Published on 12, July, 2020
A few days ago, though my GP surgery officially only has the '8 o'clock phone lottery' method of getting an appointment, I sent an email to my GP surgery describing my worsening bowel problems (in great detail). Yesterday, the surgery phoned me offering an appointment next week. I strikes me that, once you have informed a surgery of a medical condition, that they have to respond. Because otherwise, if a patient developed a serious, or life-threatening, illness, they would be open to NHS disciplinary procedures, or to being sued for negligence. It may be worth others trying a similar approach; if it is generally applicable, it will make access to medical care much easier for autistics.
There should be an acknowledgement that that is how we will communicate.
I've done similar in the past, but it's taken weeks for that to get past the admin and onto the GP's desk.
They don't get why we can't do the 8 o'clock scramble and speak to a receptionist like everyone else.