Surgery 'sorry' for turning vulnerable patient away

Nov 25 2009 By Tammy Hughes

The Crouch Oak GP surgery in Addlestone has apologised to a vulnerable patient who was refused an appointment.

Lorna Wockan, 71, spent six days at St Peters Hospital in Chertsey when complications occurred following a simple one day procedure on her gall bladder.

After she was discharged she was told to get her stitches taken out by her GP no later than November 12, but she was turned away by the Crouch Oak practice.

Mrs Wockan, a chronic asthma sufferer, said: "The receptionist said that I should have organised all appointments before going into hospital, and that the earliest I could have them out would be November 21.

"But how do you know what the circumstances will be until it the time? I just thought the hospital would arrange for me to go back to have them out, I didn't realise that I would have to go to my doctors.

"I rang the hospital and they said I must have them out the next day, they said I'd have to go to the walk in centre in Weybridge."

Just days after a serious operation Mrs Wockan was forced to wait for over two hours in the centre before she saw a nurse.

Mrs Wockan said: "I felt very vulnerable, I had one day in surgery and six days in hospital, I didn't feel able to cope."

The medical practice was deeply apologetic when contacted by the Herald and blamed an outbreak of swine flu for the staff shortages which meant the pensioner couldn't be treated.

Dr Stauton the GP Partner at Crouch Oak Practice said: "We strive to provide a very high level of care to our patients so I was very concerned to hear of the issues raised by Mrs Wockan.

"Unfortunately, we have been affected by staff sickness as a result of swine flu, and this has had an impact on our ability to offer the same level of service. Whilst this has been unavoidable, we have been doing all we can to increase nursing capacity.

"I have personally written to Mrs Wockan to thank her for bringing this matter to my attention and to let her know that we actively trying to increase the number of nursing appointments we offer so patients can be seen more quickly.

"Our practice staff are doing an excellent job in managing the extra demand on services we are currently experiencing and we are doing our very best to make sure patients continue to receive the level of care they expect from us."