NHS CARD

how long does it typically take to hear back from them about my medical card........i applied on dec 16th 2010.......if you read my previous post that wasnt the most pleasant of events as the gentleman at the front desk was very rude etc.......now im even wondering if he bothered to send it off.......i have only about 3 weeks of badly needed blood pressure medicine left........thanks for help.......steff

Have you registered at your GP? I never received a medical card and from what I've read on here, they haven't been sending them out for years. I just registered with my local GP (who's receptionist was less than friendly), then made an appointment to be seen.

I agree with Bmore; you should probably be able to make an appointment without the card--I was able to as soon as I registered (my card came about two weeks later). Ring them up and ask, I think--hopefully you don't get the same person!

Some PCT's do not issue cards. Mine still does...just phone up your GP and make an appointment and you can ask them if your NHS registration has been completed or not.

yes i went to the gp that day and the gentleman up front had me fill out the paperwork.....extremely rude.......i was told i would recieve my card/number in the mail but i havent heard a word...........i cant really wait much longer as i need the bp meds.......god knows i dont want to call back up there but guess im going to have to .....ugh

okay im gonna call right now.......wish me luck.......lol

they said call back in the morning........didnt get the same guy so hopefully wont get him tommorrow either............now if i decide i need to go to a different gp will i need to fill out all that nhs form again

Honestly, with only 3 weeks of meds left, if they can't sort you out in the morning, then I wouldn't screw around with the local office anymore.  I'd phone PALS or the PCTs main office or wherever, explain your situation, and ask them to find you an appointment with a local GP as soon as.  And after they've had to take the time out of their day to explain things to the local office, I imagine that the local office you end up dealing with will be a little more accommodating.

I'm normally a pretty laid back person, and I understand bureaucracies and hierarchies and all that good stuff, and have no problems following the rules.  But when it's, in a pretty real sense, your life on the line, it's time to start kicking ars*.

beginning to think the same thing.........my doc in america gave me 3 months worth of med for when i got over here.....as i explained to them.......but he reply was if i didnt want to wait then i could go elsewhere.......i felt the need to superglue my mouth at that moment...........but yes i cant wait anymore......i have to do something tommorrow.......thanks guys as always

I wouldn't even wait until tomorrow morning to make those phone calls, to be honest.  I don't really understand why they can't make an appointment for you now--I made an appointment on the very same day that I registered with my GP, long before I received my NHS number in the mail.  Did they explain why you had to wait until tomorrow to phone them back?

They may have thought you wanted an "emergency" (ie same day) appointment.  My GP releases those sorts of appointments at 7:30 in the morning, and I've had a similar call with the receptionist there.  It took me a few minutes to realize what she thought was going on, and then I said I wanted one for whenever the first open time in the diary was (which was three days later).  I think, at least at my practice, a lot of people ring up wanting to just pop over to the doctor's instead of making appts weeks ahead. So, that may have been it.

Sounds like an unpleasant receptionist though! And the "you can go elsewhere" comment is totally out of line!

to make a long story short......i went there in dec to register.....i had taken time to look up what i felt was a great place......the ladies were so nice on the phone......but when i went in to do my paperwork the gentleman there was just a turd.......the ladies had told me they were accepting new patients.......but he says all this stuff to me that had nothing to do with nhs......told me it could take weeks to be accepted and if i didnt want to wait just go somewhere else.......briefly i explained that i had bp meds but would be out in a few weeks..........he didnt seem to care.....just said if you go elsewhere let us know.......we have a waiting list to get in here.........when i called today i clearly explained to her that i had applied dec 16th and wanted to know if my nhs registration had been completed.....she said that the person i needed to speak to would be in tommorrow......i will go ahead and look up another gp in my area and get the other numbers ready to call ........if they cant get me an appt then im going elsewhere........things really shouldnt be so difficult

I got an appointment at my GP's surgery the first time without even registering-I registered like 2 minutes before I was seen -(For anyone new to the country, I really don't recommend doing it my way!!! Better to have a doctor sorted out then in my case, having a pretty painful infection and needing to go to the doctor ASAP and not knowing if and how and when and who I could even see)

So I would try and call back and make an appointment - failing that, call your local patient advocate group and barring anything else if you can't get an appointment for your BP meds, from anywhere, then Urgent Care/A&E- but I really hope for your sake it doesn't come down to that! 

yes it seems to me that i wasnt treated fairly......everyone i talk to got an appt right away.......really not even sure i want to go there now........but i will see what happens in the morning......ill be prepared to make those other calls right away.......i feel like this person just disliked me and felt it was okay to treat me that way.......thanks everyone again for all your comments and help

Can you just call back today and ask to make an appt? I wouldn't even mention the NHS registration stuff.  If you filled out the information to register for that surgery, they should have what they need on file to make an appt for you.  If you are still on a wait list to be accepted to the surgery, they would see that and could let you know, but someone there today should be able to deal with your call if you are just calling as a patient requesting an appt--all they should need to look you up is your name.