Latest news with #GPappointments
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
'We're not Rottweilers': Behind the scenes at a GP 8am scramble
Anyone who has ever tried to get a GP appointment in England will be familiar with the "8am scramble", as you phone your local surgery desperately hoping to get surgeries - like the Tudor House Medical Practice - open their telephone lines at 08:00, meaning that if you want an on-the-day appointment, you have to phone on the dot at 08: can prove a source of frustration, with Jayne Bond - part of a four-strong team at the increasingly busy practice - often at the sharp end of patients' upset."Some people think we are Rottweilers, and we are trying to stop them getting appointments," she practice invited the BBC to watch them at work first thing in the morning during the busiest part of their day, when those phone lines open. "When the phone lines open, it just goes manic," fellow receptionist Sandra Brewster knows the scene at the practice, in Sherwood, is repeated at surgeries across the land when they release their same-day bookable appointments first thing."It is mad - we try and grab a cup of tea before the phones open up," Sandra added. Often potential patients can get frustrated when receptionists ask for more 66, said: "We are on the ball - we have to be."Some people think we are nosy, but we are just trying to get them to the right person."Eighty per cent of face-to-face GP appointments at the surgery are bookable on the day and released first thing, and typically within half an hour, they are gone. We observed the pressure on a typical Wednesday morning. Jayne said: "We normally call it 'wacky Wednesday' - it can be a very busy day." Only five minutes after the lines open, more than 30 people are queuing to get telephone system has recently been upgraded, with an option for people to request to be phoned back without the caller losing their place in the despite this "improvement", high demand will mean some inevitably miss also 66, admits receptionists can't always give people they want."People have said to me, 'well if I die it will be your fault'. "There can be verbal abuse - you just have to go home and forget about it and remember it is the situation, not personal, but they are the calls you remember," she observed that 50 people were booked in at the surgery within 25 minutes. This relentless demand for appointments is a picture repeated across the country, and has seen the government step in earlier this Labour government had pledged in its manifesto to end the early morning phone "scramble" for appointments, and in February, confirmed a deal to give an extra £889m a year to general new contract says patients should be able to arrange appointments online throughout working hours, freeing up the phones for those who need them most, and making it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical manager Tricia Gibbons said patients were "getting more used to not always seeing a GP".The 56-year-old said: "When I first started 11 years ago, we only had access to GPs and trainee doctors."The surgery now has an expanded team of health professionals to complement the work of family doctors, including an advanced nurse practitioner and a clinical pharmacist, which can see stressed, though, that "the doctors are always there to offer back-up"."This model is about giving doctors more time to focus on more complex cases," she said."Other members of the team are well placed to deal with the more minor illnesses and ailments." Dr Jonathan Lloyd, a GP partner at the surgery, said demand for primary care had gone up hugely since he began working as a doctor almost 30 years ago."The number of appointments the average patient has each year has increased, and people have got older, and there are more people with dementia and chronic disease," he said. "The number of GPs has not increased at the same rate, so there is more pressure on doctors."He said accessing primary care across the country was a "big problem", but felt most patients were "comfortable" knowing they might not always see a said six out of 10 GP appointments were in person, with the rest on the phone, which "many people are quite happy about"."Our patients have control over that - if they want to see me face-to-face, they can," he added. 'Nowhere near a solution' Latest annual figures from NHS England show that record numbers of appointments - more than 370 million - were offered by GP surgeries in 2024-25, with almost two-thirds face to face, and the rest out of 10 appointments at surgeries are with doctors, and the rest with other health than half of appointments were booked at least a day ahead, with the rest on the same day. Katie Bramall-Stainer, who chairs the British Medical Association GPs' committee, previously told BBC Breakfast that the new government deal could see patients begin to notice a difference in six to 12 months, but said the overall situation was "nowhere near a solution".So for now, the likes of Jayne and Sandra will continue to keep an eye on the clock as 8am approaches.
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The secrets to beating the 8am scramble for GP appointments by the people who really know - the receptionists! And at least one of them is VERY surprising...
The secrets to beating the 8am scramble for GP appointments by the people who really know - the receptionists! And at least one of them is VERY surprising... They're often painted as the grim-faced gatekeepers of the overstretched NHS. Manning the phone lines to surgeries, GP receptionists have long borne the brunt of patients' growing frustration with the primary care system.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Southern Isle of Man GP appointments suspended for training
Afternoon routine GP appointments have been suspended at three practices as doctors attend training consultations will be available between 12:30 and 18:00 BST at the Isle of Man's Ballasalla, Castletown and Southern training was previously scheduled for early April, but had to be rescheduled due to "unforeseen circumstances".Manx Care said anyone who needed a doctor urgently should ring their surgery to speak to an on-call GP, or dial 999 in an emergency. However the practices would remain open to make future routine appointments, request test results or order repeat healthcare provider said the Manx Emergency Doctor Service (MEDS) will also operate as usual from 18: medical services available include the minor injuries and illnesses unit at Ramsey Cottage Hospital, the minor ailments scheme run by community pharmacies and Specsavers' minor eye conditions Care encouraged residents to "choose well" during the period and "attend the health and care setting that is appropriate for their condition". Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Extra funding for primary care is welcome, but isn't enough
As a GP, while I warmly welcome any injection of funding into primary care for all the reasons Wes Streeting has mentioned (quality of healthcare delivery, patient experience, earlier intervention reducing pressure on strained and more expensive hospital services), I question whether his recent investments will actually achieve this (Wes Streeting: I will defend the tax rises funding 8.3m GP appointments, 6 May). There is more money going into core general practice this year. But GPs are also employers, and the vast majority of their expenses are on staff. They are not exempt from national insurance contribution rises, and in fact the recent increase in funding will just about cover the NIC increase – this is unfortunately a case of the government giving with one hand and taking with the other. Improved premises are absolutely essential, but they come with increased service charges for practices. These are not paid centrally, but out of the same budget that pays staff salaries and that ultimately provides appointments. The result is that shiny new buildings mean less money to provide appointments for patients rather than more. If we really want to increase the number of appointments, we need a really significant injection of money into frontline general practice to cover these hidden increases in expenses. Funding has fallen so much over the last 10 years, but a big increase is what is required if we are to create a health service that functions well and efficiently. GPs desperately want to do more and see more patients (this is why we trained for all those years), but our hands are tied if we don't have sufficient funds to provide these and address supplied Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: Findlay cut through the FM's hubris like a bushman with a machete
Off-peak rail travel and 100,000 extra GP appointments. Those were the two headlines from the SNP 's latest programme for government. As best as I can tell, they're not linked. You can travel to your doctor's surgery by any method of your choosing, though you'd be wise to avoid the A96. They're still not fully dualling that. The programme for government speech is sometimes called Holyrood's answer to the King's Speech. It has one advantage, at least for the king, in that he's not required to be there. Nor, apparently, are SNP MSPs. The separatist benches were, in keeping with the content of the remarks, noticeably empty. The First Minister's annual address forgoes pomp and circumstance and outlines the legislation his government will be introducing in the coming 12 months. It's nice that he gives the Supreme Court a heads up on its future caseload. Despite the thinness of the gruel he was slopping down, or perhaps because of it, John Swinney was a chipper wee fellow. He assured the chamber that 'a corner has been turned', though when you U-turn as often as this government does everything becomes one big circle. It's a wonder the man doesn't get dizzy. But he knows how to read polling numbers and sees that his government is back on track for another term in power after next year's devolved elections. (If his mob can get re-elected with this record, you have to wonder what they've devolved to.) You could tell he was getting carried away with himself because he promised to take forward his programme in the 'same spirit' as the budget process, in which 'four parties were able to come together to negotiate in good faith'. Swinney is not one of life's natural negotiators. If he'd been at Versailles, the treaty would still be at the draft stage. When he's boasting about compromise, it's because he figures he's already won. Russell Findlay cut through the hubris like a bushman swinging a machete. 'No wonder one in three of his own MSPs couldn't be bothered to turn up to listen to this,' he spat. He went right for the most attractive promise, a dramatic increase in GP consultations, reminding everyone that a similar promise was trotted out eight years ago by the Nationalists but came to nothing. The Tory leader's rebuttal was met with snarls from across the way, especially when he objected to plans to splash more cash on 'the economic case for independence'. 'He's not going to find one because there isn't one,' he jabbed. 'I see my appeal for common ground hasn't made much headway with Russell Findlay,' the First Minister riposted, with mock discouragement. Swinney prefers verbal brawling to all that cross-party kumbaya business and set about ripping into the 'billion-pound flaw' in Findlay's call for tax cuts. Anas Sarwar roared to life with a thunderous volley of blows against the SNP leader. Quite why he chose this exact moment to come out swinging, I've no idea but the belated show of gumption is welcome. 'Is that it?' the Labour leader queried, letting the question linger in the air long enough to prompt some awkward shifting on the SNP benches. Speaking of which, he also noted the sparse numbers behind Swinney, cruelly adding that although Nicola Sturgeon had turned up to Holyrood for an event that day, she wasn't in the chamber to hear her old pal's speech. Sarwar confirmed his agreement with all the policies Swinney had 'nicked from Labour', quipping that this was 'not the borrowing powers I thought the SNP had in mind'. He was otherwise unconvinced, remarking that: 'After nearly two decades in government, if the SNP had a good idea we'd have heard it by now.' Savage stuff, but a pity we had to wait till Labour was so down in the doldrums to hear it. If Swinney has grown overconfident it's because his opponents have been underperforming for too long.
