Booking and preparing for an appointment

A GP appointment is often short. If you arrive with your symptoms written down and your questions ready, you get far more out of those minutes, and you leave knowing exactly what happens next.

Booking: options and what to say

• In England the NHS lists four ways to book: the NHS App or NHS website, an online form on your surgery's website, phoning the surgery, or visiting reception.
• The surgery may ask what you need help with. The NHS says this helps them decide how soon you need to be seen and who is best to see you, so answer honestly and briefly.
• Phone script: 'Hello, my name is [name], date of birth [date]. I am registered with you. I have had [main symptom] for [how long]. I would like an appointment, please. I am free [days and times].'
• You may be offered a GP, nurse, clinical pharmacist or physiotherapist, face to face, by phone or online. Any of these can be the right person.
• The NHS says many surgeries offer extended hours on weekday evenings and Saturdays, which can fit around lectures.
• If you cannot attend, cancel as early as possible so someone else can have the slot.

Writing your symptoms down

• What: the main problem in one sentence, for example 'sharp pain on the right side of my lower stomach'.
• When: when it started and whether it is constant or comes and goes.
• What changes it: the NHS suggests noting what makes it better or worse, such as food, movement or painkillers.
• What you have tried: medicines taken, doses and whether they helped.
• Your worry: one sentence on what concerns you most, for example 'I am worried it could be my appendix'.

What to bring

• Your list of medicines, including vitamins and supplements. The NHS suggests bringing the list or the packets themselves.
• Your two or three most important questions, written down.
• Your insurance card if you are outside the NHS, and your medical summary (see the lesson on your personal medical record).
• If you would like support, a friend can come with you. If you need an interpreter, the NHS says to ask the surgery or hospital in advance.

In the room

• Start with your main problem, not the smallest one. Doctors plan the appointment around what you say first.
• Read from your notes if you are nervous; this is normal and helpful.
• The NHS says: do not be afraid to ask if you do not understand. Ask for unfamiliar words to be written down.
• Take notes, or ask your friend to.
• Be honest about everything, including things that feel embarrassing. Doctors have heard it all, and incomplete information leads to wrong advice.

Before you leave, and afterwards

• Repeat back what you heard: 'So I should take this twice a day for five days, and come back if it is not better by Friday?'
• Ask what happens next and when, and who to contact if things get worse. The NHS suggests writing this down.
• Book any tests straight away and put the dates in your calendar.
• If results do not arrive when expected, the NHS says to ask for them and ask what they mean. Do not assume no news is good news.