Seeing the GP: Advice and tips for young people
Different kinds of GP appointments
Surgeries may work slightly differently and offer different kinds of appointments, including some or all of the ones below.
Urgent appointments
Some practices (surgeries or health centres) keep a number of slots for patients who need to be seen urgently (urgent appointments). There is usually less choice of doctor and patients may have to see whoever is free. Caitlin is living with a long-term illness and has little movement below her neck. If she needs to see the GP, her mum makes an appointment and the doctor visits Caitlin at home later that day.
Can you remember how long he's been your GP?
Caitlin: Has he been my GP since -? Well I don’t know about personally, like yeah he's been a GP since we were up here.
Caitlin’s mother: Probably since nine I would say.
Caitlin: Probably.
Caitlin’s mother: Since you’ve got the CIDP he's been involved.
Caitlin: Yeah.
And when you need to see him at that point were you going into the surgery, but now would he visit you more at home?
Caitlin: Yeah, he comes here. Every time.
Caitlin’s mother: On the day that - there's no - they're very good, we can get a home visit within a day, so....
Oh right that’s good. So when you were younger, can you remember going into the surgery itself to see the GP, the local health centre?
Caitlin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And when he comes to the home, he'll come on the day, do you get a time that he's going to come or you only know he's coming on the day?
Caitlin: Well sort of. But we know it’s...
Caitlin’s mother: We know it's early afternoon, so it's when they do their home visits. But we, you know don’t know a precise time.
Caitlin: Which is alright I suppose.
Has that always been alright or would you have liked more of a precise time or how do you feel about that?
Caitlin: I don’t know, I think it's.... the only...
Caitlin’s mother: In a perfect world it would be nice to have a time [laughs].
And the care from the GP, how would you say?
Caitlin’s mother: They're very supportive. I think it is different, you sometimes –
Caitlin: It's been more reasonable.
Caitlin’s mother: Yeah, probably the last couple of years because we've been at home. But they will, like I had a call just as I came about my other daughter actually. But they will happily ring you back, they ring you back within the day. Or they’ll visit within the day, and they don’t - I've even got the email of the doctor sort of thing, so it's...I think it's....but I think we are an individual case.
Arrive and wait appointments
Aphra’s surgery also offered ‘arrive and wait’ appointments. These appointments guarantee that patients will be seen on the day, but the waiting time can be long depending on the number of people waiting to be seen. Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are usually the busiest times for practices. John recalled that his university surgery had ‘open hours’ – students could walk in and wait to see a GP. Sarah’s university surgery had something similar – drop-in sessions three times a week where students could see a GP without making an appointment beforehand.
Advance appointments
It’s important to book an advance appointment if someone needs to review a repeat prescription for medication they take regularly, whether that’s for an illness or contraception. Sarah now makes sure she books an appointment for repeat prescriptions straight after a consultation because she once ran out of the contraceptive pill. Aphra had to make an emergency appointment when she ran out of antidepressants and Siobhan – who knew she’d need a repeat prescription for antidepressants – intended to book an appointment before she went on holiday. Most practices allow patients to book an appointment from a few days to several weeks in advance. Same day booking
This system involves patients calling the practice at specific times when appointments are ‘released’. Some surgeries have a special telephone queuing system, so people can listen to the recorded message and follow the instructions. It can help to know which days a preferred GP works, and to keep calling or to visit the surgery in person to get an appointment. It can be a longer wait if someone wants to see a particular GP, especially if that doctor is very popular. This mattered more to some people than others, partly depending on the reason for the appointment. Simon, who has two long-term conditions, preferred to see the same GP whenever possible but Louis, who rarely saw a doctor, was less worried about this. Hannah phoned the surgery again and again in the morning but the line was busy. By the time she got through, all the appointments had been taken. It was easier to get an appointment in person:
I remember calling a few times asking for an emergency appointment. They, we have always known and always been told that if you ring at 8 o’ clock in the morning, then you’ll be able to get an appointment, emergency appointment, or that’s when you should ring.
And then, you know, you could be on hold or there’s no answer and it’s 8:03, cos I’m ringing constantly from 8:00 to 8:03. And the phone will be answered and there’s no appointments left. And I say well, ‘I’ve been on the phone since two or three minutes to 8 o’ clock and how is that possible?’ And they say that people have been waiting outside since 7:30. I was never told, nor is it advertised anywhere, that if you come to the surgery at 7:30 that it’s more likely that you’re going to get an appointment.
And I think my mum also probably said that to the receptionist at some point as well because I was never to know. If that was the case, then I would have done that sooner, gone down to the surgery at 7:30. And I had to do that that time recently so it was really frustrating for a while that we didn’t know why there was no appointments left, but it was because you had to go down in the morning, yeah.
And when you did go down in the morning, then you did get the appointment?
Yeah, I did. I’ve only had to do that once but, yeah, I did get an appointment that day.
And at that time it was because you had cystitis?
Yeah.
Telephone consultations
This is when patients phone in for a telephone appointment with the GP. It usually involves speaking to the receptionist first and giving a brief description of the problem. This information is then passed to the caller’s preferred GP, who will call the patient back, often within a couple of hours.
Urgent appointments
Some practices (surgeries or health centres) keep a number of slots for patients who need to be seen urgently (urgent appointments). There is usually less choice of doctor and patients may have to see whoever is free. Caitlin is living with a long-term illness and has little movement below her neck. If she needs to see the GP, her mum makes an appointment and the doctor visits Caitlin at home later that day.
Caitlin’s a special case. The GP usually visits her in the afternoons if she’s got an appointment. Her mum also has the GP’s email address in case of emergencies.
Caitlin’s a special case. The GP usually visits her in the afternoons if she’s got an appointment. Her mum also has the GP’s email address in case of emergencies.
Sex: Female
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Caitlin: Has he been my GP since -? Well I don’t know about personally, like yeah he's been a GP since we were up here.
Caitlin’s mother: Probably since nine I would say.
Caitlin: Probably.
Caitlin’s mother: Since you’ve got the CIDP he's been involved.
Caitlin: Yeah.
And when you need to see him at that point were you going into the surgery, but now would he visit you more at home?
Caitlin: Yeah, he comes here. Every time.
Caitlin’s mother: On the day that - there's no - they're very good, we can get a home visit within a day, so....
Oh right that’s good. So when you were younger, can you remember going into the surgery itself to see the GP, the local health centre?
Caitlin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And when he comes to the home, he'll come on the day, do you get a time that he's going to come or you only know he's coming on the day?
Caitlin: Well sort of. But we know it’s...
Caitlin’s mother: We know it's early afternoon, so it's when they do their home visits. But we, you know don’t know a precise time.
Caitlin: Which is alright I suppose.
Has that always been alright or would you have liked more of a precise time or how do you feel about that?
Caitlin: I don’t know, I think it's.... the only...
Caitlin’s mother: In a perfect world it would be nice to have a time [laughs].
And the care from the GP, how would you say?
Caitlin’s mother: They're very supportive. I think it is different, you sometimes –
Caitlin: It's been more reasonable.
Caitlin’s mother: Yeah, probably the last couple of years because we've been at home. But they will, like I had a call just as I came about my other daughter actually. But they will happily ring you back, they ring you back within the day. Or they’ll visit within the day, and they don’t - I've even got the email of the doctor sort of thing, so it's...I think it's....but I think we are an individual case.
Aphra’s surgery also offered ‘arrive and wait’ appointments. These appointments guarantee that patients will be seen on the day, but the waiting time can be long depending on the number of people waiting to be seen. Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are usually the busiest times for practices. John recalled that his university surgery had ‘open hours’ – students could walk in and wait to see a GP. Sarah’s university surgery had something similar – drop-in sessions three times a week where students could see a GP without making an appointment beforehand.
Advance appointments
It’s important to book an advance appointment if someone needs to review a repeat prescription for medication they take regularly, whether that’s for an illness or contraception. Sarah now makes sure she books an appointment for repeat prescriptions straight after a consultation because she once ran out of the contraceptive pill. Aphra had to make an emergency appointment when she ran out of antidepressants and Siobhan – who knew she’d need a repeat prescription for antidepressants – intended to book an appointment before she went on holiday. Most practices allow patients to book an appointment from a few days to several weeks in advance. Same day booking
This system involves patients calling the practice at specific times when appointments are ‘released’. Some surgeries have a special telephone queuing system, so people can listen to the recorded message and follow the instructions. It can help to know which days a preferred GP works, and to keep calling or to visit the surgery in person to get an appointment. It can be a longer wait if someone wants to see a particular GP, especially if that doctor is very popular. This mattered more to some people than others, partly depending on the reason for the appointment. Simon, who has two long-term conditions, preferred to see the same GP whenever possible but Louis, who rarely saw a doctor, was less worried about this. Hannah phoned the surgery again and again in the morning but the line was busy. By the time she got through, all the appointments had been taken. It was easier to get an appointment in person:
Hannah went to the surgery at 7.30am to book an appointment. She wishes someone had told her before that it was easier at her practice to make appointments in person.
Hannah went to the surgery at 7.30am to book an appointment. She wishes someone had told her before that it was easier at her practice to make appointments in person.
Sex: Female
SHOW TEXT VERSION
PRINT TRANSCRIPT
And then, you know, you could be on hold or there’s no answer and it’s 8:03, cos I’m ringing constantly from 8:00 to 8:03. And the phone will be answered and there’s no appointments left. And I say well, ‘I’ve been on the phone since two or three minutes to 8 o’ clock and how is that possible?’ And they say that people have been waiting outside since 7:30. I was never told, nor is it advertised anywhere, that if you come to the surgery at 7:30 that it’s more likely that you’re going to get an appointment.
And I think my mum also probably said that to the receptionist at some point as well because I was never to know. If that was the case, then I would have done that sooner, gone down to the surgery at 7:30. And I had to do that that time recently so it was really frustrating for a while that we didn’t know why there was no appointments left, but it was because you had to go down in the morning, yeah.
And when you did go down in the morning, then you did get the appointment?
Yeah, I did. I’ve only had to do that once but, yeah, I did get an appointment that day.
And at that time it was because you had cystitis?
Yeah.
This is when patients phone in for a telephone appointment with the GP. It usually involves speaking to the receptionist first and giving a brief description of the problem. This information is then passed to the caller’s preferred GP, who will call the patient back, often within a couple of hours.
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