A London GP has told of her fury after her surgery went without heating for nearly a month as temperatures plunged below zero due to a faulty boiler.
Staff at the Shakespeare Health Centre in Hayes, west London, spent weeks working at the practice without proper heating in November.
The situation caused some GPs to fall ill and patients with respiratory conditions and newborn babies were examined in cold temperatures.
The building is managed by NHS Property Services (NHSPS), a company run by the Department of Health and Social Care that manages 2,700 NHS properties across England.
Dr Priyanka Aggarwal, a GP partner at the practice, told the Standard that the heating situation had been a “recurring issue” since staff moved into the building around eight years ago.
“We have no control over the situation and we are not able to go near the power plant in the basement as we don’t own the building,” she said.
“It was so cold that staff were wearing coats all day to stay warm. It just isn’t right.”
The situation was reversed over the summer when the heating would not switch off, Dr Aggarwal said, meaning that doctors were working in sweltering temperatures.
“We had staff who were getting headaches and calling in sick or asking to work from home as it was too hot,” she added.
As the practice does not manage the building, it has to rely on workers employed by NHSPS to switch the boiler on and off.
For much of November, the heating was switched off despite temperatures falling as low as -1C. The surgery has recently been given small oil heaters, but Dr Aggarwal said these can take hours to heat a room.
“It was absolutely freezing here. For people with coughs and colds, the last thing you want to do is come into a practice that is so cold.
“This isn’t safe for patients or staff. My hands would often get stiff at the end of the day because I was so cold. It really affects your concentration, it’s very difficult to carry on and work properly.”
Dr Aggarwal claimed that NHSPS would not permanently replace the boiler and that she had had to repeatedly chase the organisation to send workers to fix it.
A spokesperson for NHS Property Services said: “The premises on Elers Road was provided by NHSPS to Shakespeare Medical Practice a number of years ago, as an emergency measure, after eviction from their previous location which was not owned or managed by ourselves. This enabled the practice to relocate and continue providing services for patients with a view to finding alternative premises.
"There is currently no formal lease agreement in place between ourselves and the practice, however to ensure patients can continue to access services we have committed to fixing the heating issues in the building, and this work is due to complete imminently.
"We are currently involved in ongoing discussions with the practice and are keen to help them resolve their long-term estates challenges and provide the local community with a permanent, suitable location to access primary care."
A spokesperson for NHS North West London said: “GP practices are responsible for ensuring their premises are fit for purpose and for raising any issues with their landlord, (in this case, NHS Property Services).
“The ICB is very concerned if patients or practice staff have experienced poor conditions, and we are in touch with the practice to see if the ICB can support in resolving these issues.”
Shakespeare Health Centre currently has a list of around 5,000 patients, but GPs at the practice hope to eventually purchase the building to carry out renovations and modernise the estate. The practice is also understood to be in dispute with NHSPS over the payment of a service charge fee.
In June, a survey of GPs by the General Medical Council (GMC) found that 44 per cent found it hard to provide sufficient care “regularly” in 2022 - a rise of 19 per cent on the previous year.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, has also been trying to raise awareness of the issues faced by the practice.
He told the Standard: “This hard working and dynamic medical practice is at the heart of our community and we are all hoping that the current problems can be overcome promptly to enable it to continue to provide its excellent service.”
