'NHS on its knees': Britons seeking medical help share their frustrations

Patients take to social media to vent about the National Health Service

Patients in the UK are facing long waits for treatment, cancelled appointments and a shortage of doctors and staff. PA

The struggles of the NHS, the UK's strained publicly-funded healthcare system, are being played out on social media, highlighting the gripes and groans of patients across the country.

From doctor's surgeries to hospital appointments, there is growing frustration at the struggle patients have to get the medical attention they need.

The availability of appointments and the handling of cancellations in the NHS are high on the list in the chorus of complaints.

The National has spent months talking to doctors, patients and hospital managers about global health journeys. Now we focus on the concerns people in Britain people have aired, with the NHS under the most pressure it has seen as it nears its 75th anniversary.

We trawled social media to capture the mood of the nation:

Long waiting times

Andy Bullock shared his failed attempt to secure an emergency doctor appointment. He tweeted: “Tried to get an emergency doctor appointment, had to deal with the receptionist (the most powerful person in the practice), and she laughed and said, 'An appointment today? You're joking, right?'”

Cell biologist Prof Jennifer Rohn described her attempts to get a GP appointment as resembling “Glastonbury-ticket-frenzy”.

@GreenstedeInfo took to Twitter to share his frustration at how quickly GP appointments run out: “Failed again to get appointment to see GP with my surgery. Only took 24 minutes to get the message 'no more appointments'.”

Amy Haggerty had a similar experience. She said in a Facebook post: “Number 17 in the queue for a GP appointment, 30 mins later and all the appointments have gone”.

James Kelly, from Dewsbury, said: “I got out of hospital this morning … They tell me they’ve attached a note to my file and I should book an urgent appointment with my GP … So I call up the doctors, and they say “yeah, we can see the urgent appointment note. The earliest a doctor can see you is 23rd June!” JUNE! That’s a month away!”.

Pearl Baler expressed her frustration over the power GP receptionists wield in determining who can get an emergency appointment, or even a telephone call.

Lack of care

And it's not just about getting an appointment, the delay in receiving care is also concerning.

Adam Fare shared his frustration on Twitter: “Every single time I’ve tried to get some help or support from the healthcare system I’ve been let down. Hundreds of appointments … and nothing.”

Wendy Charnley, from Telford, shared a long post about appointment letters that led her to go private. Ms Charnley said: “After months of “non treatment”, and no hospital referral, I ended up going private. My appointment was just three days after I had moved house, and the receptionist updated my records, both for the private company and the NHS.

“Within two weeks, I received a letter from the NHS, saying that I had missed an appointment and they were offering another one, five months away. It turned out that I had missed two appointments. I never had a letter, never had a reminder, nor a phone call to check that I was going to attend.

Ms Charnley added: “The NHS are making noises about charging patients who don’t turn up for appointments. Perhaps they should get their act together before they start moaning about that.”

Colin Buckoke convey his dissatisfaction on Facebook about getting tests done with no follow-ups: “Is it all worth it at my age? Had Enough Now”.

Children are also suffering, as one mum said on Twitter. Stacey Boyle tweeted: “So NHS waiting times have been cut from a wait of 18 months yet I was told last week the current wait Occupational Therapy appointment for my son is 60 months!”

Calls for change

Estelle Flee described the NHS as “broken”. She said on Twitter: “I think something has to 'change' about the NHS, it’s on its knees. Government pumps more and more money in and nothing improves. The system is broken”.

That sentiment was echoed by Greg Clough, who tweeted: "[My GP] has progressively made it harder to get even the most basic appointment, so I call NHS 111 instead”.

Mary Whitby tweeted: “The 'NHS' no longer exists as a national, universal, publicly run service. It's now multiple systems based on postcodes, with shrunken services, provided by myriad providers”.

Jim Hickson was surprised when his partner was left with medical advice that didn't seem “right”. He said in a tweet: “My partner has a very obviously infected insect bite on their leg and can't get a GP appointment, and the 111 service just tells them to take paracetamol. Getting a bit worried. What can we do?!”

Another patient, who didn't disclose their name, shared their experience on Reddit. They said: “All options don't work with [my GP surgery] and I left a damning review on Google reviews after being abandoned with no where to go but a walk-in centre on the weekend when I had a terrible ear infection.”

Seeking private help

George Morrow, from Ireland, mentioned a friend who turned to private care in Albania to seek medical help and decided to follow suit. He said in a tweet: “I find the thought of relying on the NHS much more chilling than any horror film. I can't walk properly and can't see my GP so I've decided to go private for a physio”.

Nikki Hesford believes the issue lies with the shortage of doctors and compared the service with that of dentists who were moving to private practices. In a tweet, she said: “Same at my mum's GP. Where are they the [doctors]? At their new private practice down the road that they recently opened, where you can see them for £200. Many are moving into the private sector. Like dentists did. Eventually they won’t do any NHS [work] when their private demand fills.”

Pamela Edwards, from Telford, told of her husband's decision to tackle his medical plight in a private setting, driven by unfulfilled promises of assistance from the NHS.

In a Facebook post, she said: “When my husband was ill (...) he needed to see a neurologist urgently after 3 admissions by ambulance including one by air ambulance. Despite the GP referring him he never had an NHS appointment despite being listed. Hence he had to go Privately!”

Deepening health crisis

For those struggling with mental health issues, the situation appears equally desperate.

A Tweet by @FibroWarriorThe bemoaned the cancellation of mental health appointments without prior notice: “So this is the 2nd time my mental health appointments have been cancelled and me not told until I get to the building. My worker has done this 3 times before too … No wonder so many are lost”.

@Charlottor echoed this, describing the scene at one hospital where the waiting time to see a doctor was expected to be 10 hours.

Shirking responsibility

Helen Mulhern, from Dublin, described the effect of not being able to get a non-urgent GP appointment at her local practice: "[At my practice, there are] 6 Doctors – [it takes] 5-6 weeks to get non urgent appointment. Inevitably this has knock on effect on A&E, and delayed diagnoses”.

@_MumJeans echoed the same concern, saying the difficulty in getting a GP appointment was pushing her to use an alternative service.

She said on Twitter: “I am in Scotland, and this morning is the 3rd time my GP’s office has called to cancel my appointment. They offered a phone consultation yesterday, but nobody called me, this morning they called to cancel completely, [advising] that I should call 111 if I can’t wait for a new date.”

Many feel they have no choice but to seek help at hospitals. Rhys, from Wales, shared her dismay on Twitter.