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From great to bad

Story from nhs.uk

"From great to bad"

About: St. Levan Surgery

My family joined this surgery 7-8 years ago and it was fantastic.

By 2017, it has been aweful.

Always waiting on the phone for ages, when i finally get through, we have to wait for a return call from a doctor which can take hours, not to mention the receptionist insisting on knowing your reason for calling so they can forward it to the doctor ..... then the doctor, I mean “unfriendly and rude” doctor phoned back so unhappy that you are wasting their high paid lives and making you feel soooooo stupid, unwelcome, and an annoyance.

I don’t care if they are lacking staff or whatever excuse they can throw at you but they should know how to treat a patient.

What if a patient is suffering from mental health issues and the last resort was to hear a friendly voice from a doctor and this is what they get?

Absolutely disappointing.

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Responses

Response from St. Levan Surgery 6 years ago
St. Levan Surgery

Submitted on 27/02/2018 at 13:16
Published on nhs.uk on 28/02/2018 at 02:43

Thank you for your feedback - I am sorry to hear that you feel that the surgery no longer offers the standard of care you have come to expect.

If you would like to contact me direct I would be happy to discuss the issues you have - without specific information it is very heard to reflect and make appropriate changes.

Our appointment system does require the receptionist to get an overview of the issues you wish to discuss as this allows them to ensure that you are directed to the most appropriate clinician.

This is not dissimilar to needing to give information if you rang 999 or indeed if you rang Devon Doctors our out of hours service, all such staff are trained to obtain this information.

This has been in place since 2008 before you say you joined the surgery.

We fully understand that the length of time you may need to wait for the GP to call you back has increased over recent times - you will be aware that many surgeries in Plymouth and specifically in this area have closed and as a result our list size has grown as we have taken on more patients.

I am sure no one would want to think of people being without a GP?

Unfortunately there is a shortage of GPs in the country (contributing to the number of closures) therefore we along with many practices are providing care to more patients with the same number of GPs.

However we do feel that this appointment system, where you will as a minimum get to speak to a GP the same day you make contact with the surgery compares favourably with waiting, in some cases, weeks for your appointment.

We do not regard any patients as "stupid, unwelcome, and an annoyance" and I am very sorry you feel that is how we came across.

Without further information I cannot address this specific issue but I am more that happy to discuss it should you wish to contact me - Liz Brimacombe, Managing Partner.

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