"Loddon Vale Practice: Deterioration in overall service very significant"

Where do I begin!

Deterioration in overall service very significant over past 12 months.

Having just had a heart pacemaker fitted and, as requested by my consultant, I had to make an appointment to see my usual doctor and find waiting time more than 5 weeks.

I requested a phone call from him during my call at the surgery in to be told that the earliest I can have a phone call from him would be the next Monday.

The receptionist is not to blame but her attitude was "this is the system " and one feels totally frustrated.

Some doctors, including my doctor, have opted to carry out minor ops which I feel limits available appointment times. I ask is it more important to have facilities at Loddon Vale to remove warts etc than to see to the day to day patients? I think to myself this is being done as it is probably more profitable for the doctors but does little to help the congestion on the booking system.

I am deeply unhappy about the way things seem to be deteriorating to me and can only hope that patient feedback such as this might be taken seriously and acted upon.

Ending on a positive note I have to say that in no way do I blame my doctor for the situation upon which I am commenting. They have given me excellent service for the past 2 or more years and I do really hope that we can maintain that continuity. Such continuity is so very important to avoid all the humbug and time wasting in going over history and details to yet another doctor which incidentally I had to do on my very last visit. This doctor handled it very professionally but in the event I was then let down by the Choose and Book System and had to opt for private consultation and treatment for what turned out to be an urgent situation.