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Getting a Doctor's appointment as an Autistic adult!

Mr Allen

Mr Allen

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
So I've had a bad cold since Wednesday afternoon, the local Doctors closes at lunchtime on Thursdays, and I was on my Digital Arts course till lunch time. I tried to ring up at bang on 8 AM GMT (3 AM Eastern) to make an appointment for today, it was engaged! Anyway I finally got through about an hour ago and they have no appointments until the end of next week and I had to go the local Walk In Centre for treatment!

How in the heck is this right for an Autistic adult or anybody for that matter?!
 
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If you're concerned about the cold (i.e. thinking it could turn into pneumonia or something without treatment), you can phone 111 in the UK for advice and they can often try to get you out of hours appointments. The only issue is that if it's not an emergency, you can end up having to be by a phone for up to 24 hours for them to call you back. I had to do this recently for a throat infection and they did phone back within a few hours, though.

Unfortunately, if you don't have a medical emergency, there isn't much they can do, because of the strain on the NHS. If you have a very bad cold, try to keep warm, drink a lot of fluids, sleep as much as you can and just keep an eye on it in case it starts moving towards your chest or you start getting signs of a sinus infection (which you can find on the NHS website). If you get anything like that, definitely call 111 and they should be able to get you an appointment faster.
 
owlet said:
If you're concerned about the cold (i.e. thinking it could turn into pneumonia or something without treatment), you can phone 111 in the UK for advice and they can often try to get you out of hours appointments. The only issue is that if it's not an emergency, you can end up having to be by a phone for up to 24 hours for them to call you back. I had to do this recently for a throat infection and they did phone back within a few hours, though.

Unfortunately, if you don't have a medical emergency, there isn't much they can do, because of the strain on the NHS. If you have a very bad cold, try to keep warm, drink a lot of fluids, sleep as much as you can and just keep an eye on it in case it starts moving towards your chest or you start getting signs of a sinus infection (which you can find on the NHS website). If you get anything like t

hat, definitely call 111 and they should be able to get you an appointment faster.
Click to expand...

A few months ago I did have a bout of pneumonia, and I'm concerned it could be that again as I've been barking like a Dog coughing and sneezing my guts up all morning.
 
Mr Allen said:
A few months ago I did have a bout of pneumonia, and I'm concerned it could be that again as I've been barking like a Dog coughing and sneezing my guts up all morning.
Click to expand...
Yeah, definitely call 111 in that case. Say specifically that you've had pneumonia before and you now have a very bad cough - they'll likely get you an urgent appointment because of the risk. Make sure you can be near a phone for a good few hours though, just in case.
 
It’s neither right or wrong Rich, it’s just changed.

If your doctors list’s are full of patients, call outs and call backs, there’s the 111 service and walk in centres on offer to offer guidance or treatment instead.


If you’re really struggling with breathing Rich, you get yourself to a hospital ASAP.

Some great advice above on taking care of yourself from @owlet
 
I've just spoke to Dad on the mobile, he says we can go to the local Walk In Centre tonight, and probably be there all night waiting to be seen.

Thing is as well, 40 odd years ago, when I was a little tiny baby aged about 9 months, I spent a while in the local Children's Hospital with Pneumonia, so the period back in March wasn't the first time.

Boo! I feel ill! I want my Mummy! :D
 
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The problem is that most general practitioners/family doctors/primary care physicians or whatever people call them have a very large number of patients and a very heavy work load. Which means that scheduling an appointment for something that is quite likely to resolve on its own will be hard. A cold is a nuisance, but there’s very little a doctor can do to treat it. Antibiotics don’t help. Cough syrup doesn’t help. Codeine can help suppress coughing, but you don’t actually want that if you have surplus mucus in your airways. Nasal spray can help as a decongestant but doesn’t speed up recovery, and generally can be purchased as over the counter medication. It’s generally best to just stay hydrated, get plenty of rest, and wait for the cold to pass.
If you do think you’re experiencing something more serious than a cold, try to explain to the person answering the doctors phone (which should be someone with medical training) why you think it’s more than just a cold. If possible, take your temperature before calling so you can tell them if you have a fever or not.

Anyway, hope you feel better soon, Rich.
 
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