WHEN Crediton’s two Doctors’ Surgeries merged the two Friends’ committees met and started to work happily together.

Their main aim, of course, is to raise funds to aid the Doctors to give better support to the patients.

On June 15 at Redlands Surgery the first annual meeting was held and the provisional committee was  unanimously elected.

The Chairman, Sheila Job, gave a short report on how the merger had gone, re-affirming the aims of the League of Friends.

The Secretary, Pat Beetlestone, reported that there was continuing interest and support when raising funds for the League.

Mike Davies reported as Treasurer that the funds which were now combined, were very healthy indeed, even after having paid towards the new beds and other items for the Surgery.

There were three representatives of the Surgery present - Dr Claire Griffiths, Richard Ward (Practice Manager) and Karen Hoskins (Office Manager). The meeting was very well attended and points were raised with the surgery reps.

l. The length and difficulty of obtaining  an appointment. This point was taken seriously, and matters are in-hand to remedy the situation. When the rushed merger was enforced by the NHS, there were all sorts of problems.

It has now turned out that the appointment system is unsatisfactory and the problem will be solved given a little time. We were informed that the Surgery now has 17,000 patients and obviously changes were needed.

2. The other point was the very clinical atmosphere of the surgery, which did nothing to calm nervous people’s nerves. This is also in-hand, but the structure of the building rather limits what can be done. Since the annual meeting, suggestions have come forward and are going to be  progressed.

Those present were shown round the surgery on a guided tour which enabled all of us to see what  a wonderful surgery we now have. The staff confirmed they were happy now that many of the problems have been ironed out.

The League of Friends needs your support to help provide finance towards the extras to help the Doctors improve patients’ concerns.

To this end there is to be a coffee morning at the Crediton Football Club on Lords Meadow Industrial Estate on Saturday, July 9, from 10am to 12 noon with a cake stall, bric-a-brac stall and a raffle, to further future projects we can embark upon.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Paddy Dornom