A husband has fought for an “urgent” GP appointment for weeks after his wife was doubled over with pain.

Shahida Riffat Aziz, 72, was told she urgently needed to see a GP with a suspected kidney issue and contacted Ridgeway View Practice in Wroughton.

But she still has not been seen by a doctor after a complex and confusing series of phone calls and meetings with anyone but a GP.

76-year-old husband Shahid remembered: “I was extremely worried. She couldn’t walk. She was doubled over with pain and couldn’t stand up straight.”(Image: Dave Cox)

Shahida contacted Livi GP - a remote GP service - who suspected kidney problems and advised a same-day GP examination on September 9.

Shahida was told there were no available appointments at Ridgeway View but was then given an appointment - with a nurse, who told her to make a GP appointment.

She then received a call the next day from another nurse to say she needed to see a GP.

With this trend repeating, Shahid grew increasingly frustrated: “We have repeatedly tried to make a GP appointment, but are told my wife needs to see a triage nurse to determine whether she needs to see a GP.”(Image: Dave Cox)

He described the practice as dealing with the “ordeal” “unsympathetically” and “casually”.

Shahida has an appointment for September 27, 18 days after being recommended an urgent same-day appointment, but still with no assurance it will be with a GP.

Ridgeway View was ranked sixth bottom out of all 23 Swindon GP surgeries for patient satisfaction in this year’s NHS England survey.

Shahid said: “All our lives, we've been paying 40% tax only to be told we don’t have a GP available to see you.

“I feel I have been defrauded. I feel I had a contract with the British government saying if you pay this amount of money, when you retire, we will look after your health.

“If this was a private company, I'd be in the county court, suing them for breach of contract.”

Ridgeway View Family Practice (Image: Google Maps) Ridgeway Practice recommended that Shahid contact the practice directly so it can investigate, but could not comment on individual situations due to patient confidentiality.

A spokesperson said: “We will always help our patients where we can, however, if a patient is in severe pain they should always attend the Urgent Treatment Centre or A&E as the GP surgery is not an emergency service.

“From the information you have provided below, it does sound like we did offer the patient appointments with Advanced Nurse Practitioners, which is entirely appropriate.”