A POWYS doctor has highlighted the state of NHS crisis is by painting a grisly picture of healthcare in the county.

Antony Lempert, a GP and partner at the Wylcwm Street Surgery in Knighton, contacted the County Times to provide a snapshot of what life has been like for medical professionals in Powys over recent months.

He highlighted issues in home care, the crisis surrounding ambulance waiting times, and some of the abuse filtering down to overworked medical professionals and understaffed surgeries.

“The crisis is due to the service not being run efficiently, not the fault of individual GPs,” said Dr Lempert, 57, who has practised since 1990.

“In August I described the situation as like being on a hamster wheel, while being shot at.
 

County Times: GP Antony Lempert has been part of the Wylcwm Street practice in Knighton since 1999 GP Antony Lempert has been part of the Wylcwm Street practice in Knighton since 1999 (Image: None)

“On some days last year I was working on my own, for 14 to 15 hours a day.

“Getting in shortly after 7am, going home very late and just treading water.

“It felt like we were sticking a finger in the dyke some days.

“And they were the days that would generate complaints from customers. I don’t think people have an idea what’s going on.

“There are complaints weekly, and some are so frivolous. People have concerns but they’re taking them out on GPs and that’s demoralising.

“I had to start writing letters to patients because we’ve had reception staff quit, we’ve had two or three walk out.

“I’m aghast at the way some people have spoken to the receptionists. It’s become toxic.”

OTHER NEWS:

The situation at Wylcwm Street Surgery, where Dr Lampert has been a partner since December 1999, is said to have reached its nadir last summer.

“It’s the system that is broken,” he told the County Times.

“We are desperate to offer appointments but have huge constraints.

“At our practice, at the start of the pandemic, we had five permanent GPs. We were down to two by last August.

“The job has become untenable, impossible.”

The practice had been recruiting for two years, and was recently offered a lifeline with the addition of one more GP and an experienced nurse practitioner.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest stories from Powys? Click here to sign up for our morning and daily email newsletters and click on the + for the ‘Morning Briefing’ and the 'Daily Catch-Up'.

“We need to recruit more doctors but the only way to recruit more is to keep the ones we’ve got and make working conditions better,” added Dr Lempert.

“That’s why people are striking. I personally would never go on strike for the money, it’s patient care I care about.

“But we can’t provide it safely and then the ones that are left, we’re getting blamed for the poor state of it.

“I spoke to striking nurses over Christmas who have said to me they can’t believe they’ve voted to strike, but they cannot go on working in this environment.

“In my experience, 99.9 per cent of every doctor and nurse I’ve ever worked with will always work way above and beyond to provide a service.

“They’re not asking for more money, they just want the environment to be better so they don’t have to miss picking the kids up from school and so on.”

He added: “Once the NHS does fail, who’s going to come in, but the private companies.

“And you won’t possibly get someone coming into Mid Wales so you’ll just have this huge black hole of care which is already there.”