Time to face up to the reality of Welsh NHS

I DO not want to criticise the medical staff who are working so hard to keep the NHS afloat in such difficult times. However, as a former GP and a current patient, it seems to me there has been a reluctance for many years among politicians in Cardiff (and Westminster) to acknowledge how bad the Welsh NHS has become. These problems have been building up for many years and have not been caused by the pandemic, although this has made matters worse.

What I see around me in the Betsi Cadwaladr area are :

■ GP surgeries which try and keep their patients at arm’s length with recorded messages advising them to go elsewhere or directing them to websites – even though many older patients don’t have smartphones or computers.

■ Patients queueing to phone when the surgery opens and competing for a limited numbers of appointments and having to try again the next day. If they are lucky enough to be given an appointment it may not be for a week or more. Understandably, they go to A&E and add to the pressure there. I sympathise with the A&E staff who are having to deal with problems normally dealt with by GPs and their practice nurses. Ironically, there is an alternative private GP service which will welcome them with open arms – if they have the money.

■ Many young GPs work part-time and never intend to work full-time for the NHS, even though British-trained doctors have their medical school fees paid by the taxpayers. Some of these young doctors can be found working as private GPs.

■ Video consultations instead of face to face. Rather risky, in my opinion.

■ Ambulances are parked outside A&E for hours and unavailable to go to emergencies like fractured hips and strokes.

■ Distressed children wait far too long to be seen by CAMHS (the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service). By the time a child is referred they are often in dire straits.

■ Waiting lists to see NHS specialists get longer and longer. More and more patients can’t wait and pay to go privately. These private patients are not necessarily rich but are luckier than all those who can’t afford it at all.

For many years we believed our free NHS was “the envy of the world”. Other European and Commonwealth countries now pity us and wonder how we allowed our health service to get into such a mess. If we are going to have a health service that works, we need our politicians in Cardiff to put aside their party political differences and work together with open minds to rebuild a Welsh NHS we can be proud of. I suggest over the next six months they look at healthcare in other countries and see what is successful elsewhere and report back to the Senedd. A quick fix is not what we need.

Dr Chris Madoc-Jones

Denbigh