Searching for a GP appointment - your views online

Readers contacted us about their own experiences after we reported on an OAP who has been sick for a month with bronchitis saying it was “impossible” to see a GP at a beleaguered medical practice, after she previously called more than 120 times.

Christine Ranaldi: The adverts on TV say if you have been unwell (with various symptoms it could be cancer) your GP needs to see you – what a laugh that is. My brother-in-law was diagnosed over the phone with cellulitis – never saw a GP or even a practice nurse. So the adverts are great but what is the point of adverts when you can't actually see a GP? Also we all know the NHS is failing (not their fault), but people complain about waiting times in A&E. If people could be seen by their GP maybe those waiting times could be improved because people wouldn’t go to A&E to be seen by a doctor.

Marnie Tindale: My GP is still refusing a face-to-face appointment. It has to be a phone call. When I had an infected bite on my leg in the summer I had to upload photos on their website for them to diagnose me. I ended up at minor injuries unit at the Western as it got so bad. The doctor I saw there was outraged that I’d not had a face-to-face examination as it had spread to cellulitis which can cause sepsis and lead to fatality.

Saly Moir: They are not all are the same. I phoned my practice, Leith Mount, at 8am and was given a same-day appointment face-to-face with a great doctor.

The service provided by some GP practices is leaving many readers dissatisfied

Julie Colvin: Why can't we go back to the system that worked. Phone to book appointment for that week or the following week. What’s the appointment book for? It’s absolutely soul-destroying and heartless the way the system is now.

Alison Brown: Exactly, if you need an emergency appointment book that day, if not phone later and book for another day when you can get there. It was so much better. Not everyone wants an appointment for that day.

Marie Glen: My brother, who has a few problems with his heart etc, went in to his surgery to ask for appointment and they said he couldn't get one over the counter and he would need to phone for one. He went outside, called from his car and was told to come in see doctor right away. How can a receptionist determine how ill a person really is?

Gillian Ogilvie: Receptionists do not determine – it is what they are told to do. You have to give a description of the issue and the doctor decides who needs attended to most urgently.

Sharon McGaw: Let us who can afford it pay for our treatment. My dad paid privately to have his ears syringed. He booked an appointment on Monday seen on Wednesday – fantastic service.

Christine Duffy: This is absolutely outrageous. When are these people going to get back to doing what they are getting paid to do – it is happening all over. I hope the person who phoned all these times is OK. No wonder accident and emergency is overwhelmed.

Valerie Kenny: “These people”? Really?

Terence Minto: What do you mean by “get back to doing their jobs”? They are doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Bigger population, ageing population, fewer doctors, fewer nurses. It’s not rocket science.

Belinda Watson: Just wanting to vent too about the hopeless system we have. You have to call on Wednesday after 12 noon to get an appointment when new appointments are released. Given that it takes up to a dozen attempts to get through, they then inform you all the appointments are gone. It's an impossible system. Very frustrating and upsetting when you are ill and are trying to get to see any GP.

John Pallas: There is more chance of seeing another new Prime Minister than a doctor.

Mandy Grant: My own surgery is not too bad but I did have an occasion to threaten to go down with my duvet, a flask and a packed lunch and refuse to move until I got to see a doctor after phoning every morning for nearly two weeks.

Rosemary Gillibrand: Can someone please tell me how a doctor can diagnose you over the phone?

Heidi Coghlan: I’m a retired medic on a good pension. I’m also disabled and I was told I can’t get bloods checked at my surgery and have to go to hospital. The medical profession should be ashamed of itself. We once had something called vocation. Where’s that gone?

Darren Priestley: I get an appointment every time I phone my GP. Absolute madness how there are still surgeries knocking people back.