So far today, 66% of my expected patients have not turned up....
The word frustrating is not really strong enough.....
Arg.
DrP
Doesn't it mean you can just put your feet on the desk and start some new threads?
Perhaps they kicked the bucket through the night.
Perhaps they're scared of you ?
Did they phone up to apologise? I can't understand why anyone would not turn up without phoning up to let you know. Bizarre. When they do eventually come in, misdiagnose them with something acutely embarrassing.
To be fair, it is early.
Or possibly they're overwhelmed with the cute factor of a kitten licking its own nose?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23261505
Waiting rooms make you ill because they are full of ill people. Maybe they did not want to get sick.
Charge them, not sure why the government haven't jumped on this revenue band-wagon already.
Would be interested to know how many is 66% though...
Hmm this always frustrates me now I love the NHS but I need to see my GP and can't get to see him until the end of this month.
I was offered a nurse appointment but that would be with the guy who misdiagnosed the issue in the first place so declined.
The best I can do is go there and be awkward and demanding to be seen.
I do not see GP often. Twice a year would be a lot for me but I think its the 80-20 rule where 20% of the patients use 80% of the resources and clog up the systems.
They've probably been waiting so long for an appointment that they are now well.....or dead. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?
When you say 66%
That's literally just 2 out of 3 people this morning isn't it ?
Just one of those days .... chill 😀
so two out of your first 3 patients haven't shown up?
your percentage is wrong, pffft they'll make anyone a doctor these daya
Probably rang 111 after having the symptoms for weeks and stopped taking the meds prescribed to them by you after 3 days as they weren't working but since then have got worse. 111 would then request an 8 minutre response by ambulance were they'd take them to A&E, they would sit for 5 hours as they aren't a priority before getting home at 4am this morning and now are too tired to come and see you. So they will ring 111 in 3 weeks time saying they feel worse and no one has helped them.
[i]your percentage is wrong, pffft they'll make anyone a doctor these daya [/i]
perhaps one of those that didn't turn up has a limb missing and therefore doesn't count as '1' for these purposes?
Do you operate an 'open surgery' system, btw?
Still, more time to decide which one of your Range Rovers you are going to drive to the golf course after lunch 🙂
Well its fair enough. My local GP surgery has a tv telling the waiting room the % of 'no shows' there were in the last month.
Yet as I sat there, yet again waiting 20 mins after my appointment time for (?10min? appointment) - and it was only 10am, I wondered why that TV didnt give a balanced picture by telling patients this % of late appointments too?
Maybe they're too ill to get in and because it's virtually impossible to get a home visit now they've had to go to A&E? 😉
What are the first 31 reasons? Are they because the Dr's aren't in, won't do home visits, playing golf, riding their bike, etc?
[sorry Dr P]
Two thirds of patients don't turn up, and I still have to wait an hour when I have a 9:30am appointment. Never did quite understand that. At 5pm, sure, delays happen, but at that time of the morning?
After waiting weeks to see my GP and booking a double appointment, he put me on a timer saying you've got a minute get to the point : (
Are you actually on 5 Live now?!
GP appointment system is properly broken here. Who has the patience/time/inclination to jam the switchboard at 8:30am when they're, you know, ill? I'd hazard a guess that the worried-well figure quite highly. I don't have the answer, and you docs have my sympathy, but it aint working as it is.
After waiting weeks to see my GP and booking a double appointment, he put me on a timer saying you've got a minute get to the point : (
That's mad!
Still, more time to decide which one of your Range Rovers you are going to drive to the golf course after lunch
That's an easy one - I generally leave the range rovers (plural) on the drive, and choose to take the 'pleb mobile' Astra so as to relate to the [shudders] general population :roll:....
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DrP
(Anyway, they're all trickling in now..... on of the DNAs turned up late anyway...)
I think some people aren't pushy enough, in an environment where a lot are too pushy.
I rang up and asked for an appointment and was a little non-plussed when offered a day my grandchildren might just live to see, so the receptionista asked if it was important. I said I didn't know, I had a sort of lump on my abdomen and wondered if it was a hernia. She almost shrieked and demanded I come in immediately.
(That got me in the door so I could show the doc my sore toenail and talk about getting signed off for my nerves. 😉 )
Could you not just get everyone to come in at the same time, then settle who gets the first appointment by recreating the competitive nature of a 70's kids game show?
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You could offer everyone a free physical exam?
is there a certain psychometric test for GP receptionists?
If they are borderline sociopaths do they get hired on the spot,
or is that just the way they do it in Yorkshire?
Probably rang 111 after having the symptoms for weeks and stopped taking the meds prescribed to them by you after 3 days as they weren't working but since then have got worse. 111 would then request an 8 minutre response by ambulance were they'd take them to A&E, they would sit for 5 hours as they aren't a priority before getting home at 4am this morning and now are too tired to come and see you. So they will ring 111 in 3 weeks time saying they feel worse and no one has helped them.
That would be funny if it wasn't true 😆
What's your receptionist like? Middle aged Rottweilers all of them. They demand to know exactly what's wrong with you before using their self determined medical superiority to deny you an appointment. If you do get through the telephone interrogation and razor wire that they all place out front shortly after the docs arrive, then its a ritualistic torture period of having to stand and stare at their backs whilst they finish their chit chat with colleagues before pointing a flabby finger at the touch screen that you are supposed to use, without so much as a greeting. Of course you can't use this as you'd have to wait behind the 90 year blind woman that's feeling along the wall to find it as the receptionist has already shouted at her to do.
Btw if a doc put me on a timer, he'd be tick tocking all the way home that night...
That would be funny if it wasn't true
It's not true such things would never happen and it was meant in fun. Honest.
My old surgery use to post up how many patients missed their appointments the previous week, the number was shocking sometimes.
My local GP surgery has an incredible amount of DNAs. After a year of living here I noticed this and now whenever I need to see the GP I just go in and ask if they have any "cancellations" and get seen within 10 minutes.
he put me on a timer saying you've got a minute get to the point : (
😆
Also, if you have a receptionist that says 'Doctor will see you now' rather than 'The Doctor will see you now', that would put me off. I'd probably book phantom appointments just to wind her up.
God doesn't need a pronoun for his title, everyone else does.
DrP - Member
So far today, 66% of my expected patients have not turned up....
Why bother the GP, when you can just post up symptoms on here and get an instant diagnosis,
also its sunny so why drive to the GP, when you can sit in the garden and make a recovery, only to be ill tonight
the surgery i use is militant about being on time for appointments (probably justified judging by the number of missed appointments) however if you're literally 1 minute late to see the doc when you got stuck in traffic and are obviously struggling to walk, a bit of compassion would be nice from the receptionist...
my doctor is brilliant though so you take the rough with the smooth sometimes
[i]my doctor is brilliant though[/i]
It's good cop/bad cop isn't it.
GP's choose a fierce receptionist so that a small amount of compassion from them feels like they've wrapped you in cotton wool and sung you lullabies 😉
..also its sunny so why drive to the GP, when you can sit in the garden and make a recovery, only to be ill tonight..
Not far from the truth!
When the sun's out, often the balance between "I'm bored and not 100%, where shall I go..beach or A+E" shifts towards the Beach!!
Well, at least it was last saturday! A+E was oddly quiet!
DrP - being cynical today!
Reasons you can't see your GP when you want...
because they're impossible to contact?
1)phone up at 9.30am - hear a recorded message saying "the surgery is now closed, please call back during our surgery hours; 8:30am to 5:30pm
2)phone up at 10:45am - hear a recorded message saying "we are now closed for lunch, please call back after 12:30"
3)phone up at 1:45pm - hear a recorded message saying "we are now closed for lunch, please call back after 12:30"
4) phone up at 3:15 - hear a recorded message saying "the surgery is now closed, please call back during our surgery hours; 8:30am to 5:30pm
yes, The Crookes Practise, Sheffield, i'm talking about you.
You're very quick to send out the 'you haven't had an asthma check-up for 2 whole weeks, we cannot process your repeat prescription request until you seen the asthma nurse, please call to make an appointment' - but you never answer the sodding phone.
^^^
You need to raise this with the practice manager - this sounds like a phone line fault (auto switching error) and is actually a significant critical incident for the practice. They may not be aware of it....
DrP
I know! But to be fair, I could get to my point in a few seconds - 'had me blood taken, I have a haemoglobin count of 4 I feel crap' I was out of the door in less than a minute. Completely dismissed me on the basis I rode me bike in and riding on a regular basis. Thank **** for A&E.
it's been like that for 6 years.
yes, i've complained.
^^
I'd Change practice!
DrP
[i]I'd Change practice![/i]
this, GP's are private businesses run for profit, if they don't deliver, go elsewhere.
I Booked an appointment the closest i could get was in 7 days time.
That 7 days finally came up, I arrived 15 mins early as I like to be on time (this is the norm for me in any situation) I then proceeded to wait till 10 past 10 (my appointment time)then 10 past 11, then i asked the receptionist what was going on. I then waited another 45 mins for my appointment.
so i was an hour 45 mins late in to my appointment, no apologies. about 2 mins later i left my appointment.
Now if i was an hour 45 mins late to any GP surgery I'd loose my appointment, what makes the GP's think this is acceptable.
