Easier said than done

Following a recent blood test, I was called by my Great Western Hospital consultant and suggested I make an appointment with my GP.

On past experience with my local surgery (Abbey Meads - part of a local group of surgeries) I explained that this was easier said than done, but was told to persist.

Well, calling and being on hold for 45 minutes, finally got through to a human, only to be advised that appointments cannot be taken in the afternoon and I should try after 8 am. Why isn't this advice given as part of an initial automated message?

Yes you can book online, but if you don't possess a computer or are of the age where this booking system is daunting, then talking to someone is the only option.

Holding on the telephone is also costly which a lot of people cannot afford.

When oh When will this group of surgeries get their act together as I understand this has been a long ongoing problem. Fingers crossed for improvement.

David Cobb

Haydonwick

Shortage of GPs has built up over years

The letter from the three clinical leads of our area (SA, October 9.) explaining the problems facing general practices was good – so far as it went.

Sadly, it failed to mention the biggest problem of all – the shortage of GPs.

Indeed, there is a national shortage of all doctors (in general practice and in hospitals), nurses and other health professionals (such as physios, occupational therapists and radiographers) who actually see and treat patients.

This has been building up over a number of years since before the pandemic struck, which only made things worse.

The cause of this is a failure of increasing the numbers of doctors (and other staff) to meet the increasing demand from an increase in the population, particularly the elderly who need more treatment and care.

Added to this is increasingly difficult and onerous terms and conditions of work (including pay restraint and pension rules) which has resulted in many doctors leaving the NHS for early retirement or to work elsewhere; and difficulty in recruitment of new staff.

Successive governments have been warned but have failed to address the problem. Hence the present crisis.

Malcolm Morrison

Retired Surgeon

Prospect Hill

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If you can't take part in vote it's not democracy

The Government plans to spend millions of our tax-payers' money to ban people from voting.

In future if you don't have ID you will be deprived of your vote. Evidence from around the world shows that forcing voters to bring photographic ID to the polling station just makes it harder for people to vote.

So why is the Conservative government doing this? It can't be voter fraud. There were only 33 allegations of irregularities out of 58 million votes at the last election.

In the US with voter ID voters from deprived communities are more likely to lose their vote. In Britain these will include people who have just lost their £20 universal credit.

Prime Minister Johnson calculates that they will hardly vote for his party and so he wants to spend our money making it more difficult for us all to vote. And our MP Robert Buckland who supports this measure has the nerve to say (SA, October 13) that it is vital that voters participate in our democracy.

If you can’t participate it is not democracy.

Ken Stimson

Grosvenor Road

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