REMEMBER the days when, if you were feeling unwell or had a medical dilemma, you rang your local clinic and were assigned an appointment that week or even that same day?
Nowadays, your call initially offers you some alternatives then infers that you’d be better off online (or elsewhere).
This is followed by a lengthy, ire-inducing lecture inveighing against abuse and requesting respect.
Finally, a disembodied voice assures you periodically that your call is very important to them. At which point you may silently, but respectfully, offer some expletive-laden expressions of disbelief.
At some point, with luck, you may acquire an appointment some months later or before Christmas, whichever comes first.
Because so many of us have experienced these kinds of healthcare conundrums, Tyntynder CWA has formed a social issues committee to try to discover if there are strategies or solutions which may help with our shortage of GPs and other medical professionals.
We needed information and directives from knowledgeable sources, so have attempted to make appointments with the following:
- Hospital CEO
- Council CEO
- Practice managers
- Local Members of Parliament
After instigating these calls, we find that most of the above are currently too busy to meet with us.
Where to from here? Our suggestions are unpublishable but revolve around concepts of public accountability. Any ideas?
Tyntynder CWA social issues committee
