sandyman

update - I went this morning expecting to be turned away and amazingly I had my blood test so the unexpected reminder yesterday was correct. They had a bit of a struggle printing out the referral but after I got it I went downstairs and was seen straight away. I noticed my form did say "Urgent" although nobody had told me this - in fact when I went in two weeks ago to pick up the referral the first time they simply said no tests at all until further notice and didn't give me the referral.

thanks everyone for your help, this is really frustrating, I've had no cancellation message just a reminder email today that I've got an appointment tomorrow morning, The worst thing is I have been told to fast so it'll be annoying if i can't have test after all - I'm already famished!

See updated comment further down the thread. Hi, I was the person who posted the topic of no blood tests being done - see blood tests. However, before I was told they were not doing tests due to being hacked I'd made an appointment for a test tomorrow morning. I'd assumed it wasn't happening even though I was never told it was cancelled, but now I've just received a text reminding me that i have an appointment tomorrow. This is a real pain as i have something on tomorrow but also need the test. Can anyone tell me if tests are happening again or if i turn up I'll be wasting my time. thanks

I was due to have a routine annual blood test and popped in this morning to pick up a referral. Unfortunately due to the recent cyber attack I was told there will be no blood tests at all at Tessa Jowell for the next month. They weren't even able to access my referral so that i could take it somewhere else. They said it might reopen sooner and I should check in every week but they thought at least a month. This has apparently not just affected Tessa Jowell but everywhere using the same system as Kings NHS. Bit more info here, though it was not exactly my experience. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd115yw8pd3o BBC story says they can still deal with serious cases but that wasn't the impression I got. Has anyone else had this problem and navigated an alternative?

quick follow up - medication all sorted and was charged £22. Reasonable but seemed to bear little relation to the £58 my partner was quoted and the £10 i was quoted. i asked for an explanation and the receptionist didn't know. They said they'd email a full invoice/receipt but we haven't received anything yet. Not complaining about the price but do feel there's a lack of transparency. It's almost as if they make it up as they go along.

Hi, tbh i'm a bit confused myself and i wrote that post. Things seems to have changed since our last batch of pills. i think when you have a dog you want the best for them and have to trust the experts. We originally bought pills over the counter that were much cheaper but we took our dog to a sitter and it turned out he had fleas so we were advised to get a stronger brand from the vet. And yes, they were cheaper online but we wondered whether the websites were legit, we didn't want to buy anything 'dodgy' or should that be 'doggy'? And now the rules have changed and the strong pills that could be bought without a prescription now require a prescription anyway.... ...and this is where the lack of transparency re vets charges previously discussed also comes in...i'll try to be brief... last week my partner called to order the pills and was told there is an extra £58 charge for a check up to get them. I cancelled the appointment and said I'd buy them online, only to discover, as i explained earlier, that you now need that prescription to buy them online. So this morning I called the vet again to make an appointment to have the consultation to get the prescription pills and was told the price of the consultation is £10, not £58. The appointment is tomorrow so I'll report back then - but a question for consumer experts - if you are quoted a price of £10 when booking and then they say the charge is £58 after the consultation do they legally have to honour the £10 quote? hope that's clearer...to be continued....

Happened to me around 8.30 on corner of Townley and Beauval last night too - it came from behind so i had no idea it was coming, luckily it didn't claw me, but swooped so low over my head I felt the swoosh of its wings. Pretty terrifying and I could see it perched on a chimney pot so was wary of it flying down again. Presume it was the same bird, felt like something out of Hitchcock.

Just following up on vet's charges - we normally get our flea, tick, worm pills from our vet - a chain but not Neighbourhood Vet. They are already way more expensive than buying them online - £55 for three pills whereas a quick search shows them for sale online for £18. No prescription is needed, we've bought similar over the counter at Pets At Home but were advised to change the brand. My partner called to order more and was now told we have to make an appointment for a check up before they will supply them - another £58 for the check up.

I don't know if this is a sign of improvement but I received a text yesterday afternoon at 4pm asking me to make a routine appointment and I was able to do it straight away - previously the service is closed by 8:01, unless the link they sent directed me to some magic askmygp portal. Was given an appointment next Friday although it's on the phone when i asked for face to face.

This is clearly far from a unique issue. Somebody posted this on Facebook and it is so similar to posts here I asked him if he was with Tessa Jowell - he said "no, Lewisham". "This morning on the microsecond of 8am I tried to get through to my GP on the phone...it went straight through to Hold. Tried again. Same thing. Tried a third time...Same thing. OK, I thought, I will hold. 32 minutes later, I gave up. The voice said "Did you know you can now book appointments online?" NO YOU CAN'T...I have the Patient Access App & for the past 2 years it has said "This practice is unable to book appointments online." Anyhooooo...on way back from shops I popped into the actual surgery to see if I could book an appointment in advance...that was my second mistake...Receptionist said "No. You will have to ring up on a Monday morning to see if we have any for that week" "Oh, and what time should I ring?" "It's best to ring at 8am" "But i just spent 32 minutes this morning on hold and couldn't even get through" "Yeah, sorry about that, we are short-staffed at the moment...but did you kn ow you can now book appointments in advance online?" "No, you can't" "Well, there are sometimes some appointments available online" "Nope, no there aren't...looked every day for 2 years and not a scintilla of an appointment..." "Well, you could always ring up at 8am" "You do know the whole system is completely falling to pieces?" Receptionist gives rueful look. In case I lost it and set fire to the whole fecking GP Practice there and then, I left. I will try again tomorrow morning at 8am. And see if Dr Godot will see me...We are well and truly f****d, peoples."

Presumably more than selling overpriced dusters.

Can't imagine the police can do much about suspected casing of houses - sadly they don't seem able to do much even when thefts have been caught on camera. But no harm reporting - they supposedly use this data to direct future resources.

About 25 years ago if you felt poorly you just went and you'd be seen. You might have to wait but no appointment needed, you'd be seen while you were there. As they say, different times,

I've often used Melbourne tyres but I'm so old that before then I used to get my tyres from the place that's now Bora grocers on the corner near Franklins.

Don't seldoc/111 refer you to kings A&E? I had an infected finger a couple of years ago and was pretty sure all i needed was a course of antibiotics, but 111 still referred me to King's where I had to wait hours to get them. Has the system changed?

Without wishing to make light of this topic, all of this talk about kids on bikes outside stations queuing up for rich pickings makes me think of this clip.

I think the frustration is also due to what was touched on in a post above - when a valuable phone is stolen we can see on a map exactly where it is and the police still do nothing about it. Never mind apprehending the culprit they don't even help you retrieve it.

I can only speak anecdotally but there certainly don't seem to be as many police around, either in cars or on foot. Around 25 years ago I was pulled over twice in the same month (I was innocent) and was even stopped by a bobby on the beat for cycling on the pavement. Can't remember the last time i saw a bobby on the beat.

Charges seem to be ramping up everywhere. I had a look at my Thames Water bill history back to 2018 recently. It used to go up £20 - £30 a year - in 2022 it up £50 and in 2023 it went up £80. I know we've had inflation but it still feels like they are taking the piss. i imagine even when inflation comes down it will still be going up by just as much or even more.

I previously used Netquest, but give them a ring as they aren't always open. 0207 183 5539 [email protected]. I also cracked a screen during lockdown and actually replaced it myself following an online fixit clip - the difficult bit was sourcing the right replacement screen – if it's a macbook let me know the type, I ended up with lots of spares and if I've got the right one I could do it.

yes, although if they get lots of readings that require further investigation how on earth are they going to cope if they are so snowed under already. Maybe they will nudge people in the direction of private treatment and some will take up the offer - I've noticed when using health apps recently - possibly evergreen but I can't be sure – there seem to be private options popping up for routine health checks which I'd never noticed before.

My partner and I both received unsolicited texts from Tessa Jowell recently asking us to go to a local chemist to have a blood pressure test and then submit the results. Anybody else had this? What was that all about? Weirdly we live at the same address but were told to go to different pharmacies in opposite directions!

If you are thinking of silk road it looked like it had gone last time I was going past, but I've just checked and it reopened this week. https://www.timeout.com/london/news/cult-south-london-restaurant-silk-road-has-finally-reopened-022224

Apart from what happened with your car this picture of it on wrong side of the road suggests it's surely a slam dunk dangerous driving offence?

My parents had a dog in the 1960s and I can't remember us ever taking it to the vet. It probably wasn't even vaccinated for anything. all I can remember is it once had fleas. I do think life expectancy for dogs has increased in recent years which may be down to increased healthcare. We now have a dog of our own for the first time and even the cost of standard vaccinations feels astronomical. We thought we were done after a year but last time we went to the vet we were told he needed more jabs. We've timed it badly with our first dog as by the time it is "middle aged" and more prone to illness we will be retired - I've no idea ho we will be able to afford it then.