Madam,

At Aberystwyth Church Surgery, patients can no longer make an appointment via one of the receptionists. No, the patient has to await a phone call from a doctor and is expected to discuss their medical problem on the telephone. The doctor then books the appointment.

I, and I am sure many other patients of this practice, do not wish to discuss any medical problem on the telephone. I made this clear when recently attempting to book a non-urgent appointment. I was informed that the doctor would have to ring regardless. This was the only way in which to gain my appointment.

I fail to understand what is achieved by such a system. I did write to the practice manager over a month ago asking various questions, but have not even had the courtesy of a reply.

I would be interested to know how much time the doctors are spending on the phone, time when they could be actually seeing patients.

Yours etc

Sandy Neville

Cwmystwyth.