Chobham & West End Medical Practice

Thank you for your comments. NHS web sites state that if you suspect you may have a UTI then see a doctor. This is what your Aunt was informed . As your Uncle has dementia and is house-bound he would have been seen in his own home. From what you have said I believe that your Aunt may not have mentioned those facts to the receptionist. If she had, a home visit would have been arranged. I can only apologise if our receptionist failed to pick up on this. You state 'Regular urinary testing is crucial in the elderly' Please see the following extract from the British Medical Journal - "Do not use urine dipstick tests to diagnose urinary tract infection in older people; if they are performed at all, only a negative result should be considered useful in excluding a urinary tract infection In patients who are able to provide a history, urinary tract infection should be diagnosed only in the presence of a combination of at least three acute urinary symptoms or signs, such as dysuria, urgency, frequency, or suprapubic tenderness In patients who are unable to provide a history, urinary tract infection should be diagnosed only when evidence exists of acute inflammation (for example, fever/hypothermia or raised white cell count or C reactive protein) associated with bacteriuria on urine culture and no other more likely cause of their acute illness exists Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common in older people; avoid treating bacteriuria in patients with non-specific symptoms that cannot be attributed to urinary tract infection, as this confers no benefit and may cause harm " Other practices may well 'dip stick' urine on request, however at this surgery it is not considered good practice. I hope that your Uncle has now had a home visit, but if not please contact the surgery to arrange one. David Clippingdale Practice Manager

I can assure the author of this post that the receptionists do not think they are Doctors! They are fully aware of the limitations of their role. If a GP does not have a telephone appointment free for 2 weeks then that is all the receptionists can offer. we would all dearly like to have capacity for every eventuality, but unfortunately the GPs are human and can only work so many hours in one day. With regard to the blood test - The hospitals remain the main provider of this service , although they will try and dump the work on us by telling patients to get it taken at their practice. This service is not part of our core contract, but we have offered it in the past due to our geographic location and distance from the hospitals. Patients can still use the hospital service though. In the last month we have said goodbye to 2 of our phlebotomists, we had recruited a replacement who was due to start last week but 2 days prior to starting she reneged on her contract. We are now advertising for another replacement. Our 1 remaining phlebotomist is now working 4 extra shifts a week to help out. I apologise if the receptionists’ attitude seems rude and unhelpful. There is a continual stream of callers into both receptions and they need to be efficient in fielding these calls so that callers are not left hanging on the line. Unfortunately this efficiency can sometimes be mistaken for rudeness as can a negative response with regard to appointment availability. All our Receptionists are obliged to give their name when answering the telephone, so if you do feel a receptionist has spoken to you in a rude manner then please let our Reception managers know as soon as possible. David Clippingdale Practice Manager

In the past we have tried offering a GP Triage service, it ran for a little over 6 Months. The problem is that we found that the majority of patients triaged over the telephone were still required to come into the surgery for a face to face consultation. It was therefore decided, that with the limited resource available to us, using this GP time on the telephone would be better spent giving us more appointments with the GP seeing patients face to face. As a practice we are part of the local GP federation and this now provides (from last week) both evening and weekend appointments on our behalf. These appointments are at the Bedser Hub in the Woking community hospital. They can be booked via our receptions. I apologise if the receptionists’ attitude seems like they are trying to get you off the telephone quickly and lacks empathy. There is a continual stream of callers into both receptions and they need to be efficient in fielding these calls so that callers are not left hanging on the line. Unfortunately this efficiency can sometimes be mistaken for them fobbing callers off. Perhaps now the demise of Primary Care is in the open, we will eventually receive the resource required to provide the service that our patients need. We currently receive £87.92 per patient per year – regardless of how much of our resource that patient takes up. David Clippingdale Practice Manager