"It Just goes from bad to worse "

Ive been at Grove Road for probably over 30 years now . I constantly ask myself why . As someone who is fortunate enough to not need to use the doctor frequently I suppose the continued bad experiences aren't fresh enough in my mind , until the time comes i need something again and remember what its like to be unwell and also be a Grove Road patient.

I want to add some balance , when you are there the doctors are very courteous and professional , the team on the front desk are the same . The challenge comes with actually getting there in the first place.

If you are not number 456 in the queue the phone lines say they are at capacity and quite abruptly cut you off . If you are unable to sit and keep hitting redial at 8am in the morning you stand no chance of getting an appointment . As someone who has to get to work in the morning , and get a child to nursery its peak time for 'activity' and actually feels extremely inaccessible as a patient.

I was overjoyed to see the online booking form , genuinely it felt like a stride forward in the ' booking an appointment at Grove Road Trauma ' . Alas it was not to be and now is for selected issues only.

Having had a baby in the last 18 months and visiting my midwife there regularly - I didn't find any issue with getting an appointment , you have an appointment pop round to reception and make your next one . So I can see if you need regular care for something the system may not be so broken . BUT all long standing illness's, chronic illness, illness's that can be easily treated if caught early start somewhere - for patients that aren't already in the 'system' - Grove Road really doesn't make it accessible to use the service.

Final thought , please do not respond to this review by saying ' thanks for your feedback call me at the surgery on .....'

I have left my name in this , my friends and family review and on my facebook post'. If you truly care about patient feedback - perhaps you can call me rather than invite me publicly to call the phone line you rarely answer.