Flood of complaints at doctors' surgery

Staff at the Sea Road Surgery are at the centre of the complaints and have been accused of being ‘rude’ and ‘curt’.

One elderly patient, who does not want to be named, tried to get assistance for a wrist injury from the surgery following a fall. A friend, who was with her at the time, said: “We were next door to Sea Road NHS surgery and she was taken in there - only to be told to go to her own surgery as they were too busy!

“There was one solitary gentleman in the waiting room. I asked the receptionist about it and she curtly told me that my friend had to go to her own doctor, who was at the other end of the town. It was just appalling.”

After the injured lady was sent away she then made the three and a half mile journey to her surgery in Little Common where an ambulance was called. She was taken to the Conquest Hospital and received treatment for a broken wrist. A metal plate was inserted and pinned, and her wrist was put in plaster.

Her acquaintance said: “My friend was obviously looked after at her surgery and luckily received excellent care at the Conquest ,where she was kept in for two nights. She had a long wait as they were extremely busy. You are not telling me the original surgery could not have called an ambulance. Does nobody care anymore?”

Another resident, Laura Llewellyn, 45, said she had around nine months of “sheer hell” from the practice, encountering rudeness from receptionists, and doctors refused to prescribe a drug, Reductil, that she claimed would help her lose weight.

Laura said: “They would only give me Xenical, which I’d tried before and knew it wouldn’t work. They kept insisting that this was the only drug available.”

Laura told the Observer that by not prescribing Reductil her weight, which is now 15 stone, became out of control. She said: “They don’t care about patients and with all the aggravation I ended up gaining more weight which has twice caused my back to go. I have depression and I am now going to have to have surgery to have a gastric band fitted.”

Laura encountered a range of other issues with the practice and made the decision to change surgeries.

Tommy Rae, 66, is also in the process of switching to another surgery after he was apparently told by a receptionist at the Sea Road practice to disconnect an angiogram tube from his wrist by himself.

An angiogram (cardiac catherisation) is a procedure that can help diagnose heart conditions. Tommy suffered a heart attack last year and refused to take the tube out himself.

He said: “I said ‘No, it’s connected to a main artery!’

“I was too frightened to do it myself.”

Tommy contacted a local social worker who came to his aid and took him to another surgery in the area and the tube was removed.

Tommy returned to the Sea Road surgery to lodge a complaint and was shocked to be shown into what appeared to be a broom cupboard to air his views.

He said: “It wasn’t even a proper office! I had a list of complaints and the person I saw said he would investigate it all.”

In a statement Sea Road GP surgery said: “At Sea Road Surgery we always aim to give people a high standard of care, treatment and service.

“We welcome all feedback from patients and take any complaints we receive very seriously.

“We would be happy to meet with any of the people who have contacted your newspaper to discuss any issues they may have.

“The practice manager or senior practice partner can be contacted on 08444 778690.”

A spokesperson for NHS Hastings and Rother said due to patient confidentiality they cannot discuss individual cases and patients who feel they have cause to complain need to discuss their issues with authorised senior personnel.

“If a patient is not satisfied with the care, treatment or service they receive from their GP practice, it is important that they raise those concerns.

“People can talk to the practice manager or the senior practice partner.

“The East Sussex Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can also be contacted via tel 0300 1000 891 or e-mail [email protected]”