A SURGERY manager has reassured patients her team remain as committed as ever and are doing all they can to cope with the added pressures of the pandemic.

The North Clacton Medical Group, like doctors’ practices across the country, is currently operating on limited capacity due to social distancing restrictions.

As a result, patients can no longer visit the practice to book appointments and must instead do so over the phone, which has made it slightly harder to secure a slot.

This has left some patients frustrated, while others have opted to direct abusive language towards surgery staff resulting in some employees unable to continue.

Georgia Kenyon-Waters, practice manager, is now asking patients to understand just how hard her team are working to care for them and protect them.

She said: “We really know how hard this is for patients trying to get through over the phone, but some comments have not been nice and knocked staff morale.

“It is hurtful, but we are trying to be positive and we, like all surgeries, are really trying our best and trying really hard to care for our patients.

“We know how frustrating this all is, and we are not being awkward, but we have to follow the guidelines set out by the Government to keep people safe.

“We do not want to upset anyone, and we don’t want the relationship between us and our patients to break down, so we hope the majority sees how much we care.”

In a further bid to lift the spirits of both patients and staff members during an unprecedented period, the surgery has worked to turn a negative into a positive.

Shortly after coronavirus hit, bosses used the first lockdown as an opportunity to completely modernise and renovate the practice, as well as purchase a company car.

One of the meeting rooms has been converted into a gym, providing employees with a calm space in which to unwind mentally and a disabled toilet has also been installed.

Georgia added: “We are still working on it, but we wanted to update it for patients and our staff members, so we got builders in to totally revamp the surgery.

“It was not cheap, but you can’t put a price on health and there is no worse feeling when you feel ill than going into a dreary doctors’ surgery.

“When you come in you want to feel same and this surgery is now mentally really nice to look at and we hope it keeps morale up.”

Dr Aziz Chaudry, owner of the award-winning North Clacton Medical Group, has now praised staff for the commitment they have shown since the start of the pandemic.

He said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to all the employees for their dedication and teamwork, and the support they have given to all their patients.”