Getting a Doctor's Appointment

7th October 2005

Much has been made in the media recently of the government target for GPs providing appointments.

The government have set a target of providing patients appointments with 48 hours of a request. In a Question Time debate earlier this year, one lady tackled the Prime Minister by describing the impact of this target: surgery's are refusing to take advance bookings, and typically you have to ring between 8 and 8:30am in the morning to get an appointment.

I recently came down with some lurgi (hence the gap in the diary). Before the new system was introduced the typical length of time it took to get an appointment was between 1 and 4 days. There were exceptions - in emergencies, one could attend at the end of the morning surgery and wait for a doctor to become free.

This current illness provided opportunity for me to see how the new system would work. Last Thursday afternoon/evening I decided that I needed to see the doctor, so I rang on Friday morning at about 8am and was given an appointment... at 9am!

Perhaps this was a fluke? But yesterday, as my course of antibiotics came to an end, I needed to see the doctor again, rang at 8am, and was given another appointment... at 9:20am!

I realise that the inability to book advance appointments causes irritation and inconvenience to many. But when you are ill being able to get an appointment at short notice is a very welcome development.

Background

BBC News:

"Problems getting an appointment with a GP have come into the spotlight once more..."