"Lack of GP support"

I have been with this practice since the 1980s.  In the last year I have needed medical and mental health support, both of which have been non-existent, leaving me with the knowledge that during illness I have not and cannot foresee any help coming from this practice.  This has resulted in a great deal of suffering on my part both physically and with knock-on mental health distress, and I am now urgently seeking another local practice who can see me. 

I had a wonderful caring doctor at the practice who retired and since then the simplest of requests for appointments, gaining test results or medication requests have become a nightmare which I am ill-prepared to keep fighting every month.  I am almost 70 now and health does not get easier and it has taken a toll on my wellbeing I don't need.  It has become virtually impossible to make an appointment online or by telephone - often requiring a 'triage' by the receptionist who demands to know WHY I want an appointment and then doesn't understand the medical relevance of what I try to explain.  I have to wait for a call back to make an appointment, which is an unnecessary use of practice time. 

My medication records are incorrect and have been for some time, giving my pharmacist confusing information and causing incorrect information to show on my medical record, impacting on my treatment in A&E twice and my dealings with my pharmacy.  This despite my writing a correct medication list and going through this more than once with doctor, receptionist and pharmacist. 

I have been dismissed by the doctor when I have got through the obstacle course to an actual appointment, and one GP looked at the computer screen the whole time of my consultation, only looking at me to dismiss a symptom & sign which was then proved on x-ray.  I suffered a viral infection for three months in autumn 2023, was unable to obtain an appointment after suffering for several weeks, and then was told I should have come sooner!  Despite my appointment, it took 3 more visits to the surgery (obtained through sheer persistence on my part) and an A&E visit for me to finally be given correct treatment. 

My mental health has been severely worsened by this GP practice and I was actually given a telling off by the GP when contacting the practice after being instructed to do so by A&E after being admitted to hospital by ambulance in 2022.  I worked in healthcare for over 40 years myself and this last year is the first time I have actually felt very frightened and vulnerable by my previously excellent GP practice. 

I don't write this just for myself and I am hopefully changing practices soon, but I am extremely concerned for other vulnerable patients who may run into serious difficulties because, I know and am sympathetic to the pressures on the system, but even I am defeated by the draconian and offhand treatment I experienced with this practice.