PATIENTS have vented their frustrations over booking GP appointments in Surrey.
A survey conducted by Healthwatch Surrey found 37 per cent of 1,111 people questioned across the county were rarely or never able to get an appointment on a day or time they wanted.
One respondent said: "The surgery operates a queue system – at 7am you can wait in a queue stretching out into the car park and you may or may not get an appointment for that day, hardly the best system for ill and elderly people! It is positively archaic."
But doctor Richard Olliver, who worked as a GP in Horley for more than 30 years before retiring, said the appointment problem is often down to the number of patients a GP has to see on any given day.
Dr Olliver, who is also the mayor of Horley, said: "You go through a surgery of 25 patients or something like that and then, in the afternoon, another 20/23, so you are getting about 50 visits a day. Each one only gets ten minutes and you have got to make a decision at the end of that ten minutes about the patient. It's not an easy job. Once I retired I felt far more relaxed than I did then."
He added: "We need to train more doctors. We need to upgrade the training of nurses so they can take on duties of doctors. You have got nurse practitioners who are extremely good and they can take the pressures off doctors."
The results also revealed patients are concerned they do not get to see their own GP, affecting their continuity of care. One man said he had never seen his own GP in 19 years.
Dr Olliver said seeing the same GP is now almost "impossible" due to the extra duties they have.
He said GPs are also now expected to record a lot more information: "The recording time [takes up a lot of] the allocation of your ten minutes. You have got to enter everything on the computer. You have got to record everything otherwise, if it's not been recorded, it's not been done."
Chief executive of Healthwatch, Mike Rich, said the survey will be shared with health commissioners and GP practices, so services can respond to the problems.
Mr Rich said: "Patients said they would like a three-category booking system: one for urgent same-day appointments, one for non-urgent appointments in the following few weeks, and one for longer term dates of two weeks to six months ahead.
"I urge GP practices to hear what is being said by their patients.
"The survey findings also clearly show many GP practices need to adapt to modern lives and should operate much more flexible systems to allow those working in London, or looking after children, for example, to book appointments at convenient times."
It isn't all bad news however. Some 34 per cent of those questioned said they often got an appointment on their chosen day with 28 per cent always or often getting one at their chosen time.
The remaining respondents said they "sometimes" got an appointment on a day or at a time that suited, but many were frustrated over how long it took to get it in the first place.
Mr Rich added: "Despite these issues it's also clear that many GP practices are flexible and are doing a very good job."
Healthwatch works to improve health and social care services across the county.
Following the survey Healthwatch has recommended:
1. All people regardless of disability, gender, or working situation are treated equally and able to access appointments without fear of discrimination or of being overlooked or disregarded.
2. Alternative, viable booking methods are available to meet the needs of all, for example, people who are hard of hearing, who have to travel far to work or work shifts, parents on the school run or older students, they should all have a means by which they can realistically book an appointment with their GP.
3. Elderly people and people who are unwell do not have to stand outside surgeries in the early morning in order to get an appointment to see a GP.
4. People do not run up high phone bills in order to book an appointment with their GP.
5. People are able to get through to the receptionist on the phone in a reasonable amount of time, ie, not 65 redials or three days of trying.
6. Patients do not have to divulge medical information to non-medical staff in order to secure an appointment with their GP.
7. People respect reception staff but in turn are respected and not subject to rude or disrespectful treatment.
