Two weeks for Dr appointment

Xcellor wrote: »

I phoned Dr surgery last week to arrange check up. Get bloods done. Was told no available slots for two weeks... Seems mad. Had to make appointment with web doctor as the twinge that I thought maybe gout has become a full blown flare up.

I don't goto Dr very often. Is this normal enough time to wait?

I’d say it’s because you put your appointment across as being as being a non urgent check up.

Xcellor wrote: »

I phoned Dr surgery last week to arrange check up. Get bloods done. Was told no available slots for two weeks... Seems mad. Had to make appointment with web doctor as the twinge that I thought maybe gout has become a full blown flare up.

I don't goto Dr very often. Is this normal enough time to wait?

If you rang up and said that you felt you needed bloods done then 2 weeks would be normal.

Free medical care to the under 6s is adding to waiting times as well. At this time of year they're just back in school and picking up all sorts of illnesses.

My GP doesn't offer free appointments to under 6s and I can get an appointment with him usually within 24 hours.

Increasingly normal. lack of investment by the government in primary has lead to inadequate staffing levels. unfortunate state of affairs. GP can only fit in so many.

only thing id say is.... did you say on the phone i want a check up or did you say i think i have gout? Check up implies you have no symptoms and just want a routine blood pressure check etc. if you rang and said i have full blown gout, they might have emergency slots that are only released on the day?

So glad i moved to a GP that still takes walk-ins.

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Its suspicious though that its routine now that it's a couple of days wait when you ring since the move to these multi doctor clinics.

My gp was a relatively recent move to one of these (about 3 years ago iirc) . Used to be a system where you rocked up to the waiting room, waited in a line and were seen. Now its "don't have an appointment tment for 2 days"


About 18 months ago I came down with what I thought was flu on a Saturday( I had it once before and was very similar) after 2 days in bed I managed to drag myself up and go to work on the Monday. That's when I saw I was pissing a bit of blood. So rang the doctor. Was told itd be Thursday and was directed to the TLC doc that evening if I couldn't wait. After a test He told me hed send me to a&e if it wasn't the evening and I'd probably be sat there till the morning anyway but to rock up at my gp in the morning and see could he fit me in. Got there and there was 1 person there and no one with him. 5 mins in and out and sent to a&e with a note.

The missus doctor is the same set up. When we ring and get an appointment for one of the kids, you get there on the day you are given and there's no more than a couple of people in the waiting room for a multi doctor clinic.

You had better get used to the wait, it is going to get an awful lot worse.

The main reason that GPs are congregating in collective practices is that it is virtually impossible for GPs to get cover or to share out of hours on call duties unless they are multi person Clinics. The days of the rural or single GP practices are numbered, no one wants to be isolated and singularity responsible for a huge number of patients on their list.

Also, as another poster has said, the extension of free GP care to under 6s and the extra 1 million medical cards have placed a huge workload on all practices. Many GPs complain that parents now bring their kids in for minor complaints, knowing that they do not have to pay. It was announced recently that the Government plans to extend this further up to age 12, that again will mean that “just to be safe” kids with the flu will be in waiting rooms.

But the biggest issue now facing GP care is that a huge percentage, I think it is over 30% of GPs are within 5 yrs of retirement age and the training of new GPs lags well below this figure. So not only do you have an increase in patients, there will be a significant decrease in GP numbers. In Dublin, a survey a couple of months ago found that very few Clinics would take any new patients.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/health-time-bomb-as-hundreds-of-gps-to-retire-and-patients-already-turned-away-36765240.html


https://www.icgp.ie/go/about/media_press_area/press_releases_statements/archive?spId=CEDC3295-13EF-4FCE-911C097D8282A7A6

So, when you give out about waiting times and GPs, you may look back in a few years and think things were much better now when you only had to wait 1-2 weeks.

Dav010 wrote: »

You had better get used to the wait, it is going to get an awful lot worse.

The main reason that GPs are congregating in collective practices is that it is virtually impossible for GPs to get cover or to share out of hours on call duties unless they are multi person Clinics. The days of the rural or single GP practices are numbered, no one wants to be isolated and singularity responsible for a huge number of patients on their list.

Also, as another poster has said, the extension of free GP care to under 6s and the extra 1 million medical cards have placed a huge workload on all practices. Many GPs complain that parents now bring their kids in for minor complaints, knowing that they do not have to pay. It was announced recently that the Government plans to extend this further up to age 12, that again will mean that “just to be safe” kids with the flu will be in waiting rooms.

But the biggest issue now facing GP care is that a huge percentage, I think it is over 30% of GPs are within 5 yrs of retirement age and the training of new GPs lags well below this figure. So not only do you have an increase in patients, there will be a significant decrease in GP numbers. In Dublin, a survey a couple of months ago found that very few Clinics would take any new patients.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/health-time-bomb-as-hundreds-of-gps-to-retire-and-patients-already-turned-away-36765240.html


https://www.icgp.ie/go/about/media_press_area/press_releases_statements/archive?spId=CEDC3295-13EF-4FCE-911C097D8282A7A6

So, when you give out about waiting times and GPs, you may look back in a few years and think things were much better now when you only had to wait 1-2 weeks.

That all may be so but not really connected to some of the issues in a my post.

In summary, years ago, single gp in a house, people rocked up, surgery was full most of the day with people constantly coming in. Now moved to multi doctor surgery and there definitely isnt 3 or 4 times the people coming through the door , yet theres 3 or 4 times as many doctors.Waiting room is generally empty when I'm there. But you could be told a day or 2 for an appointment and when you show up for said appointment on time, you're generally waiting a half hour minimum .

Anecdotal, yes, but this is 2 surgeries in Dublin, Tallaght and Clondalkin so not rural areas.

antix80 wrote: »

In urgent cases the GP will see you at shorter notice. You need to tell the receptionist it's urgent.
Many surgeries have the nurses take bloods.. Problem is the nurses are very busy and often only part-time... You probably should have just asked to visit the GP and said you suspected a flareup and let the GP decide if you needed bloods taken.

As for the 2 week wait.. yep, free gp for under 6s and all the med and gp visit cards mean doctors are quite busy. Practices usually keep a few slots available for private patients who want to be seen at short notice. Not sure how they'd view your scheme, but it's not like you can change GP easily. Not sure if they'd get the full consultation fee either. - not saying this is the reason they wouldn't see you sooner. Actually I think it's because you asked for bloods and didn't say you felt it was urgent.

OP didn't ask for bloods on the phone