A 77-YEAR-OLD woman from Basingstoke is furious after she was told by her GP surgery that the doctor will speak to her only over the phone despite knowing her hearing difficulties.

Carole Wilson, who lives in Kempshott, approached the Camrose, Gillies and Hackwood (CGH) Partnership because of blocked ears. But the receptionist told her that the GP would only speak to her over the phone although Carole explained she “wouldn’t be able to hear anything”.

“I’m furious that the GP did not want to see me,” Carole said.

“This is not just me. It is happening all over the country. These doctors need to go back to work.”

READ MORE: Patients waiting an hour to call Camrose, Gillies and Hackwood surgery

Carole said she woke up at 2am yesterday (Thursday, February 25) because of a “pop in her ears”. She couldn’t hear anything and decided to first go to her pharmacist.

“The pharmacist wasn’t able to help me. So, I walked to the Gillies (CGH). There was nobody at the GP surgery except the receptionist.

“I told her my problems and the receptionist told me the doctor would give me a telephone cal. I said, with due respect, I can’t do that because I can’t hear anything. I told them I need some sort of treatment where they can find out what’s wrong with my ear – whether it’s wax or is it something in there or whatever.

“So, she went to her computer and came back to me and said she can only arrange a telephone conversation.

“I said I will go to the A&E then. But she told me I can’t because it’s not an emergency.

“But I needed some help from somewhere. So, I went to A&E and spoke to the nurse there. I told her my story and it’s not an emergency. They were absolutely lovely and wonderful. I can’t praise them enough. I had to wait for a couple of hours, but I don’t have a problem with that. I expected to wait for 4-5 hours to be honest and I was quite happy to do so. But a doctor saw me, and I had some hard wax in there. She advised me what to do. They were amazing. I came back from there happy that I will be better.”

The incident follows the increasing demand from residents and councillors for improvements in Basingstoke GP services.

Councillor Kim Taylor, Labour councillor for Basingstoke Central Division, said councillors have been inundated with concerns from residents having problems trying to see a GP.

SEE ALSO: Councillor calls for improvements to Basingstoke GP services

Residents have also been sharing their frustrations about trying to get hold of some GP surgeries in the town, including the CGH Partnership and Beggarwood Surgery - both owned by American health firm Operose.

NHS Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group was contacted for a comment.

Dr Matt Nisbet, GP partner and clinical lead of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight CCG, said: “General practice teams continued to treat patients throughout the pandemic as well as working on the biggest vaccination programme the NHS has ever seen. We are now seeing thousands of people daily with face-to-face appointments as well as continuing to offer patients the choice of face-to-face and remote appointments.” 

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