# Doctaly: Online private GP appointment service to expand across the UK in 2018



## Northerner (Sep 17, 2016)

A new service which allows patients to book a 15-minute appointment with a GP at a local practice for £40 online could begin expanding across the UK in 2018 following successful trials in London. 

i reported on the launch of Doctaly – through which GPs can provide care to patients on a private basis outside their NHS work – in north London in August. Following the successful trial, the creator behind the online service is planning to roll it out through the rest of London and the Home Counties in 2016 and 2017, moving on to England, Wales and Scotland the following year. 

The service is meant to address the long waiting times many patients face to see their NHS GP but campaigners have criticised Doctaly for allowing those who can afford it to queue-jump. There is also concern that it is easing the way for the privatisation of the health service.

https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news...gp-appointment-service-expand-across-uk-2018/


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## grovesy (Sep 17, 2016)

Private GP service at my 2 local Private Hospitals are around the £100 mark with prescriptions on top! They don't cover weekends and nights!


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## mikeyB (Sep 17, 2016)

It'll never happen in Scotland.


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## Austin Mini (Sep 17, 2016)

I have waited over three weeks to see my GP. I went to my pharmacist for help and took his advice and am better now. Am going to see GP next Thursday for the appointment and when I actually see him I will say I cant remember what it was I wanted to see him for. Last week I was in the surgery with my wife at 4pm and only one patient waiting yet all the doctors in attendance waiting rooms empty. The three week wait is a farce they just sit in their surgerys twiddling their thumbs and counting their dosh.


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## mikeyB (Sep 18, 2016)

I'm so, so lucky where I live. The local GP has around 600 patients, open surgery in the mornings (no appointment) and appointments in the afternoon. I have never had to wait more than two days for an appointment, and anything urgent I just trundle my wheelchair round for opening time in the morning. Out of the tourist season, there may be only three or four hardy islanders waiting for the doc, and nobody minds the wait catching up on the gossip in the waiting room.

By the way, AM, if you consulted the pharmacist about your problem, and you are better now, why are you keeping the appointment with the doctor? Is it worth going, and using up appointment time for someone else? I was just wondering.


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## Northerner (Sep 18, 2016)

Austin Mini said:


> I have waited over three weeks to see my GP. I went to my pharmacist for help and took his advice and am better now. Am going to see GP next Thursday for the appointment and when I actually see him I will say I cant remember what it was I wanted to see him for. Last week I was in the surgery with my wife at 4pm and only one patient waiting yet all the doctors in attendance waiting rooms empty. The three week wait is a farce they just sit in their surgerys twiddling their thumbs and counting their dosh.


I absolutely agree that 3 weeks is way too long to be able to see a GP, it is ludicrous and often pointless, but you shouldn't be blaming the doctors for it. I'm pretty damn sure they are not sat there twiddling their thumbs and counting their dosh - this and the previous government have piled on a massive administrative burden on the dwindling number of GPs, who are dealing with more appointments than ever before. The NHS is under-resourced by a huge amount - just because you can't see them working, doesn't mean they are not earning every penny. Jeremy Hunt would like us to believe that it is always about money where doctors are concerned, but it is a hugely demanding job made even harder by a government agenda designed to discredit it from every available angle


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## Owen (Sep 18, 2016)

3 weeks is the average at my new GP. Then you lucky to get the whole ten minutes.

I would happily pay for an extended appointment to resolve everything rather than being told to make another appointment as there is not enough time today.

I guess I was a bit spoilt at my old surgery.


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## Ljc (Sep 18, 2016)

At my surgery , if I want to see a particular GP it's often a three week wait , I can usually get an apointment in a week if I am happy to see any GP, most GP slots are for what they call on the day appointments , so if I'm rough and need to see gp quickly I do have to phone early to get an on the day appointment,   if my practice is fully booked they  then check the main practice in town.
IMO the only way to cut the waiting time down for GP appointments is to have far more GPs than we have now, with the way the NHS is being treated, I can't see that happening anytime soon. You can't squeeze a quart into a pint pot


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## Northerner (Sep 18, 2016)

My surgery used to run an 'open surgery' on 3 mornings a week (possibly more) where you could just go in and wait for a doctor to come available. I did it a couple of times and maximum wait seemed to be about an hour. However, they stopped doing this a couple of years ago due to there being insufficient staff to cope with the increasing number of patients.

Fund it separately, with its own tax - currently the government take the money and then decide to spend it on nuclear weapons or bombing Syria instead, and there's little we can do about it  I think all the rich politicians who pushed for Brexit should stump up the £350m a week they promised us


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## grovesy (Sep 18, 2016)

I believe the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb has proposed  a dedicated NHS Tax at their Conference!


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## Northerner (Sep 18, 2016)

grovesy said:


> I believe the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb has proposed  a dedicated NHS Tax at their Conference!


It was suggested that Labour ought to raise National Insurance by a penny to help pay for the NHS, but Ed Miliband left it out of the manifesto


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## Diabeticliberty (Sep 19, 2016)

This is usually not the fault of your local GP. The plain fact of the matter is our doctors have too many patients, too much restriction, not enough time and certainly not enough money. There seems to be a gentle consensus of opinion that most of us would pay more to directly support NHS funding. I would certainly be prepared to pay a lot more. The thing is though with governments absolutely desperate to hold on to votes they will not make the serious decisions that are needed. for risk off offending a chunk of the voting electorate and some of the crackpot element in our media. Neither for the most part will CREDIBLE members of the opposition - see Northerners comment above regarding the Wallace And Gromit lookeelikee former Labour Party leader who to be frank was not particularly credible either


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## pippaandben (Sep 19, 2016)

It is a ridiculous situation when you get an emergency appt (ie go online after midnight through online appt system) to see Dr because you can barely put any pressure on your foot because of the pain - get a letter for an xray at hospital the same afternoon - then have to wait 2 weeks for the results to be sent back to surgery. This was last Friday. Receptionist say came in this morning but no-one has seen the report and won't until Monday so phone in for telephone consultation sometime Monday. Due to hospital appt for me on Tuesday cannot get emergency appt for OH til Wednesday. Now 3 weeks after xray and nearly 5 weeks after pain started as had thought it was something that would clear up - it hasn't!! How can Dr diagnose a foot problem without hands on manipulation and testing?


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## Lilian (Sep 19, 2016)

My surgery are terrible for routine appointments or non urgent ones but are brilliant with urgent ones.     The surgeries in the area are now opening on a week end but only for routine appointments to try and ease the load and government directive I think but you wont get an appointment at your own surgery on a week end it is usually at one of the others.     The other day my legs flared up in a very painful rash (cellulitis).   I phoned and got an appointment that afternoon.   I was given anti biotics and told if it  was worse on Friday to come in that day, if it looks the same to make an appointment for Monday.   On Friday I called to make an appointment for the Monday and got one straight away.   By the way did you know you should be able to look up your test results online.   You have to arrange it with your surgery.   The deadline to do this was last April I think.   Repeat prescriptions online have been going for a long time and making appointments, but my doctor only has one appointment a day left open for online booking so unless you are prepared to wait for several weeks it is pointless booking online.


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