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Completely failed to follow up

Story from nhs.uk

"Completely failed to follow up"

About: North Tawton Medical Practice

Elderly temp resident told to take in urine sample, not told would need to phone for result, plus records when eventually found showed test negative but GP review required, none of which happened, patient ended up with Pseudomonas infection, doubly incontinent, and as relative was simply told this is how we run our system, even for elderly people with recurrent infections we ignore a positive test because it is probably just negative in the elderly. Would be looked into by practice manager who made one call to get info then was never heard from again. No way I would take an elderly relative here again, would have to be a trip to Barnstaple to actually see a doctor.

Plus point receptionist answers the phone but like all local surgeries totally inadequate appointment management systems operated.

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Responses

Response from North Tawton Medical Practice 6 years ago
North Tawton Medical Practice

Submitted on 16/03/2018 at 16:24
Published on nhs.uk at 19:07

We are very sorry to learn that you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint. Our Managing Partner, Michelle, would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. We thought we had resolved your concerns at the time and are very sorry to learn that you remain disappointed by our service.

Whilst it would not be appropriate to discuss the details of your complaint on a public forum we thought it might be helpful to respond to general points that other patients may find helpful too.

As a practice we do not telephone patients with negative results, however we do follow up results that require action either by telephone or letter. Where a result is negative but symptoms remain, we trust that patients will make further contact with the practice or make an appointment to see one of our clinical team.

The practice in North Tawton is commissioned as a part time service, therefore the appointment availability at this site is limited by the terms of the contract for services. Nationally the NHS is struggling to cope with an increasing population and regretfully we are not exempt of this pressure. We would very much like to offer additional appointments however do not have the clinical or financial resource, or indeed physical space within the premises, to do so. We hope that our 'Sit and wait' service offered at Bow provides the facility for urgent healthcare needs and minimises wait times, we are one of few remaining practices to offer such a service.

We endeavour to provide a high-quality service to our patients and are very sorry to learn that we have not met with your expectations and that your complaint was not resolved to your satisfaction.

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