"Total triage = zero access"

Impossible to get an appointment. Econsult cannot be used outside surgery hours, which further compounds the problem of access to a doctor.

When I fell and hurt my back I was told that a doctor would call me. Instead I got some kind of nurse who could not have been more dismissive.

When a paving slab fell on my toe I was told to call 111 because it was a training day. I called 111 and they were too busy to call me back, so I got a family member to drive me to a pharmacy, where I was seen immediately face-to-face by a real person who was able to advise me and sell me the bandages and antiseptic impregnated gauze that I did not have at home.

The only way I have been inside the surgery was to receive a jab which I was informed about by a text message to call a special jab number. When you call that number a recorded message tells you not to call the main surgery number. The line then defaults to engaged tone, so that you have no recourse other than to call the main number. I have reported that the jab line is broken at least three times on widely spaced occasions, weeks apart.

It is only my opinion but I feel that this practice has a very serious issue with patient access. This is not an isolated problem. I speak to people across a wide area and I hear exactly the same experiences.