[onion2k]

Wait for two weeks to get an appointment about your coughing and sneezing.

Here in the UK you can get an appointment to see your GP the following day most of the time, and we have walk-in clinics for same day check ups if you don't care which doctor you see. Availability varies a lot around the country but its mostly good.

[nixgeek]

This was not the case in Bristol when my GP took 2+ weeks to see me for the first time, then upon arrival, pawned me off on a nursing assistant rather than a doctor, then happily prescribed antibiotics for an “STI”, and then ignored my asks for a follow-up appointment for 2+ more weeks.

It turned out to be cancer. Original complaint stated when trying to book the appointment was “I have a testicle the size and hardness of a golf ball”.

Through that now, but the NHS is dysfunctional compared with U.S. healthcare. I have several relatives with bad hips or knees in U.K. who got prescribed stronger and stronger painkillers for >6 months because the waiting list for surgical intervention in their cases was so long.