Better GP access needed for patients in Swindon
A councillor is urging Swindon Borough Council to work with the new 'Integrated Care Board'
Last updated 21st Jul 2022
Councillors in Swindon say the difficulties faced by people in the town to access the GPs need to be addressed.
Newly elected Pam Adams brought a motion to Swindon Borough Council, urging them to work with the "newly formed Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board and call on it to make improvements to patients access to surgeries as a key priority".
Introducing her motion, Coun Adams said: “I have been overwhelmed by the distress to people who can’t access medical care.”
She told the story of an 86-year-old woman in her ward who had had an operation at Great Western Hospital and who’d been advised to contact her GP surgery to have the dressing changed. She said: “Five weeks later she has not been able to get her dressing looked at or changed.”
“Sher has rung every day at 8 am to book an appointment and she has never been able to get through. In desperation, she sent a younger relative to the surgery but he was told he couldn’t book an appointment in person.
“The system of having to book an appointment that day by ringing at 8 am penalises those who are at work then and can’t make calls.
“Doctors’ surgeries are understaffed, and under pressure. This is increasingly unsafe. It needs addressing urgently.
The Conservative cabinet member responsible for health and social care Brian Ford paid tribute to health care workers but added: “We don’t have enough doctors.
“We are working with the ICS to increase the number of doctors in GP surgeries. We are building new surgeries in developing areas, for example, the new one in Wichelstowe will relieve the pressure on the surgery in Wroughton.
Coun Adams emphasised that she appreciated how hard NHS staff work and that her concern was about the systems in use before the motion was put to the vote and passed unanimously.