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May 2024

News

Harrogate GP scrapping paper requests is ‘egregious example of ageism’, patient says

Published: 19 May 2024, 06:15 BST

by Flora Grafton

A patient at a Harrogate GP has claimed scrapping paper prescriptions requests is an “egregious example of age discrimination”.

68-year-old Michael Burlinson, who is a patient at Spa Surgery located in Mowbray Square Medical Centre, contacted the Stray Ferret after noticing the letter boxes at the practice had been blocked.

In a notice (pictured below) patients were told the letter boxes were “no longer in use” as of January 2.

The notice encourages patients to request repeat prescriptions online, on the NHS app, by dropping them off at the surgery or via Royal Mail.

Mr Burlinson also received a letter, seen by the Stray Ferret, which claims the surgery will "no longer be accepting paper repeat prescriptions".

He said this is "inconsistent" with the notice on the letter box and the suggestion to post requests via Royal Mail, adding:

“The notice states that you can hand in repeat prescriptions during office hours, or post them using Royal Mail. The letter states that paper repeat prescription requests will no longer be accepted.

"The tone is uncompromising. Both cannot be correct."

The letter encourages patients to order prescriptions through an automated phone service.

But Mr Burlinson felt the switch to electronic requests is "symptomatic of a deeper malaise". He added:

“Not all correspondence with one’s doctor involves repeat prescriptions. There is a host of other reasons why a patient might wish to set out a matter in writing, but without a letterbox there is no means of delivery.

“Many people have a profound (and well- founded) distrust of technology. We have an ageing population, and the typical patient is much older than the average population.

“I was told the letter box had been blocked to ‘encourage’ people to use other methods. I would call it coercion. I see it as an egregious example of age discrimination and lack of inclusivity.”

With an increasing number of elderly people living alone and in poor health, there comes an increasing number of people without the confidence or ability to use technology, Mr Burlinson added.

He said, for some, using online services and speaking to an automated telephone service is “absolute purgatory” and scrapping paper requests is a “new form of elitism”.

'The majority of the population are able to use the alternative methods'

The Stray Ferret put Mr Burlinson's concerns to Spa Surgery.

Practice manager, Clare Hedges, said she wishes to assure patients that the practice is "still accepting paper repeat requests in-person" at the medical centre.

Ms Hedges added:

"The post box has been sealed to encourage people to bring paper requests into the medical centre.

"This enables a safe and secure method of receiving confidential information as well as ensuring that correspondence isn’t contaminated by pathology samples which have, in the past, been posted into the boxes."

Ms Hedges also said the surgery first notified patients about the change in Autumn 2023, adding this gave patients four months' notice.

She said the move to digital is in a bid to improve services and reduce paper use:

"The use of electronic forms of requests enables safe and secure transfer of information; less risk of prescriptions being lost or misplaced; speedier processing and reduction in errors as the requests from the telephone, NHS App and online ordering go straight onto the patient record leaving a clear audit trail. This helps ensure a more efficient use of NHS resources.

"It also leads to a reduction in paper generation, thereby contributing to the NHS requirements to move towards being a 'Greener Practice'."

Ms Hedges said the practice received a "very low number of paper requests" during the pandemic, adding this indicated "the majority of the population are able to use these alternative methods to order their prescriptions".

She said:

"We have discussed and continue to work with our Patient Participation Group and colleagues at Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to provide a resource on the ground floor where people may be assisted to order their prescriptions, use an e-consultation, or access their medical record for test results etc. should they require.

"We remain available to assist patients should they require any help with this, including our vulnerable and homeless patients, who have no other way of contacting us."

Mowbray Square Medical Centre comprises of Spa Surgery, East Parade Surgery and Park Parade Surgery under one roof. The sealed up letter boxes belong to all three practices.

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Harrogate GP scrapping paper requests is ‘egregious example of ageism’, patient says

'The majority of the population are able to use the alternative methods'

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