A PATIENT has been left furious after discovering she was on an “at risk of dementia” register after a surgery mix-up.

Stephanie Botfield, 63, of Clacton, had booked an appointment at Ranworth Surgery, in the town’s Pier Avenue, on Thursday after her bowel condition, diverticular disease, flared up.

When she arrived at the surgery, she was told her appointment was not on the system, despite having received text alerts confirming the date.

After arranging a new appointment for this week, she asked the receptionist to print out the confirmation.

The printout she was given then said she was on the at risk of dementia register, despite it having never been mentioned to her before. Ms Botfield, who had a previous job as a government draughtsman working on technical planning drawings, was furious she had been put on the list.

She said: “I am absolutely devastated and I think I was crying for three or four hours afterwards.

“This was the first time I have ever had any indication of being on the register. I have no symptoms and there is no history of dementia on either side of my family."

Ms Botfield said she was now second-guessing whether she had the illness since finding out she was on the list.

Andrew Sarek, practice manager at Ranworth Surgery, said: “May I firstly apologise to this patient.

“A mistake somewhere led us to giving her the wrong form. I am also grateful to her for bringing it to our attention, as we can now work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Mr Sarek added: “I believe this form is one that reflects the vital work our doctors do in looking at a range of ‘risk factors’, which mean someone could be, now or in future, at risk of developing this condition.

“Once we know that, our doctors can ask the patient if they wish to be tested for dementia, and only if they agree do they take part in the tests.

“What I would like to say is that our surgery was already ahead of the national target for diagnosing people with dementia so that they can get treatment and support, even before the latest schemes were brought in.“