"Appointment and communication problems"

Difficulty in getting appointments with any doctor let alone your own due mostly to busy and somewhat reluctant receptionists. One gets used to either nobody picking up or constant engaged. I have tried going on-line recently, but this was temporarily unavailable.

When you do get through there are never any appointments available that day, however needy your illness, and you are passed on to be dealt with by the “duty doctor in about an hour”. He/she rings and mostly seems to diagnose over the phone – I have had more prescriptions this way than from an actual doctor. Hopefully you have some kind soul who can pick up and have the prescription sorted and brought back to you.

To get an appointment with your own doctor is extremely difficult and, if you persist, you are given one about 2-4 weeks ahead. Does this mean we should be sick to order or anticipate when?

From my experience, if you do get an appointment you are very rarely seen on time and when you see the doctor, you get the feeling you must be as quick as possible, as their time is precious which results in not getting your ailment, problem or questions effectively answered. Mostly it seems that prescriptions are given on a testing “Let me know if it doesn’t work” basis.

Lately I have had cause to consult the Health Centre for an entire month due to a day and night persistent productive cough. I was offered two actual appointments and had several phone calls resulting in prescriptions, which luckily I could get dispensed by my husband. How a patient on their own would cope I shudder to think! My present illness is still on-going, I await results of an x-ray and sputum test which seem to be still in the pipeline. I am still coughing...

On two brief visits to the H.C. it didn’t appeared to be busy, whereas the Walk-in department was non-stop – is this where patients unable to see their doctors go?