LEYTON: Disabled patient has 'nightmare' at new polyclinic (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

LEYTON: Disabled patient has 'nightmare' at new polyclinic

3:01pm Thursday 7th May 2009

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A DISABLED patient said she suffered “an absolute screaming nightmare” when visiting Waltham Forest’s flagship GP ‘super surgery’.

Flash Bristow, 33, visited one of the walk-in clinics offered at the centre in Oliver Road, Leyton, three days before it was officially opened as a new polyclinic.

Mrs Bristow, a web designer of Davies Lane, Leytonstone, is disabled and described suffering considerable pain after being made to wait for long periods of time in a crowded waiting room.

She said: "I went there last week as my GP told me to go and see them.

"The first time I went in, they were still doing building work. The waiting area was really long and narrow and I couldn't move my leg as every time I did, a child would fall over it."

She added that the chairs were hard and uncomfortable and that even after making an appointment to come back, she was still kept waiting for more than an hour.

"The receptionist sent me to the wrong floor first and I spent 15 minutes standing up with my crutches," Mrs Bristow said.

She was sent back to the right floor but was then told she would be the last person seen and now plans to make a formal complaint.

She said: "I won't be going back - my regular doctor is open 8am to 8pm anyway, just not at weekends."

And Tory group leader Cllr Matt Davis has also raised concerns that parking may be inadequate and that the clinic could see a huge rise in patients after a leaflet was sent to every household in the borough.

"There's a distinct possibility the clinic will end up getting swamped, particularly as we've got these walk-in clinics," he said.

"It certainly would seem as though the primary care trust hasn't though this through properly."

Chairman of NHS Waltham Forest Cllr Afzal Akram said plans were in place to come to an arrangement on parking with the nearby Score centre.

"We're not expecting the clinic to become swamped," he said.

"There's plenty of space and staff to manage demand and we could also move in more GPs."

He added there are good public transport links and that the council would consider rerouting more buses towards the clinic if necessary.

Apologising to Mrs Bristow, Cllr Akram added it was "not acceptable" that she should have been made to wait so long and said reception staff should have done more to accommodate her.

He said: "If she raises an official complaint, we can look at it and give her a reason for what happened.

If there is an issue, and people are in pain, they should alert reception staff, who will try to make other arrangements."

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