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"Not so good"

About: Widcombe Surgery

I am reviewing on behalf of my Mother who has been in constant severe pain for several weeks with what we assume is sciatica, although because it has not yet been diagnosed, we are unsure what is actually causing her pain. She then began to suffer chest pain and pain around her ribs, because she was unable to travel to the surgery a home visit was requested, no doctor was available for this so a paramedic attended. This guy was just amazing! He was so caring and kind and he pinpointed her pain immediately, diagnosing a muscular issue that would probably take weeks to resolve. My Mother had been seen by more than one doctor for the possible sciatica, no diagnosis given for the sciatic pain, just pain killers including at one point Cocodomal, which completely messed up her digestive system and gave her hallucinations! She was told to attend the RUH for an X-Ray which she did so immediately, weeks later she still has not received the results, she phoned and was told that she would receive a telephone call appointment for the results of the X-Ray, she still had to wait two weeks for this. Is there some reason that her doctor cannot just call her? Why on earth does she need a "telephone appointment"? We still do not know if my Mother has a serious condition but it seems that her doctor at Widcombe Surgery doesn't care at all. I have begged her to allow me to make a complaint but she is so scared that they will neglect her even further and will not allow me to do so. Is this a good surgery? Absolutely not!

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Responses

Response from Widcombe Surgery 5 years ago
Widcombe Surgery
Submitted on 18/01/2019 at 13:58
Published on nhs.uk at 15:05


Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Our paramedic does not attend instead of a doctor but because the nature of problem may urgent, we use them so patients get a prompt assessment rather than having to wait until after midday when the morning GP surgeries have finished. This gives the opportunity for a quicker admission to hospital if required, and a greater chance for the patient to be discharged on the same day rather than be admitted overnight.

X ray results take up to 2 weeks to come back, and we do not have the capacity to inform patients of every result, especially normal ones, as we have hundreds of results coming in each day. The purpose of booking a telephone consultation 2 weeks after the x ray to schedule the doctor to look at the result, ring the patient and discuss how they are feeling. This means this contact is not forgotten and many patients prefer a telephone consultation to a face to face one especially for a follow-up.

Please contact our Practice Manager Sue Matthews to check everything is now sorted.

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