When We Choose Not to Treat: A Note on Clinical Integrity
Like many businesses in healthcare, we sometimes receive feedback that is difficult to read — not because it challenges us, but because it doesn’t reflect the care and intention with which our team works every day.
Recently, a negative review was shared online that has been mentioned by both current and prospective patients. While we always value constructive feedback and use it to review our processes, I wanted to take a moment — from my perspective as a non-clinical Director — to clarify how we work, and the values that guide our decisions when it comes to patient care.
Care Begins with Clinical Judgment
When patients book an initial appointment with us, they are sent our terms and conditions in advance, which clearly state that treatment will be offered where medically appropriate. In many cases, treatment can begin right away. But there are times — for example, when the nature of a complaint is complex or urgent — when our practitioners may decide not to proceed immediately.
This is not because we don’t want to help. Quite the opposite: our priority is safe, ethical care, and that sometimes means referring a patient to urgent care, requesting further imaging, or reviewing bloodwork before we begin. In these cases, we usually offer a follow-up appointment or treatment free of charge at a later date. Our team also routinely follows up with patients to ensure their care is progressing, even when treatment hasn’t started with us.
A Thoughtful, Evidence-Based Approach
Our clinical team works hard to ensure that treatment plans are appropriate, evidence-based, and cost-effective. Many symptoms — joint pain, for example — can have more than one cause, and part of our role is to determine which course of action is most beneficial.
To illustrate: a patient in their 50s presenting with new joint pain may require manual therapy — but they might also be experiencing symptoms of a Vitamin D deficiency, which is treatable with a simple test and a cost-effective supplement. Ruling out these possibilities helps us avoid unnecessary interventions, costs, and delays in recovery.
Time and Compassion
One practical reality of running a busy clinic is that appointments don’t always run to time. This is not because we don’t value punctuality — but because we value patients. People don’t arrive with symptoms that fit neatly into 20-minute slots. They arrive with stories, concerns, histories, and questions. And when that takes longer than expected, our team often runs late not because we’re disorganised, but because we won’t short-change the next patient either.
Our practitioners routinely give up their own breaks or stay late to make sure everyone gets the time they deserve. I see this commitment every day, and it’s one of the many reasons I’m proud of the team.
A Final Word
It’s always disappointing when a review suggests we lack compassion, because the reality I see is the opposite. We welcome questions, concerns, and conversations. But when a review includes inaccurate information, it can unfairly affect the trust we’ve worked so hard to build — not just with our patients, but within our profession.
I hope this gives you some insight into how we operate, and why we sometimes make the clinical decisions we do. Thank you for continuing to place your trust in us. We don’t take it for granted.
Patrick Campbell
Director
Kube Medical
