We moved house two miles up the road in the UK and were told we had to change Dr's practices. We had excellent care at the previous surgery which had an open house every morning where you sat and waited to see a Dr and appointments in the afternoon and evening. We only did the sit and wait if we had to see a Dr that day. Otherwise we waited 3-5 days for an appointment which was OK as the open house was always available if you couldn't wait.
The surgery to which we were moved was terrible. Appointments were a three week wait and no open house. There were a couple of slots for emergencies, but not nearly enough. One day my 3 year old was very ill with an ear infection and I was told to take her to A&E as they couldn't see her for 3 weeks. I hated doing this as in my mind the GP is there to look after things like ear infections and A&E is for things the GP can't treat. To make matters worse the receptionists were used to give out medical results as the Drs were too busy and thought they were Dr's by proxy. I had a serious condition missed in this way. I didn't realise until I had routine tests here in Aus and it was picked up. I checked my old results (I got a copy of my UK records to bring to Aus) and there were the same results 2 years previously in the UK.
I am a supporter of the NHS and think lack of funding and proper regulation of GP surgeries is to blame for inadequate GP provision. Surely in areas with too few GPs a system can be put in place to increase numbers?
