"Official complaint"

Over a month ago I phoned to get an appointment as I was breathless and very poorly. I was told I needed to wait for almost 2 weeks to get an appointment. This contravenes emergency access protocols. I spoke to 111 who gave me an appointment within an hour where I was told I needed to have antibiotics for a deep rooted chest infection. They prescribed a week as that’s all they were allowed to do and told me to get in touch with the GP if it didn’t improve. This I did and I had a telephone conversation with a doctor who then prescribed another week of broad spectrum antibiotics where I was advised that if I didn’t improve I needed to call back and see a doctor and have a chest x-Ray as I have scar tissue on my lungs from whooping cough when I was younger. My notes show that this is a weekness in my health.

Since then my condition has significantly worsened and I rang 111 again as I was breathless and coughing up bright green matter. They advised that through emergency access protocol I should be able to see someone within an hour at my own surgery. I telephoned the surgery on opening and was told yet again that there were no appointments to be had as the one for this morning had been taken. As 111 said I needed to be seen ASAP I phoned them back and needed to go to hospital due to the breathlessness. I am incredibly concerned that as an educated person who hasn’t been to the GP for almost a year that My condition wasn’t taken seriously, my health has been put at risk and again I was unable to be seen by my primary care providers. This is not acceptable and as a GP service you are supposed to offer emergency access protocol appointments each day and I am certain that there are not enough of these being offered as I telephoned at 8.30 and they had already gone. I do not think it’s good enough that this has happened so many times within a month. I have therefore complained via the CQC website and I will be writing a formal letter of complaint to the CCG and associated partners to be heard at panel as the service offered by the surgery is disgraceful and not fit for purpose. Please send me the name of the practice manager so I can copy them into the official complaint to the CCG.