An NHS doctor has attempted to dispel a ‘common myth’ surrounding patients’ frustrations over the inability make a GP appointment despite waiting rooms appearing ’empty’
An NHS GP has sought to dispel what she labels a “common myth” surrounding doctor appointments. Countless Brits will recognise the dreaded ‘8am scramble’ – that frantic moment when GP surgeries open their phone lines to patients desperate for a same-day consultation.
But with the population constantly expanding, securing an appointment on the day isn’t always feasible, depending on how serious the health concern is. A Care Quality Commission report titled ‘The state of health care and adult social care in England 2023/24’ revealed that patients waiting over a fortnight for a GP practice appointment surged by 18% from 4.2 million in February 2020 to 5 million in March 2024.
Yet in recent times frustrated patients have been voicing their bewilderment at encountering seemingly deserted waiting rooms. In a TikTok video, GP Dr Sophie acknowledged she grasped why this infuriates patients – especially when communication falls short.
She explained: “Empty waiting rooms… often it appears as though GPs don’t do any work, because people come in and see nobody in the waiting room.”
Dr Sophie went on: “I promise you that is not the case. We are behind the scenes working away, doing home visits, doing triage, prescription requests, referrals and blood tests and often I put my phone call (appointments) dispersed between my face-to-face clinics.”
She also explained that working in this manner allows her to makeup time with telephone consultations if a face-to-face appointment overruns, ensuring she stays on schedule before her next clinic begins. “Although it does appear as though we aren’t doing any work, I promise you that is not the case,” Dr Sophie concluded.
However, one individual responded by questioning: “It’s only been since Covid though. Also why do doctors only do three days per week?”
Dr Sophie was quick to clarify: “Many GPs work what looks like ‘part-time’, but the days are often 12+ hours long – so three days can actually be equivalent to a full-time week in hours. Most of us also have admin, results, and paperwork outside those clinical sessions too!”.
Another TikTok user vented their frustration: “I just don’t understand why the whole system has changed. Everyone is very frustrated and there are never any explanations.”
To which the GP pointed out: “The system changed mainly to help manage the huge rise in demand and to make sure people are directed to the right type of care more quickly. Many issues can now be sorted safely by phone or online, which frees up face-to-face appointments for those who really need them. It’s different, but it’s helped us see more patients overall. But it’s definitely not perfect!”
A third individual told Dr Sophie: “We get that but when we’re ill and want to see a doctor we can’t – that’s the issue.”
To which she responded: “Totally understand – the problem is huge demand and not enough GPs or funding to meet it, which makes it harder for everyone to get seen as quickly as we’d like.”
However, another TikTok user remained sceptical, criticising the GP: “You were doing all that before so really doesn’t explain the empty waiting room! Hiding behind this doesn’t fool people. Complicating the system where everything is triaged to the hilt instead of just seeing people will stop all the signposting and causing more admin and sending to A&E for minor things.”
Yet again, Dr Sophie was ready to clarify the situation. “I’m absolutely not hiding – I’m out here trying to explain it,” she retorted. “Demand has exploded while funding and staffing have stayed the same. A busy practice might have 25-30 GP appointments per doctor each day but receive 400 patient contacts – all needing to be triaged, reviewed, or redirected. That’s the real issue, not GPs hiding behind anything. I would love to hear any suggestions on how we could do better with the current funding?”
According to NHS England, new figures [July 2025] reveal that general practice has delivered over seven million more appointments in the past year compared to the previous one, taking the total to a record-breaking 380 million.
The report states: “Hardworking GP teams carried out 383.3m appointments in the last 12 months, compared to 375.7m in the previous year. Figures for June 2025 also show practices delivered 31.4 million appointments, which is a record for June and nearly a third more than the same period pre-pandemic (a 31.9% increase).
