The Health Thread

[greece]

From my experience if you need to see a GP doctor urgently the lady that makes the appointments will suggest you to give them a call at 8am in the morning to get a same day appointment otherwise they will book you a normal one that might take 3 or even more days, once they told my bf that his appointment will be taking place in 2 weeks... And we canceled it because he had already recover by then

[MrD]

I am pretty sure most practices work like this because they will get cancellations and this is the only way they can guarantee a more "immediate" service. However, I have found from experience that if you do push them they may have a few "spare" appointments or if you insist that you dont mind what doctor you see (we have a centre with 11 GPs !!!)

[ClareBarr]

No appointments available with the doctor today....so I need to call them back tomorrow morning

Can't you get an appointmenet for tomorrow now? What's the point of making you call back tomorrow and all appointments might be gone again?

Thanks for your advice, Beate. I must say I should've thought of this...not thinking straight at the mo. Had to speak to a "doctors assistant" on the phone & won't bore u all with the details but she left me on hold for ages, then tried to offer me an appointment for Thursday...I told her I was on the phone to a doctor LAST Thursday, trying to get an appointment! Anyway she finally gave in & gave me an appointment tomorrow morning...phew!!

[Beate]

And again and again I am reminded how bad the health system here is (note, not the treatments just the system) if a normal appointment does take days to make or you can only get one in a few weeks' time. Our GP practice usually gives you an appointment next day if you don't mind which doctor it is. They are open 8am - 8pm 7 days a week, but yes, they only have a certain number of emergency appointments which I find completely illogical - the nature of an emgergency is that it comes on suddenly. You can of course always ask for a doctor to call you back if it's something they can assist you with over the phone and they can write you a prescription which you then collect at the surgery. If it's really urgent you could also go to a Walk-In Centre or hospital A&E but you might have to wait a few hours to be seen.
I see that you have an appointment now so that shows that persistence wins out.

[ClareBarr]

Well I just got back from the doctor - they called me a few hours ago with a cancellation so I was given the 3pm slot today. I saw a locum doctor - I get so sick (no joke intended of keep seeing different doctors whenever I go to my surgery.  I told him I'd been very ill Thursday & Friday, & my throat remains really sore & I can't eat properly. He put his hand on the top of my head, so he could examine my throat with the (light?) in the other hand. If he had read my notes, he'd know I have Fibromyalgia & that means I'm very sensitive to touch....his putting his hand on my head in turn hurt my neck & felt really uncomfortable.

Anyway......CALM.

At least he prescribed a few things (mouthwash for the throat, & paracetamol - although he didn't bother checking if I'm on any other meds, which I am - & I can't mix the paracetamol with my Gabepentin & Naproxen, which I take to ease the pain caused by the Fibro). Also he gave me a medical certificate to cover my absence from work today & tomorrow (I only work part time).

I'm pleased that, despite feeling like shite, I still had my wits about me today - sometimes you really have to push for things you want, & it annoys me when people don't do their job properly.

Sorry peeps...end of rant now, promise! Am at home again in my nice warm flat, & have got prescriptions & a sick note for work.......that's the main thing!!

[Ms Thrifty]

For those currently suffering from coughs, my sister has tried it and says it works, though doesn't taste great and some people might have difficulty sourcing the ingredient: grate some fresh turmeric, steep it in water and then drink the liquid.