GP patient queues ‘just like wartime rationing’

PATIENTS are regularly having to wait in queues of up to 50 people to get a GP appointment at a Cardiff medical centre, a surgery patient has claimed.

The scenes, which have seen dozens of people waiting in line shortly after 8am, have been likened to wartime ration queues.

One patient shared their experience of the latest queues as they waited outside the Ely Bridge Surgery on Tuesday morning.

The patient, who does not wish to be named, said the situation outside the surgery on Mill Road has become a regular occurrence.

They added: “It was not always like this – I would say it’s been like this for the last eight months or so.

“When I turned up, people were queuing right down the road. Apparently it’s like it every day now.

“I was roughly in the middle of the queue, and I would say there was about 50 people waiting.

They added: “It’s like being back in World War II, waiting for your rations.”

The patient said they turned up at around 8.10am, with the surgery opening at around 8.20am, adding that it appeared people had been waiting since around 7.55am.

They said: “Once you get in, you just have to wait. There was about seven people in front of me once I’d got in.

“You can phone up and make an appointment, but you can be on the phone for up to half an hour.”

They added: “It’s a massive waste of my time. I don’t work and it’s not good, but if you have a job you don’t have time to be on the phone for that long.

“The whole thing just seems ridiculous. It’s bad enough for myself but if you’re the elderly then it’s even worse. And there was quite a lot of elderly there. “It’s not a good thing at all.” After sharing the experience on social media, the patient said other users echoed their frustration.

They said: “People were just as annoyed as I was. The first time I saw the queue I was just in shock, and they were too.”

The patient eventually left the GP surgery at 9.30am.

The Ely Bridge Surgery declined to comment.