"We have now had to go private"

My mum has had severe pain in her hips for the last 2 years.  She was an extremely fit woman for a lady in her late seventies and was walking daily or on her electric bike, also doing jobs in garden and house - never stopped.  Over the past 2 years she has got to the stage that it’s extremely painful to walk short distances and now needs the aid of walking stick.  

Tried to get appointment to see doctor face to face, but never got one, always a nurse practitioner if I did eventually manage to get appointment. We did manage to get X-ray and they thought it was Osteoarthritis in hip.

Been on several medications but they always really upset her stomach making mum more ill.  Recently I phoned our surgery as mum was in extreme pain and crying with it - asked for a Doctor face to face (well it felt like I begged to actually get her seen to see how sore she was). A face to face appointment didn’t happen though.

Doctor phoned her and when speaking to her, in my opinion, the doctor actually suggested that the pain wouldn’t kill her. What kind of attitude is that, and to imply that to someone who would rather try and put on a brave face to everyone, rather than bother a doctor.

I feel it is an absolutely shocking service - it’s so bad that we have now had to go private to be able to see a doctor face to face and it turns out mum has severe Osteoarthritis and needs a hip replacement to get any relief at all, as it’s too far gone for anything else to help.