General Chat

Does anybody know what the NHS Service Level Agreement says about this? It has taken me three phone calls (including 20 minutes on speed redial) to make an appointment to see my doctor and I have to wait a week from when I made the appointment and ten days from when I first phoned the surgery. What I have is not life threatening, but it is making me very uncomfortable and I think a ten day wait is unacceptable. I have raised this with the surgery and they just say they don't have any appointments available. Anybody work in the NHS and know about this stuff? Sheila

Ours is not as bad as that but you can only ring on the day you want an appointment and even with speed dial by the time you get through they have all gone for that day. You can't make one for the day after so you have to start all over again the next day. And, you can't make one for the afternoon in the morning so you have to try again later and they had usually gone too. Not good.

We have to wait on average 6 weeks. (not uk based). So of course all people end up going to the hospital

At ours, you can make an appointment at 8am for the same day (if they have any available), otherwise you have to wait at least a week (usually 10 days) for an appointment. The same day ones are supposed to be for emergencies, but when you try to make one, the receptionist advises to call in the morning you want it lol

My doctors must be in the minority, you can ring on the day and get an appointment or you can make one up the 3 days in advance. Mind you it is not always with the doctor of your choice but i have not had any problems. Val

at our surgery we cant make advanced appointments. the day we phone is the day we see the dr.so we are lucky. i phoned for my dad yesterday at 8am and his appointment was for 9.15am.so he only had to wait for an hour. it might not be for our own doctoer but at least we are seen the same day lol susie

We must be very lucky. If you ring at any time they will try to fit you in that day if it is urgent, within 3 days if not.Sat. mornings there is a drop in surgery for people who need to see a Dr. Also evening surgery goes on later, so that people can get there after work. It is a small rural Surgery with 2 Dr's & a locum.

I'm very lucky---There is an open surgery in the morning 9.00 untill 10.00 or as long as you phone before 9.30 you can have an afternoon oppointment 16.00 to 18.00. Not all surgeries where I live are the same though.Some you have to wait for a few days. C x

I'm another lucky one. My surgery usually answers on the first ring anytime of the day. You can usually get in the same day (even if you ring at lunchtime) or if not then the next day. You can also book appointments in advance - weeks ahead for follow ups if necessary. The only difference is for the nurse as she is only there on certain days. Maz. XX

We can't make advanced appointments. This rules out the no shows they say. We phone around 8am and so far have managed to get an appointment without any problems. We can see any doctor in the practice. Ann Glos

At least 10 days last time I made an appointment. The previous time was the same day as the girls I was working with thought I had shingles - got the appointment within two hours - yes the girls had been right. Maureen

This is a very sore point with me at the moment, I am sick of not being able to see the same doctor each time I go. I don't mind if it is a new problem but when you have to tell a different doctor all the symptoms every time, well I think it is a mess. That is putting it politely, I could really loose my cool. Janet

I'm lucky that I'm registered with the uni doctor on site and can easily get a same day appointment usually. Old GP was normally was 3 or 4 days except emergencies which was same day but you had to sit and wait for a gap so you could be there at 4pm for surgery and still be waiting at 6:30pm to see the Dr. The GP by my old school was 7 - 10 days between call and appointment and that was normal for them, I've been to one GP who only starts booking appointments 2 days ahead so you never wait more than 2 days to see the Dr - best system in my mind as you can gaurentee you'll see the GP qickley

I ususally have to wait a week/week and a half. You can get an appointment that day if it's an emergency though.

In the surgery where I work you can get an appt within 48 hours for any Doctor or that day if it`s a real emergency . The nurses you can book up to 3 weeks in advance.Ros

In the surgery that I work in you can book doctors up to two weeks in advance and the rest are bookable on the day from 8.30 a.m. A lot of people call in rather than try to get through on the phone. The doctors always see extras and do home visits of course. Nurses/midwives can be booked weeks in advance. I have booked appointments in January these last two days. At the surgery I attend my doctor is pre-bookable one week in advance and the rest are bookable on the morning from 8 am but they see extras at the end of surgery. There are also telephone consultations at both surgeries. I have always been lucky in getting my doctor straight away. Lx

My GP's system is very good and efficient. You ring in, receptionist takes basic details and a nurse has to ring back within 20 minutes. The nurse then decides if you need to see a nurse or GP and allocates a priority. I rang in at 1030 this morning and was in to see a nurse at 1410hours. I'm diabetic and had injured a toe so got priority as foot damage can be lethal. Think if need to see Doc would get appointment within a couple of days as a matter of routine. Other GPs around here ain't so hot. Ron

Ron, sounds like your surgery is well organized. Ours recently had a registrar doing triage which was a big help. Lorraine

my doctors surgery are usually really good. we have always been able to book ahead for an appointment. if i ring in the morning the receptionist will try and book an appt for that day, but also if myself or my husband need to speak to the doctor on the phone he will always take the call. we dont often have to go to the doctors so i dont know if that makes a difference.

OUr group practise usually only accepts call for appointments on the day, (fat chance) but the doctor I see will let us book in advance, so usually I can see him within a week, two at the most. I don't know what can be done about it, as most practises don't have enough doctors to go round, and its often not possible to make appoinments quickly, simply because they are all taken up.