Problems with people obtaining appointments at Tenby’s doctor’s surgery need to be addressed urgently, a local councillor claimed this week.

Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of Tenby Town Council, Clr. Laurence Blackhall raised the matter with his fellow members.

“I don’t want to criticise doctors, nurse practitioners and staff there who are all working incredibly hard, but the system at the surgery is failing when people are becoming worried about getting an appointment,” he said.

“People are queuing there at 7.30 am in the vain hope that they might be able to get an appointment, and when they do see somebody, they are finding it difficult to see the same person again.

“There are lots of issues, and it doesn’t seem to be the best way to run something. It’s not a reflection on the people that are working there, who are working incredibly hard.

“Maybe we need to contact the health board to look for assistance, and look at the way the system is being operated, as people are getting very worried about the matter.

“Winter is coming up and you don’t want people to go through a system when they are queuing at 7.30 am in the morning in the slim hope that they may get an appointment,” he continued.

Clr. Paul Rapi said that patients at the Saundersfoot surgery didn’t seem to be experiencing the same issues as Tenby did, but Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter pointed out that this was not an issue solely local to Tenby.

“Everywhere seems to be struggling for doctors at the moment; it is worrying,” she commented.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, said that it was a valid point that people didn’t seem to know how to get an appointment at the Tenby practice, and maybe the surgery needed to get their policy on appointments out there, and highlight to the public how it works, and see where improvements can be made.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown said that she had a ‘better experience’ recently in getting an appointment on the day, but that it just seemed to be ‘luck of the draw’ at the moment.

“Tenby seems to only have two full-time doctors, and the rest are locums. Doctors don’t seem to want to work down here. It’s a nationwide problem, and it seems we just have to grin and bear it!” she remarked.

Clr. Rapi said that he’d been to a recent meeting and was told that it cost the Hywel Dda Health Board more money to bring in locums.

Councillors recommended contacting the South East Pembrokeshire Community Health Network’s new chair, Clr. Jonathan Preston, to see if he could assist in finding out answers as to why Tenby surgery seemed to be struggling to get doctors.