"Awful, especially with babies "

Really disappointed by this practice. It was always a nightmare to get through on the phone and appointments took weeks to obtain. But then corona struck and the practice seemed to see a great opportunity to shut up shop totally. Doors literally slammed shut.

1) phoning up - once you’ve sat through three minutes of announcements explaining what coronavirus is (yes, I’ve heard of it, thank you) you join a queue that typically takes 15-25 minutes to get through.

2) if you manage to get a human the only thing they’re able to tell you is that you just fill in a form online to be triaged. Even when I explain that I’m calling for a 2 year old who is in a lot of pain they are unmoved. Anything remotely time sensitive and they’ll fob you off to A&E or tell you to call the “out of hours” provider instead (even though it’s the middle of a working day).

3) they often haven’t responded to my online forms at all, and if they do it still takes 2 days for them even to consider if you’re worthy of a phone appointment.

4) I’ve been really surprised at the doctors willingness to write prescriptions without seeing patients. Prescribing for suspected ear infections without seeing a 2 year old in person? So risky. Could easily have been something much worse than an ear infection. And it was only when I suggested I bring my son in, as we live just two streets over, that the doctor agreed to see him. Why not ask to see him??

Bottom line is - yes corona has caused huge problems in the NHS but this practice uses corona as an excuse. When I explain to friends who have small children about the service we get at Crawley road medical centre they are shocked. Other practices are coping far far better.

Crawley road medical centre has not been uniquely or disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. So why is it still so difficult to access essential healthcare, compared to other NHS GP practices?

This place needs an overhaul, ideally a new practice manager who will do a drains up review of all their processes and patient journeys.

AVOID. Especially if you have small children who can’t wait days when they are in pain.