A Bangor man has spoken of his frustrations with GP surgeries after he had to wait five days for a doctor to return his call. Andy Kedziora contacted his local GP surgery last Monday, for what he thought should have been a relatively simple request. Already booked in for some tests at his surgery the following week, Andy asked if he could get his doctor’s approval to add on another test while he was there. However, Andy, who is originally from London, was told he would not be able to speak with a doctor until that Friday. “Five days’ wait for a simple 30 second phone call is not right really,” Andy stated. He explained that the receptionist had asked why he needed to speak with a doctor and he explained that all he needed was approval for the test, to have it completed on the same day, rather than having multiple appointments for similar procedures. “All I needed was for a doctor to give authorisation and to approve a PSA test with my other blood pressure tests and blood samples,” he said. “To me, it seemed so simple. The receptionist could have gotten up, knocked on a doctor’s door, asked if I could have the test and then it’s done. Why does it take five days for a phone call?” Andy continued that while he understood the seriousness of Covid and the pandemic, he felt that it was being used as an excuse for unnecessarily lengthy waits. “I have found over the years that it is not just the surgery I go to, but that other surgeries are doing the same thing,” he said. Andy questioned why his call couldn’t be returned the same day, stating that doctors were seeing ‘less patients face-toface’. A doctor called Andy on Friday at lunchtime and approved the test, but told him to contact the surgery for another consultation when his results were in and Andy is worried he will face yet another lengthy wait. Andy continued: “You can’t diagnose a lot of things over the phone and you don’t want to be going on the internet because it can make people worry.” Frustrated with the system, Andy said he could have accepted a 24 hour turn around, but that five days was too long. “It is just frustrating at the end of the day. I don’t want to make a big song and dance about it. I am an understanding person and I know with Covid going on it sometimes means a bit of a delay but for a simple phone call to take five days is a bit over the top for me.”
