I have never been triaged for any of them.

Monica I've had that said to me too (that I should change practice), but there are only two practices in my town, both inadequate according to recent quality reports. In some areas the health provisions are poor or very poor with little chance of improvement in the near future and changing practices won't help at all.

My routine blood test result appointments are done over the phone. The nurse takes the blood and the GP rings me a couple of days later to adjust meds and talk over symptoms. No appointment needed as they are like hens teeth here.

We have a similar system although it changes regularly but all it means is you say it's urgent when it's not. Otherwise you'd never get an appointment. Routine appointments if available are for 6 weeks ahead. Otherwise you phone or go online at 8am and grab an on the day or 24 hour appointment. Generally it works for me, I have to see my GP quite a lot and it's never trivial and I always manage to see my own GP.

I have a choice of methods of seeing a GP. I can phone or visit to book an appointment for no further ahead than two weeks. But these slots are often all gone so I prefer to book online at 8.15am when they put up new slots two weeks ahead. These tend to be with random GPs, often locums. Or if really unwell, I can always get a short appointment the same day.

The issue is booking appointments with the same GP, I have ongoing health problems and it does get frustrating having to explain to a different person each time. However, recently a doctor I liked gave me her secretary's phone number to book appointments with her - but then the doctor left the surgery!

My practice is a large teaching one so often has GPs in training for a few months at a time, some of these are lovely and keen to help but then they go and leave just when you get to know them!

I book all my repeat prescriptions online, they are then sent directly to a chemist and I collect them a couple of days later - brilliant service.

Apparently we can book appointments and repeat prescriptions on line, but have never bothered as the surgery is only forty yards away. (One reason for buying the house!)

Wow, really interesting answers and a big range of differences. Thanks for all the responses.

Yes I do live in a densely populated city morethan2, and I've chatted to a couple of local friends today who said that their GPs are also changing to this system. I completely agree with the brilliance of online prescriptions - I started using a postal one a few months ago and it's just made it all so easy - but again - would the very elderly have the computer savvy to take advantage of this?

Thanks for your good wishes morethan2 - it's nothing serious or urgent, just mechanical! #falling to bits ............. !!!!

Also - rather than be called in for a medication review this year I was phoned by a pharmacist who is now attached to my GP practice, and my review was done by him over the phone.

I can’t speak too highly of our GPS. I can make an apt online for today , tomorrow or the next 14 days , selecting which doctor or practice nurse I want to see.

Or I can ring up and so far have not been refused a same day apt.

A year ago , at the practice where I previously lived I could try and ring but generally I had to wait 2 weeks for an apt , it would have been a miracle to get a same day apt, and I never saw the same doctor twice !

Like many others on here, same day appointments with our surgery are difficult to impossible. The surgery is joining forces with a group of surgeries in the locality to manage the appointments system, reviews and prescriptions. They are aiming to be accessible at least by phone, and in person if deemed necessary, seven days a week eventually. There is a linked pharmacy and we get our regular meds automatically online.

A couple of years ago after a cruise, I fell ill and from the internet thought I probably had e coli. They saw me right away after a telecon with one of the GPs. Excellent service, I thought. I was well again within the week.

I think all surgeries are seeking ways to modernise. The days when we could just turn up, or indeed expect a home visit are long gone.

I'm in Scotland (don't know if that is relevant) but if we need to see a doctor i.e. urgently, then we are often asked to come right away or at worst the next day. If it is non urgent e.g. prescription up for review, then it can be for the next week. If however you wish to see your specific doctor it could be three weeks hence.
I am extremely satisfied with the NHS in my area.

No same day GP appointments in my area, unless you're at deaths door and possibly not even then. All appointments, whether for GP, blood tests, healthcare clinics or health practioners, are a 3 to 4 week wait, no exceptions. Even follow up checks, on discharge from hospital, are the same.

Our surgery has a great system. Just turn up in the morning and wait, or, book an appointment either online, by phone, or in person. Booked appointments can be 3 weeks away, but sometimes less. The surgery also dispenses any prescription.

It would be impossible to change practice- there isn’t another!

If I need to see a dr I have to phone surgery and ask for a callback. The Dr will phone within two hours I then have to tell him or her what my problem is and will ge given an appointment if needed ,if not a prescription. The appointment will be with that dr we have no choice over what dr we see. Sometimes I find it difficult to explain myself on the phone,I really think we need eye to eye contact when we're worried about something. I used to be a GP receptionist and I know how many people come to see the GP week after week just like a routine, most were elderly of mental health patients I often wonder what happens to the within this new regime.

Same here Chewbacca. I have an annual blood test for CKD and an impaired glucose tolerance but it had been forgotten about until I rang to remind them. Hopeless !

We just make doctor appointments over the phone, as in the past.