Column: High demand for care, yet Leighton Road Surgery has 278 missed appointments in September
GP Matters by Dr Santiago Dargallo of Leighton Road Surgery
I would like to start the column this month with a reminder about the importance of patients attending scheduled appointments – or informing the surgery in advance if they are unable to attend an appointment.
During September we had 278 missed appointments at the practice, including more than 100 missed appointments with our nursing team. If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason then do please let us know.
Those slots can be used for us to see other patients who are really ill or in need of help and support.
You can call the surgery and let us know or you can use the NHS app on your smartphone to manage your appointments.
Leighton Road Surgery, along with all primary care practices, continues to experience high demand for care from the communities we serve. Your help in managing appointments can play a really important role in helping us manage our service.
We also continue to provide flexible and responsive care where possible in response to helpful feedback from our patients.One example of this is our programme of weekend flu vaccination clinics, organised to support patients who struggle to find time to attend clinics during week.
Clinics are being held on Saturday (October 19) and Saturday, November 9 for eligible patient groups including those over 65, frontline health and social care workers, patients under 65 with certain medical conditions, pregnant women, carers and all children aged two and three. Invitations have been sent to patients and there is still time to ring and book appointment times.
I would like to finish by officially welcoming Dr Abilash Kanapathyraja to the team.
Dr Kanapathyraja has been with us a long-term locum doctor and joined us on October 8 as a salaried GP team member.
His appointment helps with continuity of care here at the surgery. Dr Kanapathyraja knows our processes, knows our patients and is a popular, caring and compassionate doctor.
We are delighted with his appointment.