Dear valued patient,
I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your patience and understanding with our present appointments situation.
We know that booking an appointment is difficult at times and we are doing everything we can to solve the issue for the benefit of you, our patient. We are short of a GP in practice and have advertised over a period of many months for a suitable GP to join our team and we received NO applicants. Unfortunately, this is a nationwide issue that many practices are facing. This is very disheartening for us as we know the impact this has on the availability of appointments for you. This is particularly important to those of you who value continuity of treatment with a specific GP.
We are taking the situation very seriously and are actively recruiting more clinical staff to help alleviate the problems we are having. We aim to have a beneficial system in place as soon as possible for all concerned.
I would like to ask you to consider if you really need to see your GP. There are many other wonderful resources within the community who may be better suited to assist you. As an example, your local pharmacy can help with ailments such as the common cold or hayfever. By taking a moment to think about the other resources available to you, you may be freeing up a valuable appointment slot!
Lastly, please consider the hard task our receptionists face on a daily basis when they have to tell patients that an appointment is not available. They have battled through some tough times and really are here to help you as much as they can under the current restrictions.
Kindest regards,
Yvonne McKean
Practice Manager
