Wrexham family move to Bala after 'battling for health care'

Andrew Jones and his family made the decision to move from their hometown of Wrexham to Bala because of the sheer difficulties in getting hold of a GP.

Whilst in the process of moving, he has said the difference already is ‘remarkable’.

He said: “Going to out of hours is a battle and A&E, when we took the little one, it was like a warzone.

“You can’t get hold of a GP, it takes hours to get a doctor. Hillcrest surgery we were at, it’s chaos. You’re constantly battling for health care and it’s gone worse since Covid. Health care has become like a third world.

“The NHS does a marvellous job, we fully support it, but the service now is terrible.

“It’s such a different experience in Bala, it doesn’t seem as chaotic. At Hillcrest you’d be waiting ages to get through, it was a nightmare. And A&E on a Friday night is disgusting."​

Andrew was forced to call the Welsh Ambulance Service when his poorly two-year-old Hafren Jones was struggling to breathe, and her lips had turned blue.

Thankfully, when paramedic Sally Bottomley arrived, the youngster had perked up and Sally had managed to get her a further appointment with her GP over in Bala.

Due to Hafren's age and symptoms, this was graded as an amber call and the solo paramedic arrived a couple of hours after the initial call.

Andrew told the Leader that the service from Sally was great but the whole service has ‘gone to the dogs’.

Long waiting times for an ambulance unfortunately is the norm due to increasing pressures and demand.

An 82-year-old woman was left waiting on the floor for several hours in immense pain after she had fallen.

Family member Peter Wagenaar said again, paramedics and community first responders worked incredibly hard to help the 82-year-old but the pressures are real and they are there.

He said the care call bracelet made the initial alert around 8.30am to the ambulance service and a neighbour but after several calls later, the incident was finally upgraded to an amber response.

Peter, who is a chiropractor, said he is seeing more people who don’t know where else to go when they need an assessment because they are struggling to contact their GP.

He added: “People are coming to us injured, people are coming to us wanting answers. Normally people will see their GP, but I’ve been assessing them and then refer them on.

“The ambulance service has always been amazing but recently it’s gone so slow. Wales seems to be worse than England.

“The government needs to release money into the NHS. People just don’t know what to do. We’ve seen more people because there’s nowhere else to go.”