Sheffield GP patient told to buy his own blood pressure monitor by surgery
A Sheffield man who was told by doctors he urgently needed his blood pressure taking was told to buy a monitor himself as the surgery couldn’t do it for him.
Paul Silvester, 56, of Hillsborough, was told his blood pressure was far too high at an eye appointment in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital earlier this month.
However, when he tried to get the procedure done at Tramways Medical Centre in Hillsborough, the doctor said she couldn’t fit him in and that he should buy a monitor from the chemist and report the level to the surgery’s reception.
Paul originally went to his GP after blood vessels in his eye kept popping and was sent first to the opticians who told him they couldn’t see him for between three to four weeks.
They then gave him the number for the emergency eye clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, who told him his blood pressure was ‘sky-high’ and that he urgently need to have it monitored by his GP.
However, when he then went back to his GP to have his levels monitored, they said they couldn’t fit him in until October 5 and that he should buy his own machine.
He said: “I think it is disgusting. Isn’t this what I pay my taxes for?”
“They said I could take my own and come to the doctors to get them to write it down for me. But how does that allow them to understand what is going on?
“My partner was shouting at the receptionist that the Hallamshire said it needed taking as soon as possible but they said there was no other way.”
Paul said he is still waiting for his appointment next Monday, but fortunately was able to borrow a blood pressure monitor from a friend to monitor it in the meantime.
He added: “I’m ok now but what would have happened if I hadn’t known someone who has one?”
A spokesperson for Tramways Medical Centre said patients who are asked to provide blood pressure readings can buy their own monitor, borrow one from the practice or book an appointment.
Any patients who purchase their own equipment do so entirely at their own discretion, they added.