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Poor urgent appointment access

Story from nhs.uk

"Poor urgent appointment access"

About: Wombwell Medical Centre Practice

I have found it incredibly difficult to get an appointment at the surgery recently when my son and I have both been acutely unwell. I have been very unwell with an exacerbation of a pre-existing condition - I have telephoned several times now in a desperate attempt to be seen but I am repeatedly told there is nothing. Do you not have a duty to see acutely unwell patients during your core opening hours? My son has been unwell for over a week now and I am in the same position no appointments - I find this astonishing especially when small children are concerned. Something needs to be done about the access at this practice. At the very least the reception staff should be signposting patients to places where they can receive urgent care.

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Responses

Response from Wombwell Medical Centre Practice 8 years ago
Wombwell Medical Centre Practice

Submitted on 04/04/2017 at 21:35
Published on nhs.uk on 01/08/2018 at 17:14

We are sorry to hear of your disappointment when trying to book an appointment.

We do have numerous appointments that are released from 8am and again from 1.30pm, these appointments are taken on a first come basis.

We do have policy in place that children that are acutely unwell are offered a same day appointment but this does need re-iterating when speaking to a receptionist.

There are different ways of how to make appointments, 1. Using the automated telephone system, 2. speaking to a Reception, either on the phone or at reception desk, 3. Online appointments, these appointments online are becoming more popular with all of the practice population, if you wish to register for online then please pop along to surgery with a photo ID and this can be done.

Registering for online will also give you the option to order repeat medication, see your allergies and adverse reactions and certain parts of your medical record.

We are continuing to review the appointment system on a monthly basis to try new ways of working to try and make more appointments available for patients.

Thank you for providing the feedback that you have. We do hold a Patient Reference Group once a month at the surgery and you are welcome to attend, please contact a member of the admin team at the surgery for further details.

If you would like to discuss this further then please do not hesitate to contact the practice manager.

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