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Care Opinion

I had to queue in the freezing cold to get an appointment

Posted By Hyland

"I had to queue in the freezing cold to get an appointment"

About: Elsdale Street Surgery

(as the patient),

I had to queue in the freezing cold every morning for over a week just to see a doctor. I have no problem with the treatment I got when I actually got to see a doctor, but the appointment system needs to change. Not right to expect sick patients to queue in the freezing cold just to be told there’s no appointments or it’s emergency only.

There must be a better way. I think more doctors and seven days a week is needed. I feel that this needs to be addressed urgently. More doctors and more money for the NHS.

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Responses

Response from Paulette Williams, Care Coordinator, Elsdale Street Surgery 4 years ago
Paulette Williams
Care Coordinator,
Elsdale Street Surgery

Submitted on 31/01/2020 at 15:04
Published on Care Opinion at 17:29

Dear Patient

I sincerely apologise that you felt the need to queue outside our practice to book a GP appointment. It would be very helpful if we could be informed as to the period in which you came to the surgery, hopefully it will enable us to look into your experience further. There was one week recently where we experienced a severe shortage of doctors for a variety of reasons including illness. We acknowledge that it can be quite frustrating for patients waiting on the phone or to queue up for a GP appointment, however we do have systems in place to ensure patients whom are in need of urgent medical attention are seen when they need to be.

For those patients whom require a routine appointment there is the option of booking appointments online, by telephone, in person or e-consult which is an online pathway for patients to contact the surgery with non urgent medical queries.

We have employed another GP whom is due to start in February, hopefully this will help with the demands to the service and patient experience.

If you wish to discuss your experience further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

kind Regards

Paulette Williams

Patient Liaison Manager

Telephone Number 020 8525 2980

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