Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lee Health Centre

I have been asked to put this is writing in order that it can be brought to the attention of the management committee at Lee Health Centre.

There are two incidents that you should be aware of.

The first Incident happened to my wife in August 2009.  The second happened on the the 26th of July this year.

The following is a copy of the letter my wife sent to the Complaints Department of Lewisham Primary Care Trust.

On Monday of this week I called the surgery at 8:10 in order to make an appointment for myself and my son. I was offered an appointment at 15:00 Tuesday (the following day) with the locum doctor, and I accepted it.

On Tuesday I arrived at the surgery at 14:55, checked in with the receptionist (as is the correct procedure) and was told to proceed to the waiting area.

After 30 minutes, during which time I had to entertain my 3 year old in a very hot room surrounded by sick people (with no provision made for children), I went to the receptionist to ask what the situation was. I was then informed that my appointment was for Wednesday (the following day) at 15:00. The receptionist checked the screen and told me to wait for another 10 minutes as there was a free appointment that I could have.

Fifteen minutes later I was called back to the reception to discuss the situation with her colleague. This turned out to be the practice manager. I was informed in no uncertain terms that my appointment was for the following day, that I had made a mistake, and that was the end of the discussion. I protested and reassured them that the appointment was for Tuesday; I had checked in and the receptionist told me to go to the waiting area. They were not willing to accept this and insisted that I had made a mistake, even after I pointed out that I work on a Wednesday and was, therefore, unlikely to have made an appointment that I could not attend.

The manager was very surly and gave a grudging apology on behalf of the receptionist, but he clearly was not sorry and was merely trying to get rid of me.

I was very upset and left the surgery, in tears, after over 45 minutes of waiting and contacted my husband, who called the surgery.

He spoke to the office manager. He was initially told that it was my mistake and it, therefore, did not matter if I had waited for 45 minutes or 1 hour and 45 minutes, but eventually the manager admitted that the receptionist who made the booking must have made a mistake and this was compounded by the receptionist that checked me in as she should have seen the error and informed me. The manager did not know why I was told to wait as there were no available appointments.

My husband asked the office manager what he intended to do to rectify the situation and was told “nothing”. He asked if the surgery did home visits and was told they did, and so he booked a visit for 16:40 that evening. My husband then rushed home in order to be here when the doctor arrived, but the doctor did not come.

As a result of this we have not been seen and we will have to attempt to make an appointment for next week; due to the booking system I cannot call to book the appointment until Monday next week.

The PCT asked the office manager to reply, and he did.  Frankly his reply was a tissue of lies, clearly he had been involved in a totally different incident and it was all my wife's fault!  We decided to not pursue the matter any further as she was very distressed by the events and it was clear it would be his word against ours.  As he was intent on lying, nothing would come of it.

The second incident started when I attended the surgery on the 26th of July. 

I am self-employed and so I try and arrange my appointments in the morning as it disrupts my day the least.  A few days before my appointment I received a phone call asking me if I would mind moving the time from 9:15 to 16:45.  I said I did mind, but as I had no alternative I would move it.

I arrived at the surgery on time (having left my office at 15:45, thereby loosing 1 hour 45 minutes of work time) and went to the receptionist to check in.  I was told that I did not have an appointment and anyway Debbie was off sick.  I objected and said I DID have an appointment and was not happy about the situation.  I was faced by blank looks from ALL staff in the reception.  I asked what could be done about it and was told nothing.  When I pressed I was offered appointments with other nurses, all at least a weeks away.

I asked to speak to the office manager and was told he was on holiday and so I asked to speak to someone in a position of responsibility. 

Dr Laurence came out and was told by the reception staff that I had no appointment and had turned up incorrectly.  She told me that there was nothing that could be done, and that she was busy, and left.

I had no choice at this point but to take the offered appointment.  This was on the 14th of August at 9:15 (3 weeks later!).  This left me extremely upset.  I asked for the office manager to contact me upon his return.  David took my details and told me the manager would be back on the 30th.

I went to a local chemist, that I am friendly with, and was explaining what had happened (to make myself feel better) when another customer (that I had never met before, but had overheard me talking) said that he was not surprised; this appears to be a regular occurrence at this surgery and they, especially the office manager, have a reputation for being rude and unhelpful.  At this point several other customers all agreed.

On the 30th I had no call.  Several days later, I had no call.  Eventually I got fed up of waiting and called the surgery myself.

The office manager told me that there was no appointment on the system for me.  He could see the morning appointment, but that had been cancelled, and he could not see who by.  I asked him to investigate why the afternoon appointment had not been booked, and he reluctantly said he would.  He then promised to call me back.  I have received no call from him.  I then asked why he had not called me and he told me that he had not come back on the 30th and David had made a mistake telling me that that was when he came back (this did seem a bit odd as the 30th was a Monday, which would be a logical day to return to work).

The Plot Thickens.

When I came to see Debbie on the 14th of August I explained all this to her and that I was very upset by this.  I did not want to see a different nurse as Debbie was aware of my condition (and my Diabetes) and I wanted continuity of treatment. 

She looked on the booking system and found that indeed the 1st appointment had been cancelled (she could also see who had made the change!!), and the second appointment was on the system at the time that I said.  I was shown as a “no show” (if that is on my records I would like it removed).

She had been in her room and had been waiting for me (it was a 30 minute slot).  It is very rare for me to miss an appointment and she had wondered what had happened to me.

Debbie then asked me to document this in order that she can bring it to the practices attention.  The fact that they are gaining a bad reputation in the community is not something that should be taken lightly.  Not only has my time been wasted and my condition not treated for weeks, but a 30 minute appointment slot was also wasted (and we all know how rare they are).

Final Words

In case you are wondering, there have been other incidences of poor “customer” service at this surgery, but I have chosen to highlight these 2 as it would take too long to detail them all.

I have posted this on a public forum in order to give the practice a chance to respond.  But based on their past actions I do not think they will.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Solus

Hay Hay.

Just had a call from Mr Fentons Secretary.

I gave her a full description of the missing part and she is going to try and find one.

Progress?  We shall see.....


RE: [Cosma's Life] Voyager

Good morning Mr O’Halloran, 

As Group Customer Services Manager, perhaps you would like to get involved in this and assist in getting the issues resolved.  A summary can be found at http://cosmap.blogspot.com

Best Regards

Cosma Papouis

From: William O'Halloran [mailto:William.O'Halloran@solusarc.co.uk]
Sent: 07 August 2012 12:45
To: Gordon Fenton
Cc: cosma@papouis.net
Subject: FW: [Cosma's Life] Voyager

Hi Gordon
The attached e-mail was addressed to you

Kind Regards
William O'Halloran
Group Customer Services Manager

Solus Accident Repair Centres - Head Office

Tel: 07989 448373 | Fax: 01279 713701
Email: William.O'Halloran@solusarc.co.uk
************************************************************************************** 
From: Cosma Papouis [mailto:cosma@papouis.net]
Sent: 07 August 2012 12:43
To: sales@solusarc.co.uk
Subject: FW: [Cosma's Life] Voyager

Hello,

I have just emailed Gorge Fenton, but his email seems to not be working.

Could you assist please.

Thanks

Please take look at http://cosmap.blogspot.com for a resume of what has (or has not) been happening.

Cosma Papouis


Voyager

Good morning Mr Fenton,

 I hope you had a nice holiday.

 
I received the rubber bung in the post, thank you, and it fits.  Now all I need is the tow eye.

 
After some research on the net I believe that it may be called a “Tie Down Eye” (or hook).  Other people seem to have them, but they do seem to be quite hard to source.

 
I find it hard to believe that this has vanished in to the ether.  Surely it must be either in your workshop, the repairers workshop or the back of the lorry that brought the vehicle in to you.  Alternatively, as it was supplied by them, Chrysler must have one.

 
I would appreciate your attention to this matter.

 
Regards
________________________________
Cosma
P Please consider the environment
Save paper - do you really need to print this email?

Re: FW: Voyager

Dear Jamie, 

I have tried to contact Lee, but he does not respond.  I feel that everybody just want's shot of this and I am the one that is left with a part missing from my car.

I have never asked for a written apology, just an acknowledged that the car was returned in an unsafe condition.  And for the return of my tow eye (tie down).

Am I being unreasonable?  You tell me.

****************************************************************************
On 7 August 2012 09:50, <jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk> wrote:
Dear Mr Papouis,

I'm very sorry to hear this. As I did not hear anything further, I assumed your issues were being addressed. Below is the last correspondence I received from Gordon Fenton or anyone else at Solus regarding your issues. I would suggest you contact Gordon Fenton on the below telephone number if Lee his production manager has not been in contact. Further to this, I would suggest that any correspondence on the matter be escalated to our own complaints department at nuccare@aviva.co.uk


Regards
Jamie Edwards
PMCS Team
Personal Motor Claims- Stretford
Aviva UK General Insurance
( 0800 0515 127
* Email: jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

**************************************************************************** 
From: Gordon Fenton [mailto:gordon.fenton@solusarc.co.uk]
Sent: 12 July 2012 15:10

To: Jamie Edwards (Aviva UK)
Cc: Lee Dallard
Subject: RE: Voyager

Jamie

I am on holiday so Lee my production manager will be dealing with.

Kind Regards
Gordon Fenton
General Manager

Solus Accident Repair Centres - Solus Erith

 ****************************************************************************
From: Jamie Edwards (Aviva UK) [mailto:jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk]
Sent: 12 July 2012 12:10
To: Gordon Fenton
Subject: FW: Voyager


Dear Gordon,

I have been helping the PH with his issues and can see that you have written to him with a reasonable effort to address his issues, including sourcing the part and offering to have it fitted.
However, the PH it seems will not be happy until he gets a written or verbal apology for the dangerous condition he feels his vehicle was returned in.
Please could you let me know how you would feel about Solus making an apology for these issues.


Regards
Jamie Edwards
PMCS Team
Personal Motor Claims- Stretford
Aviva UK General Insurance
( 0800 0515 127
* Email: jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

 ****************************************************************************
From: Cosma
Sent: 12 July 2012 11:59

To: Jamie Edwards (Aviva UK)
Subject: RE: Voyager

Dear Jamie,

I am not an unreasonable person.  I accept that parts fail on fit, I have not made a big issue of the shock absorber, dangerous though that was.  All I want is my car, and all the elements thereof, returned to me as it was when it went to Solus.

·         I would like an acknowledgement that the vehicle was not safe.  It was returned in a dangerous condition and whoever did that work has been spoken to. 
·         I would like the missing "Tie Down Eye" or "Towing eye" or whatever they want to call it returned.  And possibly an acknowledgement that I have not been making it all up.
So far it just seems that I am an irritation and all everybody wants to do is brush this issue under the carpet.  In which case it makes me wonder how many other cars are driving around that have been poorly repaired and are potential death traps.

As an insurance company I would have thought that you would be slightly concerned as you will be paying when this stuff hits the courts.  Just think.  Had the break hose failed and the car crashed I hate to think about it and would just hope I had been driving at the time.  If my wife had been driving….

Do you (Aviva, not you personally) vet the companies that you use?  Or do you just go for the cheapest?  Surely the quality of the repairs done come in to the equation?

Regards
 ****************************************************************************
From: jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk [mailto:jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk]
Sent: 12 July 2012 11:44
To: cosma
Subject: RE: Voyager

Dear Mr Papouis,

Having read the email from Gordon Fenton at Solus, I am satisfied that Solus have put you back into a similar position that you were in previously. The part has been sourced and will be fitted. The garage had sourced a like for like vehicle whilst your own vehicle was in for rectification work, and the garage provided a further MOT upon completion of this work. Clearly you are not happy with the response to the issues from Mr Fenton. At this stage, please could you advise me on how you would like the matter to be resolved and I can look into what can possibly be done.


Regards
Jamie Edwards
PMCS Team
Personal Motor Claims- Stretford
Aviva UK General Insurance
( 0800 0515 127
* Email: jamie.edwards@aviva.co.uk
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.