Dear Mr Brown

Thank you for your letter dated 9th November in which you request a copy of a telephone recording between yourself and a doctor on April 26th 2022 @ 10:07. Unfortunately we do not record our telephone calls but our clinical system shows that you had did not have a clinical consultation at that time but spoke to a member of our admin team who made an appointment for you with one of our Pharmacy Technicians for Tuesday 3rd May.

On 1st February 2022 we were informed by Social Services that the police had contacted them with concerns for your welfare. On 14th February your carer called the surgery to notify us that you had taken an overdose on 11th February. One of our doctors attempted to contact you that same day to establish the facts, but, failing to reach you, sent you a text message asking you to call to discuss your medications. Unfortunately it appears that you did not do so. As we have a duty of care to ensure the safety of all of our patients and, in view of the information received, our Pharmacy Technican spoke to our Senior Partner. It was agreed, in line with our patient safety protocol that, until we could ascertain any risk to your safety, we would only prescribe two weeks of medication at a time. The Pharmacy Technician sent you a text message on 21st April advising you that he had tried to contact you. He explained that you needed a review with a GP and in the meantime we would only issue two weeks supply of medication. Unfortunately when you called the surgery on April 26th there appears to have been a misunderstanding and you were booked with the Pharmacy Technician again on 3rd May instead of a GP. Please accept my apologies for this misunderstanding. A GP however did call you back that same day. She has noted that you denied any overdose and was not aware of the police reporting neglect. However, she has noted that you agreed for her to refer you back to the Mental Health team for your medication to be reviewed by the experts. Unfortunately the Mental Health team made two unsuccessful attempts to contact you so they then closed the referral.

Should you agree to engage with the Mental Health team and wish us to re-refer you then please do contact the surgery.

I am sorry if you feel you have any cause to complain but we believe that we have acted appropriately in attempting to ensure your safety and to encourage you to engage with the appropriate service. I have also checked that the telephone numbers we have used are correct so you should therefore be able to check the text messages we have sent.

You have advised that you have removed yourself from being treated by the NHS and I can see that you have ignored our repeated requests to enable us to help you look after other aspects of your physical health. We would strongly advise against this. We appreciate that you may find it difficult to get to Woodview Medical Centre, it appears that Brook Medical Centre in Ecton Brook Road may be easier for you to get to so you may of course prefer to register there.

I am returning your personal documents as these do not appear to relate to Woodview Medical Centre.

Yours sincerely

Practitioner Manager,
Woodview Medical Centre,
26 Holmecross Road,
Thorplands,
Northampton,
NN3 8AW

22nd November 2023

Re: Medication Review Telephone Call April 26 2022 @ 10:07

I appreciate your prompt response to the matter. The explanation provides the misunderstanding that occurred over the period of the various telephone conversations. I have no problem with simple mistakes, especially with qualified and experienced Pharmacy Technicians.

My main complaint in the previous letter was about a specific person mentioned in your written response:

On 1st February 2022 we were informed by Social Services that the police had contacted them with concerns for your welfare. On 14th February your carer called the surgery to notify us that you had taken an overdose on 11th February. One of our doctors attempted to contact you that same day to establish the facts, but, failing to reach you, sent you a text message asking you to call to discuss your medications.

Can you please provide the name, organisation, address, telephone number, email of the person being referenced as carer? Furthermore, can you please explain the surgery’s protocol for identifying such a person considering they were contacted by telephone? If possible, a copy of the telephone conversation would be appreciated.

Please kindly send any communications directed towards me by postal mail or email. The property has experienced two floods recently. One was below, and the other flooded the kitchen, passage, toilet, and part of the front room from above. With the inclusion of the humidity issues causing serious damp, all electronics are inoperable or malfunctioning. This includes mobile phones that shows visual water/humidity damage on the screen.

I received a refund from Anglia Water. The landlord addressed major issues and I bought a heavy-duty dehumidifier to prevent humidity. Now I can hopefully use electronics without any more problems. I will be purchasing a new mobile phone in the next few months. I sincerely apologise for the difficulty when attempting to contact myself, but this has been due to the property's disrepair.

Once you provide the required information, I can directly handle this matter with them, saving you any more inconvenience. I appreciate someone who addresses smaller issues despite the current pandemic and ongoing strikes in the NHS.

Thank you for listening,

Dear Mr Brown

Thank you for your letter dated 22nd November.

Unfortunately, as I advised in my letter of 13th November, we do not currently have the facility to record telephone calls. On 14th February, somebody identifying themselves as your carer advised us that you had taken an overdose a few days previously. Unfortunately the telephone line was very poor and it proved impossible to obtain any further information. We take allegations like this very seriously and one of our GPs tried to contact you on more than one occasion that afternoon to discuss this matter with you, to establish the facts and to reassure ourselves that there was no risk of harm coming to you by continuing to provide you with monthly medications. She also sent a text message asking you to contact her. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, she was unable to speak to you to discuss the matter. I am enclosing a copy of the clinical notes made that afternoon.

I am sure that you can understand that, without establishing the facts and therefore without this reassurance, we are obliged to ensure your safety so therefore reduced your prescriptions to two weekly instead of monthly.

I trust this reassures you that we did try to ascertain the facts and that you understand that we believe we acted in your best interest.

Yours sincerely