Can see why people would go straight to A&E
To try and get through to talk to anyone can take over an hour. Phone lines get jammed up really quickly. Doctors won’t see patients at all, not even using video calls. Have used the online form a couple of times and had phone conversation this takes extra time though Although it works well for prescription requests or none urgent queries . Don’t know what I’d do if I had a serious problem. Problem with phone consultation is that some doctors are difficult to understand (for tricky accents I used to lip read as well as listen). Also a doctor could miss out on lots of clues about a patients health by looking at them. I have underlying serious health conditions and I feel I have no support from my GP. The service has definitely deteriorated. I just think it can’t cope with the volume of patients in the area.