Basingstoke woman describes 70-day battle for GP appointment

Carol Ayling, 62 and of Hatch Warren, has shared her story, shedding light on the struggles many face when trying to access timely medical care.

"It’s been awful," Carol said, while detailing her ordeal that began in May and has only recently seen significant attention after she involved Basingstoke MP Luke Murphy.

"For more than 70 days, I was trying to get to see someone and try to get this investigated."

READ MORE: Basingstoke GP and doctor's surgeries rated by patients

Carol Ayling had to wait for 69 days for her first appointment - even that with a nurse (Image: Newsquest)

Carol’s troubles began with symptoms of dizziness and light-headedness, which left her unable to drive or care for her elderly mother in Swindon.

"I was worrying about what was wrong with me, and I just felt desperate," she said.

"I wanted to see someone to talk about how I felt and to investigate what was wrong, and I just was not getting anywhere.

"The first time I contacted them, I was trying on the phone, and you just get told by an automated voice you’re number 21 in the queue."

She later made an online application, which was followed by a call from a pharmacist a week later.

She was then advised to arrange blood and ECG tests. However, there were further delays for the tests and getting those results.

It wasn’t until she paid £99 for a private consultation with a Bupa GP that she received a potential diagnosis.

"That was on July 9 – 69 days after trying to get some help from my own GP."

Despite this, her NHS GP continued to delay further investigations.

"When I saw that doctor, all he said was, the blood test results are normal, so you’re just low on vitamin D. Take the vitamin D tablets and come back in September."

The situation only began to improve when Carol involved her MP, Luke Murphy.

"Since I did that, the doctors have just been all over me, and phoning me to follow up, making me appointments to see a GP. But before, it wasn’t like that. It was awful, terrible.

"One thing that’s really frustrating is that you’re, or certainly I was, unable to get an appointment to see a doctor in any reasonable amount of time," she said.

"One time I phoned, and it was a Friday morning. This had been going on for several weeks by then, and I was told the triage was closed that day, phone back on Monday. That’s not acceptable."

Carol’s frustration grew as she was continually passed between pharmacists and nurses, with little progress in diagnosing her condition.

"It took 69 days of trying to get appointments and not seeing anyone, just getting a call from a pharmacist. For 69 days I was feeling very, very poorly and unable to drive, unable to do any of the things that I usually do, and still am, but at least they are sending me for more investigations now."

Carol Ayling's story sheds light on the struggles many face when trying to access timely medical care (Image: Newsquest)

SEE ALSO: One in 20 told GP surgery 'cannot help today'

Carol’s experience with The Beggarwood Surgery, also shows broader concerns about the state of NHS services.

As she pointed out: "I feel it's lucky that I have savings and that I was able to pay £99 for the private GP and then £280 for the ENT referral. If I hadn't paid that, my doctors would have just said you’re low in vitamin D. Come back, and we’ll do some more tests in September. And it’s not right.

"It’s just not right when it’s something that’s affecting your whole life."

A spokesperson for The Beggarwood Surgery said: "We always strive to provide our patients with the best care possible. We take all complaints very seriously, completing thorough investigations where a patient feels that we have not met their expectations and use them as opportunities to learn and improve our services. Whilst we cannot comment on individual patient cases due to patient confidentiality, we would like to reassure patients that improving their access to primary care is one of our surgery’s top priorities."

The Gazette phoned The Beggarwood Surgery at 3.20pm on Monday, August 12, to get a comment on Carol's concerns. Despite it being a relatively off-peak time, the reporter was caller number four in the queue. It took 30 minutes for him to speak to a receptionist.