"An inaccessible Practice "

Whilst aware that the NHS is experiencing great pressure at the moment and that the number of patients to doctors has risen sharply, I still remain saddened by my recent contacts with the Valens Medical Group.

Once you are able to access the surgery, generally the level of care is good; however for many the system of booking an appointment/ speaking to a nurse or doctor remains challenging.

On several occasions I have been kept for up to an hr on call. Repeated automated voice messages remind you of other ways of accessing support, with the subtext being “not to bother the surgery”. There are no longer even any apologetic responses to the lengthy waiting times and once ( after a lengthy call I was cut off without warning).

The online access is not always accessible and assumes that everyone is a) computer literate and b) has access to WiFi.

I feel that the “call centre” approach to patient care is both discriminatory and dangerous as the system becomes inaccessible for more vulnerable patients ( those with mental health issues, SEN, dementia or no close family support) - also we do not all work from home or part time! and this seems to be forgotten. In many jobs, phones must be switched off during working hrs or a phone signal ( if travelling) maybe impossible, leaving me at a loss to understand how exactly you are able to hear from a doctor.

For children, there appears to be a two tier service with care being passed onto the Nurse Practitioner, whilst my experience of this has been good, there is no explanation for this. This is yet another example of poor communication, which ultimately helps to erode patient confidence.

We are reminded not to overload the NHS and to be considerate with our use of both GPS and A and E. The first is easy - I now actively avoid trying to phone the surgery due to the impracticalities of getting through. However this surely has a knock on effect eventually on the NHS, if my experiences are echoed across the country?

Ultimately it is the most vulnerable whom I worry the most about.Valens Medical Group and their staff are under pressure no doubt, but so are people like carers/ family members trying to balance care needs and work and staff worried about having to ask for a break to hear back from the doctor.

It would be helpful if one of the Valens’ staff actually experienced trying to access the service and not on a “day off” but during an ordinary working day with the associated time pressures, work phone policies and privacy issues.

This used to be a fantastic practice with a caring, family ethos. What has happened?