Madam,

I keep seeing and hearing all the doom-laden portents regarding ‘a no deal Brexit’ but I ask myself if things can really get any worse than they already are.

Some of the problems apparently stem from an ageing population that are causing a financial burden on our government. I am one of those problems, a septuagenarian who mistakenly thought that my taxes and NI were going to pay for my pittance of a pension and health care in my sunset years.

I am fortunately generally healthy and lead an active lifestyle so am no great burden on the NHS but like everyone I occasionally need the succour of our local GP surgery.

However, the frustration of trying obtaining an appointment nowadays is in itself a health risk causing severe anxiety, a requirement for anger management and several other mental health issues.

Over a period of several days I sat (for extended periods) endeavouring to contact my local surgery only to get the continuous engaged signal.

For one recent attempt I continually tried to phone every five minutes from 8.30am until I finally had an answer just short of 10am which turned out to be a wasted call.

Over the last few days I rang and I succeeded on the first occasion in getting through in eight minutes. I was lost for words at this sudden success and couldn’t speak for a moment or two until I made my request only to be told that all appointments were filled.

Similarly this morning I repeated my efforts and got an answer in a fairly acceptable 14 minutes but the usual answer was forthcoming.

In the background I could hear another receptionist trying to placate another patient in a similar predicament to mine.

I couldn’t even get a pre-booked appointment with my chosen doctor in the next month and then he was away on holiday. An appointment with an alternative doctor was also a month’s wait.

In frustration I looked online into how to complain about the situation.

I tried several sites from Hywel Dda Health Board, NHS Wales and a couple of others only to get a message that they were ‘unable to connect’.

So, a no deal Brexit?

Bring it on, because we are certainly having plenty of practice!

Yours etc, Rhys Griffiths, Bromerau, Rhydcymerau.

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