An example of out-of-hours healthcare in operation

Published: 2 September, 2010

• COUNCILLOR Paul Braithwaite suggests Camidoc should have been awarded the contract for Camden and says privatisation is bad (Letters, August 26).

I disagree. Camidoc has been held up by many as a shining example of how out-of-hours healthcare should be run.

Some years ago our doctor, who was in Camden, decided to not see NHS patients any more, only private.

We were given a list of doctors we could sign on with and went to a surgery in Westminster (a short distance from where we live).

In July last year a member of my family had an extremely large swelling on their face and our doctor came out in an emergency and gave them strong antibiotics and painkillers.

At 9.30pm their face burst and the foulest smelling puss poured from the wound.

This would be coming out of their face for three hours.

We called our doctor’s emergency number and received a call from Westminster’s out-of-hours service.

When they found out we lived in Camden, they contacted Camidoc and they gave the correct street name, home name and number.

Camidoc’s then chief executive, emailed me and said: “It is my understanding that when we were called by Westminster’s OOHs service the address we were given was incomplete.

This meant that the person who took the call was unable to identify the location and so responded by saying that they did not think this was covered by any of the Camden District Nursing Teams.”

But the Health Service Ombudsman said: “…it appears from the available evidence that Camidoc were not given an incomplete address, as was stated in its response. It seems that a correct street name was given but this was not on the operator’s list…”

In the 21st century not to have infrastructure that identifies a street in Camden that has been here since the mid-1960s causes me much concern.

Camidoc -v- Private? For me it is private all the way.

DAVID GOWERS, NW8