30/01/2026
Important notice, please see below.
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns — we understand why this change feels frustrating, and we appreciate the opportunity to explain it.
The decision to close routine patient email access to the surgery was not taken lightly. It has been made for patient safety, consistency, and efficiency. Emails are not monitored continuously, can be missed during staff absence, and are not always suitable for clinical communication or urgent matters. This creates a safety risk and makes it difficult to ensure timely and appropriate responses.
In practice, email has also been used infrequently by some patients but has required significant administrative handling, often duplicating work already captured through other systems. Moving to a single, structured process helps us ensure information is recorded accurately, directed to the correct clinician or team, and actioned safely.
We understand concerns about records and having a clear paper trail. Please be reassured that online consultation forms and other approved routes are securely integrated into your medical record and are the appropriate way to share documents or updates. These routes also allow us to ask the right follow-up questions and reduce the risk of incomplete information.
Regarding phone calls, we recognise the pressures this can place on patients and the practice. Streamlining access routes is intended to reduce confusion and congestion overall, not increase it, and we will continue to review how this works in practice.
To clarify, Facebook is not and has never been a clinical communication channel. We would never expect patients to share personal or medical information publicly. Social media is used only for general updates and announcements.
We appreciate your feedback and will continue to monitor the impact of this change. If you have specific concerns about your care or records, please contact the surgery using our official channels so we can help appropriately and confidentially.
