GPs were too 'busy with emergency patients' to help OAP lying injured on street

A surgery has said their doctors were too busy seeing emergency patients when an elderly woman fell and injured her shoulder nearby.

Plas Meddyg GP practice in Ruthin came under fire when it emerged that staff refused to ask a doctor to help the 79-year-old on Old Station Road on May 8.

Ruthin School pupil, Laura Williams, 17 stepped in to comfort the woman who it was feared may have broken her hip.

Staff from the local Co-op and other shops came out to help, and when it became clear an ambulance that had been called was 10 miles away, one of the group – Huw Hilditch Roberts – went over to the surgery to seek help for the pensioner.

Cllr Roberts spoke to a member of staff but they refused to ask one of the doctors to go and tend to the woman.

As a result of the incident, a meeting was held after which surgery staff agreed to “engage more meaningfully with the local community”.

SCHOOLGIRL PROVIDES FIRST AID FOR RUTHIN PENSIONER BEFORE AMBULANCE ARRIVES

Responding to the incident on May 8, partners at Plas Meddyg released a statement which said: “Unfortunately at the time of the incident all of the GPs were in consultation or seeing emergency patients within the surgery and were therefore unable to attend.

“We have discussed (during a meeting with local councillors) ways that we can improve our communication during an external emergency situation and have immediately put processes in place to this effect.

“We have also had a frank and productive discussion about how we engage more meaningfully with the local community going forward and have agreed to meet over the coming weeks and months with local councillors in order to facilitate this.”

Ruthin councillors, Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Emrys Wynne and Bobby Feeley issued a joint response which said: “We had a positive and engaging meeting with Plas Meddyg and are encouraged by our discussions.

“We look forward to working together for the benefit of the patients.”

What patients told us about the surgery

Meanwhile, since the Daily Post ran the story, new allegations have emerged about the way patients are treated at the surgery.

Anyone needing a prescription can only now get one by e-mail or text or by calling in person, which one long-term patient told the Daily Post discriminated against elderly people for whom their “landline was their lifeline”.

In some cases, when patients have turned up at the surgery looking for help, they have been told appointments can only be given by phone.

A source close to the surgery said an elderly man brought his wife in hoping to see a doctor, but was told by reception that they needed to ring up.

In the end, it was claimed, the receptionist gave the man his mobile phone so he could phone up from outside.

A similar situation was said to have happened when a man brought his young daughter in, and he had to go out and ring from his mobile.

And in February this year, patients who lived outside Ruthin were surprised when they were told they had to register with another surgery closer to home and that their records would be sent away to a central office within 14 days of the date of the letter, because of “demand on appointments” and an “increasing list size of patients local to the Ruthin area.”

One woman, who had been a patient with the surgery for several decades, said: “It’s terrible. There’s no empathy or compassion.

“The receptionists have to take orders from above, so it’s not all their fault.

“With not being able to phone up for prescriptions, it’s hard for some elderly people. Their phone lines are their lifelines. This feels like discrimination against elderly people.”

What the surgery had to say about repeat prescriptions

“The decision to stop the service of ordering repeat prescriptions over the telephone was not a decision that was taken lightly and was discussed in a number of partner meetings.

“The taking of repeat prescriptions requests over the telephone has long been recognised as unsafe practice. Due to a substantial increase in the number of telephone requests it became apparent that this was not a sustainable service and that was the reason why the service was removed with the full backing of the medicines management team at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

“Patients are able to order their prescriptions by sending in their request by post, by hand delivering either into dispensary during the week or in our external post box at weekends or by registering with My Health Online which is an internet based service that allows patients at their own convenience to order prescriptions and make/cancel appointments online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“For patients in the rural community, prescriptions can be accepted and delivered via the village store in Llandegla, or the village store in Llanarmon or via a house to house personal delivery service in Eryrys.

“We do have exceptions to the telephone rule for the housebound and exceptional cases and these are dealt with on a patient by patient basis.”

What the surgery had to say about booking an appointment

“We offer a range of methods for booking appointments including telephone, online and in person at the front desk.

“For emergency appointments our preferred method is to phone into the practice, this allows an appropriate time slot to be allocated for that medical concern.”

What the surgery had to say about accepting patients

“All GP surgeries have a practice boundary. It became clear that a small number of patients were living outside of our boundary and far closer to a number of other local GP surgeries.

“It was therefore felt on review that these patients’ health needs were likely to be better served by registering with a surgery much nearer to their home. This is particularly relevant in rural North Wales where individual GP surgeries often cover a vast geographical area.

“We have a well documented complaints and compliments process and it is essential that we receive feedback through this route in order to refine our primary care patient services.”

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