Feeling ill, anxious about new and troubling symptoms or maybe you’ve suffered an injury? Not to worry. The receptionist will see you now…
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in this column the difficulty in securing an appointment with a GP. In the column writing business, you know you’ve hit a raw nerve when immediately you’re swamped with anecdotal evidence from all quarters — in this instance about how widespread is the dismay, and indeed the anger, over how patients are being treated.
Or more accurately, how patients are not being treated.
People have told me countless stories about making countless early morning calls to their local surgery, without ever managing to get through to speak to anyone.
Surgeries apparently differ in how they keep callers apprised of waiting times. Some phone systems indicate how many other callers there are ahead of you in the queue — although whether this is a comfort or an additional irritation is another matter. Especially if you never make it anywhere near the finishing line.
A recurring grievance among the lucky few who do get through is then having to describe their symptoms to the receptionist. There are some ailments you might not wish to discuss outside the sanctity of the treatment room.
Even when you do get to speak to reception that doesn’t mean you’ll actually get a face-to-face meeting with the doc. Very often it’s a case of she or he will phone you later. Miss their call (usually flagged on your phone as Unknown Number) and you're back to square one.
Health Minister Robin Swann has announced this week that a new plan for reshaping hospital care in Northern Ireland will be published and put out to consultation (how much will that cost?) in the autumn.
But the current chaos with regard to GP services could also do with some “reshaping”, Mr Swann. As a matter of urgency.
Post-Covid why are family doctors still operating a system which prioritises not those who have the most pressing need but those with most dexterity on the telephone dial?
How many seriously ill people have just given up trying to get an appointment with their GP as a result? And what happens then?
And why is it that, while some surgeries are back to operating the way they were pre-Covid, many others are choosing to stick with the controversial pandemic phone-in system? Why the lack of consistency?
The poor receptionists are now on frontline duty. You can just imagine some of the abuse they will have to put up with. People are understandably frustrated but there will always be those with anger management issues who are downright abusive.
Too much is being asked of receptionists. You can understand why a few of them appear to be losing sight of their own job specifications as a result.
One woman told me about ringing the surgery hoping to discuss with her doctor whether she should increase the dosage of her medication as her symptoms had worsened. The receptionist said yes, she should double it. Just like that. No consultation with the trained medic. No option of a second opinion.
But surely it’s frustrating for GPs too. There’s a fairly common perception that they’re just skiving yet a number of patients who’ve been lucky enough to get an appointment make the point that the younger doctors in particular often look utterly exhausted and beaten down.
The current system isn’t fair on anyone. There’s no consistency and, overall, there seems to be no logic to it.
Does the Minister believe the current haphazard procedure is serving the best interests of the patient? Because the many patients who’ve told me of their experiences would obviously beg to differ.
Mr Swann recently said he believed that general practice had been treated as a Cinderella service “awarded platitudes but given no actual investment or support.”
Of the phone-first system, he admitted (with some understatement) that “in some areas too many patients are having to ring practices far too many times before they get through.”
And he conceded: “That’s clearly not the level of service patients should expect.”
That level of service shows no sign of improvement, Minister. A sensible appointment process has been “reshaped” into a telephone lottery.
How long before someone sues for damages (and for recompense for their phone bill) because they’ve been unable to get through?
Primary health care should be there for all who need it. Not just for the winning contestants on this morning’s episode of Dial-a-Doc.
Travel they say, broadens the mind. It also shortens the temper. Anybody looking forward to a couple of weeks in the sun over the summer months will now be bracing for chaos at the airports. Given the number of cancellations, you’ve as much chance of a flight to Rwanda these days as a flight to Malaga. And when you get back (if you get back) there’s another challenging airport experience awaiting some travellers. Belfast International Airport is surely the airport with the bleakest arrivals area in the western world. And this is many visitors’ first view of Northern Ireland. It’s mortifyingly awful.
Line of Duty actor and Celtic fan Martin Compston has denied that he sang along with a pro IRA chant at a Celtic convention in Las Vegas. He says he was singing the original words of Beautiful Sunday, not the version that lauds the barbaric, sectarian terror outfit which inflicted death and suffering upon thousands of people here. Obviously though, he could hear the other version being sung. Obviously, as an actor, he would have assumed this was being filmed. Why didn’t he distance himself from it at the time? Or does he really believe that old line about what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?
Hero of the week is undoubtedly Stefan, the fonaCAB driver who saved the life of a distressed young man on a bridge over the Westlink. Others tried to help too, including a lorry driver who’d stopped his truck directly beneath in the hope that that might break the lad’s fall should the worst happen. Hopefully the boy is now getting help. Anyone affected by the story can call the Samaritans free on 116123 or Lifeline on 080 8808 8000. As this story shows there are so many people out there who really do care. There really is love and kindness and good hearts. And Stefan is one of the best.
