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Unhelpful admin and receptionists

Posted By Wswk

"Unhelpful admin and receptionists"

About: Ancoats Urban Village Medical Practice

(as a service user),

I’m disappointed with my recent experiences contacting UVMP. 

Some receptionists and admin team members were rude on the phone. I understand the high demand for appointments, but both times I called recently, I was told the surgery was fully booked and to call back the next day.

To my knowledge, under the new NHS contract, GP staff are required to allow patients to book consultations in advance or refer them to alternative services, such as pharmacists, instead of telling them to call back tomorrow. When I politely asked to book in an appointment for the next day, the staff only repeated that I should call back tomorrow, without offering an alternative options.

Another expedience was a phone consultation appointment earlier. Consultant didn’t know that prescriptions could be sent to Spine, allowing patients to collect medications from any pharmacy. Instead, they insisted I need to choose a specific pharmacy for collection.

Consultant also didn’t know the surgery’s email address even though I was asked to send something to them by email.  When I asked the receptionist in person, it was said consultant can’t send text messages to patients. 

This practice was very good in the past, even the trainee who worked in the surgery last year was very good. However, it seems that the practice is getting worse now. 

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Responses

Response from Kay Keane, Practice Manager, Ancoats Urban Village Medical Practice 2 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Kay Keane
Practice Manager,
Ancoats Urban Village Medical Practice

Submitted on 05/10/2025 at 20:55
Published on Care Opinion on 06/10/2025 at 06:59

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your recent experiences with Urban Village Medical Practice. I’m genuinely sorry to hear that you were left disappointed after contacting us.

We expect all of our team members to be courteous and helpful, so I’m concerned to hear that some of your interactions felt rude or dismissive. I’ll make sure your comments are shared with the Reception and Administration Team Leads so this can be reviewed and discussed in team training.

Regarding the difficulties booking an appointment — you’re quite right that the new NHS GP contract encourages practices to help patients access the right service, rather than simply advising them to call back. We are currently updating our systems and staff training to reflect these new requirements. Our receptionists should be offering available options such as community pharmacy consultations, online requests, or advance booking for future dates when appropriate. I’m sorry that this didn’t happen on this occasion.

You also mentioned your phone consultation and some confusion around prescriptions and communication. I’ll share this feedback with the clinician involved so we can ensure everyone is confident using the NHS Spine to send prescriptions and aware of our practice communication options.

We’re proud of the service we offer and appreciate your honesty in telling us where things haven’t met that standard. Please be assured that your feedback will be used constructively as part of our ongoing training and service review.

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