Getting a Doctors appointment is impossible

I see you have got an appointment nannyme but you asked what we would have done.

Well firstly I’d have gone to a pharmacist and asked for advice. Then if that didn’t work I’d have done as you did and ask for a GP appointment and rung back as requested on the Monday. Everybody wants to be seen immediately even though the condition could wait a few days.

I hope your ‘buzzy ears’ are not life threatening, merely an inconvenience and a nuisance.

Speak to your pharmacist first port of call, second if you have a walk in centre try that, do you have the facility to book an appointment online I find that a good way of getting an appointment with who I want to see and no queue waiting on the phone We also have a facility to talk to the doc over the phone after surgery
If you ve had it a few weeks it’s not urgent is it ?

According to a report in the paper today, parents of schoolchildren are "clogging up" surgeries for school sick notes.

You can buy sodium bicarbonate drops from pharmacies for bunged up ears. I have always found these drops more effective at softening ear wax than olive oil.

Id be putting a little oil in so that if it's the wax, then the softening of it has got a head start. Rather than being told next week that nothing can be done because the wax has to be softened.

On Tuesday DH (who has been ill since Christmas) decided he was too ill to go and get some blood taken. I spoke to his specialist nurse who said that if he was that ill I'd better get a doctor to see him. I organised a GP home visit whereupon he made a miraculous recovery! So I cancelled the home visit. Today I rang and spoke to a GP who agreed with me that DH needed some antibiotics. I duly went out to collect them from the chemist and arrived home to find a message from the surgery to say that someone had tried to visit DH! I rang back - with the obligatory 15 minutes in a queue - and explained that the visit request had been cancelled three days ago! Fine, sorted! Well not actually! Half an hour later there was a call from our own GP wanting to know if I wanted to speak to him. I told him I'd spoken to one of the other doctors. Then he said what about the home visit? I told him I'd already cancelled it twice! Talk about overkill!

I went to the surgery in person and asked to see a dr, who rang the hospital and I got an appointment for Monday morning, Thanks for all your very useful suggestions though x

I wonder if the role of the GP needs to be reviewed. If people can't get an appointment for love or money, with alternatives such as Pharmacies, Drop In Centres and A&E, do we actually need GPs? What use are they?

Thanks, kitty.

Urgent Care Centre - like a walkin centre but with extra facilities like xrays which our old walk in centre didn't have.

It's basically a Local Accident and Emergency Dept (though not as comprehensive) that you can just turn up for but also with appointments via 111. it's a brilliant system although I have always been able to see a gp or nurse on the day and have only used them at weekends for UTIs etc. This is Leicestershire but I know Derbyshire so the same and I understood that it is, or will be nationwide.

There are lots of people to try before seeing the gp. The Op could try steam inhalations, or ask the pharmacist. Bunged up ears are a pretty minor thing.

UCC - University College Cork (Medical School) - a long way to go for an urgent appointment unless you live there, of course.

I don't call the surgery getting back to you in 24 hours an emergency appointment. If I am at the surgery at 8.30. I will be seen that morning.

On one occasion, when in a lot of pain, I was at the surgery at 8.00 and when the doors opened at 8.30 I was sent straight through to a doctor and was in hospital (not A&E) by 9.15.

You have my sympathy - but our surgery don't even answer the phone for up to half an hour even though you have already got through and are paying for the call.

Some pharmacists do consultations - could you call in to a local pharmacy and asked for advice; they are well-qualified. They could perhaps advise if you just need a de-congestant, if it is wax or needs further investigation.

We have a system where you can fill out a form online giving all your symptoms and how long you have been suffering etc I have had to use this system twice in the last week once for a bad chest infection after a dose of flu and again this week as I now have cystitis which will not clear up don't know if the two are related! Both times the surgery has come back to me within 24 hours I find this much more efficient than ringing at 8am to try to get an emergency appointment

The only time I've managed to get a virtually immediate appointment was when my leg swelled and felt it was about to burst. I was dead against going but the injuries specialist I attend told me I MUST. I was seen within an hour and then it was all bells and whistles!! All under control now thankfully - it was a large DVT!!

I've just been googling UCC, but unless it's the United Church of Christ I'm no wiser!

Our surgery tried this way of booking appointments about a year ago, and had to drop it after a few months. Sometimes you want to book a non-urgent appointment for a few days hence and it just wasn't possible under this scheme. Though our surgery always had a daily "sit and wait" clinic in the late afternoon as well.

There are so many ways of getting medical advice these days - sometimes too many, imho, and it's hard to know which to choose. This sounds to me like one for the pharmacist, or if it gets worse before Monday you could google local walk in clinics. You can see their online reviews, and there's nothing to stop you going to any of them. When I fell and my hand was giving me gyp, I bypassed the two nearest (with the dreadful and so-so reviews) and went to one near where my DD lives. It lived up to all the hype and I was seen and treated straightaway.

I agree, phone on Monday.Could be gone by then!

Here, you ring up at any time ( after 8.30) until 11, tell reception that you would like to speak to a doctor, and a doctor will call you within two hours to discuss if he needs to see you.I have been seen that day, on occasions, on others he will give advice or even a prescription.

It doesn't sound urgent though. It's a buzzy feeling and has been going on for weeks. What is expected of a GP? A referral to a practice nurse to remove wax build up? A check for an ear infection although things would have come to a head by now? A referral to ENT for an audiology appointment?
Phone on Monday.

Yes, I was wondering what UCC was too.

Ucc, kitty?

I have given up trying to ring my surgery at 8.30 when I need an urgent appointment. I just drive to the surgery arriving at 8.00am and join the queue of other patients in need of urgent appointments.

The reason all appointments are gone by 8.10 is because they have gone to all those so desperate for an appointment they are prepared to stand in the cold and wet for half an hour or more to get one.

The current advice is to try to cure these things yourself first, then talk to a pharmacist and then if you can't get into the gp's ring 111.

When we do that, if it's deemed appropriate, we get an appointment at the Ucc! It's a brilliant system. I have been seen within an hour.

What have you tried already?

Have you tried over the counter remedies such as nose sprays that will help clear mucous from your nose, ears and sinuses or a decongestant from the chemist?

Perhaps ask the pharmacist for advice

Nanny me have you tried asking a pharmacist? They can often help. Or ring NHS direct or there is an app ask NHS.My surgery releases on the day appointments at 8.00 am so I usually check late the night before, sometimes get cancellations,or get online and ready early as the on the day go very quickly.

In these circumstances, I'd be inclined to phone on Monday and say it was worse. Who knows? Ridiculous state of affairs.