"Access to GP Services"

My husband is asthmatic and had been suffering from a cold which had developed into a chest infection.  I submitted a patches request to Manston Surgery to request a telephone appointment so he could get a prescription for antibiotics and steroids as this has happened in the past and once he starts taking these it clears his chest.  His breathing was very shallow and he had been sitting upright for 2 nights as it got worse when he tried to lay down. 

We heard nothing so I rang the surgery and was told they could not help and to take him to hospital to A&E. He did not need to go to hospital, he needed a prescription to prevent it getting to the stage when he needed to be admitted with a severe asthma attack.

The member of staff I spoke to told me to ring 111 and they would be able to give him an appointment at Manston Surgery.  I rang 111, they could not give me an appointment but gave me the number of the Respiratory Clinic in Leeds. I rang the number and got an answerphone and left a message 24 hours later they have not called back.  I rang 111 again and they referred him to the Out of Hours doctor and said we should receive a call back in an hour, we got a text to say they are very busy and it would be several hours before we got a response. 

I rang 111 again and then got a call back from a Nurse who said he just needs a prescription can you hold while I ring your GP they should be able to do this, they did that and spoke to the practice who told them the same thing, they could not help and it would be 72 hours before they responded to our Patches request, the nurse was fantastic and made us an appointment at 1pm at a walk-in clinic.

 We went down there and waited a couple of hours saw the doctor who said you have a high temperature and a serious chest infection you need antibiotics and steroids to clear, it why did you not get this prescription from your GP? 

We were on the telephone for 3 hours trying to get some help, it is terrifying. My husband has started taking his drugs and is feeling so much better. If we had waited 72 hours for a response to our Patches request or done nothing and not insisted we needed some help he would be heading towards being admitted to hospital with a severe asthma attack or worse, it is just not good enough we feel very let down