"Upsetting and frustrating "

I have phoned this practice 7 times in the past three weeks and the quickest the phone has been answered was 29 minutes. Once I waited 54 minutes. On two occasions I gave up.

You don’t get test results reviewed by your own GP, it seems to be a lottery who looks at them… doctors who haven’t met you…and decides what happens next. My treatment has suffered because of this.

If you do need to see a GP you have to go into surgery to book an appointment as phone goes unanswered. Receptionists then make a judgement on when they think you should see a GP….that can be up to a month away if in their opinion your issue is not a serious one. This invariably means the patient having to explain more than they wish to in an open reception area.

This attempt to signpost patients to the most appropriate healthcare worker is clumsy and misplaced. Whilst the surgery may think it benefits them and cuts the amount of patients seeing actual GP’s (in favour of being diverted to nurse practitioners or the like) it is not the role of receptionists to make this decision.

Patients do know when and why they need to see a GP, if they are in any doubt they know to approach a receptionist for guidance. They shouldn’t have to fight and justify in public, describing private and intimate details which seems to be happening more and more in this practice.

It all feels very strange here- as though the consideration for the patient as an individual has been sidelined in the interests of getting as much done in as little time as possible regardless of whether or not it suits the needs of the patient.