GP telephone appointments

yes, unfortunately they can remove you from their list for any or no reason, probably termed by them, breakdown in the doctor patient relationship, or some such.
so it can be tricky to raise any complaint, and probably ineffective too.

Tell me about it! Over the last couple of years,I've had to book around 8 telephone consultations with my GP,and on half of those occasions they've not called,and no receptionist has bothered calling to tell me that they won't be calling,so I've had to chase them up. Then they make me sound like I'm making a fuss about nothing!

When the doctor DID keep the appointment,I came off the phone really annoyed. Not only did he question my need for painkillers for my fibromyalgia,saying that 'fibromyalgia shouldn't necessitate painkillers',he also said that I'd not had my blood pressure taken since 2016,and that I'd not had a blood test since 2017. Both untrue. If he had looked at my notes properly,he would have seen that I'd had my BP taken on around 10 occasions since 2016,the last time being only 3 weeks previously! And I have had at least 6 blood tests done for various things since 2017,again the most recent being only 2 weeks previously.

When I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor face to face last week,I told the receptionist that I did not want to see the doctor who I had my last telephone consultation with. When she asked why,I said that I did not like the fact that he obviously had not bothered to look at my notes before or during the consultation! There as a few seconds silence,then she said 'Right. I'll say something to the Practice Manager'. I'm half expecting to get a phone call or a letter any day now,striking me off their practice list for 'gross misconduct',i.e. for daring to complain about one of the doctors.

But even if you build the physical doctors surgery, there will be no one to staff it. The problems go a lot deeper than just bricks and mortar.

Yes, by 'infrastructure' I didn't mean buildings, but staff and facilities. I think that the existing surgeries should stop taking more patients until more doctors are available (either trained here or abroad), which would put pressure on the government to do something about the lack of GPs.

The trouble is that in richer areas, people would go private, and there would be places, particularly student areas, where people would struggle to get a GP - it's not at all straightforward.

Yes, vegansrock, I look forward to seeing where all the extra money is going to be spent. Maybe a bus could drive around areas that have benefited and let everyone know?

Good old Boris!

Don’t worry the NHS will soon be getting £350m a week extra.

Not GPs but DDs friend has just done a 48 hour shift as the only doctor on duty on an acute medical ward at a large and well known hospital. The shortages go right across the NHS.

But even if you build the physical doctors surgery, there will be no one to staff it. The problems go a lot deeper than just bricks and mortar.

The whole allocation of medical school places and funding of training needs to be reconsidered. There will be lots of working class students who would aspire to do medicine but who aren't guided/supported/accepted onto the right pre-med courses and who then can't read medicine. Also some who would like to and have the results, but can't afford the training.

None of which will be addressed by our current government because they subscribe to a laissez faire system. Easy for them, they don't USE the NHS.

One of the problems here is that there has been so much building lately that the town has expanded massively, and the infrastructure hasn't kept up.

The schools here are excellent, and people buy houses (more expensive than in the surrounding towns) here so that they can get their children into them, but then find that there are no places, which causes no end of consternation in the local media.

There are three surgeries in the town, and all are still taking patients, although they struggle to deal with the ones they have.

I can't help thinking that if the doctors followed the lead of the schools and simply stopped taking new patients, the housebuilders wouldn't be able to sell the houses, and would kick up such a stink that things would have to improve. I understand that people have to live somewhere, but it seems madness to keep bringing people into an area that simply can't cope. The infrastructure should have to be in place before planning permission is granted, and pressure needs to be put onto councils, and ultimately government, to ensure that this happens.

Last time I saw my GP (head of practise) I mentioned the difficulty of getting an appointment and the wait involved. He said "If you can get me 5 more GPs, I will employ them. There is a chronic shortage. Not enough trainees. Those that do train won't accept the appalling conditions in the NHS."

This, from a practice in a fairly posh area, that 5 years ago was beyond outstanding.

Cuts and austerity and selling off of the NHS. We have to count ourselves lucky if we get to see anyone, let alone a doctor.

Incidentally, ‘ greetin’ is crying!

I have no complaints about my GP practice. As well as the scheduled appointments, you can phone in the morning to see if there are cancellations, and, if not, then two doctors take ad hoc appointments, where you just have to sit and wait.
I was most impressed by the care they gave the Bodach in his last days, and also very touched when the doctor who had been attending him phoned to offer condolences and ask how I was ( cue more unexpected greetin’)

You are right to complain to practice manager and I have done the same thing myself in the past. My G.P,s used to be brilliant but now you can hardly get an appointment and since they have brought in the Sunday working appointments I have had three appointments at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning and not even an appointment in the week.
I know this is about the G.P. but since the beginning of January I have had three hospital appointments made and then they have been cancelled and now the appointment is not until end of April which I find completely unacceptable, I told that to the booking receptionist and she just said |I know but we have not got the staff. Makes you want to laugh the N.H.S is getting beyond a joke.

Yes. I think you've done the right thing anyway. Was a bit much when it was their idea anyway.

Hope you're ok btw.

Baggs why didn't you wait till just before closing time for the practice and ring

That never occurred to me lucywinter. I've never been as it were 'stood up' over a medical appointment before. I guess I was nonplussed. Also, I only made the appointment because I was told the GP wanted to talk to me. Left to myself I wouldn't have made an appointment because GP had already explained that adjustments to the med's dose might be needed. I've given them three lots of blood and urine samples for them to check effects of the medication. If they had the results of Tuesday's samples and there was a problem, presumably the GP wouldn't have re-prescribed the medication which, apparently, she has.

I'll go to the pharmacy on Monday and ask if it has arrived. I'm presuming dosage instructions will be on the box.

So now I'm just: Shrug! ?‍♀️ I don't feel there's anything to worry about except unfulfilled appointments and no explanation, which is why I've written to the practice manager. As I've said above, I expect it was a blip in communications at the practice. The GP might not even have known about the appointment.

My surgery expects you to explain all your symptoms to the receptionist who then decides if you need an appointment. You can’t make an appointment by visiting the surgery, you have to phone. My husband sat in their car park the other day and rang them to make an appointment.
When I complained to the GP about their system he said that all the receptionists where trained to identify emergency’s. How can an unqualified person know what your medical problem is? A few weeks ago a receptionist said to me “ you only have a Urinary Tract Infection, it is not an emergency, what do you want me to do about it”. I managed to get some antibiotics by leaving them a urine sample with a covering letter. The whole system is unbelievable.

I booked a Gp telephone appointment earlier this week to get an update on my elderly fathers test results and future treatment. The receptionist said that this would be an afternoon call for yesterday, Friday. I actually got the call around 9.30am in the morning, which rather surprised me as this is normally a very busy time for face to face GP appointments at the surgery.
Another thing that l have noticed lately, is the amount of appointments covered by other medical staff than the GPs themselves. This is a very large fairly rural practice, full medical centre plus various clinics and even a minor surgery unit. Several times when l have visited lately l have been booked in to see the Nurse Practitioner, of which they now have three staff trained to this level. My Daughter visited earlier in the week and was seen by a medic who just styles himself as Mr. J.Smith (changed to protect identity) who’s qualification is a Paramedic. They then have a couple of Associate Doctors, young newly qualified Doctors undertaking their GP training, who have to have their work checked and assessed by one of the other GPs either during the appointment if they call them in for advice, or via a supervision session later in the day. All these posts where originally covered by full time GPs and the odd Locum GP should someone be off sick, on holiday, away on maternity leave, or undertaking further training and updates away from the practice. All these people are dedicated to their jobs, but long gone are the days where if you booked a Doctors appointment it was actually a fully qualified experienced GP who you got seen by on the day.

Baggs why didn't you wait till just before closing time for the practice and ring them and ask what had happened to your promised telephone call? If they had fobbed you off you could have expressed your dissatisfaction about it.

Good luck with the outcome of your letter of complaint.

We now have the ridiculous “Ask my GP” system at our practise .

First you have to log in to the system (assuming it’s live that is - it is often offline)
Then you have to explain your problem in a few words ( restricted character count )
Then moving along a few pages you get to type a bit more.
Then you have to keep checking your emails all day to watch for a reply ( could be up to 24 hours or even 48 hours at busy times)
Then ( if you are lucky ) you will be offered a telephone appointment but no time slot .
If you are fortunate enough to catch the call you will be either fobbed off or offered a face to face appointment .

Brilliant eh?

So far, if a GP has given me a time when he will ring, he has done so. One time, he was a bit early ringing and reached me while I was still sitting in a restaurant with Gnet friends. I had a friendly conversation and mentioned that there was another issue I'd like to speak to him about and he gave me an appointment that very afternoon. No complaints there!

I've written a letter to the practice manager explaining what happened and what didn't happen. It has not affected me as far as health care is concerned but I wouldn't like this scenario to affect someone else who might have serious worries. I suspect there was a communications blip within the practice. There was certainly one between the practice and me about which I've said that I was "a bit miffed".

MrBaggs has taken the letter to post on his way to his art class this morning.

As mentioned above I work at a GP practice, but am also a patient. I recently received a message informing me that if I did not make an appointment then they could not continue to prescribe my BP meds. I tried patient access - no appointments. Tried to ring - always engaged. As an NHS employee I have endless sympathy with patients as I am one myself! PS I cannot ring for an appointment as I am at work!

We are given a time when the GP will call. If they haven’t rung within an hour I ring them.

I think you're right, doodle. I will bring the matter up at some point. Right now I'm going to sleep on it.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone.

I too worked in a massive practice and realise there are several reasons why a GP might not call but I do think it is worth a call to the practice to find out what went wrong. In your case Baggs it wasn’t necessarily serious but someone else could be waiting for an phone call regarding something urgent. I know it is likely they would phone again if that is the case but I still think it’s worth finding out what went wrong with the system

Your sentence: "You aren't guaranteed a call, either," doodledog, struck me as pertinent. If that's the system my GP is adopting then I don't think I'll make telephone appointments at all.

The thing with the current episode is odd. My GP has already increased the dosage of the medication in question. She explained to me in a face to face appointment a few weeks ago that adjustments might be necessary (although some confusion (mine!) was caused by her not specifying clearly that I was to take the new meds as well as the old ones). The dose has already been increased once and one of the clerical staff just rang and told me that there would be a new prescription to collect (my prescrips go straight to the pharmacy near my place of work). Since then I've had more tests done and the staff person rang to tell me again that a new prescrip had been made. I just thought fine, I'll collect it next week, so was a bit nonplussed by the request for me to make an appointment.

I think it's a communication problem more than anything. Hey ho again.