Making a GP appointment shouldn’t be this difficult – even now

From: Steve Ayton, Haworth.
What is your view of GP services in your area?What is your view of GP services in your area?
What is your view of GP services in your area?
Read More
Read more:

WHILST I cannot express too enthusiastically my support for “front line” care workers of all varieties, from postmen, binmen, delivery drivers, care home staff and of course NHS hospital workers, one group which seems to be woefully lagging behind are the GPs (at least in my area).

Recently there have been concerns expressed that non-Covid 19 patients are not seeking medical care at the normal rate. In my experience, in order to get non-emergency treatment you need to be referred by a GP. That’s a problem with my practice.

What is your view of local GP services?What is your view of local GP services?
What is your view of local GP services?
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Getting any form of consultation is a laborious procedure involving listening to an endless recorded message about all the options open to you (except, of course, being examined by a doctor), then getting a receptionist to answer the phone before you die of old age, then booking a telephone appointment to be called back by the duty GP (often the most junior in the practice, who needs to “take notes and consult a more senior colleague”), and that’s if you’re still compos mentis after waiting for hours for the initial contact. We have ridiculously low-paid carers and ancillary staff who are prepared to put their lives on the line, but GPs seem to have adopted a position of “we’re too important to be put at risk”.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.