I’ve tried 100 times to get an appointment...
DISABLED former engineer David has tried more than 100 times to make a face- to- face appointment with his doctor during the coronavirus crisis.
The ex- British Railway worker says he has called his surgery demanding to see a doctor at least three or four times a week since March – but simply cannot get through.
That means in the seven months since lockdown, David, 85, from Luton, Bedfordshire, attempted to make 112 appointments, but has failed on each occasion.
Despairing David said: “I call up and get a recorded message saying I am 19, 18, 17 in the queue and I am kept on hold.
“I can’t afford to be on the phone for longer than five minutes.
“I have been trying for months and all the time I am kept on hold.
“I just feel abandoned.” Housebound David, who lives alone in sheltered accommodation, has to cope with multiple disabilities. Despite that he says he last saw a GP for a face- to- face appointment in January.
To compound his misery, David’s local authority has told him that his care package, in which helpers visit him at home four times a day, is going to be slashed because of a Covid cash crisis.
David’s disabilities mean that he is unable to go outside unaided or even stand up.
Because he is unable to hold a knife, fork or spoon, the pensioner needs assistance to eat.
His children live overseas while his brothers have been unable to visit during lockdown as they live 100 miles away.
He said: “It’s like nobody cares.
“I understand that GPs are in a somewhat difficult situation, but it’s not helpful.
“Telephone consultations are all right but
I prefer to see them face- toface, there is no substitute for that. I feel like the surgery has forgotten about me. At a time I need assistance it’s just not there.”
“My carers are marvellous and do such a fantastic job, but now I am told my care package is under threat. I don’t know what I am going to do if it