Delay in getting GP appointments

A

AnAthas

Registered User
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I wanted to ask generally what kind of delays are people experiencing when try to book an appointment with GPs (General Practioner - Doctor) in their area.

I find that it's usually a delay of two days regardless of the problem...and this results that in the case of an emergency going to an already overloaded A&E.

If you ring in the morning, GP's secretaries in my area laugh at the thought of getting an appointment on the same dayn and emit an attitude of take it or leave it.

When I am given appointment I then turn up punctually at the given time only to wait at the very least for an hour to be seen, and often two hours or more.

For the money we pay our GPs I think this is extremely poor-service, and I feel in general as if the whole GP system treats it's patients with a lack of respect. With all the media attention focused on hospital/consultant problems, I don't hear anything negative about, what is the first port of call for many, the GP system.

Is there a shortage of GPs in the country or is it only in certain areas? What's your experience?
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

When I am given appointment I then turn up punctually at the given time only to wait at the very least for an hour to be seen, and often two hours or more
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Same here ! If my Solicitor or Accountant left me in their waiting room for an hour or two, you think I'd sit there or ever be back ? But unfortunately it seems that GPs are the same whoever you go to. If somebody gives me an appointment for say 3pm then I expect to be seen at 3pm, particularly when I am forking out 50 euro for the privilege:mad: , if they cannot see me until half three then SAY half three.
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

Perhaps its a reflection of an overloaded practice?
I can usually get an appointment same day (if i ring early then for that evening) or next morning - but my GPs practice wont take on any new patients so I assume they have a set number on the books that they feel they can cater to.

The wait time when I turn up is usually no more than 15/20 mins past the time of my appointment.

Im in south dublin.
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

It's not just GPs. The last time I saw a consultant, my appointment was for 10am. He didn't show up for 45 mins and in the interim, I discovered 2 other people had the same appointment time as me! Other people waiting also had the same times. I gave him a piece of my mind when I saw him and he looked like no one had ever challenged him before! Probably made no difference but when I'm paying money for a service, I expect it to be prompt and efficient.
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

I had appointment booked with my GP for 9.30 a.m. one morning so that I wouldn't be too late getting into work. At 11.10 a.m. I still hadn't been seen and decided to leave. While going out the GP in question was in deep conversation with a medical sales rep in her office (the door was ajar). I felt really annoyed that his time was deemed of more importance than mine. Luckily my visit was for nothing serious and I was in a position to leave. There are others who would not have this luxury and would have no choice but to sit and wait if they are very ill. There is a vulnerability and a feeling of "let's not rock the boat in case I need this doctor urgently at some stage again" when going to see the doctor when you are ill.
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

By way of example, I phoned my GP yesterday looking for a non-urgent appointment for next Monday. There were 3 appointment times left for the whole day.

Even for early appointments (9.30am - 9.45am), I'm often waiting up to 40 minutes after the appointed time to be seen.

Truthseeker - lucky you, having evening appointments! My GP surgery operates Mon-Fri, 9.30 - 5pm (with a break for lunch), after that it's the Doc on Call service. Thankfully I haven't needed it (she said, tempting fate....:eek: )
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

Our GP will see the children almost immediately if an "emergency". An adult will be seen last thing that day if an "emergency". If just a routine visit, a wait of up to 3 days can be expected. She does not take on any new patients.

Also used to have to wait about 1.5 to 2 hours to be seen, until I complained to Receptionist that my appointment was for X o’clock and I have to take time off work etc. etc. Now I get served within 15 mins of allotted time if a regular appointment. Unbooked emergency appointments, I expect to wait longer.

When booking I always insist that I be seen as close to the time of appointment as possible – if they cannot “then put me down for the time you will see me at” usually works.

I may be awkward in some peoples eyes, but I believe I’m right in requesting such service as I am paying dearly for it.

BB
 
It is almost impossible to keep to appointment times in a gp's surgery. Appointments are allocated but then patients walk in without appointments and insist they need to see doctor and its urgent, people make one appointment and then arrive with 3 other family members who also have to be seen, patients newly discharged from hospital have to be fitted in the same day, a patient has a ten minute appointment and arrives with a written out list of problems which take half an hour to sort out, a patient who is upset/distressed can't be pushed out the door when their ten minutes is up, phone calls from patients interrupting doctor, emergency house calls that take an hour - I could go on. We do our best but delays are very difficult to avoid unless we gave appointments every half hour and then it would take weeks to get a routine appointment.
 
Re: Delay in getting GP's Appointments

gipimann said:
Truthseeker - lucky you, having evening appointments! My GP surgery operates Mon-Fri, 9.30 - 5pm (with a break for lunch), after that it's the Doc on Call service. Thankfully I haven't needed it
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ooops - i actually meant evening being 5ish (i think they close at 6), but we used to have saturday mornings too which was great for the non urgent stuff!!! but theyve stopped that.

one thing that always confuses me is this drive on tv about going to your GP for minor emergency stuff (like stitches) rather than go to already overloaded A&E, but what are you supposed to do when the GP only sits from 9-6 mon-fri? keep bleeding and wait til 9am monday morning?
 
All GP who work in public practice (have medical card patients) must provide a service 24/7 - this is usually through a co-op service like DUBDOC - so there is always a gp on call for urgent cases like stitches.
 
It is almost impossible to keep to appointment times in a gp's surgery. Appointments are allocated but then patients walk in without appointments and insist they need to see doctor and its urgent, people make one appointment and then arrive with 3 other family members who also have to be seen, patients newly discharged from hospital have to be fitted in the same day, a patient has a ten minute appointment and arrives with a written out list of problems which take half an hour to sort out, a patient who is upset/distressed can't be pushed out the door when their ten minutes is up, phone calls from patients interrupting doctor, emergency house calls that take an hour - I could go on. We do our best but delays are very difficult to avoid unless we gave appointments every half hour and then it would take weeks to get a routine appointment
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Why bother with appointments then at all ? Why not have a first come first served basis and if an emergency comes in then obviously they have priority over the rest, at least people wouldn't be treated like fools sitting around for a few hours in the surgery, just a thought.

It seems to me that that GP's don't want to have "down time" during the day, it's not good enough to let people hang around the waiting room. As I have said before I won't sit around waiting on my Solicitor, Accountant etc
 
Thanks brid1977 for your reply to balance the debate. I can understand there are difficult circumstances in a GP's surgery and unique factors unlike other 'businesses'.

I feel that other organisations that deal with the public however are held accountable if their service flags so badly, by customers who switch to competitors to do their business.

But I have tried a number of doctors in my locality and remain frustrated with the same problems. There just seems to be too many patients and too little doctors. I want to ask three questions of brid1977 or anyone else reading this that's in the know:

1.How is it decided how many GPs can operate in a locality or is it limitless and depends solely the desire of a qualified GP to set up practice?

2. Is there any limit on the number of patients a doctor can have on their books?

3.Is this a topic that comes up for debate in medical circles or in the Association of GP's / IMB etc.. Do the worker's in the industry agree that there's a problem here?

P.s. I am aware that it's unfair to generalise, and some surgery's I'm sure run an excellent service.
 
1.How is it decided how many GPs can operate in a locality or is it limitless and depends solely the desire of a qualified GP to set up practice?

2. Is there any limit on the number of patients a doctor can have on their books?

3.Is this a topic that comes up for debate in medical circles or in the Association of GP's / IMB etc.. Do the worker's in the industry agree that there's a problem here?

1. The HSE decides this (for surgeries which have medical card patients - not many gps see private patients only) - they allocate 'lists' of medical cards. Very few new lists are created so a new gp has to join an exisiting practice or wait for a gp to retire to get a 'list'. Existing lists can always be expanded (if the surgery can find a suitable trained doctor). There is plenty of room for improvement in this system.

2. No there is no limit (except the sanity of the gp)

3. Yes. There is a shortage of trained gps which will only get worse in the next 10 years. A large percentage of current GPs are in their 50s and will be retiring in the next few years.

In my experience 'open-surgery' is total chaos and very unpopular with patients who need routine check ups.
Another important point is that its a seasonal business unlike accountants/solicitors - the summer can be very quiet with few delays with appointments but it's a different story in november when the cold/flu season starts
 
AnAthas said:
If you ring in the morning, GP's secretaries in my area laugh at the thought of getting an appointment on the same dayn and emit an attitude of take it or leave it.

When I am given appointment I then turn up punctually at the given time only to wait at the very least for an hour to be seen, and often two hours or more.
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Have you raised these issues with your GP?
 
brid1977 said:
It is almost impossible to keep to appointment times in a gp's surgery. quote]

And it is definitely impossible to keep to appointment times when you give multiple appointments at a particular time!
Thats the way it worked in my doctor's surgery in Dublin - everyone was given a 9am appointment, and then you were put on the list in the order in which you turned up. The first time, I arrived at 8:55 and was the 15th person on the list, and found that people had started queueing for their 9am appointment from 8am, in order to get near the top of the queue!

In spain (where I live now), I pay 17E a month to BUPA. Then if I need to see a doctor, I go to their web page, and choose the type of doctor I want (e.g. eye and ear/gynecologist/traumatologist/general etc) and ring to make an appointment. Most of the time there is no problem getting an appointment for that same day, and they are full of abject apologies if they need to offer you an appointment for the next day.
I dont know why we cant have the same system in Ireland.
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And it is definitely impossible to keep to appointment times when you give multiple appointments at a particular time!
Thats the way it worked in my doctor's surgery in Dublin - everyone was given a 9am appointment, and then you were put on the list in the order in which you turned up. The first time, I arrived at 8:55 and was the 15th person on the list, and found that people had started queueing for their 9am appointment from 8am, in order to get near the top of the queue!
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Same experience at my GP, regularly
 
Havealaugh said:
Why bother with appointments then at all ? Why not have a first come first served basis and if an emergency comes in then obviously they have priority over the rest, at least people wouldn't be treated like fools sitting around for a few hours in the surgery, just a thought....
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One GP we use doesn't have a appointments and its a nightmare. You can be waiting 2 hours to get in. Patients can be in there for 30~40mins. Another GP we use has a appointments and it works very well. You rarely wait more than 20mins.
 
One GP we use doesn't have a appointments and its a nightmare. You can be waiting 2 hours to get in. Patients can be in there for 30~40mins. Another GP we use has a appointments and it works very well. You rarely wait more than 20mins.
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Lucky You Aircobra !:)

And it is definitely impossible to keep to appointment times when you give multiple appointments at a particular time!
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I've been waiting two hours WITH an appointment !:(
 
Regarding the out-of-hours service - southdoc in my case - we were away for a few days and one of the dolls fell. Went to Southdoc, only to be told we needed an appointment. Dr was out on a call. When receptionist saw the injury she told us to go to A&E - apparently they don't treat injuries that might need stitching, just refer to A&E. So we still had to go and clog up A&E with a non-critical issue. I have a very low opinion of the southdoc service in general tbh, it seems to be a CYA service. Obviously this is just my opinion, based on my experiences with them!!!
 
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