General Chat

luckily I dont need to see our doctor often but he is quite good or the receptionist is quite good at making an appointment depending on how urgent it is possibly the same evening or next day. However my elderly mums Dr is useless. Last winter she was so poorly and tried to get an appointment. Hers is the system when you have to phone in the morning and by the time you get through there is nothing left so have to start again the next day. She was so ill for about 5 days in the end she dragged herself into a taxi and managed to get into the waiting room and was told she couldnt see the Dr but had to go home and wait for the Dr to phone her. So she had to get another taxi home and wait until about 3pm when the Dr phoned and asked her her symptoms. She only told him some of them and he just told her to drink plenty of fluids to flush it through. At 79 I think she should have at least been examined.

I am in South Bucks. Normally I get to see my GP on the day I ring up. If my own doctor is fully booked, invariably I can see another of the doctors. Twice my wife has rung up and a doctor has come to me. len

We don't even have to ring - just turn up for morning or evening surgery, take a number, write our name on a list & wait. Old-fashioned, but a lot more efficient. Angela

About a week to ten days if it's non-urgent. But there is an allocation of daily appointments for urgent cases; plus the triage system, which means that if you wish to speak to a doctor, one will phone you back within about 30 mins..........the same with the practice nurse. Reg

The appointments system for my surgery in Hemel is abysmal, you can only phone two days before you want an appointment......it doesn't matter if the Doc asks to see you next week, you still have to wait until two days before, and hope you can get your appointment..... At the beginning of the year I had to become a temporary patient in Cornwall.......totally civilised, the Doctor had time to listen and asked if I had any more that I wanted to ask......I could make a further appointment straight away, and the pharmacy was next to the surgery to have prescriptions filled.......talk about cultural shock!....

If I want to see the female doctor who knows me well and my problems/symptons I usually have to wait two weeks as she only works part time. To see a different doctor, will usually take at least a week, but you can book a fortnight in advance. I think if it was an emergency I would get an appointment that day with one of the doctors.

Here in Stevenage Herts...DONT BE ILL! is the best bet! You ask for an appointment to see your Doctor....you get told you can see another Doctor as yours is fully booked for weeks in advance.......you see this 'other' Doctor....he tells you to make another appointment with you own GP in the next few weeks...(he's scared to give you any treatment as your not HIS patient) ..in the meantime...you have picked up numerours germs from the waiting room. You usually get better before the date of seeing your own Doctor cos you have asked the local chemist if theres anything you can buy over the counter to help you..... All I got from my doctor when my sister DIED while she was staying with me was.....a message on my answer phone saying that he was sorry for my loss!.....He never even bothered coming out to visit us when I called him the night she was dying! What an insult!........I'd have rather had a message from the chemist man!!!...the milkman even! If I pay for private medical insurance....ie BUPA...Will I still have to pay towards the NHS from my wages?