Not allowed an appointment?!?
I have some current health issues which I need to speak to my GP about. With the continuity of care duty, and having a named GP, I have been attempting to speak to her to discuss my situation. I had a CT Scan a few weeks ago, and was not informed of the result - Last week I actually called the hospital to check if the results had been sent, just to be told the results had been sent to my GP some time ago. So, having heard this, I called the surgery to get an appointment to speak to my named GP (who had ordered the CT Scan following an appointment - that was another nightmare to get, but that's another story! I called my surgery the Thursday before Easter to request an appointment and I was told my GP was not in but would return on the Wednesday following Easter. The receptionist barked that I had to do an online request for an appointment Wednesday morning at the 8am battle!! Oh joy! Wednesday came and I got through on the website, but quickly received a message back saying that although my GP is working she would be undertaking home visits so would not be calling me. I then called the surgery and was then questioned about why I wanted to speak to a particular GP (its my right to speak to my own named GP especially when she is dealing with my current health issues). I was told that I would need to request an appointment (via running the 8am online gauntlet) the following day, which I did. Later that same day I received a further message from the surgery saying that my CT scan result was normal and that if I wanted to speak to a clinician then I would need to make another appointment on another day. Thursday came, I did the online request asking for an appointment with my GP...... I received a message saying that although my GP was working she was not available due to a change in normal work schedule. If I wanted to speak to her then I would need to request an appointment on another day!!! Feeling like I am being blocked from speaking to my GP I decided to complain. The website has a poor version of a complaints procedure so I called the surgery to ask for a copy of the full complaints procedure. The receptionist seemed flustered but took my email address stating it would be sent by another staff member either that afternoon or first thing Friday morning...... Nothing received. I have a severe lack of trust in the reception staff and want to be able to make my complaint directly to the practice manager, but can't obtain contact details for him either. I just want to speak to my GP to discuss next my health issues. Is that too much to ask????? Just to finish, I have a really good GP and am happy with the service I have received up to this point. I wonder if my request for an appointment even reached my GP.