Doctor appointment waiting time

[williamalex1]

I asked my GP [ a locum ] to refer me for a private MRI scan on my lower back, £349.
Now I'm now told i can't get the results direct from the private hospital .
But only from the GP that actually referred me, unfortunately she only works 3.5 days a week
.

First available appointment [ of any kind, even a phone appointment ] is July 22, so i need to wait over 3 weeks for a specific doctor to tell me what might be wrong.
They said if it was REALLY serious i could've/would've got an appointment sooner.
I could rant on about the appointment system but i think it's the same everywhere , unless you pay privately of course , Oi wait a minute.

 

[Hobbit]

July 22nd for a phone appointment?!? You could be a rotting corpse by then.

I can walk into the village and see a doc, 99 times out of 100, within an hour.

Mind you, Spain does have the 5th best health service in the world.

 

[PJ87]

Normally can get an appointment within a couple days with my dr. Sometimes even same day

They have 2 surgeries

One is cross the road 10 doors up the other is a 5 min drive

 

[Dellboy]

That’s sound terrible, I can get a same day appointment if I call first thing or I can book online and normally get a slot within the next 2-3 days.

In fact I just checked, I could have Monday late afternoon, 3 slots Tuesday and the same for the rest of the week.

Cant you check online for your results ? I have had 2 Cardio MRI’s over the last month and I get a Summary of the results online on my doctors website within 3-4 days.

 

[Dibby]

Something sounds wrong there, when I had a private MRI, I was given a DVD of the scan at the same time. So, although the images were then sent to a radiologist and the radiologists report sent to my consultant, in the meantime I could (but didn't) have taken the images to anyone I liked for a diagnosis or even analysed them myself.

 

[williamalex1]

Something sounds wrong there, when I had a private MRI, I was given a DVD of the scan at the same time. So, although the images were then sent to a radiologist and the radiologists report sent to my consultant, in the meantime I could (but didn't) have taken the images to anyone I liked for a diagnosis or even analysed them myself.[/QUOT]

I got a DVD of my knee Xray and could get one of my of my MRI, but I still have to wait ages for a non urgent !!! appointment with this GP.

To get an urgent appointment you need to phone first thing in the morning, you're then given the 3rd degree by a specially trained receptionist who decides if you're an urgent enough case .

 

[Dibby]

I got a DVD of my knee Xray and could get one of my of my MRI, but I still have to wait ages for a non urgent !!! appointment with this GP.

To get an urgent appointment you need to phone first thing in the morning, you're then given the 3rd degree by a specially trained receptionist who decides if you're an urgent enough case .

Take the DVD to a private GP or appropriate specialist. I would be genuinely surprised if the private hospital where you had the MRI done wouldn't give you the results if you booked a session with the appropriate consultant. Are you really saying this can't be done?

 

[Kellfire]

Vote Tory. Vote delayed medical treatment. Vote privatisation. Pay for it, get it.

 

[Foxholer]

I asked my GP [ a locum ] to refer me for a private MRI scan on my lower back, £349.
Now I'm now told i can't get the results direct from the private hospital .
But only from the GP that actually referred me, unfortunately she only works 3.5 days a week
.

First available appointment [ of any kind, even a phone appointment ] is July 22, so i need to wait over 3 weeks for a specific doctor to tell me what might be wrong.
They said if it was REALLY serious i could've/would've got an appointment sooner.
I could rant on about the appointment system but i think it's the same everywhere , unless you pay privately of course , Oi wait a minute.

Now, there (the bold bit) is the problem!

My Med Centre's approach is that the 'next' GP available will make the assessment! Seems to work much better that the 'attached Dr' approach I've experienced elsewhere. That 'Urgent Appointment' process is terrible - especially when it's the patient who has to do the ringing!

 

[williamalex1]

I didn't see a consultant or ask for the DVD of the MRI, i only saw the radiologist , the results were sent to direct my GP.
I did phone the private hospital and ask for my results but was told they're not allowed to give that information.
Only the doctor who referred me gets the info and can tell me.

 

[larmen]

When we were living in Brentford it took days/weeks to get a GP appointment. Now we could usually get one today or tomorrow.

As for scans, I have annual MRIs and my consultant usually says she will see me next year, but if something is on them I get called in earlier.
I once got a call back when just leaving the bus at home. At least they told me to come with a bag for the night.

 

[SocketRocket]

At my doctors an on line/telephone appointment will be around three weeks. You can call in at 8:00 am to bid for the few available on the day but there will be every man and their dog trying so expect to be 15th in the queue and all to be gone when you get through. Its absolute rubbish, I used to be able to just rock up and wait half an hour once.

The joys of an over populated country :-(

 

[Biggleswade Blue]

At my doctors an on line/telephone appointment will be around three weeks. You can call in at 8:00 am to bid for the few available on the day but there will be every man and their dog trying so expect to be 15th in the queue and all to be gone when you get through. Its absolute rubbish, I used to be able to just rock up and wait half an hour once.

The joys of an over populated country :-(

Our town features lots of people moaning about the inability of infrastructure to support housing, with GP surgeries getting the brunt of it. Our town population: 2001 -15000, 2011 - 17000, 2017 - 20000, 2021 - est 25000 (loads of new housing built and coming on stream). No new medical centre built in that time.

Yesterday my daughter's school phoned me at 2 o'clock as she wasn't well. By 2.05 I had spoken to the surgery and had an appointment with the GP at 5.10. He saw us, listened, asked questions, explained what was going on and was patient, reassuring, kind and understanding. We were done by 5.30. It cost us nothing beyond what we pay in tax and NI. Brilliant. The very few (thankfully) occasions I have needed them, they have been available to me.

I hear the stories so know that some people's experience is not like this, but I tell the story to redress the balance, because ours was. Our local surgery has clearly found a way to adapt to the huge growth of the town. Perhaps we are just lucky.

 

[mteam]

When we had the old surgery which ended up being in a portakabin we could get in the same day now we have a 3 storey state of the art building. At least 3 weeks to get an appointment and then the doctor is always running late, never takes his eyes off the computer screen and is in such a rush to get you out of the room

 

[Deleted member 15344]

At my doctors an on line/telephone appointment will be around three weeks. You can call in at 8:00 am to bid for the few available on the day but there will be every man and their dog trying so expect to be 15th in the queue and all to be gone when you get through. Its absolute rubbish, I used to be able to just rock up and wait half an hour once.

The joys of an over populated country :-(

Or the joys of every man and his dog doing to the doctors for the littlest of sniffles , the cut in the level of doctors available , the thousands of missed appointments each month , the cut in fundings around the country meaning not enough medical facilities

The joys of austerity and selfish people

I have never had a problem getting an appointment for me or my daughter even on the same day.

 

[SocketRocket]

Or the joys of every man and his dog doing to the doctors for the littlest of sniffles , the cut in the level of doctors available , the thousands of missed appointments each month , the cut in fundings around the country meaning not enough medical facilities

The joys of austerity and selfish people

I have never had a problem getting an appointment for me or my daughter even on the same day.

What cuts are these you talk of, has there actually been cuts to the NHS and are people going to the doctors more than previously? If the population increases by half a million a year how do you expect services to keep up. Typical liberal head in sand attitude.

 

[Kellfire]

What cuts are these you talk of, has there actually been cuts to the NHS and are people going to the doctors more than previously? If the population increases by half a million a year how do you expect services to keep up. Typical liberal head in sand attitude.

Yes, GP services have been cut. It’s easily found information. And even if funding stayed the same, that would be a real time cut as it should expand with the population.

 

[williamalex1]

There's a shortage of doctors, in the last 20 odd years 3 doctors from my practice have retired, all in their mid to late 50s.
Then you have the fully qualified doctors who prefer to be TV entertainers after studying for years

 

[SocketRocket]

Yes, GP services have been cut. It’s easily found information. And even if funding stayed the same, that would be a real time cut as it should expand with the population.

I thought all these immigrants were paying great wads of cash in tax so why are we strapped.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp...tment-increases-30-in-a-year/20032025.article

 

[Kellfire]

I thought all these immigrants were paying great wads of cash in tax so why are we strapped.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp...tment-increases-30-in-a-year/20032025.article

Because the government want to privatise the NHS and destroying public faith in it is the chosen method to bring us onside.