Walk in appointments no longer available at The Lister

[Monkey]

From 11 November, no more walk in appointments available at The Lister. Poster at reception says if you need to see a doctor on the same day or the next, contact your gp practice and if you're not registered with one, contact one near you.

When you contact your practice, your gp or nurse will give you advice. If you still need to be seen, they'll book you an appointment at your practice. If one is not available, they can book you in at the lister.

That's a shame. Was such a useful service!

[Dopamine1979]

I interpret that as meaning it's still available but you should try your own GP surgery first which seems reasonable.

[Monkey]

I think so but your gp surgery seems to have to make the appointment for you. Not as convenient as before but probably necessary. I was there yesterday and they were having to turn people away.

[nikki73]

Monkey do you know whether this is also true at weekends?

[Monkey]

I think it is the same for weekends as it says: "if your GP is closed, you will be redirected to the out of hours service, or you can phone 02086939066. A&e is for emergencies only."

But then they say that this new service (whereby you book them via your GP) is available 7 days a week.

I'll try and scan the leaflet and post it here.

[Shaggy]

I saw the poster too. I don't interpret "there will be no more walk in appointments available" as "there will still be walk in appointments available."

Walk in appointments are stopping. If your GP can't give you an appointment, your GP can choose to get you an appointment at the Lister within two days.

No room for interpretation.

Monkey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> From 11 November, no more walk in appointments

> available at The Lister. Poster at reception says

> if you need to see a doctor on the same day or the

> next, contact your gp practice and if you're not

> registered with one, contact one near you.

>

> When you contact your practice, your gp or nurse

> will give you advice. If you still need to be

> seen, they'll book you an appointment at your

> practice. If one is not available, they can book

> you in at the lister.

>

> That's a shame. Was such a useful service!

[JohnL]

The service has gone is my interpretation then ?

Maybe they want us to use ....

https://patient.emisaccess.co.uk/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2f

Will this still work

http://www.seldoc.co.uk/

[El Pibe]

i gather it was expensive to run, but imo this is precisel the worng way to go. Alot of people will end up in a&e which is significantly more expensive.

It was a lifesaver on occasion, quite literally in my case when my GP kept sending me away as some sort of malingerer and the lister diagnosed me with pleurisy!!!

[Sue]

I went to the Lister for the first time on Friday.

I had phoned my GP on Friday afternoon to find out if there was any way I could see a doctor before Monday, and they told me to go down there (well, actually, they first of all told me I could phone SELDOC for a home visit - surely you'd have to be incapable of getting out of bed to qualify for a home visit?).

When I looked at the Lister's website for directions, I saw there was a form you could fill in for a phone consultation within an hour, so I did that. They phoned within the hour, were very thorough, and then said that I needed to see a GP immediately and that I should go in person to the Lister.

After a two hour wait (which I didn't mind) I went in, only to be immediately harangued for going to the Lister instead of my GP! :( I very nearly just walked out at that point.

The doctor I saw said that the reason for the imminent new system was that too many GPs were advising people to go to the Lister, and that this was not appropriate - eh? How is the new system going to change that?

Anyway, the purpose of my post is this. After I'd been examined (and reassured to some extent), I was told I needed tests, that samples had to be sent away, that the Lister couldn't do this, and that I had to go to my GP anyway.

Is this still going to be the case under the new system? Because if so, what is the point of seeing a GP who can't take the appropriate action?

[Monkey]

Under the new system, GPs won't be able to advise their patients to go to the Lister willy milly. They will have to call the Lister themselves and explain why their patients need to be seen (and probably why they can't see them!). This should stem the flow of patients to the Lister a bit (or indeed a lot).

We used it a few times at the weekend when calling Seldoc seemed ott. It was convenient for small illnesses that did not need investigating further or as a stopgap when you needed to see someone urgently and your GP was not available soon enough as is too often the case.