"Seemingly a poorly managed practice"

Very difficult to get hold of, and even more difficult to speak to, or see a doctor.

The new phone system is an absolute joke. Regularly left in the waiting loop for over an hour when trying to call through - found out today that seemingly some calls don't even get presented to the reception team.

They can be quick to publish how many people didn't turn up for appointments, but to be honest, they may have tried for days to call through and cancel the appointment but could never get through. Not everyone has access to, or the capabilities to manage their appointments online.

Lots of sympathy for the receptionists although some of them can aggravate an already tense situation with their tone. I get they are probably equally as frustrated, but it can sometimes be unprofessional.

There seems to be an issue retaining or recruiting GPs as they seem to change them regularly or are relying on locums.

I don't accept the explanation that there is a shortage nationwide as my in-laws based in Crowthorne don't have this issue, and neither does my sisters practice in Surrey. I guess the GPs that are good will want to associate themselves with the decent practices.

We enquired about moving to another practice but apparently we can only register with a practice in our area and there is only 1 practice in our area so we are stuck with them.

Unfortunately we have to rely on 111 and in more serious situations, a&e at the awesome Frimley Park Hospital.

Locals are generally very critical - it used to be an excellent practice, but has gone massively down hill over the last 2.5 years. Lots of blame on COVID, but it was on a downward spiral before then whilst other practices are coping pretty well.

A complaint to CQC doesn't appear to have had any effect either.

I hope they can get their act together, but I've not seen any progress over the last 18 months, so I am not hopeful.