Doctors refused to visit poorly pensioner

Margaret Coles, 71, was told by her doctor’s surgery that a doctor would not visit her as she is currently living "out of the area" of her surgery - Stone Field Surgery in Milnrow. Margaret is currently living in temporary accommodation in Shawclough after her home was damaged by a fire.

After undergoing a knee operation on Monday 31 March, Margaret was in pain and collapsed in her home yesterday (Thursday 3 April). Her partner, Tony was able to safely catch Margaret but was worried about what caused the collapse.

Margaret’s surgery were called at 8:30am this morning (Friday 4 April) but told Margaret and her family that a doctor would not be able to come out and see her because she was not in the right area.

Margaret’s son, Nigel said: “What sort of system is that?

"My mother is going to be living in this accommodation for at least six months. It is ridiculous.”

The surgery then told the family to contact Healey Surgery which is the surgery for that area. The family were then told by Healey Surgery that they couldn’t see Margaret because they would need all of her past information and history.

“We were told to go away and fill out a form for Healey Surgery so she could get registered and then when I said, she will be moving back in six months, I was told she would have to move back to the others doctors. It is absurd,” said Nigel.

Frustrated with the entire situation, the family then called an ambulance so Margaret could be seen. “We didn’t want to ring an ambulance because technically it isn’t an emergency but we needed someone to check her out and find out why she collapsed,” said Nigel.

Ambulance personnel have since spoken to Margaret and will be sending someone out to see her.

Nigel added: “This is not good for my mum. She feels abandoned as it is and now she feels abandoned by the professionals.”

A spokesperson for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The CCG has been made aware of this situation and has contacted the GP practice to establish the facts. The practice has tried to offer some support to this patient and her family. In these circumstances, patients living away from their home address are usually seen by a local GP as a temporary resident. NHS England commissions GP services and we understand the Greater Manchester Area Team has been asked to comment on this incident.”

NHS England, who are responsible for commissioning GP services were unavailable for comment at the time of publication given an assurance that they will investigate the situation.