A huge volume of calls regarding Strep A has led a GP surgery in Llandudno to extend its opening hours until midnight this week to cope with demand. Following the health warning about the Streptococcus A outbreaks, the surgery required all hands on deck to help meet the demand in services.
North Wales Live reports that Craig Y Don Medical Centre, in Llandudno, saw a need for services "far greater" than it had "ever seen" on Monday, December 5. It follows a rise in the number of cases of Strep A across the UK with some children sadly dying after catching the virus. Health bodies, including Public Health Wales, have reminded parents that cases of invasive group A streptococcal infection remain rare and that children have a very low risk of contracting the disease despite the rise in cases.
Nine children in the UK are known to have died with Strep A in recent weeks. One child has been named as Hanna Roap, a seven-year-old pupil at Victoria Primary School in Penarth. Her father said the family were "traumatised" and "devastated" by her death just 24 hours after becoming ill with the bacterial infection and coming home from school with a mild cough. You can get more health news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
READ MORE: The number of scarlet fever cases right now in Wales is five times higher than in December, 2019
Craig Y Don surgery said it had been bombarded with hundreds of calls from worried parents regarding concerns about the Strep A. Practice manager Susan Fairburn said the Llandudno surgery was forced to extend on-call hours until midnight to cope with the unprecedented demand. Ms Fairburn said: "We have never seen it as busy as it was on Monday, it was just ridiculous here. We had to extend the on-call to midnight just to cope with the volume of calls that were coming in for it.
"It's understandable that parents are worried and I'm a grandparent so I can understand parents' concerns. The phone lines are very busy, the emails are very busy, and we are just trying our best to keep on top of things in a difficult situation. The reception team are doing a fantastic job in difficult circumstances because every person that the doctors speak to, they've already gone through reception. They're doing a really brilliant job at the moment."
One of the practice's GPs, Gemma Schofield, issued a message to patients on Monday evening following the increased demand. In a post on the practice's Facebook page she explained the practice was facing staff shortages on top of the increased demand.
She wrote: "Yesterday was an unprecedented day at the surgery. Historically a Monday is always busy but the demand yesterday was far greater than we have ever seen and could ever have anticipated.
"162 telephone consultations were undertaken, with 89 face to face appointments given. This was just for the five and a half doctors who were working that day and not taking into account the numbers that the HCA, nurses, ANP and phlebotomists did. There were also nine home visits."
As well as being bombarded with hundreds of calls, Dr Schofield said they were short-staffed due to a Covid outbreak. "Today we have a significant number of members of staff off with Covid and the demand is at a similar level," she explained.
"We are aware of the concern about scarlet fever and will continue to see those who need to be seen. However, we would ask if your query is not urgent for the day a pre-bookable appointment can be taken - we have pre-bookable slots for next week with the doctors. This will be offered when you ring in.
"Please remember we are trying our best under very difficult circumstances, whilst we understand your frustration we will not tolerate any abuse of our staff so be polite and patient with us."
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