(This is an email that I sent to Cwm Taf health board regarding the actions of its chief executive, Allison Williams. )
Email of 3 May 2014
The purpose of this email is to highlight how Allison Williams, the chief executive of Cwm Taf health board, has dishonestly and cynically sought to involve my GP in my dispute with the health board, seeking to use my GP to deter me from pursuing my complaints, and how in doing so she has violated the trust and confidence of the patient-doctor relationship.
I am copying this email widely and publishing it on my web site as I am determined that the dishonesty and cynicism of Allison Williams should not go unremarked.
I approached the health board as I sought help with a long-standing health condition which has seen me hospitalised on many occasions.
The response of Allison Williams has led to a dispute with the health board.
My GP is not part of the dispute.
I have been very happy with my GP practice and the care and attention that I have received.
I have stated, on several occasions, that “I am impressed with the hard work and support provided by my GP practice. The doctors there are wonderful. ”
I believe that a patient’s relationship with his GP is sacrosanct. It is a relationship characterised by trust, privacy, and confidence.
Allison Williams made the decision to use my GP as a surrogate for the health board, seeking to use her in the dispute despite the fact that my GP was not part of the dispute, was not complained about, was in fact praised.
Confidence and trust are essential in the doctor-patient relationship. Allison Williams has made it a doctor-health board-patient relationship.
I cannot tolerate the health board intervening in my relationship with my GP. It destroys the trust that I had, and the confidence I felt. I cannot be certain that my GP will be speaking to me honestly, willing to address what I have to say, or if she will be giving more weight to the health board, the unseen presence in the room.
Allison Williams’s intervention breaches the sanctity of my relationship with my GP to a point where I must withdraw from the practice as I cannot be confident that my GP’s decision-making will not be affected by the health board.
My de-registration letter is attached.
Clearly, this applies to any practice in the area.
I will not, therefore, seek a new registration.
I condemn Allison Williams for her cynicism and dishonesty in seeking to involve my GP in this dispute. She has interposed the health board between my doctor and myself. She has done so in order to deter me from continuing the dispute.
Do I not have the right to pursue a dispute with the health board without my GP being told?
Do I not have the right to see my GP at a time of my choosing, on a matter that I care to discuss?
Do I not have the right to expect that my relationship with my GP is off-limits to an irate chief executive?
The answer, according to an irate and dishonest Allison Williams, is no, you have no such right, no such expectation.
I make a formal complaint against Allison Williams, chief executive, Cwm Taf health board, for her decision to involve my GP in my dispute with the health board. She had no business to involve herself as it is my choice when I see my GP and what I discuss with my GP. I choose the what, the when and the why of my contact with my GP, not Allison Williams.
I submit that Allison Williams sought to use my GP to deter me from making complaints, hiding this intent under the language of reassurance.
I point out that it not Allison Williams’s business when I see my GP, why I see my GP, or what I discuss with my GP.
Those are matters between my GP and myself.
That is the heart of my relationship with my GP.
Allison Williams’s actions in interfering in my relationship with my GP are self-serving, dishonest, and cynical.
She has not only failed to deter from pursuing my requests for information but has damaged my confidence in seeing any GP in the area as I cannot trust her not to do the same thing in response to my continuing dispute with the health board.
I would like an investigation into Allison Williams’s actions in involving my GP in my dispute with the health board. Is she simply allowed to do as she likes? Or are there factors that she ought to have considered? Do I not have a right to consider my contact with the health board private? Or at least separate from my relationship with my GP
I will pursue this matter and my right to information about my care.
Yours faithfully,
David H Jones
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