We should celebrate our health service more instead of always grumbling about it, Walthamstow resident Jane Harrington says in a letter to the Echo
I meet lots of local people in the course of various voluntary tasks. It’s sometimes difficult to avoid hearing worries and grumbles about GP services being bad. But we don’t seem to devote the same energy to celebrating them when they’re good?
A couple of weeks ago I went along to my practice to ask for a face-to-face appointment. I was braced for third degree triage, a steer towards doing it by phone instead and if lucky, a slot in two weeks.
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What did I get? An appointment in less than 48 hours. Once there I was seen bang on time. I was carefully listened to (for more than ten minutes!) and I got a referral for a couple of procedures ‘to be on the safe side”. That very afternoon I got phone calls from the two different institutions involved to arrange appointments before Christmas.
And no, I am not at death’s door; I’d just amassed a list of a few health queries and concerns. We all know GPs are having a tough time but they are trying very hard to get things right for us. I’m sure it helps a lot if we can be cheerful, polite and focused when going.
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