"The treatment of my granddaughter"

My granddaughter was given an MRI and was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, then Fibromyalgia. She was put on a pain management plan by the consultant. When the first prescription they wrote for her - stating that she would be on the medication for a long time - ran out the GP's decided to cut the level of pain management to less than half.

Since then she has been in extreme pain. she complained and was told she would have learn to live with the pain. She complained in writing to the surgery. Since then she has found it hard to get an appointment to see a doctor. She has been told to phone at 08:00 on a morning to get an appointment. She has phoned at 08:00, only to be told there are no spaces.

Recently her prescription was halved, which unfortunately has now run out and has resulted in her being in extreme pain. She has asked for a second MRI but the GP stated there was no point doing another one because she has been diagnosed. She feels that her spine is compacting which is causing the increase in her pain and the GP's seem reluctant to refer her to the DGRI for further tests.

Is this because they are now an agency and no longer NHS, and putting in a referral would impact on their profits and consequently their wage packet, so their income is far more important than their patients' quality of life?