Why is it virtually impossible to make an appointment with my wife's doctor?

Question

my wife a retired SRN is haveing treatment with steriods which are dangerous, attempts to book an apointment are met with a blank eyed refusal and we are told to telephone the following morning we have tried this on two consectuive mornings when we get through we are told that all apointment for that day have gone

Answer 1

Hi,

you've got several sensible answers already, but there's another thing you could try.

Call the surgery and say you need the doctor to visit. At the very least the dragon lady (sorry receptionist) will have to ask you 'is it urgent?' (and, of course, it is, especially as you can't get an appointment)

When/if you get to see the doctor and he will, quite rightly, complain you have called him out unnecessarily, tell him it WAS necessary as his receptionists will not make an appointment for you.

With luck he'll appreciate your problems and castigate the receptionist. (You may see a new advertisement in the local paper for a new one!) At least you'll get your examination and any treatment needed.

Perhaps, too, you should be looking at changing your doctor. NHS doctors are paid by the number of NHS patients they have 'on the books'. If they are overloaded and this is resulting in a lack of available care for the patients then action can be taken by the medical authorities to either get more doctors into the practice or punative measures against deliberately 'beefed up' patient lists.

As any change has to be reported to the medical authorities the doctor would be required to answer any accusations made through the form questions. This may be embarrassing for him/her and, of course, the loss of a patient means a loss of earnings.

Good luck anyway,

Cheers, BobSpain (You could always move here, of course, the medical service is second to none)

Answer 2

Then, without being angry which will get you nowhere, your wife should explain that she needs an appointment as her steroid intake needs to be monitored (was "dangerous" rather over egging the pudding?) but despite trying for several days has not been successful and ask if you can book an appointment for the following day and then stand your ground. Booking a doctors appointment should not be like trying to get on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. At least you are retired and don't have to remember to ring when you are on the bus on the way to work.

Answer 3

Because GPs are lazy, overpaid bigots ... Okay, so that is a generalisation, but many do seem to paint that picture.

Contact your local trust District nurses, they can push for the right treatment or give you forms to fill in to complain directly about the GP and press for correct treatment. Do not take what the receptionists say as gospel, ask to speak to the Doctor directly, the receptionists have a habit of being power-crazed fools.

Answer 4

I would get in touch with the office manager of this practice to let them know that your wife is having a hard time getting an appt and really needs to be seen by the dr. If that doesn't work then you may have to consider finding another dr.

Is this dr a specialist or a primary care physician?

Answer 5

EDIT given which you're actually not the affected person, there's no clarification which you would be interior the examination room mutually with your spouse. Her medical information are exclusive in spite of no count if she's your spouse or no longer. no count if that's an emergency, the healthcare professional will call you into the room. My husband and that i had before signed HIPPA varieties. He had a medical doctors appointment and by way of his examination the healthcare professional referred to as me into the room and advised me that my husband grew to become into interior hours of having a huge heart attack. We talked and made preparations for emergency surgical operation; I signed the mandatory varieties, and gave them copies of my capacity of legal professional and my husband's residing Will. After his launch from the wellness center, i grew to become into referred to as into the wellness care professional's examination room alongside with my husband on the 1st 2 visits. I had to be there to obtain further aftercare training and counsel to make certain an entire and secure restoration for him. i understand a guy who refuses to permit his spouse see a doctor except he's permitted interior the room along with her. reason? The healthcare professional might do a breast or vaginal examination if he's not there along with her. If my husband ever did that to me, it would be kickass time and he might desire to verify the healthcare professional before he left the workplace.

Answer 6

The next time you call in & are told the appointments are gone, ask to speak to the doctor's nurse. Explain to her what is going on. She may get you in.

Answer 7

Exactly the same at my doctors surgery. I have to call at 8.30 when they open, the phone is constantly engaged and when I do get through all the appointments are gone!

Answer 8

Find another doctor.

When you do have an appointment, don't leave their office until the next appointment is scheduled.