A North-east London practice has complained that their level of patient care is being adversely affected by an out-of-bounds clinical room.
Driver & Partners practice in Forest Gate, is seeing up to 100 fewer patients a day due to the clinical room being out of service for months, according to practice staff.
The surgery has 7,000 patients on its list and can see up to 250 individuals in one day depending on how many rooms are available.
Operations manager for the practice at Lord Lister Health Centre, Mitchell Crotch, said staff have had to limit or cancel appointments at short notice because of a lack of space to treat patients.
The appointment room has been unused since September 2016 because of damp caused by a hole in the plasterboard.
NHS Property Services were alerted immediately about the issue after practice staff noticed the damp. The gap had been caused by a workman earlier in the year who had placed duct tape over the hole and then painted over it.
The practice manager said that they have spent months calling and emailing NHS Property Services but was left frustrated after not receiving any helpful response.
A spokesman for NHS Property Services said: ‘We are sorry for the delay in resolving these issues and we are committed to putting them right as soon as possible.
‘We are in contact with the practice and are arranging for the necessary work to be carried out in the next two weeks.’
