"I feel despondent and let down by Western Elms…"

It's taking on average an hour for Western Elms Surgery to answer their phone and all the while we are on hold, we are paying our full phone tariff. Once answered we are told to use the on-line service in order to request an appointment which can vary from 2-3 weeks time to simply no response at all. It's a shambles. Granted when you do finally get to speak to a GP, they are amazing but seriously, we patients are having to jump through unnecessary hoops in order to get an appointment and it is obvious the surgery is significantly over their patient capacity and cannot cope. This results in a circular motion of actions and reactions which leave the patient feeling despondent and fretful and no doubt the surgery overwhelmed. All of which costs time, money, patience and spent good will, all of which are seriously limited!

As a patient, I am feeling at a loss as to how to get the treatment I require and frustrated at the systems at a whole. What the poor staff at Western Elms are experiencing, I can only imagine. They are the poor soles having to deal with the repercussions of it all and facing the front line. The National Health has let the staff and the patients of the Western Elms down enormously!

If I could go to another surgery I certainly would, instead, like everyone else in my catchment area I am having to fight a battle to get help and just pray that I don't end up with further mental health issues as a result!