A retired paramedic who missed out on a face-to-face GP appointment during lockdown after spotting changes in his breathing is dying of terminal lung cancer.
Stephen McGregor, 48, said he asked for an in-person consultation at Trinity Medical Centre in Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire, when he noticed the symptom in March.
Instead he had to wait until May for a telephone appointment and an X-ray, and was told there were no concerns, the former medic told Stoke-on-Trent live.
But when he went for a scan at Stafford County Hospital last month he was told he was dying of inoperable lung cancer.
Now the father-of-one has said he believes the condition could have been treated if had it been detected sooner.
Mr McGregor said: “I noticed changes in my breathing which were quite concerning. I felt like I couldn’t inflate the upper left lung. I felt like I couldn’t oxygenate effectively.
“I was concerned I may suffer hypoxia in the night. I did say that I had a concern that I may stop breathing."
Mr McGregor said he finally had a face-to-face GP appointment following the Stafford Hospital scan.
But he added he has to wait more than hour to speak with a receptionist when he calls the doctors surgery.
Mr McGregor added: "The doctor told me that he’d actually seen a couple of hundred patients this year. In my opinion, not seeing me earlier has been detrimental.
“I feel extremely angry. Quite literally, had they acted on what I had to say back in March and April, if they had seen me face-to-face, and if I had been referred when I was asking in April, in all likelihood it would have been operable and curable.
“It’s quite a common complaint about the struggle to get GP appointments. Asking people to phone in at 8am every day for an appointment is not an appropriate service.
"I’m typically held in a queue for over an hour simply to speak to a receptionist.
“It would seem a simple task to have appointments scheduled, perhaps prioritised based on symptoms and medical history.
"To be able to book an appointment in advance would help a lot of people rather than on the day appointments only.
"What has happened is horrendous and GP services are failing.”
Mr McGregor's GP, Dr Bhalchandra Narayan Kulkarni, said: “For reasons of patient confidentiality the practice is unable to discuss any aspects of patient care.”
Mr McGregor has now set up a JustGiving page to support his family following his diagnosis.
