is it an area issue, or specific doctors issue? i live in the south east, in essex, if that makes any difference

not enough doctors employed at practice for the amount of regular patients.

Phone up for non urgent and it can be weeks. Go online and I’ll likely get next day. NHS dentist is four weeks at the moment.

Ok. I’ll bite. I’m a GP
Having been told yesterday by one of the scientists (I think) On here that I’ll be out of a job soon as we are all going to be replace by AI bots, and that specialism is the way forward.
This graph from a recent BMJ paints a worrying picture
The government has for 20 years talked about moving care closer to the community and comes up with more things for GPs to do all the time. Border checks for immigrants. Central heating checks for the elderly. We are always “ideally placed” to do it.
However the system just churns out more consultants who all do more lovely nhs activity, which adds to our activity too.
The share of the nhs budget going to primary care is around 7-8%. In 2010 it was 10%.
When I qualified I’d have been competing with 6-10 applicants to get a job as a GP. Now each applicant has 6-10 jobs to choose from. Hence the increase in the use of non doctors to do doctor type work.
Ceremy Junt promised you the public 5000 more GPs. So far he has created minus 1200.

@C_G
Isn’t it obvious? More and more of everything!
More old people living with more long term conditions for longer. More treatments available for all these conditions. Just more medicine being done. All payed for in the same way that it was when we could do bugger all for lots of things.
Maybe #toomuchmedicine ?
Society has to decide how far it wants to go because the hitech medical industry, pharma companies etc will keep producing treatments that work but at the bleeding edge they are mega expensive.
Had an old guy last week. Previous heart disease etc. Found to have a carotid stenosis so listed for endarterectomy under GA. had a tacchyarrhythmia on induction of anaesthetic. Itu for a few days, procedure abandoned. End result huge cost no different outcome than leave well alone.
All correct nice approved treatments following guidelines etc. Must have cost a fortune. When I started out as a gp only 20 years ago these treatments were in their infancy and he would not have been offered them. So the same condition in the same patient just needs way more treatment and cost than even a few years ago. And now there are more people needing these treatments.

Rang me GP for something the other week, had a call back a few hours later after a 5 minute conversation I was sorted with what I needed without needing to see them and taking up room that someone else needed. My wife rang up last week, had a call back and as it was more urgent had an appointment that afternoon.

2 weeks is the norm here.

None* of those are free at the point of use and financed by some government determined budget. If those they were I suspect there would be lengthy waiting lists 🙂

* ok some dentists are still free but I’m guessing none that you can get an appointment at within a week.

If I want to see a specific Dr for a review or the like 2-3 weeks is the norm.

Acute illness – same day if I call before about 11am

You should see them move with Babies though, I called them twice when Daughter was under 1. Once for a sudden rash (mild infection causing a temp I think) and once for a nasty cough that seems to go on constantly, “how soon can you get here?” Was all they said, they’ve got a lifetime of goodwill out of me for that.

Another GP here… and we do way better than 2 weeks, there are ways of organising things better… and I love my job… but…

1) A government that says it wants more GPs whilst pissing all over them from a great height so no Dr wants to head into it any more.
2j Hugely more workload and complex systems to negotiate through.
3) A population which is ageing but not dying, and parents looking after kids but seeking medical advice before they give their sprogs calpol.
4) pay which has gone down in absolute terms, not just against inflation every year for the last 5.
5) Pensions and tax changes which mean I earn nothing from hours above 37 a week.
6) A medical school system which teaches students General Practice is boring when most Surgeons basically only do 3 to 5 different operations.
7) Muppets who voted for Brexit and then will get upset when the EU Drs working over here disappear…
8.) and whenever anyone else doesn’t want to give an opinion or sort something out, they say “ask your GP”

I am not an apologist for badly run practices, or ones where they have encouraged patients to ring about minor self-limiting illness blocking access for others with deeper needs… but the workforce situation in UK general practice is now unsafe. And Jeremy Hunt is not listening.
Call your MP, I have.

We were quoted a 4 week wait for a routine appointment, we are seen same day for something urgent

@Stoats Brits won’t vote for the taxes required for a decent free at the point of delivery Health Service. In France we pay VAT on food, no zero rated kids stuff, full rate vat on utilities, high income taxes, wealth taxes, sky high property taxes. Then we pay to see the Doctor too.

This:

Is much more likely to get a minister’s attention than this:

https://contactus.dh.gov.uk/?openform

Ours is usually a week or so. But if you phone up with a (non-hospital) emergency, especially with kids, then they will see you that day.

Highly skilled clinicians who will give you a very good idea of why your shit isn’t normal without taking up a GP’s time.

Wow! Our local surgery won’t let you book in advance without a doctors say so. So you call on the day you want the appointment and a call made before 9:30 will get you the doctor and time you want, before 10:30 will get you either the doctor or the time you want and up to 11:30 will get you seen. If the doctor says they want to see you in a week or a month or whatever they give you a form which then lets you book in for then. As above, if you call anytime with a baby then you get seen. And phone consultations are also easily arranged. I’d assumed this was just how things worked! Lucky us!

So i’m confused (genuinely) here.

Do you feel your non urgent issue CAN wait 2 weeks, so as to let more urgent cases in earlier? But you just don’t like the fact it’s 2 weeks?

Or do you genuinely feel your non urgent issue DOES need to be seen sooner, in which case you’ll find that you could ask for some ‘clinical triage’ to descide if this is the case.
If it is, you might be seen earlier by ANYONE (locum GP/NP etc). In which case, surely you’d be grateful jsut to be seen?

I’ve seen my GP about a few bits recently. Could easily have waited 2-6 weeks – i jsut wanted an appt. They gave me one a few days after the phone call.

I’ve got a hair cut booked for 4 weeks time. I don’t need one NOW, so 4 weeks is fine….

DrP

I didn’t say that you’re wasting their just that another clinician is capable of dealing with your complaint, this leaves the GP free to deal with issues only a GP can do.