Long waits at A&E and difficulties accessing GP services and prescriptions are among the concerns raised by Isle of Wight residents in the latest feedback gathered by the Island’s health and social care watchdog.
Between 13th July and 12th August, watchdog Healthwatch Isle of Wight gathered feedback from Islanders which was 63% negative (107 responses), 34% positive (57) and 3% mixed or neutral (6).
The 2 most prominent topics highlighted in its new Intelligence Report are GP and A&E services, with at least 30 negative responses respectively.
Areas with largely positive feedback include residential and nursing care homes as well as urgent care and dentistry. There was also praise for A&E staff.
Healthwatch heard that one resident was referred to A&E by her GP and waited two hours before being told she would be admitted.
Despite this, she spent the next 24 hours sitting on a chair before reaching a ward, where she then waited over an hour for a bed.
Another said:
“I am writing to highlight the unacceptable difficulties my family has in getting a simple prescription from the GP to the pharmacy to access medicines.
Article continues below this advertisement “Every single time we have to reorder his medication there is an issue and my (relative) has to spend hours on the phone to the GP and the pharmacy trying to sort it out.”
A third told the watchdog that as a cancer patient, support from their GP surgery has been “pitiful”. However, referring to The Bay GP practice, a fourth said they got a phone appointment quickly and easily using an online system.
James Roach, director for neighbourhood health at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said:
“We are grateful to Healthwatch for continuing to listen to people and share their experiences of health and care services.
“This insight is valuable in helping us understand what matters to local people, recognise where services are working well and identify where people may be experiencing difficulties.
“We can demonstrate progress in terms of extending GP access, supporting our community pharmacies to extend access and service provision and have an ambitious Neighbourhood Health Plan for the future on the Isle of Wight.
“We take the experiences shared through Healthwatch seriously and will continue to work with our providers and partners to understand the issues raised and use this insight, alongside other information, to help shape and improve services for people across the Island.”
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“We are sorry that, due to difficulties with flow, some patients are experiencing longer waits than we would like when attending our Emergency Department.
“Like many hospitals across the country, we have a high number of patients who are medically fit to leave hospital but are awaiting their next place of care or package of support.
“This can affect our ability to admit patients from the Emergency Department quickly. We are working closely with our partners across community, social care and mental health services to improve this together, including developing new pathways to care and helping people access the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.”
the reason that many people end up waiting for hours at St Marys A&E is because their local “GP Surgery” is now run by paper shufflers, 95% women, who have NO medical experience or qualifications.
Turn up at such a place with an obvious medical issue such as an open wound and the “receptionist” will tell you to “go to A&E, we cannot deal with that here”. How do they know? They are not medically qualified.
Phone up your local surgery and the telephone will be answered by one of these “know nothings” who will demand to know “what is wrong with you?”
One wants to reply “I do not know, that is why I would like to speak to the Doctor” and on and on the interrogation goes until you admit there is nothing wrong with you just to get away from this imbecile clerk/admin/asst.manager
It is totally unfair on the doctors and triage nurses at St Marys to have to take up the slack of incompetent, disinterested, dismissive idiots who now “run” local GP Practices.
170 responses out of a population of 140,000+
Nothing will ever change if we don’t
make the effort to let our feelings known.
Everyone should also vote in elections.
We all need to do our bit and make our voices heard otherwise we cannot moan about the consequences.
I didn’t know GPs still existed, since the pandemic
they have been awfully shy.
I recently went there, and was in immense pain, the reception staff were so rude, and were practically encouraging people not to wait. My wait time was 9 hours!!! Had my blood pressure etc taken twice, when I did get through the reception stages the doctor was furious with the admin staff as they should of given me pain relief, but failed to do so. So from start to finish 9 hours… this is out of order and all because they are overloaded because it is impossible to see you normal GP so people go there instead. One person had a TIA while waiting, another person covered in blood, oh and on that one, none of the admin/reception staff appeared to be bothered about blood on the floor. The doctors and medical staff all were fine though.
Many NHS employees attitudes and service make patients
health worse.
They make people anxious, increase patients blood pressure
and affects ones mental health.
They need to employ persons with compassion, not
uncaring numpties.
If you question them or say something they don’t like
they are on the offensive, even though they are in the
wrong.
Shocking but true, they are UNACCOUNTABLE
things need to change.
That TIA may have been me (if it was late July). I was sent to A&E from GP surgery as no doctor was available. 45mins for triage; 11hrs in an available wheelchair somewhere up a corridor. Disagreements about whether to admit me [there were no more beds available at around 7pm]. Discharged at 0200 to home – come back tomorrow!! It was a TIA on the CT scan next day.
My husband sat in the same day emergency room waiting to see if he’d be transferred to Southampton for an emergency liver operation. He sat ftom 9 in the morning until 8 at night when it closed. He was offered no food or drinks. He was so ill and jaundiced he could barely prop himself up. When they closed he spent the rest of the night in A and E in a chair until someone finally put a drip on to fluidate him. He left the next morning in an ambulance to be transferred
24 hours is totally unacceptable
He passed away not long after .
Knowing wether or not it contributed we’ll never know.
In third world countries outside of cities if you go to a clinic you might well be seen by a nurse with no doctor available.
In the UK if you go to a GP you might well be seen by a nurse with no doctor in sight.
Spot the difference and welcome to the third world.
I have given up to try and get a doctors appointment. It is impossible to see a gp when you need one
Since covid it has been awful to get an appointment.. why can’t they go back to how we were then . It flowed quite well
I suffer with anxiety and depression