I contacted the 111 service and waited 50 minutes to get through. After another ten minutes I was told I would be contacted by someone from a local gp hub rather than send out a medic to give her antibiotics. Bear in mind my wife is undergoing chemotherapy treatment at this time. A medic phoned asking me to take my wife to the local out of hours service but we established they were unlikely to have the antibiotics so she arranged to have a prescription sent to a late-night pharmacy in Knightswood which closed at 11pm and it was 10pm by now having spent so long waiting to get through to 111 service.
I went over to Knightswood myself having a rough idea where I was going although I was worried about making it in time before the pharmacy closed. In summary it was ok to get the antibiotics and from previous experience probably got them quicker than waiting for an out of hours GP to come out.
That said the wait time to get through to NHS 24 is poor. It is unacceptable to blame Covid 19 as before the pandemic I have waited as long to get through on previous occasions. Perhaps at this time there are fewer operators to take calls as they have to be socially distant at their workplace. The GP out of hours service should be better to help establish a pathway for care rather than a roadblock. I recently retired after 45 years service in the health service and I fully realise how difficult it is to provide a health service but I would put it to you that we were struggling even before the pandemic.
"The wait time to get through is poor"
About: Glasgow Community Services / Out of Hours GP Glasgow Community Services Out of Hours GP NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) NHS 24 NHS 24 (111 service)
Posted by Frank Z (as ),
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