Anger over GPs service

Fed-up patients who have encountered problems with the out-of-hours doctors service used in Powys have been inundating councillors with complaints.

Anxious patients have had to wait for a response and sometimes for hours to see a doctor when they call the Shropdoc service, it has been claimed.

A report yesterday dubbed the UK out-of-hours system "shambolic", sparking a debate in Welshpool when the county council's Montgomeryshire committee had a meeting with John Howard, chief executive of local health watchdog the Montgomeryshire Community Health Council.

"If anyone wishes to complain about Shropdoc, I would suggest they should do it through the CHC," Mr Howard told councillors.

"We can monitor it. We'll know what complaints are being made and they will carry more weight. We have an advocate."

He said the service was often criticised for lateness, but that was because doctors had different rules.

"Because it is a GP out-of-hours service, it only gets flagged up for lateness if they take longer than six hours to see someone, which is a significant difference from the ambulance service, which has eight minutes to respond," he said.

"We can see why members of the public get annoyed and upset waiting for a phonecall back."

Powys county councillor Bob Mills said he had been "inundated" with complaints from people in his Newtown ward. "People get so fed up with being messed around that they don't follow through; they put the phone down," he said.

And county councillor Michael Williams urged people to contact the CHC when they see Shropdoc failing.

"I know people don't feel like progressing complaints if they're sick, but I would urge everybody able to do so to get through to the CHC."

Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates said out-of-hours provision for health care in Mid Wales should be "re-thought", after the report was issued.

He suggested a system that would place rapid response vehicles alongside ambulance services, to deal with emergency and non-emergency calls between them.

By Mike Sivier