2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[patsylabrador]

Quite recently there was some controversy involving one of our doctors, which sadly we never found out about, but our practice was shut down and we were all transferred to the nearest surgery. It's big, s"Ooops, word censored!"y, all singing,all dancing but we can't get appointments.

If you phone in the morning a recorded message says it's busy in the mornings, tells you to phone in the afternoon and cuts you off. If you get through in the afternoon the receptionist says it would have been better to phone in the morning but if it's an emergency you can come in but there will probably be a two hour waiting time. I have never yet been offered an appointment less than a week in advance, and as I only contact the doctors as a last resort when I feel really bad, that's no good at all.

We live in an area of high immigration and the surgery has a policy of allowing people who are not registered to come in and wait for the emergency slot places which makes the whole place a nightmare, especially for families of coughing, spluttering children who are there for hours on end. That's a kind policy but it isn't practical in an already overflowing surgery. The receptionists are good though, they are always smiley even though they must be under a lot of pressure.

We've pretty much given up and diagnose and treat ourselves using the internet and chemists.

[Cinnamon]

My surgery has recently started an online booking system,which is really good.

It is a small surgery covering a fairly large area,& I have found the online booking really easy & convenient....if your surgery is all singing all dancing,surely they should have an online system?

[patsylabrador]

Yep, they do. But it doesn't help getting an appointment when you need one or deal with a surgery that has far too many patients. They've also got an automated telephone system which is great & I try to use but it's only any good if you want an appointment in two weeks time.

We're hoping they re-open our old surgery which was a more traditionally run one.

[Tiggy]

My surgery has recently started an online booking system,which is really good.

It is a small surgery covering a fairly large area,& I have found the online booking really easy & convenient....if your surgery is all singing all dancing,surely they should have an online system?

 

I was just about to say that ask at reception for a password

[Griffin]

I'm really lucky with my doctors surgery. If I call them when they open at 8am I can always get an appointment that same day, usually in the morning. When one of the girls comes home from school in the afternoon ill, if they need to see a doctor they've always been able to within an hour or so. My only gripe is that the only people allowed to use the in-house pharmacy are those who live in neighbouring villages. If you live here in Faringdon you have to use the chemists in town which means paying 40p to park the car. A pointless journey, which if you've got poorly children is not one you want to put them through.

[snowberry]

Have you asked for a meeting with the practice manager to voice your concerns?

 

It must have been pretty serious for a practice to be closed down, I wonder what went on!

[Lydia]

I know exactly what you mean. Our practice has 11 doctors and covers a huge area. It also offers lots of add-ons such as day surgery for vasectomies and other minor operations, various clinics for this, that and the others etc. All well and good but the one thing it doesn't do terribly well is get patients to see doctors quickly (without the sit and wait for the duty doctor at the end of Friday).

 

Also, getting to see the same doctor twice with an ongoing problem is nigh on impossible (it's a bit like phoning a large call centre) so there is little continuity of care.

 

If you want an appointment the same day you have to phone up first thing. Fine, except that most of the appointments for that day have already been allocated by the time you get through. If there are none left it's tough and you have to phone the next day and try again. It's as if you have to predict about a week in advance when you're going to be ill and plan accordingly.

 

If you need something minor like a blood test it's not unusual to have to wait another week before you get an appointment with a nurse.

 

When you finally get to see a doctor or a nurse, generally they are very good and I'm not dissing them. However, there must be a better system than that.

 

Oh and my surgery doesn't have an online system but I can't see that this would speed up the current system.

[The Dogmother]

That sounds a total pain, especially if you have small children.

 

Our medium sized town centre surgery moved (a couple of years ago) into a big new health centre with another surgery and a pharmacy. I hardly ever go there (perhaps twice since it moved) but haven't had trouble getting appointments and was able to get straight into see a nurse for a blood test after seeing the doc. I don't think they have an online booking system.

[Alis girls]

I see both sides - the amount of no shows is amazing - I counted up a family of 6 had had 26 no shows - ie 26 appts gone to waste - and the mum lives a few mins from surgery. i was so mad I asked GP to write her a letter cos if I do I wont mince my words. Time wasters are the reason many pts like yourselves cant get appointments on the day. We arent on line booking at our surgery so poor receptionists get it all. There are times when they see red and are bolshy with patients but more than not take a lot of flak. We have a rule - more than 10mins late - make new appt - teaches a lot of people who thinks its ok to keep us waiting that its not. I work in a multicultural area and many people expect the NHS to sort out long standing probs which they could have had sorted in their own country - why cos its free. I could go on for ever - but you'd get bored of me ranting on

[Tiggy]

I see both sides - the amount of no shows is amazing - I counted up a family of 6 had had 26 no shows - ie 26 appts gone to waste - and the mum lives a few mins from surgery. i was so mad I asked GP to write her a letter cos if I do I wont mince my words. Time wasters are the reason many pts like yourselves cant get appointments on the day. We arent on line booking at our surgery so poor receptionists get it all. There are times when they see red and are bolshy with patients but more than not take a lot of flak. We have a rule - more than 10mins late - make new appt - teaches a lot of people who thinks its ok to keep us waiting that its not. I work in a multicultural area and many people expect the NHS to sort out long standing probs which they could have had sorted in their own country - why cos its free. I could go on for ever - but you'd get bored of me ranting on

 

dont get me started but having been on the otherside of the desk recently I do understand how frustrating it can be to get an appointment. We once added up the time wasted by no shows at our surgery and equated to a whole week of one Drs time

[snowberry]

Our surgery has a big chart next to the desk of all the no-shows from the previous week/month. It's a good reminder

[CatieB]

This is my view from the other side.

 

My Doctor wanted to see me for a review, I am a professional so I booked well in advance the first appointment of the morning so I would take minimal time off work. My Dr kept me waiting....and waiting....after 20 minutes I complained. Unfortanately for him the receptionist let slip when I complained that he was not on an emergency and not with anyone. When he did call me, after further waiting, he didn't offer any explanation let alone an apology!

 

As I pointed out to him if I am running late I always let clients know and explain. Its called politeness.

 

Anyway it must have hit a nerve as he rang me to apologise later and said he was doing paperwork. Didn't change things I still waited the next time!

 

About time Drs wake up to the real world and realised how much they get paid and should offer a service accordingly. I deal with the same type of people you refer to (people missing appointments turning up late and generally being the great unwashed of the world) but do so in a professional manner and I earn a fraction of a GP.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

I'm having a very frustrating time getting DS2 back into the clinic to see his consultant, having been seen at the start of July.

He needed some tests, the first one had to be repeated and the ultrasound scan was done 3 weeks ago. I heard nothing from the clinic and called today - they have made his appointment - in November . Meanwhile he is in daily discomfort and sometimes pain which is not well controlled by the meds he was given initially. I've been told to go back to my GP about this but she referred him in the first place because she was sure it needed further investigation & couldn't do much for him without the referral!

 

What is really frustrating is that I suspect his diagnosis will require only a short course of antibiotics to cure it completely, but he has to wait another six weeks before he can have treatment.

[chuckmum6]

I think my local surgery has it right, there are appointments in the evening and Saturday morning and open surgery from 8.30 - 11 each week day, often with a wait around 30 mins. This means that you can always been seen, the best of both worlds.