GP patients 'wait over fortnight'

[Taf]

Patients in parts of south Wales regularly have to wait more than two weeks for an appointment with their doctor, research has found.

In one case, Gwent Community Health Council could not book an appointment with a surgery within a month.

In Torfaen, one surgery was unable to offer a slot to see a doctor for more than four calendar weeks.

The survey also highlighted a wide variation in surgery times, including one practice in Blaenau Gwent where there was no doctor present on any day of the week between noon and 4pm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7365530.stm

Our own surgery allows free, no appointment access 9-10, Monday to Friday, with people queuing from 8:30 and often waiting until 11, then the surgery is shut until 5 when there is a one hour appointment period except for Wednesday when it is shut. No service on the weekend or Bank Holidays of course!

The out-of-hours service only starts at 6pm in the week and they will rarely come to the house, instead they demand patients make their way accross the city to a plush new clinic with no parking spaces. My Czech mate's missus took their baby there this week... and waited 3 hours to be seen, then a further hour whilst the doctors phoned around trying to find someone who could diagnose the baby's rash.... and there is no pharmacy available near there!!!

All this extra cash to GPs seems to be vanishing into a black hole of lower service and fewer hours....

[Spite]

All this extra cash to GPs seems to be vanishing into a black hole of lower service and fewer hours....

  To be fair, they do have many more patients than they used to.  And two weeks isn't uncommon here, either.  In fact, it's the norm.

[Anna]

Our surgery is pretty good, I can phone in the morning and get an appointment the same day.

I prefer my local surgery which is open 9am-1pm and I usually get an appointment around 11am, if its Emma who is ill they sometimes say 'come now and we'll fit you in' which is great.

There is a main surgery for the practice in the next village and thats open till around 6pm, so if I am at work I can book and go there later on.  Both surgery's have free car parks.

I suppose though that if you get free prescriptions then the doctors are going to be more busy - in the UK its normally cheaper to treat yourself with over the counter medicines so you don't need to visit the doctor.

[Taf]

GPs have been ordered NOT to prescribe medicines that can be bought over the counter... even to "poor" people...

[Anna]

Really? So stuff like cough mixture, calpol for babies etc... isn't on prescription in Wales?  Just antibiotics and strong stuff?

[Taf]

It seems that way... also paracetomol and other painkillers, bandages, emolient creams, wart/verucca treatments, headlice products, etc... this "free" tag is a misnomer.

And there are moves afoot to allow patients to buy antibiotics after a quick chat with a chemist...a dangerous situation....

[Anna]

I would love that to happen here, just things like antibiotic ear drops or cream.

When we go abroad I stock up on ear drops as they are about 2 euro a bottle ...  we use them for the dog  the vet ear drops are so expensive !!  Also antibiotic cream, very good for minor ailments like if the dog cuts her paw 

[Taf]

If people don't use antibiotics properly, resistant bacteria WILL develop as they are in poorer countries... and then MRSA and C Difficile will seem minor ailments as huge swathes of the population die as they did prior to Penicillin....

[Lisa]

I never have a problem when i phone my GP for an appointment, can more often than not get one same day too.
They are open 8.30 to 11ish then from 3.30 to 6 ish (plus clinics throughout the day and gp does home visits if you are lucky)

haven't been able to get paracetemol or calpol on script for years here

[sabell]

GPs have been ordered NOT to prescribe medicines that can be bought over the counter... even to "poor" people...

Alot of people massively take the p*ss, stocking stuff up, even selling it on for personal profit. Paracetamol are dirt cheap. I have had to deal with people turning up at hospitals wanting creams, pills and even nappies. After they had finished their fags outside that is.

I have said it before and I will say it again, it is The NHS, peoples expectations are way too high at times, go private, it is worse!

[Spite]

Alot of people massively take the p*ss, stocking stuff up, even selling it on for personal profit. Paracetamol are dirt cheap. I have had to deal with people turning up at hospitals wanting creams, pills and even nappies. After they had finished their fags outside that is.

  This item was an excerpt from Sabell's forthcoming book:  "It Simply Won't Do! - The collected letters of a worrying Northumbrian Truck Driver, rejected by the Editor of The Daily Mail."     

[Taf]

When my MIL passed away in Paris, the house was soon a regular visiting point for neighbours... not just to pay their respects, but to see what meds she had left behind (Meds in France can ONLY come from a pharmacy... even paracetomol... and the prices are atrocious).

People were leaving with boxes and boxes of Doliprame (paracetomol), other strong painkillers, and even suppositories!

[Mike]

My GP's are no problems usually same day appointment never longer than the next day, and I agree with Sabell, when I was working  in A&E the abuse was terrible, trying to get things like Paracetamol etc. when they only cost 15p for 16 at Tesco, the rule was only one day of drugs were given and then they had to buy there own either direct or prescription

[sabell]

Alot of people massively take the p*ss, stocking stuff up, even selling it on for personal profit. Paracetamol are dirt cheap. I have had to deal with people turning up at hospitals wanting creams, pills and even nappies. After they had finished their fags outside that is.

  This item was an excerpt from Sabell's forthcoming book:  "It Simply Won't Do! - The collected letters of a worrying Northumbrian Truck Driver, rejected by the Editor of The Daily Mail."     

Excerpts of which will be in tommorows Mail on Sunday