GP surgeries across Kent are becoming overwhelmed with patients. Many are still operating largely through telephone appointments, which started happening\u00a0\u00a0more during Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residents in Kent are becoming increasingly frustrated as they try to book appointments but can not due to them all being taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa Sullivan lives in Gillingham and works full-time. She is annoyed because when she calls her GP she is held in a cue for up to two hours on some occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t sit on a phone for an hour or hour and a half in the morning, on the off chance that I may get an appointment or may not get an appointment on that day,” said Miss Sullivan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa suffers with pains in her stomach and was upset when she could not get an in person appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can see in someone if they are unwell, their skin, their colour, their eyes, just generally, you can\u2019t do that over the phone,\u201d said Mrs Sullivan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staff members who work in GPs are being put under extreme pressure as they have to try to squeeze in as many patient appointments in as possible, but more often than not, somebody will have to try again tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julian Spinks is a doctor who works at Maidstone Road Surgery in Chatham, Kent and he has said just how much pressure GP staff are under at this current time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cT<\/strong>he demand for appointments has gone up, there is already about ten percent more appointments than we were at prior to Covid. In fact now the latest figures are actually doing more face to face appointments, since Covid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though the lack of appointments is not down to GP staff members many find themselves being shouted at, as patients take out their frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “As it\u2019s got more difficult to offer people appointments, the receptionists get the grumbles and sometimes the aggression. It\u2019s like trying to book a seat on a flight, which is full and the answer is you can\u2019t actually put more people in,” said Mr Spinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It does not look like the shortage of appointments is going to be fixed anytime soon, due to an overall shortage of GP doctors. Hospital waiting times are also currently at an all-time high, and the overall NHS system and staff are under immense pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GP surgeries across Kent are becoming overwhelmed with patients. Many are still operating largely through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[166,165],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medway","category-news","tag-appointments","tag-gp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n