"Community Treatment Rooms Paisley"

I recently had to attend a Community Treatment Room for my B12 injection as I have been told my GP practice will no longer be providing them. It has been decided that this service along with several others will no longer be undertaken by the practice nurse but be moved to these Community Treatment Rooms. Moving these services to these Community Treatment Rooms causes problems for some patients. I can not speak for all patients but can only speak from personal experience.

The first problem is the distance involved for some people. My experience involved me either having to take two buses or one bus depending on which treatment room i decided to visit. I decided on the one bus option but this is still inconvenient as I need to walk for ten minutes to get to the bus stop which is half the time it would take to walk to my GP practice as my GP practice is less than a twenty minute walk away.

Secondly the bus I need to take is not reliable so I have to time it and hope it turns up. On the day of my appointment the bus did not turn up so I was left worrying that I was going to be late and I had no contact number to phone to explain the bus was late as I did not know exactly where I was going. I had tried asking was I going to the actual health centre or the GP practice in the Health Centre but nobody could seem to answer my question. I was starting to panic that I was going to be late and would miss my appointment and would have to reschedule it. I have several chronic health conditions and this stress aggravated them. If I was still at my GP practice I would not have to worry about buses turning up as I can walk there. The bus eventually turned up and with me rushing i did make my appointment.

The treatment room only opens two days a week and I think the B12 injections are only done in the mornings which means the appointments are busy so it can be difficult to get one where as when it was my GP I could get an appointment five days a week without a problem. Being restricted to two mornings a week is not really suitable and other people might find two days restrictive. Having to travel to the Treatment Room there is also the problem of having to get the bus which means paying bus fare which is an all day ticket which is nearly £5. In this cost of living crisis this may not seem a lot but to some of us this is a lot of money. When I was getting this service at my GP I walked so there was no cost.

Another problem is that in my GP practice I had a good relationship with the nurse who knew about my other chronic conditions and used to ask me how I was. It was nice to be able to discuss any concerns I had with her rather than bother the GPs who are busy. I also found it was nice to be able to chat to the nurse if there was any other problems I had that I could not discuss with my family concerning my health conditions as I did not want to worry them. The nurse always reassured me and made me feel better. I had recently had a blood test done and I was told some of the results where satisfactory and when I asked about this I was told I would need to speak to a doctor. I did not feel this warranted a phone consultation with a doctor as their time could be better spent dealing with someone else. If I had been seeing the nurse I could have discussed this issue with her but now this option has been taken away from me.

It really does make a difference having someone who knows you to talk to. After I saw the nurse I always felt better so it was good for my mental health but now I will no longer have these chats. As you saw the same person all the time there was a continuity of care which you may not getting now at these Treatment Rooms. Continuity of care is important for the patients mental health and well being. Being forced to go somewhere else to see a someone who does not know you is not good for anyone's stress levels or mental health. My experience travelling to the Treatment Room with the bus not turning up and the cost of getting there I do not think I will be continuing my treatment as I do not want to be worrying if the bus is going to turn up or not and I could be using the money for something else.

Things were fine when these services were offered in the GP practice. These Treatment Rooms are not suitable for everyone and I think the patients should have been consulted about these changes as it affects them. I do not think the people who instigated the changes thought about the people who don't have cars and would need to get buses to these places or the people with mobility problems who now need to travel further. It is fine saying that people can get public transport to the treatment room but when I went the bus stop does not stop outside so there is a slight walk and when you come out there is a slight walk which could be a problem if you have a mobility problem.