I've had occasions when GP's/local medical centre have infuriated me such as, at Christmas, pressuring me to have in-patient tests at a hospital at the height of the second wave ( I took a look at the ward and fled in fear), prescribing unsuitable meds that induced an achilles tendonopathy that put me on my back for 2 weeks and could have ruptured it. But over lockdown, I had numerous telephone consultations, a few face-to-face appointments when I pushed for them, twice was sent links to submit photos to help diagnosis, continued to have all my complicated meds prescribed on time, had referrals to specialists and hospital departments....... I met a couple of unhelpful staff at various levels, but feel I got pretty good continuity of treatment, given the pandemic. A particular complaint may be entirely valid, but I don't think it helps to lambast a whole profession or occupation, whether in health, police or local government. Statements to the effect that "they" are all this or all that just show impatience with details. It's unlikely, despite the temptation to claim it, that we are the only people in the world who do/did a job well.
There's often a context beyond the individual. I've mentored over ten years - best way I can put it - a young person who has needed a lot of care and treatment for deep-seated mental health problems and doesn't have parental support in it. The difficulties navigating the system and chasing down actual treatment sometimes pushes me to the limit, and I have bent a few ears, one way or another. But it's also true that the service is threadbare, woefully underfunded, endlessly re-organised to make it more efficient, sorry, cheaper, and leaves even the most committed of staff mired in confusion and miscommunication, with more work than they can shake a stick at. By all means call out shoddy work, but lets remember we generally get the services we're prepared to fund.
