The team at Penrith’s Ghyllmount Dental Practice have expressed concerns about the heavy traffic in Penrith, particularly on Fridays and how it is affecting the patients and the day-to-day running of their surgeries.
Ghyllmount Dental is located just off the M6 junction 40 roundabout, which means a lot of patients have to travel along the Kemplay roundabout and then on to the junction 40 roundabout to get to the practice. This area is a hotspot for traffic delays and standing traffic, particularly on Fridays and during the school holidays.
Patients have reported that it can take up to 30 minutes to get from Kemplay roundabout to the practice.
The impact of this is that many patients arrive late for their appointments through no fault of their own.
Practice principal John Lewis said “Where possible we try to see patients who arrive late. We know that we can also keep patients waiting sometimes, so we try to see things from all points of view.
“However, by seeing patients who arrive late, that then impacts on the whole day and affects other patients who arrive on time, who are in turn kept waiting by us.
“The Friday traffic situation can mean chaos for our appointment books leading to a very stressful day all round. Patients arrive stressed and anxious because they have been stuck in the traffic, often just a very short distance away from the practice.
“As a result the surgeries’ are not able to run to time which puts the dentist and nurses under pressure. Fridays are becoming a bit of a ‘free for all’ with patients arriving 30-40 minutes late.
“The reception team have a difficult time trying to keep up and juggle who it is still possible to see. For people with long appointments it may be necessary to rearrange those, which of course is not well received by the patient.”
John is appealing to patients of Ghyllmount that they allow plenty of additional time when setting off for their appointments.
He said: “Where possible we will try to see patients, but there may be times where people are sent away if the disruption to the practice and other patients becomes too much.”
