"Waste of money"

Having had emergency hip surgery in Canada following a fall on ice, I was refused an appointment to see or speak to a GP, unless I phoned like everyone else at 8am.

It was 9 days since my surgery, I had just had an 8 hour flight from a country 7 hours behind us. There was no way I would be awake at 8am to hold on a phone.

Eventually I managed to get the practice to copy my notes from Canada and give me a prescription for more blood thinner, which I had to inject for 30 days.

10 weeks on and I have a bag of used syringes/needles and a full box, unused.

I followed the advice given and took them back to the pharmacy, who refused to accept them. I then tried the hospital where I had a bone scan appointment. They said they had a sharps collection, but refused to take mine, as they had to pay for collection.

I next tried my GP practice, who had written the prescription, as the hospital advised.

The GP practice flat out refused to accept the sharps and when my husband asked what we should do, told him to bin them.

Forgive me for being stupid, but is it really accepted that used and unused sharps should be mixed with general waste.

I have not been allowed to speak to a GP since January 2020 and find the reception staff at my local practice unhelpful and rude.

Fortunately, using the NHS app, I did manage to get an appointment to have my staples removed and the nurse was lovely.

I also managed to get an appointment the fracture clinic at St Peters hospital and although it was running an hour late, x-rays were taken and I saw a very helpful doctor who recommended physiotherapy and hydrotherapy ( which I never received).

I cannot believe how money is wasted in the NHS with drugs clearly being prescribed and wasted, even when unopened.

The GP system isn't fit for purpose.