GP appointment system doesn't work

angry daughter, you can start making a noise, and you have today and tomorrow to do it!

If you ring NHS direct they will give you medical advice about your mum and they may be able to tell you if you have the right to demand an appointment for the next day at the surgery.

If they can't help much and say you can't demand an appoinment (or don't know) you can try ringing the out of hours service. (It should be on your sugery's answering machine message while they are shut.) Tell them about your mother, and if you lay it on a bit thick and say you are really worried they will send out paramedics. Tell them as well that you've been trying to book an appoinment for two weeks!

Hope you get a good result!

My Mother's doctor runs a worse system. You can only book an appointment for that day. So as soon as the line opens they are engaged and by the time you get through the appointments are gone. My mother has now been trying to get an appointment for two weeks for a minor problem. She has been in pain for over three weeks. Stupid system.

It's three weeks before you see your own doctor, he sends you for a blood text,takes two or more weeks to get the appointment, the app is for two weeks time,,,,it's them another three weeks to see your doctor again, but know he'll send you for xray,,, and it's all over again,,, It's 8 months now since I been under the so call services from my surgery, and I'm none the wiser as to what is wrong with me!!

I've been seeing the doctor for the same issue for the last 8 years allmost, i'm allmost 30 and the issue is still present.. At 1st I was getting seen but everything was just so drawn out, scans which were months away, refered to this, refered to that, then after about 2 years the doctor looked me stright in the eys and told me not to persue this any longer!! so what am I supposed to do then??? just live like it for the rest of my life?? After he said that I was gutted, I went away and I just sat at home for basicaly 2 years with no prescriptions or benefits, I never even asked for any, I started trying to treat myself, I tried allsorts of things but nothing really helped.. So after 4 odd years a letter about a yearly checkup arrives and I go and I bombard the doc and I leave with a prescription and a sick note, this sick note and the prescription became long term and each time I see the doctor which is isn't often it's usualy becuase of another issue like a urine infection or something.. I don't dare ask about my actual issue after what he said to me.. My life is going to waste, for allmost 8 years now i've just wanted anwsers, to have a diagnosis and proper treatment but the doctor seems to think just handing me another 6 months worth of prescriptions at a time will keep me away.. I want to have a life and i'm gutted that so much time has passed now and i've just sat around while life slips by becuase that's all i'm capable of doing. If anybody has any advice they can give me they can get in touch througth warrick@vfemail.net.

My partner has just had an ultrasound scan, she has been given high blood pressure tablets a while back, and takes drugs for arthritis, this is all needs following up, bu shes had no regular blood tests, shes just been left, today I made an appointment for her to see a doctor at our local surgery, the earliest they can give me is July 1, thats 3 weeks 2 days to wait, surely this canot be right, so what does she do, stop the tablets or not as shes suffered bad pains in her right side for years, but no ones listening??

Message in response to Paul June 2009: yes by all means "retrain." The country needs more doctors. It will take you 10 years to become a GP, funding your training during 5 years of medical medical school and the frequent and expensive post graduate exams. Then perhaps once you have worked in the job and experienced what it is like and start taking the daily responsibility for patient care you will be in a better position to comment on the nature of the job and the value of GP's work.

We solved this problem by counting our daily demand for appointments (we never refuse to see anyone on the same day if they need seeing) and providing 10% more appointments than the predicted need. This way we have a redundancy built in and have no need to put aside appointments for "advance booking" or "same day emergency". We allow the system to reach its own balance point as it now has the flex to do so. Some of my colleagues feared demand would rise. It has not after 18 months.

I was told by an hospital doctor that the guidelines state I must have an appointment to see the doctor of my choice at my local surgery within three days. As a pensioner, mornings are not kind to me and with a repeat prescription it is a year since my last visit. However I was told this morning that the doctor I wished to see was fully booked today but I could make an appointment for one in a week or phone the surgery tomorrow at 8.30am and I might get an appointment. Where can I read the guidelines re- Surgery Appointment does anyone know?

I think sometimes receptionist staff are told which patients are considered priority and others less urgent in keeping with their medical history and set their appointments accordingly.

There are two types of appointments. Routine ie standard Contraceptive Pill checks and Blood pressure reviews, discussion about your diabetes. These type of appointments should (and are) bookable in advance this means sometimes you book them 2-3 weeks away.
Emergency problems are on the day and GP practices try their best to see as many as they can.
BUT people also need to be aware of the amount of ABUSE of appointments and waste that happens.
People turn up with not just self limiting minor ailments but they know they are self limiting and we cannot treat them (note cannot not will not). Despite onthe day booking many people still dont turn up.
Many people complain when we over run but then produce a list of 5 items they want to cover in 10 minutes.
I work 55 - 60 hours per week. I earn a reasonable salary it works out at about £40 per hour pre tax. My job does involvve seeing patient in clinic BUT also involves lots of things that dont involve sitting in clinic these are done on my "afternoon off". JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT IN CLINIC DOESNT MEAN I AM PLAYING GOLF.

No I dont work over night anymore the reason ITS NOT SAFE to do that and then have to do a whole days work, seeing patients.

I often dont see my Six year old for several days as he is asleep when I come home.

Am I moaning NO, but I am sick of the constant narrow minded, ill informed rubbish many people spew out as a result of constant attack from the media and government.

We see thousands of patients per year and are funded per patient on average £60 per year for this per patient. You try insuring a dog for less than that.

Just phoned my docs to get an appointment.

Same old story as everyone else "You need to phone in the morning to get an appointment", so you quote the Government guidelines/targets about being able to see a GP within 48hrs and just get silence down the phone from the other end.

So I now have an appointment for 10am on Tuesday, I phoned at 3:30pm on Wednesday. Will be complaining to them next week in person.

I am nurse practitioner in a 2 GP practice, myself and the GP's work a 52.5 hour week from 8am - 6.30pm. We have an appointment system where 1/2 our appointments are reserved for people calling in on that day with acute problems, and the other 1/2 are pre-bookable for those that work and need notice to have the time to attend. On reception we have an experianced practice nurse who advises receptionists and takes calls giving medical advice. Yes... all of our appointments are always full at the end of the day, so of course it can still be difficult to get in if demand is high at a particular time. My point is after all that, is that my place of work seems to differ from most of the posted complaints on this site, BUT... we receive regular complaints regarding our appointment system aswell. Im afraid it seems to me, you just can't please everybody???