[Sylvia]

I go to the doctors very rarely, I am an ignore it, it'll go away person as a rule but being worried about a swollen eyeball went in to make an appointment with my GP(by the way, the last time I went to do the same I was told that my, then GP, had retired seven years earlier!) to be told that Dr. A. had a THREE WEEK!! waiting list and did I think I might live that long(well, I made that last bit up but was asked could it wait that long) I don't know, said I, my eyeball is swollen, so an appointment was made with a different doctor for the next day.
This got me thinking about the appointment system. Just supposing I had been on the verge of suicide and had summoned my last, tiny bit of courage to go to my doctor. Don't you think that to be told there is a three week waiting list to see him and couldn't it wait and, why did I want to see him, that my small flicker of hope may have gone out and I might have gone home and hung myself?
Could I, do you think, bring this up, somehow and how would I go about it? Maybe an "emergency" letter box, just inside the door, for things that you can't, somehow bring yourself to say face to face?
What do you think?

[SallyintNorth]

I think you could be right.  But it's all in how the practise staff handle the situation.  The practise I go to are excellent - you never ever feel that you couldn't see a doctor right now, but are gently led into saying it'll be okay tomorrow, or next week, whatever, if in your own estimation it isn't so urgent.  And you'd be offered a nurse if no doctor was present and you weren't sure whether it could wait, or a doctor or nurse on the end of the phone if you're phoning in and uncertain.

[Ina]

I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait. My friend had a problem with her ears last year - no balance, impaired hearing, definitely not able to drive to work or even work in the house let alone on the farm - she was offered an appointment in 17 days' time. Only after she protested, she was offered one a bit sooner - still a few days' wait. Turned out to be labyrinthitis, and she was off work for several weeks. Maybe, if she had accepted the first offer, she'd have permanent damage now. And I think that is exactly what happens a lot. Sick people have to wait for so long that proper healing becomes impossible.

Which reminds me of something that's a long time ago now - about 30 years, in fact. A friend of mine from Australia was sent to GB for her "practical" part of the course in medicine she was doing. She said they liked to send students to Britain for that because the waiting times here were so long that they could see complications they wouldn't see in any other "civilised" country. Looks like nothing much has changed.

I'm sure individual staff in the NHS are very good at their jobs and do their very best - but I don't think it's the brilliant system it's always been pictured as. Personally, I'm grateful for every day I don't have to have anything to do with them.

[deepinthewoods]

our surgery allocates the days appointments on the day, you have to be on the phone at 8.30am prompt, spend ages trying to get through, and if your one of the lucky ones you can get an appointment that day. they also do a drop in after 5 for emergencies. otherwise its 3weeks or even longer.

[Bionic]

DITW, the surgery where I was previously adopted the appointments on the day system also but after about 18 months found it wasn't working so went back to the old system where you could ring for an appointment in a few days time if that suited you. As far as I was concerned that worked much better, especially if you have to arrange around work also.
Sally

[NormandyMary]

When we were in the UK, if OH was ill with his chest, he always made me phone the surgery as soon as it opened, and I could usually get him in that morning. That was because he has a replacement knee joint, so any infection he gets has to be treated as soon as possible. If you were really poorly, you could usually get in within 24 hours, albeit with the least popular doctor in the practice. What used to annoy me was, if you saw a doctor and needed a blood test, you had to make a separate appointment with the nurse which could be a week ahead. Too bad if the doctor was waiting for the results before he prescribed anything! Then it was another week for the results of the test, then another few days to get back and see the GP.

[Fleecewife]

Am I just lucky?  Our surgery is great     
 
Mind you I did have to make a BIG complaint 7 years ago so maybe they're scared of me     
 
There have been plenty of upgrades recently to bring them into the 21st century and what is to be a GP-lead Health Service.

[omnipeasant]

I often feel tempted to all the vet when I have a problem 

Like you I seldom see the Dr, but every time I try he is on holiday. Maybe he could prescribe me one of those.

We have to ring at 8.30am on the day for an appointment. Then if we get one we wait 2 hours to be seen by a miserable arrogant GP who seems to think I am wasting his time. Good job we occasionally get a good locum. I am still waiting for results of a scan I had 3 years ago. is that a record? See you've got me on one of my favourite topics Sylvia. 
 But seriously, a swollen eye could be an emergency and the receptionists should know that. You are allowed to go straight to casualty with something of that nature.

[RUSTYME]

Not to worry folks , the nhs is being sold off/got rid of ! The same as the post office , the benefit system  and the welfare state in general .
There will be many who leap up and say good job too , let the lazy unemployed get a job , but , what about pensions , child benefit etc etc .
The deliberately inept nhs is a time limited service , the eu have declared it so , as they did with the po and the welfare system .
Remember , it doesn't affect the millionaire club , or the government as we call them , they all have private healthcare and a very good pension , ooh yes , paid for by the tax payer !

[Womble]

 
Our surgery has the opposite problem. If you phone up and ask for a non-urgent appointment in advance (say for a day in two weeks time that you know you're not working), you're told that they only book appointments one week at a time.
 
Needless to say, when you phone up that week, all slots are already taken. 
 
Mind you, they probably come out really well on the NHS metrics "Yes Mr Auditor, nobody ever waits more than a week to get an appointment with us" 

[Lesley Silvester]

At our surgery you can get an appointment with the main doctor the same day if he is in (he only works four days) but he is awful.  Doesn't listen, asks the same question several times and doesn't seem to know what to do when he finally grasps what you're there for.  The are three doctors who do a day or half day each and they are always booked up at least two weeks in advance.
 
This week I had the hospital appointment that I've been waiting for for nearly three months.  I need to be referred to another department (another wait) but the doctor I saw wanted blood tests so the results would be ready for when I'm seen in 2-3 weeks.  My appointment was not at the actual hospital but in a building some miles away that the NHS use as the hospital isn't big enough so I asked if I could have my blood test at the GP's surgery which was fine.  I rang the surgery to be told that it would be the week after next as they were in the middle of flu jabs.  Obviously no one who needs to see the nurse is being seen while the flu jabs are being done.  I had visions of the hospital not getting the results in time for my new appointment but just said casually that maybe I ought to have my flu jab at the same time.  Oh in that case we'll fit you in next Wednesday. 
 
My theory is that there is an NHS directive stating that waiting lists should be as long as possible in the hopes that people will have either got better or died in the meantime, putting less pressure on NHS.   

[henchard]

I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait.

Yep it's terrible that you are not seen immediately in a system that's free at the point of delivery (and thus unconstrained demand). Doctor's should work every hour god sends so that they can deal instantly with everyone's problems.

Oh yes, I forgot, that's why my wife a GP said 'stuff it' and gave up being a GP to live on a smallholding in Wales because she was working ridiculous hours.

Time some of you folk spent some time in the third world to see how good the NHS really is.

[anderso]

agree big time with you henchard, the NHS today is not designed for the 21st C, when it came in to being it could not cope with the amount of work then let alone now with all the new treatments, or number of people trying to use the service.
 
The vision was good but that is all it was a vision (it was not planned how to pay for it and its development).
 

[Ina]

I think it's disgraceful, the time folk who are seriously sick are expected to wait.

Yep it's terrible that you are not seen immediately in a system that's free at the point of delivery (and thus unconstrained demand). Doctor's should work every hour god sends so that they can deal instantly with everyone's problems.

It's not free - we are all paying for it through taxes. In other countries the system of payment might be different (and I'm talking about comparable countries here, not developing ones), but the system of delivery seems to be more efficient. And I do know that doctors and nurses and everybody else who works for the NHS work very hard - that's never been my problem with it, and I'm very grateful for them doing it. But something must be wrong with the system if it so obviously doesn't deliver what it was designed for!

[lachlanandmarcus]

I have to say I must be really lucky as altho my chosen doc works part time so i cant always get him, I can always seen 'a' doctor at our surgery the same or next day.
And they have always been kind caring and competent, to date!
However this is in Scotland, and I wasnt so impressed at the service in the Home counties at our old place.