As most of you will know, with a growing and ageing population, trying to get a GP appointment can be very difficult and, in many cases, impossible. With the added challenge of living with a disability or long-term health condition, being unable to see a doctor can cause serious trauma and health complications.
Zec Richardson, who lives with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), shares his personal experience of trying to get a GP appointment and how it affects his health and wellbeing.
Looking back, I now realise that I not only took good health for granted, but I also took the fact that I could easily get an appointment with my GP for granted.
It almost seems unreal how easy it used to be to get an appointment to see a GP, and even more, so that a GP would visit you at home if needed. We were very lucky and yet we didn’t realise it because it was just the way things were.
Now trying to get an appointment with a GP is not only difficult, but also often impossible.
I, like many people who have a disability and/or chronic health condition, have either given up trying to get an appointment or just not bothered to try because I know what will happen if and when I do attempt it.
I was diagnosed with ME in 1997 and over the past few years, it has flared back up and I am struggling not only with fatigue in my muscles but also the dreaded mental fatigue and brain fog. I struggle to cope with this more than the high pain levels or the physical fatigue, it is akin to torture through sleep deprivation.
So having to do the battle of trying to get a GP appointment is horrible and being a typical stubborn man, I rarely ask my wife to help, I just attempt it several times and then give in.
Booking a GP appointment methods
Our GP surgery currently uses two methods to get an appointment. There is the online option that rarely has any appointments within the next few weeks, if at all. Then there is the morning 8am phone lottery.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I have hit redial over 200 times just to get through to the on-hold system.
This is difficult for most people, I know because I have had countless conversations online about it, but then add in a disability and or chronic health condition and it becomes a massive barrier when trying to access health care.
I am unsure if it is just the process that makes me feel even worse than I usually do or if it is that constant engaged tone, then redial, engaged tone on a loop until we get through – if we get through.
Even though I find that very difficult even on the best of days, it is when I finally get through that I struggle.
The series of pre-recorded messages that are still there from lockdown and then the on-hold music that somehow despite us being in 2024 is just the most awful sound. I have voiced my opinion that this could be done on purpose to make people give up. It is the only reasonable explanation for me because our surgery plays a violin piece that sounds like it is being played on a scratched record via the smallest tinniest speaker known to humankind.
Surely according to laws around disability, there should be an option to not have the on-hold music that was likely obtained from Guantanamo Bay and just have no sound but a single beep every minute to let you know that you are still on hold and haven’t been cut off?
I emailed my GP surgery about this and never heard anything back from them. I was forced to use the admin mailbox email address as the available online messaging service was switched off last year!
Government plans to make booking a GP appointment easier
Back in May 2023, the government announced a plan to help with the problems of getting through to a GP to make an appointment.
“Patients will be able to contact their general practice more easily and quickly – and find out exactly how their request will be handled on the day they call – as part of a major multi-million-pound overhaul of primary care.
“Practices across England will also be given £240 million this year to embrace the latest technology, replacing old analogue phones with modern systems so patients never get engaged tones and easy-to-use online tools to ensure patients get the care they need as soon as possible.
“This will mean that when patients contact their practice online or over the phone, they will know how their query will be managed on the day they make contact, rather than being told to call back later. If their need is urgent, they will be assessed and given appointments on the same day. If it is not urgent, appointments should be offered within two weeks, or patients will be referred to NHS 111 or a local pharmacy.”
However, I think it isn’t unfair of me to say that I remain unconvinced and will believe it if and when it happens!
We once had an NHS to be proud of, we had an NHS that was always there when we needed it and now that is no longer the case. I do not doubt that many health issues that are easily treated have not been picked up because it is so hard and often impossible to get a GP appointment. This will no doubt lead to people with worse health or even having a terminal diagnosis once it is eventually so problematic that they are seen as an emergency.
I have a few health issues that despite being problematic, they have never scared me, I always had the peace of mind that if the worse came to the worse, the NHS was there to catch me as I fell. I now often feel scared.
Have you faced difficulties getting a GP appointment on the NHS? Share your experiences in the comments box, on social media or contact us to tell your personal story.
