Doctors

[Ommid]

lol that really is poor nicho

[Saracen]

Firstly, my wife uses the doctor more often than I do, but she usually phones in the morning and they give her an appointment for that day. If a local GP is unavailable, our local hospital also has a primary care centre where you can simply walk in, and whenever we've had to use that, we've been seen in a maximum of about 90 minutes. We've also used our local A&E with a similar maximum wait, and that was on a Friday night (drunk central!). In all cases, the medical personnel have taken whatever time it needed to deal with us, have been unfailingly courteous and professional and have never rushed us out of the door. OK, others may have had different or worse experiences, but bluntly, I'm sick of hearing about how terrible the NHS is when almost every experience that we've had with them has been good.

Quoted for truth. I concur absolutely.

[kickstart 1]

My new doctor is a vast improvement over my older one.

I went the other week for a long standing problem and while I was there because I hadn't been for over a year he measured me and weighed me, took my blood pressure, checked out a few other things.

Just got to wait now for the appointment to go and have some cameras placed in places you don't wanna know.

If you havent had it done before its not so bad ( i had to take my mum last week ) She was sedated throughout the whole thing! When i collected her , she said 'oh that was quick ' To which i had to break the news she had been 2 hours ! (she thought she had only been gone 10 mins

[Sinizter]

I think you should be thankful for what you have. I would not be a doctor on the NHS under any variation of the current circumstances.

[g8ina]

I have mixed feelings about my GP's surgery.

My original GP was "OK" but just that, nothing special, fed me whatever meds I said I thought I needed (wot ?), but recently I've seen two other doctors who have both been a heap better than him.

The last one actually got something done which the other two hadn't been able to cope with (see "Withdrawl Symptoms" thread).

Generally though my local surgery is cool - same day phone up appointments, 15 min slots, courtesy and consideration for wheelchair users like me, and the local pharmacy is fantastic !

[Kezzer]

I phoned up the hospital to see if I could get my toenail removed today (it's all the rage I'm telling you) and the woman said I needed to see my GP. I don't have a GP in the UK. So she says I can phone for a temporary GP, but by time I've registered, got an appointment and all that, I'll almost be back on my way home where my usual GP is.

[Lee H]

If you havent had it done before its not so bad

I've had them done before, and last time I joked in a semi-concious state just before I passed out from the sedation that they better wash the camera.

It's just the bloaty feeling that's a bit on the uncomfortable side as they fill you with air so they get to see everything in a clearer manner.

[Saracen]

I phoned up the hospital to see if I could get my toenail removed today (it's all the rage I'm telling you) and the woman said I needed to see my GP. I don't have a GP in the UK. So she says I can phone for a temporary GP, but by time I've registered, got an appointment and all that, I'll almost be back on my way home where my usual GP is.

Can you go private?

After all, unless you're ordinarily resident in the UK, you probably don't qualify for NHS treatment (except 'immediately necessary' treatment) anyway, though EU residents will qualify for some forms of treatment, but not others. And even then, there's waiting lists for almost all non-urgent forms of surgery. like heart care, cancer, etc.

[nichomach]

Either that, or find the nearest local hospital with a primary care centre. They're walk-in clinics and while you might have to wait a bit, you should be able to see a GP.

[vc54321]

I actually think were lucky to have the NHS compared to most other places. The service that is provided is very good in my opinion. Can normally phone up for an appointment for GP in morning and get an appointment later on in the day.