Just been to the butchers

[WickedLester]

Sorry I mean my NHS surgery to book an appointment.

After arguing with the receptionists for 15 minutes the practice manager agreed to book me one in 2 days time. Is the practice manager basically a well paid receptionist who does next to nothing?

[Mike4]

You should demand a refund!!

[Mike4]

But more seriously I gather there are private GPs where you pay for an appointment (rather as you do for a private dentist), and the standard of service is a revelation. Or so I'm told.

I've yet to try one because our village NHS GP practice is actually really good.

[Arborbridge]

Sorry I mean my NHS surgery to book an appointment.

After arguing with the receptionists for 15 minutes the practice manager agreed to book me one in 2 days time. Is the practice manager basically a well paid receptionist who does next to nothing?

Seems a bit of a churlish comment since the practice manager actually helped you get what you wanted. Without him, you wouldn't have had an appointment.

Arb.

[UncleEbenezer]

Surely what the butchers reference describes is the route by which he got there - via the abattoir.

[Dicky99]

Seems a bit of a churlish comment since the practice manager actually helped you get what you wanted. Without him, you wouldn't have had an appointment.

Arb.

Which sort of proves there always was an appointment available in the first place, or maybe the Doctor's going to treat two patients at once, I can get help with my porn addiction while some young bird gets her itchy fanny looked at.

Maybe by shouting loudest you bumped somebody else's appointment.

[Dicky99]

Is the practice manager basically a well paid receptionist who does next to nothing?

I would imagine a GP Practice Manager's duties would be wide ranging and demanding. Everything from facilities management to finance, human resources to staff training, record keeping and occasionally even... dealing with recalcitrant customers.

[jaizan]

Sorry I mean my NHS surgery to book an appointment.

After arguing with the receptionists for 15 minutes the practice manager agreed to book me one in 2 days time. Is the practice manager basically a well paid receptionist who does next to nothing?

My local GP practice has 3 receptionists and the service is diabolical. I know of companies with hundreds of employees with fewer reception staff and a far better attitude.

They get a google maps review score of 1.7, which seems to be well below average.

[Gerry557]

You can't have that appointment as it's the last one and somebody might need it.

[the0ni0nking]

Wonderful to see yet more self-entitlement crap getting posted.

[Arborbridge]

Which sort of proves there always was an appointment available in the first place, or maybe the Doctor's going to treat two patients at once, I can get help with my porn addiction while some young bird gets her itchy fanny looked at.

Maybe by shouting loudest you bumped somebody else's appointment.

The classic elderly person with sharp elbows, syndrome. It's so embarassing when my wife does this. I look the other way.


Arb.

[Bminusrob]

Fortunately, I haven't needed to see a GP for many years. However, recently, my wife needed to make a face-to-face appointment with her GP to review her medication (the stuff women of a certain age need). The first appointment available was at leat six weeks away. How do they get into such a mess that a quite important review can't take place for six weeks? What type of problem gets you from the six week waiting list to the urgent list? More to the point, what are they doing about it? If this were a real business, they would have to fix the problem, or go out of business.

[Arborbridge]

Fortunately, I haven't needed to see a GP for many years. However, recently, my wife needed to make a face-to-face appointment with her GP to review her medication (the stuff women of a certain age need). The first appointment available was at leat six weeks away. How do they get into such a mess that a quite important review can't take place for six weeks? What type of problem gets you from the six week waiting list to the urgent list? More to the point, what are they doing about it? If this were a real business, they would have to fix the problem, or go out of business.

Unfortunately, the two systems are not directly comparable.

If it was a real business, they would charge more, and if you couldn't pay you wouldn't get the service. But governments are obsessed with keeping taxes down, which means we suffer all round defects in our infrastructure and services.
Don't believe anyone who tells you that answer is increased efficiency: if it were that easy, it could have been done already. For increased efficiency, read "cuts to service".

[UncleEbenezer]

Don't believe anyone who tells you that answer is increased efficiency:

The answer is, erm, increased efficiency. At least, at the hospitals that consume a lot more NHS budget than the GPs.

Exhibit 1: myself. Ballpark ten years ago I was admitted to hospital for tests. I could (and would have much preferred) to go to the hospital by day for the tests, and travel home overnight, availing myself of a bus service that ran every 15 minutes and pretty-much door-to-door. But no: hospital rules wouldn't allow that. Their red tape required me to occupy a precious bed for four nights (at least, if you count the first one camped out on what probably counts as a trolley when the meeja report it).

Exhibit 2: my ex. Worked several years as a hospital administrator. One of her duties was to serve as secretary for a weekly two-hour meeting when all the senior oncologists on substantial six-figure salaries were tied up with red tape to ensure the hospital could demonstrate to a court that it had ticked all the right boxes in the event of being sued.

[Mike4]

Fortunately, I haven't needed to see a GP for many years. However, recently, my wife needed to make a face-to-face appointment with her GP to review her medication (the stuff women of a certain age need). The first appointment available was at leat six weeks away. How do they get into such a mess that a quite important review can't take place for six weeks? What type of problem gets you from the six week waiting list to the urgent list? More to the point, what are they doing about it? If this were a real business, they would have to fix the problem, or go out of business.

Unfortunately, the two systems are not directly comparable.

If it was a real business, they would charge more, and if you couldn't pay you wouldn't get the service. But governments are obsessed with keeping taxes down, which means we suffer all round defects in our infrastructure and services.
Don't believe anyone who tells you that answer is increased efficiency: if it were that easy, it could have been done already. For increased efficiency, read "cuts to service".

Point of Order...

I think GP surgeries ARE 'real businesses'. But businesses whose only customer is the NHS. My impression is they fall prey to the bad business practice of having a single customer far bigger than they are, so the customer (NHS) ends up dictating the price they will pay. Then the price gets ground down to the level where there is too little profit to warrant expanding.

The (NHS) customer on the other hand, realises if they wield too much power and grind down the prices too much, the many identical suppliers will simply start going bust in droves or going 100% private (like all the dentists have), leaving the big, over-powerful customer with no-one to give their custom to.

[Gerry557]

. But governments are obsessed with keeping taxes down, which means we suffer all round defects in our infrastructure and services.
.

Wow with taxes at the highest levels in years in what is supposed to be a low tax government I just wonder how high they will be if they weren't obsessed.

[Alaric]

he first appointment available was at leat six weeks away. How do they get into such a mess that a quite important review can't take place for six weeks? What type of problem gets you from the six week waiting list to the urgent list? More to the point, what are they doing about it? If this were a real business, they would have to fix the problem, or go out of business.

It may be that they have to keep slots clear to deal with appointments classified as urgent. But have they dropped the nonsence of a few years back. You were asked to come back in x weeks time. That's often necessary to confirm that a treatment has been a success. But they don't give out appointments that far in advance, so you have to join a queue or a phone lottery nearer the day. If I ever understood why they did this, it was because they were given a target waiting time for new appointments. So rather than have to say, sorry, all slots already taken, they didn't give out slots at all until they were almost due.

[Arborbridge]

. But governments are obsessed with keeping taxes down, which means we suffer all round defects in our infrastructure and services.
.

Wow with taxes at the highest levels in years in what is supposed to be a low tax government I just wonder how high they will be if they weren't obsessed.

True: the Tories are the masters of the Stealth Tax.

[88V8]

Sorry I mean my NHS surgery to book an appointment.

If one had to pay £10 for an appt, refundable when one turns up, it would release a lot of failed appts.
Cue bleating from those that 'can't afford it'.

V8

[WickedLester]

Wonderful to see yet more self-entitlement crap getting posted.

Care to explain?