Online appointments.

Ohh dear that’s awful grandmatte I don’t understand why all the surgeries in UK aren’t using the same method it really is efficient works so well it’s been like it 2/3 years now Luckily I don’t use the gp too much but I ve been very grateful for the speed when I have had to

My surgery doesn’t. Either the 8am fight, when you are unceremoniously cut off if the call hasn’t been answered after x minutes, or call later, when all appointments for what feels like the next year have been filled.
I am profoundly grateful for my good health, but at my age it isn’t a guarantee.

CocopopsWe can do exactly that at my surgery in UK
I can go online at 8 am when the internet option opens, write what’s wrong with me even send a photo if it’s a pictureable thing ie in my case last time I needed a doc I had a poisoned toe, then get a call back if needed , and a prescription sent over to your chosen pharmacy…. by 11 am I had picked the meds up and started taking them

No we don’t get fined for not turning up to an appointment and I have always thought we should, I wish we did it’s a good idea and would make the NHS some much needed money

The problem is from reading on here not every GP surgery seem to use this method I thought it was countrywide but seems like some haven’t caught up yet or maybe the patients haven’t

I think I am very fortunate here in BC Canada. I went online at 10am today and booked an 11am slot and hurtled forth for a face to face consultation with my GP. Seen on time , prescription supplied and filled. There's a box on the online form to be filled in with "reason for visit" and one can choose telecom consult and time or appointment day and time. $ 95 penalty for no- shows. Do you have that in UK now?

cornergran

E- consult on line or completed by a receptionist over the phone for routine appointments. If it’s urgent we can phone at any time the surgery is open for an on the day appointment.

Whereabouts are you?
I wish we had that kind of service, am afraid our GP surgery is pretty dire, and other ones near us seem just as bad.
We will be moving soon to a town with a better GP service, that’s not the only reason, but as a wife and full time carer of a husband with complex and life threatening conditions caused initially by a stroke, it is a very good reason indeed.

Deedaa

My daughter (Biochemist, with a PhD and years of experience with computers) had to fill in an online form for her son last week. It looks as if he is suffering from reactive arthritis after a mild attack of Covid and, at this point, he had missed 3 weeks of college because he couldn't walk and was feeling quite ill. The problem was that none of the questions on the form seemed to bear any relation to what was wrong with him. In the end she rang the surgery and a receptionist went through it with her. It was now even more complicated because her son is now 19 and had to answer the questions himself. He is autistic and speaking on the phone isn't one of his strengths, so she had to sit with him to help with the answers. The receptionist had all the same problems with the questions and said he obviously needed a face to face, but the form had to be completed first. He did eventually get antibiotics and Naproxen, but it all took much longer than just going in and seeing a doctor.

How would he have made an appointment otherwise? If you phone to make an appointment you still have to explain your symptoms so that would be a problem for him.
If he physically goes into the surgery reception staff would assist him with the form.
The online form is generic, it has to be. You can just put not applicable if you're unsure.

Mine has been doing it this way for a good while now a few years and it works very efficiently and quickly

I can’t fault it much better than queuing to ring

My daughter (Biochemist, with a PhD and years of experience with computers) had to fill in an online form for her son last week. It looks as if he is suffering from reactive arthritis after a mild attack of Covid and, at this point, he had missed 3 weeks of college because he couldn't walk and was feeling quite ill. The problem was that none of the questions on the form seemed to bear any relation to what was wrong with him. In the end she rang the surgery and a receptionist went through it with her. It was now even more complicated because her son is now 19 and had to answer the questions himself. He is autistic and speaking on the phone isn't one of his strengths, so she had to sit with him to help with the answers. The receptionist had all the same problems with the questions and said he obviously needed a face to face, but the form had to be completed first. He did eventually get antibiotics and Naproxen, but it all took much longer than just going in and seeing a doctor.

Same here cornergran we’ve had e-consult for a few years.

It's not booking an appointment online, it's filling in the online form to say what you need. Ours works really well - usually get a text back promptly with details of phone call or surgery appointment.

E- consult on line or completed by a receptionist over the phone for routine appointments. If it’s urgent we can phone at any time the surgery is open for an on the day appointment.

Two of my daughters fill in a form online and get a response the next day. It works quite well.

We have Klinik now and its very good. They ring us back and give us a plan,if necessary a same day appt.

Like Babs03 it doesn't work at our surgery either. They tried it but something went wrong so we still have the 8am scramble on the telephone.

Much simpler than hanging on the phone for an age. I’m very happy with them.

We had DrIQ but now have Evergreen, neither has been very good.

No we can’t book appointments with our app, we still have to ring at 8 am to take our chances. The app allows us to order prescriptions and make an admin request or view our records but has never had the added chance to book an appointment and it is always suffering technical issues for days at a time so not great.

At our Surgery you have to fill in a form online on their website. You either have a phone call later that day to determine whether you need a face to face. Or as happened to me last week, I was given a face to face appointment for the following week via a text message.

The form is called Anima, which I believe quite a few Surgeries use now.

Yep it works here

nice

Yes, you can here.

Yes. All GP surgeries should have had system in place by October 1st.

It's very efficient in my surgery - never waited more than a day for an appointment and it frees the phone lines up.