Politics

GP forced to 'prescribe food' to desperate patient says 'it doesn't need to be like this'


A doctor who was forced to ‘prescribe food’ to a desperate patients has claimed it “doesn’t need to be like this” while urging people to vote Labour on Thursday.

GP Jonny Coates, who is based in Newcastle, shared a photo on Twitter of a prescription form and food bank referral sheet.

He writes: “I’m a doctor in the 6th richest country in the world.

“Today I had to prescribe FOOD to a patient in a desperate situation. It doesn’t need to be like this.”

He adds the hashtag #VoteLabourDec12.

The red form is a referral card, which are essentially food vouchers handed out by professionals – including doctors, health visitors and social workers – to people in need.


They can be exchanged for a minimum of three days emergency food.

Dr Coates’s message had a real impact on social media users, and has attracted hundreds of comments.

One user wrote: “This has made me cry. How did we get to this? I was shocked when I first heard the term “food bank” several years ago and now we have doctors writing a prescription for FOOD. Shame on anyone voting for another 5 years of this.”

Another replied: “I volunteer in a food bank, and the amount of families I’ve helped with food, fuel and tried to give budgeting advice to is horrendous, something has to change.”

The photo is the latest of a number of upsetting pictures shared on social media highlighting the crisis in the NHS.

Earlier this week the Mirror shared a heartbreaking photo of four-year-old Jack Williment, who was forced to sleep on a cold hospital floor for more than four hours because of a shortage of beds.

The heartbreaking photo of Jack hit the headlines

His desperate mum Sarah covered him in coats to keep him warn until he was eventually moved to a ward, where he then spent five hours on a trolley before a bed was found.

After the traumatic trip to hospital, Sarah, 34, has vowed to vote Labour for the first time in her life in Thursday’s General Election .

In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Sarah, who had nothing but praise for the medical staff, said: “I am frustrated about the system and the lack of beds, which I am presuming is due to a lack of funding to the NHS to deliver the services that are required.”

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In a similarly distressing tale, a sick baby spent 11 hours waiting for a bed while her mum Kertu Babik was reduced to tears and left pleading with nurses to see a doctor.

Blanka was eventually diagnosed with bronchiolitis and spent a week recovering at Leeds General Infirmary.

Kertu, 30, and partner Benjamin, 36, are at pains to say the doctors and nurses were “phenomenal”, but hit out at the state of the NHS.

Benjamin said: “The staff are truly amazing, we love them. But the NHS is like a sinking ship where the talented band are still playing.”





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