The last time I went to see my GP – a 220km round trip from my rural home town – I noticed a sign at reception telling clients that the reason it was so difficult to get a timely appointment was because 154 of us hadn’t shown up for booked consults during the month of July.
It stuck in my craw because it’s now standard to experience a weeks-long wait for a GP appointment at every clinic across this region, if you can even get into one. With so many slots tied up by clients who don’t cancel, management of chronic conditions has become even more difficult, particularly in rural communities.
