...times have changed since the family doctor who basically was on call 24 hours a day; at his/her rounds seeing his/her patients at the hospital, then to his or her, but mainly men back then office paperwork etc, then lunch maybe and then afternoon practice ; and where I lived, 2 hours in evening drop in. Then of course visits to those at home who could not make it to see the doctor; and of course being called out in the middle of the night or weekend for baby deliveries! The wife/partner of a Doctor often didn't see them a lot... but it was a self chosen profession; well paid; well respected in most cases. Also a relationship was formed with the patient and often the patient's family through a generation or two! Now it is make an appointment, the appointment, as was my last GP in 2019,was one issue, ten minutes. Prescribed medications swiftly and left it up to pharmacist to explain who did not have time so we read the inserts or went on Internet. Now many Drs. now only work Monday to Thursday; when go on vacation do not, as they used to, set up another doctor to see patients while away; get their staff or even the patient to do follow up calls to specialists etc. Not a criticism, many things have changed over the years but for someone my age , 79, I must admit I did get used to the way things were. My new nurse practitioner says she will make a referral to specialist, I wait a few months, phone the specialist and either am told no referral was made or, as happened this week, the secretary or ? said, oh we can't tell you if your referral was received; we get hundreds a week and are prioritized..... when yours is reviewed if an appointment to be made , we will let you know. Once I waited 2 months, phoned, and was told the specialist didn't accept my referral.. no one let me or the referring doctor know... so while things have changed, not all is for the better, and I do understand the current pressure on the health system re covid etc., but is it so very hard to at least let patient know where their situation stands , time wise, and be given some type of time frame and maybe, just maybe, more than ten minutes sometimes? Is that possible these days?
Bless all medical people and bless those people waiting in pain and ill health with not even a date to look forward to... not knowing if it will be a month or a year before they get help, even in serious situations... please let it get better...!

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