To get an appointment to see your GP?

but was told I could not make an appointment for the foreseeable future because it is the holiday season. name supplied, rhyl, Flintshire. I AM tired of the attacks on general practice, which has been broken by successive governments and NHS reorganisations. I retired from the NHS aged 59, after being ground down by a system that required me to use an online questionnaire to assess depression. If a patient had found the courage to see me, burst into tears and said they couldn’t cope, I was supposed to look at a screen rather than hold their hand and listen. I chaired a Primary Care Group and, just as it began to deliver results, it was replaced by Primary Care Trusts (employing many non-clinical staff) and then Clinical Commissioning Groups. Hospitals became trusts with more penpushers. I fear for the future of general practice. How do we get back to what we once had? dr keitH sUMner, Castle donington, derbys. MY excellent GP works only two mornings a week so it is virtually impossible to get an appointment to see her. The average waiting time in my local practice is three weeks and then you must agree to see any doctor, who is often a locum. Mike PilkinGton, Wigan, lancs. IF I had to wait a week for an appointment, I would consider myself lucky. I’ve had to wait two-and-a-half

months to see my doctor. It was two weeks to see any GP at the practice.

anne dUCker, shepshed, leics. I HAD a recent health scare and the care from my GP and hospitals has been exemplary, with six consultations and two scans within a month. G. delaney, kentford, suffolk. WHY is so difficult to see your doctor? There is a notice at my GP surgery stating that patients failed to show up for 90 appointments in the past month. den McCHristal, Whitley Bay, tyne & Wear.