NHS complaints in Oldham reached new highs in 2022

Residents' complaints throughout the year

Residents across Oldham have reported difficulties with their GP surgeries and NHS dentists throughout the year.

In the summer, a deluge of patients told the paper they struggled to book a GP appointment at a number of practices, with the two surgeries in Royton facing the most criticism.

Royton and Crompton Family Practice was photographed looking empty by a concerned patient (Image: Ste/UGC)

In one case, police officer Emma Capper said her brain tumour was misdiagnosed multiple times at the Royton and Crompton Family Practice (in the Wellbeing Centre).

Doctors had missed numerous opportunities to detect the cancer as she struggled to book a GP appointment and was instead given medication for vertigo after a telephone appointment at the practice.

It was only when she went to A&E that medics discovered the cancerous tumour in her brain and rushed her into surgery.

• READ MORE: Police officer, 39, diagnosed with brain tumour after GP said she had vertigo
• READ MORE: Royton residents share the struggle to speak to a GP
• READ MORE: Anger as residents 'struggle' to get GP appointments months after council probe
• READ MORE: Werneth residents claim 'it's a nightmare' to book a GP appointment

Over in dentistry, patients across the borough said the "system is broken" in their battle for an NHS dentist with many being forced to fork out for private treatment - or suffer in pain.

By November, waiting lists for NHS dentists soared as high as three years while the NHS website listed just six practices in the borough, including Middleton, taking on new patients - and only in urgent cases by referral.

An NHS dentist in Oldham, Dr Mohsan Ahmad, also shared with readers the pressures dentist practices are facing, from the cost-of-living crisis to stagnant recruitment in what he described as an underfunded area of healthcare.

Dr Ahmad, who is a partner at Glodwick Dental Centre among three others in Greater Manchester, said dental practices are struggling to meet the demand for care as they are fighting a crisis on multiple fronts.

Dr Mohsan Ahmad is a partner at Glodwick Dental Centre and said NHS dentistry is facing unprecedented challenges (Image: Dr Mohsan Ahmad)

• READ MORE: Oldham dentist reveals pressures NHS are facing amid crisis
• READ MORE: Oldham faces 'dental timebomb' amid cost-of-living crisis and NHS shortage
• READ MORE: Oldhamers say the 'system is broken' in battle for NHS dentist

His comments were echoed by Rhona Eskander, a world leader in dental care, who warned Oldham is on the brink of a "dental timebomb", exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and a national shortage of NHS dentists.

Meanwhile, a number of Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports also unearthed problems in Oldham's healthcare system with many being instructed to improve, including Royton Medical Centre.

Oldham Council leader, Amanda Chadderton, said Royton's GP surgeries must improve (Image: Oldham Council)

Council leader, Amanda Chadderton, said in July that she was working with the two Royton GP surgeries to "try and work through the problems".

"Unfortunately, this is a consequence of a Conservative Government unbothered by a crisis in the primary care sector and a shortage of GPs", she told The Oldham Times before the CQC reports were published.

But the trust in charge of Royal Oldham Hospital, the Northern Care Alliance, has also been told to improve in a recent CQC inspection this month.

Staffing levels and the morale of 'hardworking' NHS staff were highlighted as areas of concern at the hospital by the inspector.

• READ MORE: Royton Medical Centre 'requires improvement' after breaching legal regulations
• READ MORE: Royton and Crompton Family Practice rated 'good' by CQC, despite complaints
• READ MORE: Royal Oldham Hospital's trust told it must improve service
• READ MORE: Medlock Medical Practice told to improve
• READ MORE: Werneth Primary Care Centre rated 'good' by CQC 
• READ MORE: Dr Kiren Kaur/Moorside Medical Practice told it still 'requires improvement' following inspection
• READ MORE: Sunvalley Medical Practice previously put in 'special measures' receives boost to rating

Royal Oldham Hospital has also been told it needs to improve (Image: Google Maps)

GP and dentist complaints in Oldham

Data from NHS Digital shows 427 complaints were made about GPs and dentists in the former NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group area in the 12 months to March this year.

While NHS Digital did not collate data on complaints made during 2019-20 amid Covid, the latest figures are higher than pre-pandemic levels (426).

Of last year's complaints, 105 (25 per cent) were fully upheld, meaning the medical provider was found to be in the wrong.

Complaints reached new highs in Oldham in 2022, according to the latest figures (Image: Canva/Unsplash)

This was down from 2018-19 when 34 per cent of complaints were upheld.

Oldham dentists saw only a marginal rise, with the number of complaints increasing by two per cent from 14,100 to 14,300 over the same period.

Greater Manchester Integrated Care reacts to stats

Dr John Patterson, associate medical director in Oldham at NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, said the problem is compounded by the enormous "pressure" GP and dental practices are enduring with "high demand for appointments and recruitment challenges".

However, Dr Patterson admitted it is "always disappointing" to hear complaints where patients' experience of care "is not as we would wish".

The new diagnostic centre opened in Oldham at the end of December (Image: NCA)

Patients waiting longer than two weeks for an appointment

Separate data by NHS Digital in October revealed some GP surgeries in the borough were worse than others when it came to booking an appointment, with some having to wait longer than two weeks.

A total of 121,258 appointments took place at GP practices in the former Oldham CCG area in October, of which at least 20 per cent (24,309) had taken place more than a fortnight after being booked.

Of those, six per cent (6,838) saw patients wait longer than 28 days.

The surgeries with the highest number of patients waiting longer than a fortnight were: 

• Village Medical Practice (50.1 per cent of 1,607 appointments)
• CH Medical Practice (41.3 per cent of 5,217 appointments)
• Oak Gables Medical Practice (40.8 per cent of 4,131 appointments)
• Woodlands Medical Practice (35 per cent of 6,057 appointments)
• Springfield House (34.8 per cent of 3,448 appointments)

Royton Medical Centre was told it requires improvement in the latest CQC report (Image: Newsquest)

At the other end of the scale was:

• Medlock Medical Practice (3.7 per cent of 4,397 appointments)
• Royton Medical Centre (4.3 per cent of 4,148 appointments)
• Kapur Family Care (6.2 per cent of 4,565 appointments)
• Lindley House Health Centre (6.8 per cent of 1,479 appointments)
• Chadderton Medical Practice (8.7 per cent of 2,503 appointments)

The stats come as the government announced a fresh ambition to see patients access a GP appointment within two weeks.

But NHS Digital said workloads can be affected by several factors, such as the demographic of patients, how deprived the area is and the number of care homes the surgery offers its services to.

Werneth Primary Care, which contains Kapur Family Care, was also hit with complaints by patients and didn't fare well in the 2022 GP survey (Image: Google Maps)

Oldham patients asked for "patience and understanding"

Dr Patterson said: "Our practices are working hard to delivery quality care to their patients.

"Those who need urgent care are being prioritised which unfortunately means some patients may have a longer wait.

"We ask for patience and understanding from the public when this does happen, and please be assured we are doing all we can to treat you as soon as possible."

NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care also said every complaint it receives is an "opportunity to learn and improve".

"I am sure my primary care colleagues will be reflecting on the themes and outcomes of complaints to further improve patients’ experiences of care", Dr Patterson added.

NHS England complaints in Oldham

Separate figures concerning complaints made only to NHS England and the commissioner, which does not include complaints made directly to the providers, show there were 76 GP complaints and seven dental complaints in the borough from April 2020 to March 2021.

Under the NHS Complaints Regulations, a complaint can be made directly to the GP or dental practice itself, or to the lead commissioner, NHS England.

The figures do not include outcomes.

Of those complaints about GPs to NHS England, the most pressing reason concerned issues around clinical care (33 complaints), followed by Covid-19 (13), communication (eight) and prescriptions (five) in 2020-21.

Access to services, removal from the practice list, medical records, appointments and staff attitude also received two or more complaints.

One complaint, meanwhile, was made regarding a dispensing error and another one was filed about the premises of the GP surgery.

In dentistry, three complaints were made about staff attitude, two were filed over access to services and two were made about clinical care.

GP Patient Survey 2022

Finally, the 2022 GP Patient Survey revealed Kapur Family Care had the lowest rating by patients, scoring an average 'good' rating of just 37 per cent while St Mary's Medical Centre shot to the top with a 88 per cent overall good rating.

READ MORE: Oldham's best and worst GP practices - as voted by patients

The news prompted Oldham leaders to commit to improving local GP services - and a new £10m diagnostics centre opened its doors to patients towards the end of December.

READ MORE: Leaders express commitment to improve GP services after complaints

The new centre, which is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm in Salmonfields, is set to tackle waiting lists and Covid backlogs by helping more than 30,000 patients a year.