A MAGUIRESBRIDGE woman has told of how she had to "fight tooth and nail" to get a GP appointment for her seriously unwell 95-year-old mother. 

Aravon McCann said that herself and other family members spent four days trying to get through to Lisnaskea Medical Centre in an effort to get an appointment for mother, Philomena McGrory. 

Eventually, they felt that had no choice but to leave a hand-written note at the surgery, which outlined Mrs. McGrory's condition for the attention of staff. 

When the very active mother-of-10 eventually got an appointment, she ended up in hospital with a very high heart rate.

Mrs. McCann aired her concerns on Tik Tok, and now has over half-a-million views and thousands of comments from people who have had similar experiences. 

"The amount of people who have contacted me since I posted the video is phenomenal," Ms. McCann explained. "Clearly, everyone is having the same problems. 

"It's time for change. This has to stop. Covid is gone, and everything else is back to normal; apart from GP surgeries."

Ms. McCann said that if her mother didn't have a family network around her to secure an appointment, "she wouldn't be here today". 

"We couldn't get an appointment, so my sister put a note in at reception," she recounted. "She is a retired nurse practitioner, and she had all the vital information down. 

"But, instead of lifting the phone to a 95-year-old woman, they [Lisnaskea Surgery] sent a text saying that this was an 'inappropriate pathway' of how to contact the GP surgery. 

"This is a 95-year-old woman, and they sent her a text?"

She added: "If my mother didn't have the family around her, she wouldn't be here. She didn't have the energy to dail a number, and she would have died. 

"It's a sad state of affairs to think that if you don't have someone to fight your corner, you are snookered".

Mrs. McCann fears that for elderly people who lack family support, obtaining a GP appointment is "impossible". 

"It seems that if you are over 80-years-old, you are written off. These people built our country; they built the NHS; and this is how they are being  treated?"

Mrs. McCann also hopes her video will prompt change at GP surgeries, especially for elderly patients. 

"I would love for this to go further. I would love our MP or MLAs to get involved," she concluded. 

"It's not on. The people of Fermanagh deserve better. This is a national epidemic, and , I was saying what everyone is thinking. 

"We have to speak up. This is our health service, and something needs to change."

When contacted by the Impartial Reporter, a spokeswoman from Lisnaskea Medical Centre said: "Unfortunately due to patient confidentiality we are unable to discuss matters relating to individuals.

"Similar to most practices in Northern Ireland, Lisnaskea Medical Practice faces ongoing challenges trying to meet the needs of their patients within the constraints of the capacity the practice has available to it.

"We continue to review our procedures to provide the best level of care we can for our patients and we appreciate their support in doing so."