NHS Choose and Book
Discussion
Well this is a f
king fantastic service isn't it? Glad my tax contribution is being put to good use for ste like this.
Been waiting for a referral for fooking weeks. Finally get a letter saying I can choose and book my appointment. Go to website, enter my reference number, year of birth etc. Select the referral, go to step 2. "Sorry there are no appointments available". Sorry WTF? What, ever?
Now what? Proceed to step 3 and it will notify the clinic that you need to make an appointment with them. Surely they fking know that because I have been referred to them already. What bks. The clinic will contact you by 17 December, yeah right I will believe that when it happens. Even if they do, that is another two weeks away. No chance of getting an appointment this year.
I sincerely hope I am never properly ill because the NHS can't seem to get the most basic of concepts right.
Thankfully in the new year I start a new job with private health care.
Rant over, as you were.
king fantastic service isn't it? Glad my tax contribution is being put to good use for ste like this.Been waiting for a referral for fooking weeks. Finally get a letter saying I can choose and book my appointment. Go to website, enter my reference number, year of birth etc. Select the referral, go to step 2. "Sorry there are no appointments available". Sorry WTF? What, ever?
Now what? Proceed to step 3 and it will notify the clinic that you need to make an appointment with them. Surely they f
king know that because I have been referred to them already. What bks. The clinic will contact you by 17 December, yeah right I will believe that when it happens. Even if they do, that is another two weeks away. No chance of getting an appointment this year.I sincerely hope I am never properly ill because the NHS can't seem to get the most basic of concepts right.
Thankfully in the new year I start a new job with private health care.
Rant over, as you were.
944fan said:
I sincerely hope I am never properly ill because the NHS can't seem to get the most basic of concepts right.
.
Interestingly, that's the bit (urgent care) they are best at. Re private healthcare; it'll most likely be the same staff (doing private work on their time off) but who will then have to rely on the local NHS if something goes wrong as private don't do A&E! Good luck!.
Welcome to the clinics not putting the appointments on the system, which in my experience means the clinic is oversubscribed. Now I guess your surgery has not included any alternative hospitals, which isn't really choose and book to my mind, as the choice has been made for you.
Have only really seen Choose and Book work in London where there is genuine competition, problem is the indicative wait times for each clinic doesn't get published on the piece of paper you get, but my guess will be the typical wait will be 90 days plus.
Give me details of the hospital clinic (speciality) approximate area you live in or your nearest hospitals, and I'll look up alternatives you might be prepared to travel to. Then you might be able to get the secretary to cancel original C&B booking and make a new one to include one you might get an appointment a bit sooner with. Will need a few days, might not have access to do the checking for you.
Have only really seen Choose and Book work in London where there is genuine competition, problem is the indicative wait times for each clinic doesn't get published on the piece of paper you get, but my guess will be the typical wait will be 90 days plus.
Give me details of the hospital clinic (speciality) approximate area you live in or your nearest hospitals, and I'll look up alternatives you might be prepared to travel to. Then you might be able to get the secretary to cancel original C&B booking and make a new one to include one you might get an appointment a bit sooner with. Will need a few days, might not have access to do the checking for you.
Thankfully I didn't have to do that when I sorted out my referral, I went through it with the consultant when I had my meeting with her.
Basically she asked if I wanted to go to a farther away hospital etc if a space came up but as its not an urgent op (i.e. life threatening) I can wait till a space comes up within the 3 month time limit at ARI with that consultant
Hope you get it sorted out, best thing I can suggest is phone, always helps if you can speak to someone who may actually be able to tell you what you are booked under etc.
Basically she asked if I wanted to go to a farther away hospital etc if a space came up but as its not an urgent op (i.e. life threatening) I can wait till a space comes up within the 3 month time limit at ARI with that consultant
Hope you get it sorted out, best thing I can suggest is phone, always helps if you can speak to someone who may actually be able to tell you what you are booked under etc.
rog007 said:
944fan said:
I sincerely hope I am never properly ill because the NHS can't seem to get the most basic of concepts right.
.
Interestingly, that's the bit (urgent care) they are best at. Re private healthcare; it'll most likely be the same staff (doing private work on their time off) but who will then have to rely on the local NHS if something goes wrong as private don't do A&E! Good luck!.
If 'Choose & Book' was being used properly then the patient would, in the majority of cases, have their first appointment booked with the consultant/specialist's clinic at the hospital of their choice before they left the appointment with the GP referring them 
.
Sometimes, clinics are 'hidden' to GP Surgeries on the C&B system so it's a case of the 'referring' GP giving the patient the letter (including a few [or several...] different potential hospitals as agreed with the patient), then the patient calling the local number a few days later and then (s)he has their first appointment in the consultant/specialist's clinic at the hospital of their choice .
Why a choice of hospitals in the second case? Because hospitals have different waiting times in different specialities, and this info sometimes isn't available to the GP Surgery - but when the patient calls (s)he gets the inside gen and picks a hospital that suits them in terms of shorter wait vs. convenience in getting to the hospital (among other personal criteria).
In the first scenario (where the patient leaves the GP appointment with his/her appointment in their grubby mitts), the searching out of the earliest/most convenient appointment vs. best/most convenient hospital for the patient is carried out in the GP Surgery or on Reception afterwards.
Clearly, from comments on this thread, it's not working as intended in too many cases
.
. Sometimes, clinics are 'hidden' to GP Surgeries on the C&B system so it's a case of the 'referring' GP giving the patient the letter (including a few [or several...] different potential hospitals as agreed with the patient), then the patient calling the local number a few days later and then (s)he has their first appointment in the consultant/specialist's clinic at the hospital of their choice
.Why a choice of hospitals in the second case? Because hospitals have different waiting times in different specialities, and this info sometimes isn't available to the GP Surgery - but when the patient calls (s)he gets the inside gen and picks a hospital that suits them in terms of shorter wait vs. convenience in getting to the hospital (among other personal criteria).
In the first scenario (where the patient leaves the GP appointment with his/her appointment in their grubby mitts), the searching out of the earliest/most convenient appointment vs. best/most convenient hospital for the patient is carried out in the GP Surgery or on Reception afterwards.
Clearly, from comments on this thread, it's not working as intended in too many cases
.Expecting the GP to do it there and then is a waste of a GPs time as Choose and Book is absolutely not fit for purpose in this respect. Far to slow, crashes, does have a way of get up the clinics as the GP expects to see them , or knows them etc.etc. patients dithering as they quite rightly take time to make a decision on the logistics of make a choice.
I became the C&B expert for my old surgery (not saying much) and some specialities were almost impossible to find on C&B, to expect a GP to be able to complete in a consultation is just not realistic, and something we really only did for frail elderly, truly urgent appointments we wanted seen ASAP, the illiterate & vulnerable patients, as the clinic times were never available for my local hospitals. The indicative wait times (average time to be seen) were available and I used them to good effect for patients looking to be seen. i.e. Breast appointments in local hospital 20+ days wait for urgents! got bypassed to another London hospital with 1 to 3 day wait - was very reassuring for these patients.
I became the C&B expert for my old surgery (not saying much) and some specialities were almost impossible to find on C&B, to expect a GP to be able to complete in a consultation is just not realistic, and something we really only did for frail elderly, truly urgent appointments we wanted seen ASAP, the illiterate & vulnerable patients, as the clinic times were never available for my local hospitals. The indicative wait times (average time to be seen) were available and I used them to good effect for patients looking to be seen. i.e. Breast appointments in local hospital 20+ days wait for urgents! got bypassed to another London hospital with 1 to 3 day wait - was very reassuring for these patients.
It worked well at one GP Surgery I used to work at in Bolton (and the C&B staff in the PCT were always happy to help...) . If the GP couldn't book appointments in his surgery, he would initially set it up then we'd book the appointment on Reception afterwards - assuming that the appointments weren't 'hidden', ie not on C&B, but the C&B staff in the PCT would explain this when rung with the patient waiting anyway and I'd explain it to the patient... Everybody's happy... .
At the other surgery I worked at in Bolton, and also a later job in Atherton, practice policy had the GP booking the initial 'interest' then someone like me booking the actual appointment and then ringing the patient with their appointment several days later...
At my last GP Practice, C&B worked so well that I got a letter telling me when and at which hospital my first appointment was - much like too many posters on this thread
. Totally off beam .
As in my first post, if C&B is used properly with a supportive C&B service in the CCG (nee PCT) and proper info, the patient should leave their GP appointment with an appointment for their referral or a number to ring if it can't be booked at the time - or the knowledge that the speciality they need to see isn't on C&B and a number to chase their appointment up if they've heard nowt in 6 weeks .
. If the GP couldn't book appointments in his surgery, he would initially set it up then we'd book the appointment on Reception afterwards - assuming that the appointments weren't 'hidden', ie not on C&B, but the C&B staff in the PCT would explain this when rung with the patient waiting anyway and I'd explain it to the patient... Everybody's happy... .At the other surgery I worked at in Bolton, and also a later job in Atherton, practice policy had the GP booking the initial 'interest' then someone like me booking the actual appointment and then ringing the patient with their appointment several days later...
At my last GP Practice, C&B worked so well that I got a letter telling me when and at which hospital my first appointment was - much like too many posters on this thread
. Totally off beam .As in my first post, if C&B is used properly with a supportive C&B service in the CCG (nee PCT) and proper info, the patient should leave their GP appointment with an appointment for their referral or a number to ring if it can't be booked at the time - or the knowledge that the speciality they need to see isn't on C&B and a number to chase their appointment up if they've heard nowt in 6 weeks
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