How do you book an appointment with a NHS dermatologist?

Does it have to be through your GP or you can contact them directly to book an appointment? Is it free to see them and the treatment they give? I need to see one as I've had what looks like flat warts on my hands for over 10 years that won't go away no matter what I've tried and they're increasing, it's not an emergency as they aren't painful just annoying, I'm sick of having them, it's probably HPV which I have no idea how I caught, I've had warts since I was little which always went away but theses wont. I feel like the GP won't see me for it as it's not an emergency and you can never get an appointment with them unless it for a smear test which is stupid, they never have appointments available but they always have smear tests appointments available which they constantly contact you about through letter or calls which is why I haven't bothered calling them it would take a week to get through to them and they'd probably say they can't see me. Or is a walk in clinic able to help idk how to deal with this kind of thing.

Reply 1

cheadle

17

You normally need a GP referral, even if you go private.

Reply 2

black tea

19

Original post by cheadle

You normally need a GP referral, even if you go private.

not necessarily. they may prefer a referral so they have information about your past medical history but they will still see you without (at least that has been the case when I have made private appointments).

Reply 3

Belle H

8

I work in a GP surgery and this is definitely the sort of thing your GP would be happy to see you about! It doesn’t have to be clinically urgent at all to see a GP, and they might be able to help your symptoms in primary care anyway without an onward referral. All it means is that you won’t meet the criteria for an urgent GP appointment (same day, usually for chest pain/respiratory issues/lumps etc), but you can still get an appointment within 1-2 weeks, if not quicker depending on your area/doctor. If they can’t help, then yes the NHS referral to dermatology will come from your GP, who’ll send it to your closest hospital unless you request otherwise. Waiting times vary depending on the hospital, but please note that in my area the routine waiting time for a dermatology appointment is about 9 months…. It will be free apart from some small costs for prescriptions if relevant. To avoid this waiting time, your GP may just ask for advice from the dermatology consultants on appropriate treatment instead, if suitable.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by Belle H

I work in a GP surgery and this is definitely the sort of thing your GP would be happy to see you about! It doesn’t have to be clinically urgent at all to see a GP, and they might be able to help your symptoms in primary care anyway without an onward referral. All it means is that you won’t meet the criteria for an urgent GP appointment (same day, usually for chest pain/respiratory issues/lumps etc), but you can still get an appointment within 1-2 weeks, if not quicker depending on your area/doctor. If they can’t help, then yes the NHS referral to dermatology will come from your GP, who’ll send it to your closest hospital unless you request otherwise. Waiting times vary depending on the hospital, but please note that in my area the routine waiting time for a dermatology appointment is about 9 months…. It will be free apart from some small costs for prescriptions if relevant. To avoid this waiting time, your GP may just ask for advice from the dermatology consultants on appropriate treatment instead, if suitable.

For my GP they only do daily appointment bookings so it's first come first served since COVID, you have to call at 8am and if they have an appointment available and it needs to be face to face then they will give you one and it's usually a male doctor only available, id prefer a female doctor, if there's no appointments available then you have to keep calling until they have one available but it usually takes a week to even get through once as theres always a long queue which i don't understand like the call only lasts about 2 mins and must be the same for other callers like if I'm 5th in the queue it takes hours to get through if I do 😩

Reply 5

Belle H

8

Original post by Anonymous #1

For my GP they only do daily appointment bookings so it's first come first served since COVID, you have to call at 8am and if they have an appointment available and it needs to be face to face then they will give you one and it's usually a male doctor only available, id prefer a female doctor, if there's no appointments available then you have to keep calling until they have one available but it usually takes a week to even get through once as theres always a long queue which i don't understand like the call only lasts about 2 mins and must be the same for other callers like if I'm 5th in the queue it takes hours to get through if I do 😩

Hmm that is really bizarre! They should definitely be booking appointments in advance…
Do you know if your registered GP is male or female? That might be why it’s usually a male doctor if that’s who you’re registered with, but you could ask about changing. I would say though, if you’re attending just for an inspection of your hands rather than anything more intimate, it may be worth just going with a male doctor anyway if it helps with the waiting times? Sounds like unfortunately your surgery may have a staffing issue that’s making the phone inaccessible 😕

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by Belle H

Hmm that is really bizarre! They should definitely be booking appointments in advance…
Do you know if your registered GP is male or female? That might be why it’s usually a male doctor if that’s who you’re registered with, but you could ask about changing. I would say though, if you’re attending just for an inspection of your hands rather than anything more intimate, it may be worth just going with a male doctor anyway if it helps with the waiting times? Sounds like unfortunately your surgery may have a staffing issue that’s making the phone inaccessible 😕

They don't it's stupid, the only appointment you can book in advance is a smear test which they call you themselves and always seem to have appointments for or a blood test but blood test can only be booked in advance if you go in for an appointment and the GP says they want a blood test then you go to reception to book it. They have more than one GP doctor they have a couple so there's males and females at my GP practice. The warts aren't just on my hands, they're on my feet, stomach and arms too, they're just the worst on my hands and the ones I want to be rid of, the other areas aren't that bad. If theres a female doctor available then I'd obviously prefer her then a male. It could be a staffing issue but even then like if I'm 5th in the queue and the 4 people before only have a few minutes on the phone each when they get through how does it take hours to get to my turn? It's ridiculous and when you are there for an appointment you're waiting in a queue to be seen because the staff are chatting too much to each other or the people there for appointments like it's a 15 min wait in the queue and then it takes ages to talk to someone to tell them you've got an appointment as they're too busy talking and then you're waiting around half an hour or longer to be seen by a doctor 😩