Patients' struggles to book face to face appointments at doctors' surgeries have prompted calls for health bosses to explain the situation to community leaders – but a retired GP has said the system was already broken before the Covid-19 pandemic.

While most services have opened up following national lockdowns and other restrictions put in place to control the spread of coronavirus residents across Staffordshire are still reporting problems with accessing their GPs.

At Cannock Chase Council's Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday (November 30) Councillor Andrea Beach spoke of cases where residents had waited in a queue on the phone to their surgery, only to have the call cut off before they were able to speak to anyone. She also raised concerns about the strain being put on emergency services because people were unable to see their GPs.

"I feel it would be useful to all councillors if we were able to invite the current chair, director of primary care and chief executive officer of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), to understand how GPs are managing the situation and return to normal service", she said.

Councillor Josh Newbury said: "We have heard from residents the anxiety of not being able to meet in person and GPs who are not seeing patients in person. Quite a few residents have contacted me.

"They feel like what they are trying to get across over the phone is not getting across. People aren't able to get in—person appointments.

"What our residents are saying is why aren't people seeing people in person? I feel like that's something that needs to be addressed."

But fellow committee member Councillor Johnny McMahon, a former GP, said: "Primary Care was broken before the pandemic – it's like trying to run a supermarket chain from a corner shop.

"There just isn't the capacity and the pandemic has precipitated it into a major crisis. People are leaving because they just can't take it any longer.

"We have heard the fact people aren't being seen and we have had some ideas at the council of how we can improve that. But the difficulty is who to turn to, because we have the ICS (Integrated Care System – a new partnership that brings together providers and commissioners of NHS services) and the CCG. Until such time as the ICS is established we don't know who is going to be responsible for health in Staffordshire in the months and years to come.

"During Covid productivity was about 25% because of the restrictions. But the variation generally in quality of service between outstanding and poor is high. There are some clinicians that are using this as an excuse and they need to be challenged."

The issue has also been raised by councillors in Stafford and Lichfield. GP access is set to be discussed at the next meeting of Staffordshire County Council's Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday, December 13.

Committee member and Lichfield councillor David Leytham said "We have enormous problems in Lichfield District with access to GPs but that is a county issue if it could be dealt with at county level. It is impossible to see a doctor in Lichfield at the moment, it's as simple as that.

"It's of fundamental importance that we should be able to see a doctor. I hurt my foot in April and I'm still hurting because I can't see a doctor.

"I can get to see anybody if I'm lucky – I've had one appointment with a physiotherapist and I've seen a couple of nurses but I still don't know what's wrong with my foot."

Councillor Angela Loughran, speaking at Stafford Borough Council's latest Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting, said: "I joined a meeting online where they discussed GP access and I felt it was a waste of time. I felt there were lots of issues which were raised and weren't actually addressed.

"I felt there was a whole load of flannel given out about how difficult it was for GPs, but the actual issues weren't really addressed and people are still experiencing difficulties in having appointments with their GPs.

"They say they are protecting their staff, but what about the people up at the hospital continuing to see people? They have always seen them and they are still seeing them yet our GPs are still protecting themselves."

Committee chair Councillor Jill Hood, who also sits on the county council's health and care scrutiny committee, responded: "Probably one of the most raised items from residents contacting me is the difficulties in getting GP appointments.

"I know that a few doctors have gone through social media pointing out the measures that they are taking to improve their service. I know it's difficult for some vulnerable groups and the elderly to access doctors' surgeries online, but there are other ways that they are combating the difficulties so I'm sorry that you have felt that way.

"Councillor Johnny McMahon was impressing on all county councillors to try and get onto the patient liaison boards, which would be a very good idea."