You used to be able to ring the doctors and get an appointment. It was simple. Not so much these days….

My calf muscle is still causing a lot of pain after pulling it on Sunday. So after another night of no sleep I tried ringing my GP (General practitioner) this morning but I couldn’t get through. So I rang the NHS 111 number (non emergency) and they did an assessment. They said they would tell the doctors (GP) that I needed to be seen within 2 hours. They said ring surgery and tell them I had spoken to 111, the surgery would see a referral on their computer, so I did. But the surgery said 111 is only for out of hours cases? That I should always ring the surgery in opening times. I explained that I only rang them because I couldn’t get through. Then Dr’s said they hadn’t had a referral from 111! So I explained I hadn’t slept properly for three days. The receptionist suggested going to a walk in centre. I’m afraid I burst into tears so she said she would get the on call Dr to ring me. Then a few minutes later she rang back, as my leg isn’t swollen the Dr has prescribed cocodamol and ibuprofen gel. If it gets worse I have to ring back. I’ve got to persuade hubby to collect them from the pharmacy later. I’m more tired than anything else now….