The real victims of Britain's GP crisis trends now

The real victims of Britain's GP crisis trends now
The real victims of Britain's GP crisis trends now

The real victims of Britain's GP crisis trends now

The stress and the heartbreaking missed chances that England's GP appointment crisis has wrought was laid bare today by brave members of the public. 

Dozens of Brits have shared shocking stories with MailOnline of how a lack of face-to-face appointments, or being trapped in the endless labyrinth of phone calls and online forms, has damaged their health.

One cancer-stricken woman claims her diagnosis was missed and that oncologists told her she 'would have died' had she not gone private. 

Another said her desperate and repeated attempts to get an appointment during a mental health crisis had left her so tramautised she will never ring them again.  

Here, MailOnline shares their horrifying stories.

Maria Christoforo said delays in seeing a GP almost cost her her life due to a delayed cancer diagnosis

Maria Christoforo said delays in seeing a GP almost cost her her life due to a delayed cancer diagnosis 

Maria Christoforou: I would have died waiting for a face-to-face appointment 

Maria Christoforou, of Pinner in Middlesex, told this website about her 'horrendous' experience with her GP.

She was extremely ill with an, at the time, unknown respiratory problem.

Ms Christoforou said she repeatedly contacted her GP for help, wanting to be seen face-to-face. But she kept getting pushed back. 

'I was extremely ill and kept on calling the GP but she refused to see me face to face, she kept on telling me I had a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics over the phone,' she said.

She claimed to have contacted her practice three times over the course of a month requesting to be seen in-person, but each time the GP just prescribed a different type of antibiotic to treat her supposed infection. 

On the fourth occasion, Ms Christoforou said she was so ill, the GP finally agreed to see her.  

Her GP then tried to do a pulse oximetry test, which shines a light through the skin of the finger to detect the quantity of oxygen in the blood.

But Ms Christoforou said it was unsuccessful, and claimed the doctor told her to warm up her hands so they could get a reading. 

'The GP couldn't get an oxygen reading from doing my observation so told me to put my hands under my arms to warm up,' she said.

Ms Christoforou said the GP then wanted to send her for urgent tests for cancer but added it could take three weeks to get these done on the NHS.

So, Ms Christoforou instead opted to go private, and claims she was diagnosed with stage four cancer within the day.

Stage four cancer means the disease is has spread from the primary tumour site to other parts of the body and usually occurs after the cancer has been growing for some time.  

'I was also told by my oncologist that I would've died had I not have been seen when I was, Ms Christoforou said. 

Kim Quance: GP delays and the lack of sympathy left me feeling suicidal 

Kim Quance and her husband have lived in the town of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, for 27 years.

And, until the pandemic, they hadn't had any issues with their GP. 

But Ms Quance, who used to work in the NHS, told MailOnline as, like many Brits, her mental health began to deteriorate during the lockdown. 

'During lockdown I was forcibly prevented from carrying out my self-employed work. This drove me insane,' she said. 

'I was extremely distressed, walking the streets every day, crying, unable to sleep. In the end I began to get flashes of wanting to injure myself. I have worked in the NHS and knew this was a red flag.'

She phoned her GP on at least eight occasions, begging for an appointment, but to no avail, even when she told them it was regarding a mental health crisis.  

'All I ever got was some receptionist who would trill at me, 'All the phone appointments are gone for today, ring back tomorrow',' she said.

'In desperation I told one of them what I was feeling and was still told to ring back tomorrow.'

Kim Quance said trouble getting a telephone appointment with her GP left her traumatised and made getting help for a thyroid problem after even more difficult

Kim Quance said trouble getting a telephone appointment with her GP left her traumatised and made getting help for a thyroid problem after even more difficult 

Ms Quance eventually paid to see a psychotherapist, but said she has been traumatised by the experience, and now gets flashbacks when attempting to call her GP now. 

'I cannot now phone the surgery. If I try I start to shake, memories come back and I start to cry. I know if I did phone and anyone told me to ring back tomorrow I would start screaming and feel I might never stop,' she said.

Her health problems weren't over however, stating that in addition to feeling depressed, she was also fatigued, forgetful, gaining weight without reason, and her nails had become brittle.

She knew from her time in the NHS that these were all signs she had a thyroid problem, something that she had a family history of. 

Now not trusting her local GP, she went to an independent practice who, upon conducting some blood tests, eventually found she indeed had a thyroid problem.

While the GP could prescribe her medication to help, the doctor advised she contact her local doctor to get a prescription on the NHS, due to the lifelong costs of the drugs. 

But when she did so, Ms Quance said she 'had never been treated so badly'. 

'I do not know what personal agenda she had – perhaps a dislike of the fact that I had chosen to have blood tests done privately,' she said.

Ms Quance claims the GP then refused to prescribe the medication as the test results were not below national 'guidelines'.

While Ms Quance acknowledged this was true she added that she was essentially only a few points above the threshold and with clear symptoms.

She also said that she did not wish to become any sicker before being treated, but  added that the doctor wouldn't accept this. 

'There was no consideration of me as an individual, no trust that I know my body' she said.

'I am not the kind of patient who goes to the GPs very often. I attend very rarely indeed. I tried to explain this but she would not have it.

'At this point this GP leaned towards me, put her chin in her fingers and slowly repeated my own words back to me, in a sugary mocking, baby-voice, 'So, you think you're going to be really ill.' 

'This was an appalling way to treat any patient. I repeated, 'yes, I felt I would be really ill, if I had to wait.''

Ms Quance eventually returned to the private GP and paid for the prescription for the medication, which she said transformed her.  

'Within a couple of days I began to feel better. My head began to clear. Within a week or so my energy levels slowly began to pick up,' she said.

While she had to pay privately for the tests and the medication, she said it was well worth it. 

'When the NHS GP originally turned me away I felt so bullied and

read more from dailymail.....

PREV Tech moguls and longevity gurus are using a $2 organ transplant pill to reverse ... trends now
NEXT NHS launches 'ADHD Taskforce' amid soaring rates of condition, with patients ... trends now