Hi, My other half received a PCN from Civil Enforcement Ltd following her picking up a prescription at the local doctor's surgery. She has a letter from the surgery confirming that this was the case on the same date on which the PCN says. My wife decided to inform Civil Enforcement Ltd directly that this was the case, along with the letter, and surprisingly enough these cowboys rejected her appeal. She then informed me of this and I am now trying to sort it out. In their letter to her they said their internal appeals process has been exhausted and if she wishes to continue her appeal she needs to go directly to POPLA. Could you please let me know whether I can write to them again, along the lines of the thread below or whether I will need to go to POPLA? I'm guessing they'll just ignore any further correspondence directly to them. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?464918-PCN-from-quot-Civil-Enforcement If I need to appeal to POPLA could you please advise on what the letter should say? I have attached the PCN (I don't have a scanner at home hence the various pieces of paper covering up details - the letter is identical to the one in the link above). The incident date was 17 May 2016 and the PCN issue date is 15 June 2016. Thanks

Hi there, Not sure who to contact on this matter. I am planning to have an eye procedure that will improve the vision almost perfectly in my left eye, but still some need for glasses when reading because of my right eye. I have worn glasses or corrective lenses for almost 20 years as a driver. Do I need to get my information changed in the licence system once my left eye is healed? Or would I still be under the category for wearing lenses because I will need glasses to read? I found a medical issues number here but was not sure if it is correct. thanks, RM

Sick and elderly have to wait outside in all weather in the cold for up to an hour before a GP surgery opens - just to get an appointment. Patients are said to start queuing at around 7am every day, although the surgery doesn’t open its doors until 8.00am. What if you are elderly and living on your own? You can’t expect them to come and queue. It’s disgusting. There are lots of old people standing in the freezing cold in the middle of winter. The system needs to change. There are queues every morning. The surgery should open up its doors earlier and have a ticket system, whereby the surgery doors open early to let them inside that way Sick and elderly are not waiting in the cold. The weather is only going to get colder and colder, please help me draft up a complaint to the surgery to get them to change their ways.

Hi there, Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Long story short, brain surgery in Feb 2015. Got the all clear April 2016. 100% rehabilitation can take 3>5 years. My doctors advice re exercise keep trying every few months. Had a good relationship with the gym as had been a member for years prior to being ill. 2 x failed attempts (on a month by month contract) Then In July 2016 (2 months after all clear) went in to see about joining again. They had a great joining offer for 12 months contract. I talked at great length with the young girl 'Shona' who assured me if I did need to cancel, wouldn't be a problem. a low exercise regime commenced. Improvement was slow and steady. But tbh I was not happy with the cleanliness of the gym and my headaches started to come back. Admitted defeat in May of this year and cancelled the d/d. In truth I was too embarrassed to go in and cancel the gym yet again. As a result I have been hounded by phonecalls from Arc. I haven't had anything in writing from them but they keep leaving messages on my home phone, mobile and texting me demanding I call them. What should my first move be? Go to the gym, I should Imagine it's out of their hands now. Would be interested to hear your thoughts. Many thanks Chrissie k

Hi all. A long story cut short - over the last few years I have never enjoyed picking up medication from our local Doctors surgery, which is a small branch of a bigger surgery, because of the awful service that you have to put up with - very slow service, pills almost always being mislaid or sometimes not being able to be found with a request to 'come back later'. I finally had enough last September when a I was waiting for over ten minutes for an employee to find my pills when I was in a rush as I had a busy day ahead of me, I phoned the main surgery to question why this was always happening and spoke to someone (let's call her 'J') in the position to deal with complaints. She advised that to make 'the board' aware of any issues, she needs to receive the complaint in writing. I explained that I was recovering from concussion and that my concentration levels were quite poor and asked her to pass on my concerns to them. She said again how if I was serious then she would need it in writing. I asked what would happen if she didn't receive it and she said that she would deal with it informally and I got the distinct impression that she was trying very hard to persuade me not to put it in writing and that she wouldn't deal with it. This did the trick and I never got around to completing the letter and ever since then I've always thought what an effective filtering system it is because rarely do people actually sit down to write letters these days. Unfortunately, due to the effects of the concussion and other issues, I never did complete the letter of complaint. During December I attempted to make contact with her manager (let's call her 'S') because I felt frustrated that J had effectively stopped my complaint from being passed on and still the local surgery was awful (I was in a line of people who were all saying similar things to "It's always like this"). Getting hold of her manager was extraordinarily difficult with various promises of a call back never materialising. Finally last week I rang the surgery and asked the receptionist to get S to call me back as I would like to complain about how 'J' dealt with my verbal complaint. Finally S left a voice message saying how she had heard that I wanted to speak to both her and 'J', which I found a little odd. Just now, I finally got to speak to 'S' on the phone. She explained that 'J' was listening in to the call. I asked for a meeting next week. S said that next week was not possible but whenever the meeting does take place then J will be present. I stated how I believed that being as part of my complaint was about J then this would make things quite awkward and uncomfortable for myself. S insisted that J would have to be present so that they would both hear what I had to say. S did press me for what my complaint was about and I explained that if she were to look at J's notes (that J promised me she took at the time) then she would know exactly what this was about (at this point I was suspecting that J never did take notes on my complaint and just let the matter slide) Although I persevered with getting a meeting with S in two weeks' time, she again insisted that J be present. My question is, is it the norm when making a complaint about someone that they be there whilst you are making the complaint? If it is, then so be it, but I am curious. *Sorry for the length of this, I guess I didn't cut it short after all.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on some fees I was charged in relation to a cosmetic surgery consultation I had back in 2016. At the time I was considering having some cosmetic surgery, so was looking to arrange a few consultations with different surgeons to make sure I was making the correct choices on procedure and when choosing the actual surgeon. I tried to get in touch with one of the practices in question to enquire about a consultation - firstly on the number listed on the surgeons website and then as I couldn't get through on this line, I contacted the private hospital in London where the said surgeon runs his practice - I got through on this number. When speaking to the person at the private hospital I enquired about waiting times and how much this doctor actually charges for a consultation (I had a limited budget for consultations). I was informed of the available dates and I was explicitly told that there would be no charge for the initial consultation - this is nothing out of the ordinary as many cosmetic surgeons offer a free initial consultation. I went ahead and booked a consultation. I then received the booking confirmation through email, again with no mention of any fees. I attended the consultation with the doctor where everything was OK, a very brief consultation compared with some others but I wasn't too concerned as I thought this was a no charge consultation. Again no mention of any cost or taking any payment before, during or immediately after the consultation (the surgeon just said if I was to go with him, we would need to have a second more in depth consultation before surgery) - It's worth noting that I did attend 2 other consultations which we're chargeable, however this was made explicitly clear at the time of booking, and payment was also taken at the point of booking - otherwise the booking would not be made. To my surprise a couple of days later an invoice drops through the post for £215. I contacted the surgeons practice to discuss this and explain the situation, however his practice manager just said I'd been informed wrongly by the private hospital employee, and even though I'd had confirmation and they acknowledged that I was mis-informed, that it wasn't their issue. Which I obviously didn't agree with. I then had a couple of invoice reminders come through the door I got back in touch again to try and resolve the matter. I was then given the contact details of one of the managers of the private hospital and told to try and sort it out with them. Before I'd had chance to resolve this (this was over Christmas so I wasn't able to get hold of said person) I've had a letter through the door from a debt collection services company requesting the money. Now I know these have no legal power as such, but I'd rather nip this in the bud before it goes any further. Am I correct to believe that any charges need to be made clear before a service is provided? Particularly as I explicitly asked before I made the booking if there was any charge (there is also no mention of fees on the surgeons website). If I'd known this consultation was chargeable I wouldn't have gone ahead as the surgeon in question was not my top or second choice. I don't feel like I should have to pay as a result of being provided the wrong information by the hospital. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for the help.

Bailiffs lock doctors out of Coombswood Surgery in Halesowen Mohammed Waqas, of Evergreen Pharmacist opposite on the Coombs Road surgery, said: "The staff turned up for work but could not get in as the locks had been changed. He added: "We are disappointed that the patient experience has been affected in this way, as are the practice, but we are assured that they are working hard to maintain patient services from their other sites." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-36434956

The dreaded ESA 50 arrived yesterday, so onward for the battle, endless photocopying and reams of explanations. Can someone remind me where to find the "help" guides for filling out the form, for both mental and physical disability as I have both, please? Thanks in advance.

Just shows how ill informed people still are...

Hi all, My colleague offered me a cycle surgery gift card when I left my previous company. While working abroad, I emailed cycle surgery ltd (using the email at back of gift card) to explain that I was traveling for a year. The email bounced back. Now cycle surgery tells me they don't review/extend gift card. why a gift card has an expiry date? it is just a "right to take people money". There is no need for a expiry date. I want to complain or make an action on christmas day. Please I need some advices, Many thanks, Vydei

Hi all. As some of you may know I moved from JSA to ESA a few months back due to anxiety and depression. In addition to this I was also under a consultant who was trying to get to the bottom of a condition I had causing untold infections, fever and generally not feeling well all the time. Well, I had my results after around 6 tests and have been told I need surgery - it is a personal condition so won't go in to much detail but it is a 3-6 hour op under GA plus 5 days in hospital and 2-4 weeks rest with minimal activity. I was hoping to move back to JSA in around 4-6 weeks but this is now not on as I have impending surgery although no date has been set yet. What is the procedure for claiming ESA for hospital surgery and stays in hospital and rest at home? Should I just continue as normal or will I need to contact ESA with the evidence from consultant when I have it? Thanks

Hi all, We have recently lost our bunny. He started having weepy eyes just after Christmas, I took him to one vet who said he probably had an eye infection and prescribed antibiotics. At this point this was fine, after a week on them with no improvement and his eye starting to bulge slightly we took him to a second vet. She said he either had an abscess or a tumour and she would need to do an ultrasound, which she did. Her diagnosis was a retrobulbar abscess and she said the surgery to extract it would be risky and difficult. Based on this statement we sought out the best rabbit vet in the country. We took him up, she said obviously if the previous vet had thought it was an abscess and had run an ultrasound then she would remove it and all should be fine. Mid surgery we find out it is in fact a very large tumour which would be almost inoperable and would severely affect his quality of life. We chose to put him to sleep while he was still under the anaesthetic. If the first vet had correctly diagnosed a tumour we would have bought him home, showered him with love and affection for a week or so and then put him to sleep before it significantly affected his eating. The surgery was totally unnecessary and was not only expensive but ended our little bun's life in a way that we would not have wanted. I am not sure what to do - can you advise?

had gamma ray surgery 3 weeks ago (brain mets) has anyone had this and if so how long before symptoms started getting better. mine are weakness in my arm and leg on the right side,also should come off steroids this week will that help. really frusteated as cant walk far and really boared with being off sick.

My 6 year old daughter needed surgery to correct a squint late last year. We have been monitoring her eye at our local hospital since she was tiny. For various reasons we decided to pay for the operation ourselves. We did this via the NHS Optician but my husband did speak to the consultant on the telephone and he said that if the op didn't work he would rectify it at no further cost to us. The operation was not a success and they overcorrected the squint. We agreed to monitor her eye via NHS appointments to see if it would relax back out. It hasn't and she now needs further treatment - repeating the same op would not be a good idea. I asked for a meeting with the consultant (we never had a post-op appointment) and was asked if I wanted to go privately to do so or wait weeks on the NHS!! He is prepared to refer my daughter elsewhere on the NHS but clearly thinks that is an end to the matter. Are we really expected to shrug our shoulders and walk away when we have spent over £2000 on an operation that has been no benefit to my daughter. Does anyone have any advice .... please