"Great treatment but long waits"

The service here when you get it is great and the doctors are kind and will leap through hoops to make sure you get the treatment you need.

However, the waiting times and scarcity of appointments is now becoming quite worrisome.

Last year, I needed to see my usual doctor in person - I was told his appointments were like 'gold dust'. I booked an appointment in May 2023 for July 2023. On the day of my appointment, the doctor was sick, so I then had to rebook....but I had to wait another 6 weeks to be seen. This resulted in me not being seen by the hospital until January 2024, and again had to wait a month for doctor to go through my results.

This month, I booked a phone appointment in advance - to speak through what I could do whilst I wait 46 weeks to be seen by a specialist at the hospital.

I eventually had to push the call to lunch time from an 9.55am appointment as I couldn't move a business meeting any further back (which was due at 11am).

Doctor was great when I eventually got through but it's amazing that I eventually spoke to her 2 hours after my initial pre-booked appointment.

It's impossible to get a GP call back - the phone lines open at 8.15am and all the call backs for the day are usually gone by 8.30am.

Today, I called to try and get a face to face about a lump that is concerning and the soonest I can be seen is in three weeks time.

I really don't know what is going on at this practice but I do worry that care standards will slip as a result of long appointment waiting times. Something like a lump should be seen with some sense of urgency, I would say.

I understand a walk in and wait system may not work, but 3 week waiting times for a face to face is crazy.

From a very exhausted patient who appreciates the service and NHS but would really like to be seen faster :(