An out-of-hours GP service has described how they worked extra shifts to cope with the influx of work after the riots last week.
Patient Care 24, which covers Croydon, Sutton and Merton, stayed open late during the chaos on Monday, August 8.
And the next day staff started early and worked extra shifts so that 54 GP surgeries were able to close early on police advice for fear of further violence.
The work was taken on by Patient Care.
It dealt with a 115 per cent rise in calls on Tuesday afternoon.
Elizabeth Rahim, Chief Executive of Patient Care 24, said: “Our priority during the riots was to keep responding to patients’ calls and to ensure that they were still receiving the best possible advice and care.
“Our staff worked tirelessly during this period – coming in on their days off and working long beyond their regular hours. This enabled us to continue providing an out-of-hours service to patients in a calm and efficient manner and support the health service in Croydon, Sutton and Merton”.
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