"They’ve forgotten who they’re there for."

It’s worth saying from the start - I take no pleasure in criticising anyone in the NHS during such a difficult time. These comments are the result of years of observation and growing concern that predate the Covid crisis by at least thirteen years. I hope they add to the information available to people searching for a good GP surgery in the area. They are out there. We’ve now found one.

It’s pretty difficult to summarise the years of decreasing care we’ve observed from this surgery into a neat review box format. My mum is a stoic, independent and polite lady, now in her nineties. She belongs to a generation that trusts what the doctor says and rarely questions anything. She has borne a couple of long-standing health conditions with strength and patience. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, my sisters and I have grown increasingly frustrated at the lack of proactive care mum has received from Wessex Road. The absurd Byzantine telephone system. The often curt and inefficient reception staff - assuming you have the patience to wait on hold and actually get through to speak to someone. The failures to properly follow through with prescriptions... I could go on. Based on other comments on here, I’m pleased that some people have had good experiences. Thank goodness. In our frustrated experience, Wessex Road Surgery and the Shore Medical group have forgotten to put patients first. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach does not work. The care and attention a ninety year-old requires is not the same as that of someone younger and more Internet and technology savvy.

Over two weeks just to get a telephone consultation from a doctor. There are now so many barriers to actually getting to the clinical staff here, it’s hard to know quite why they bother running a surgery at all.

I would also add that I had a long conversation with the practice manager and it was clear that the systems Shore Medical and WR surgery have in place are not going to change or adapt for anyone any time soon. I would urge you to consider other surgeries outside the Shore Medical group if you possibly can. They appear to put business before patients.

As a postscript - the quickest they’ve contacted mum directly was to cancel her second Covid jab when they realised she’d moved to another practice. Hilarious.