# waiting time for medicals



## pringle (Jun 7, 2011)

Hello

Just started stage one in this journey and was wondering if anyone can tell me how long you had to wait for the medical?

I rang surgery today to book appointments and I was informed that they had no appointments. I was like what do you mean you have no appointments. I was informed that they have none for July and are not taking any for August as yet so looks like I am going to have to ring them daily to see when they are booking August appointments before they go as apparently they only do a limited amount and go quickly.

On top of this she informed me my GP has retired and Ive never seen another GP so will this be a problem on the medical?

Pringle x


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## pinkblossom (May 24, 2014)

Wow, Pringle, good job you don't need to see a doctor quick, lol! I don't understand why they won't let you book for Aug, espec as it is a medical which takes more of a docs time so needs planning for. Thankfully we didn't have a problem with booking ours and never have had any problems getting appointments... I'm not quite sure what your options are... Can you change practises? 

I can't imagine it being a problem regarding which GP you see, any one of them can access your records and maybe they'll record your GP retiring on the form... In fact, until we had ours I didn't know who our doctor was as even though we had been with them for a year I hadn't seen anyone 

I would get back onto them and emphasise the importance, and after all you are going to have to pay for the medicals, I assume, so it's of benefit to them to get you in.

Hope you sort this out xx


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

We had a similar problem with power trip receptionist.  I went on their website and found the practice managers name.  I went in and asked for her in person and spoke to her in her office about our situation.  I basically explained  nicely that I understood how difficult it was that we needed so many appointments  blocking off - both dh and I needed about 40 minutes each. But essentially they were standing between us and approval.  

The adoption medicals are private not nhs covered so they have to be paid for and many have a policy of booking out of surgery hours.  I asked if she could make a personal plea for us to all the gps and see if anyone would do it at any time.  Said we'd come in early late whatever.  In the end that sorted it ours were £175 each so the gp got £350 for the hour and a half too.

Don't worry about gp retirement we had moved house and surgery and had never attended the new one. No one said anything good luck xx


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## Macgyver (Oct 27, 2008)

We had to book ours a couple of weeks in advance as they wanted us to have a 45 min slot which means that's 3 standard appointment times. when I explained to the receptionist what it was for she was more than happy to fit us in as soon as she could.
It is more of a paperwork appointment with the dr going through the form and checking your medical file for any issues. Also weight, height, bmi, blood pressure and a wee test. 
I would call back.
Good luck x


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## pringle (Jun 7, 2011)

Thanks Ladies

Just rang surgery again and still no appointments  . Asked to speak to the practice manager and was told he isn't in today so  I asked when he would be in & was informed hes on one weeks A/L now. I am considering changing surgeries but concerned how long it will take for my medical notes to be transfered as my current surgery are very relaxed about everything and surgeries are very strict where I live that you have to be in the catchment area.

The receptionist asked if I was paying for this and I informed her that the agency is paying not sure if this makes a difference. She also said that the gps only allocate a few each month  & that its only the 10th July today so cannot see what my problem is. . Will ring them again tomorrow to see if those August appointments have been realeased and to ask if anyone is covering the practice managers job or if I can speak to a GP. 

Wish I could change surgeries really as not much faith in them anyway as took 3 visits to GP in 3 weeks before they would refer my husband to a specialist regarding a growth he had which we were concerned about. Saw 2 different gps and both said its a common wart can take 2 years to go. On 3rd visit my dh insisted on seeing a specialist, was refereed to hosp had growth on face removed immediately as they said they were 99% sure it was cancerous so had facelift on side of face and he has a 3 inch scar. Results came back it was cancer, so we were unable to adopt at the time. Dh is fine now & just has to have 6 month checks at hosp.

Sorry for the medical history just came flowing out.

Pringle x


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## bing bang (Mar 13, 2014)

I think you should put your fur down. If their manager is on leave someone will be covering them. I called my surgery earlier and they do theres on a Saturday.  I asked how long I would wait but she didn't answer just said call back when I get form. I also asked how much it is and she said between 70 and 150!


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## Troodles (Jun 7, 2009)

Hiya


Keep pestering them and speak to whoever is covering practice manager or get their email address and complain so it's there when they get back from AL. 


Don't let the flipping receptionist hold up your process. We've just had to wait a month for medical forms to come back from LA medical advisors due to a backlog so you really want to get these done ASAP.  


Good luck xx


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## Blueboo (Feb 11, 2012)

Hi

I had real problems with my doctors when I was trying to get my medical, and we only had a couple of weeks or we would have missed the next APT training session which would have delayed our stage 2 quite a lot. In the end I went to a private GP based at my nearest private hospital. It cost a lot more than my GP would have (£210 I think) but they booked me in within 2 days. I had to get my GP to produce a print out of my history and give it to my private GP, this cost £10 and took a few days. I was worried that the panel would be concerned that my medical had been done by someone who didn't know me but this wasn't an issue at all, even with my complicated medical history! It was well worth it in the end as I was getting so frustrated with my surgery. Worth considering?


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## pringle (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi ya all

Thank you so much for your replies. Got a little update today! Spoke to a nice receptionist today who has managed to get my dh in for his medical on the 25th July  . Still waiting for August appointments to be released for mine but the nice receptionist did explain that the appointments had been set but they were just waiting for gp to confirm them. She took my name and telephone number and said they would ring me once they are released. I will still ring Monday though just in case they forget, I'm also taking my father to the doctors Monday so will ask to speak to the acting practice manager if I have no joy.

Pringle x


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## mafergal (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi, we had similar problems.  It took about 3 months to get ours done and we paid for ours ourselves.  First I went into the surgery with our consent form and medical questionnaire to book the appointment.  The first delay was that the surgery wanted their own consent form signed in addition and as DW wasn't with me they wouldn't let me submit them.

So the next week I handed in the two sets of consent forms and was told that we were requesting a private appointment (as not NHS) so had to wait 30 working days for the invoice and I couldn't book an appointment until the invoice was paid.  As soon as the invoice came (bang on 30 days later) I paid it and phoned a few days later to make the appointment.  I was told we had to wait again up to 30 working days to be contacted for an appointment.  Those days passed with me phoning weekly to see if there was any updates. Eventually I got through to the practice manager when I said I wanted to make a complaint as I had paid the invoice 1 1/2 months ago and still did not have an appointment. The practice manager then gave us back to back appointments for the following week.  He apologised and said they were a Dr. short and really backed up with appointments and that was the reason for the delay.

We explained all of this to our SW and she was really good and understanding and we were allowed to proceed to stage 2 without the medical being done.  Everyone else on our prep had no issued with their medicals.  Because they are private appointments their GP's did the appointments out of surgery hours. I agree with others about putting your foot down and I wish I had gone in sooner and demanded to see someone.  Whether you or your agency pay for the medical they are being paid for and should be completed and received by your agencies Dr. within 2 months of being requested to fit in with stage 1. Good luck!

x


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## time2bmum (May 26, 2014)

I must say we were quite lucky with ours. Originally I called and they were going to give us an appointment in about 6 weeks as they only do them at certain points. They said I could call back though the following week in case anything had opened up. I did and explained that we needed to get them done earlier to ensure we could hit the deadline and she was lovely. She went off and spoke to the manager and "made" some appointments for us. They were supposed to be 30 mins and I was in there for 1hr 15 mins in the end, an hr for my husband but there was no issue at all. We were relatively new to the surgery so didn't have our own GP but didn't matter. Best bit.. they gave us the forms back in the session. I know from previously they have completed them after the session and sent them in but they did it there and then which is probably why it took so long, but then we could send them in straight away. I would see if you can do that if you can.


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## pringle (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi

Little update from the Doctors.

We received a letter today with dh appointment details and it states that Adoption agency is paying for the medical which I had discussed with receptionist so I'm feeling Happy   so far but the I read at the bottom line of the letter you must pay for this medical on the day of the appointment before seeing doctor and it has to be cash or cheque. 

I explained to receptionist that VA had told me that if they send invoice to them they will pay and she said yes that's ok. I asked her if she would like the adoption agency's name & address and she said no that's ok which I thought was strange but now I can see why.  

Pringle   xx


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## mummy to little pea (Nov 8, 2013)

don't panic pringle, my DH and I's also said that but they just let you in as they would have already invoiced the agency, i think it's where ppl will have to pay for their own medicals.

Glad you had it all sorted and hope you get your medical soon x


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## pringle (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi ladies

Update from me. Telephoned doctors this morning and asked if I could speak to the practice manager. Practice manger still on hols and when I asked to speak to who ever is covering him the receptionist couldn't be more helpful. She had an appointment date for a medical for me 8th August and apologised for the letter going out asking for payment. She then went on to say how  she understood how important this was. They have asked for my medical form to be brought into doctors two days before medical so GP can look at it in advance and for him to complete some before the medical. Is this normal practice in completing some of the form before the medical? I can understand GP reading it before the medical.

Hope everyone is OK

Pringle x


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## mafergal (Jul 31, 2013)

Yes, at least we did.  If I remember rightly the first 2-3 pages need to be completed by you and I think it says this must be completed prior to submitting to GP. It's basic things like your name, address, medication you take, anything the GP should be aware of etc.


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## SWGirl (Aug 19, 2004)

Hi Pringle,

My advice would be don't change GPs at this stage as guidance says it can take 6 weeks to transfer your notes from one GP surgery to another (it took more like around 8 weeks for my partners notes recently).

Once you've done your medical though I would definitely try to find out how other surgeries compare.  You don't want to have to experience waiting times like that once you've got a little one.  I hope you live near an out of hours GP surgery that you can easily use instead.


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## becs40 (Apr 9, 2013)

Hi Pringle,

We had to complete our bit of the medical form and submit back to sw with our formal application. They then forwarded them to the GP so I assume they had them beforehand. No payment was ever mentioned to us either by the agency or the GP so assume they either sorted it amongst themselves or they didn't charge? We were only in with GP for 15 minutes so can't see how they can justify some if the fees others have had to pay.


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## Macgyver (Oct 27, 2008)

We had to pay for our medicals and they were £125.00 each. We were in there an hour but our LA don't pay these fees. Also we had to pay a further £75.00 each for an updated one before matching panel as it was over six months since the last one   
I wouldn't have minded but it was the same form dr had filled out before hand with an additional comment saying no changes in the last 8 months AAhHHHHH


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