In the U.K do I have the right to speak to my GP on the phone?

Question

Please could someone tell me if in the U.K I have the right to speak to my GP on the phone? I wanted to ask my GP a brief question about an upcoming test which she had ordered as I thought she might need to cancel it due to unforeseen circumstances. However, I phoned my surgery on two different occasions and was told by the secretary that I needed to tell her what it was about. On the second occasion I asked how I get to speak to the doctor and she said 'you don't'. Surely I have a right to request to speak to my doctor and I shouldn't have to tell the secretary anything?? Does anyone know?

Answer 1

it is a medical ethics issue in my opinion (I am US trained though). There may be no harm telling the operator/secratory since they are supposed to screen un necessary calls and thus they need to know what the call is about. But if you are not getting to talk to your doctor at all then you should be considering a switch of doctors, good luck