Editor,

Lampeter and Llanybydder surgeries are failing the people they were designed and paid to help.

To attempt to get an appointment is more akin to Russian roulette or placing a bet on the Grand National with the aid of a pin.

The morning of a futile attempt to achieve an appointment begins with two phones and a chance to beat all the other patients with the same ambition of a miracle of the almost impossible, to get an face to face appointment.

My attempt with the use of that two phones genuinely amounted to a total of three hundred and ninety recall attempts that finally achieved a return phone call by a doctor later in the day.

The surgeries are manned by receptionists who are now the face of the practice and attempt to do a fair job of appeasing the many disgruntled patients unable to get any further this or any other day. Part of the receptionist role now is to act as a triage asking for possible personal information of your ailments.The surgery attempts to fulfil its obligation via a phone or video call that is not acceptable to many and their ageing patients who most probably do not even possess a smartphone!

One of the reasons for this poor service is that local planning and government see fit to dramatically increase housing in the surrounding area without increasing the infrastructure.

Schools, hospitals, dentists, emergency services and of course doctors surgeries are all at breaking point and that is not to mention how are these families, particularly those with children, going to entertain themselves?

David Owen Lampeter

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