Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter
A GP practice in south Wales has apologised after a computer fault sent patients text messages for appointments that did not exist.
One patient only learnt she didn’t have a Friday afternoon appointment with her GP when she arrived at the surgery and reported to reception.
The Panteg Health Centre, in Pontypool, has since apologised to the patient and has said it is working to resolve a system fault that is generating the false appointments when it issues reminders for GPs.
The patient, who has asked not to be named, said she had already been “back and forth” to the medical centre in Kemys Street, Griffithstown, when her doctor had asked her to record her blood pressure for two weeks.
“The doctor said ‘I will contact you’, which I thought was funny thing to do but it must have been coming up towards the end of the two weeks when an appointment popped up on my phone,” she said.
She then attended the surgery at the appointed time: “I turned up at 6pm and went up to the desk and said I had an appointment when the receptionist asked me, ‘did you have a text about an appointment?’
“She apologised and said there was no appointment and it was a computer error.”
By chance, despite being told no appointments were available, shortly afterwards the GP phoned the patient who was still in the area and she was able to see the doctor despite having been told by the receptionist she would have to call back on Monday to make an appointment.
After the patient complained to the health centre about the phantom appointment, and that she was initially denied the opportunity to see the doctor, she received an apology for any “upset and frustration caused” by the experience and an explanation.
In an email to the patient, who had praised the care she received from her GP, the health centre stated: “We are currently experiencing a system fault whereby appointments that are recorded on the Practice daybook as reminders for the GP are also generating text messages to patients advising them that they have an appointment.
“We appreciate that this can understandably cause confusion, and we are working hard to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
The email said the receptionist had given the correct information to phone on the Monday, as the practice was at capacity, but acknowledged she could have gone to speak to the doctor due to the error it had made.
The email added: “We take patient concerns seriously and appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. We will continue to work on resolving the system issue to prevent similar confusion from occurring in the future.”
Panteg Health Centre declined to comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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