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Pretty fed up

Story from nhs.uk

"Pretty fed up"

About: Thornbrook Surgery

Getting an appointment with a doctor - haven't seen one for the past 4 years.

Always syphoned off to a nurse practitioner who, in fairness, is usually brilliant.

But 2 years ago, my details 'disappeared' - I hadn't seen anybody for so long they thought I'd moved - or the computer did.

I did try to explain that it wasn't for the want of trying to see someone but as my needs were minor - throat infections and the like - I had usually improved by the time I could see anyone.

When I DID see a nurse practitioner, antibiotics were usually prescribed, so actually I DID need to see someone.

Now I have tried to use the on-line appointment system (realising it would be a three week wait for an appointment, but I just wanted something checked out - not an emergency) and the website procalimed 'WE NOW HAVE PATIENT ACCESS' - which I can't because it doesn't recognise my details.

So having contacted surgery, the receptionist tells me that they need to send me an email to verify my email address which she will do when she has a quiet moment because it takes a while.

I HAVE received an email - saying my account is locked and to go to the surgery to verify who I am.

Stress levels through the roof - oh and don't ask to have blood pressure taken (which I was advised to do by the local cottage hospital in February when I attended with a damaged knee after a fall).

There is a machine in reception so that you can do it yourself!

Tricky (but then I am nearly 60 so technology and I do not mix).

I took it three times as requested by the receptionist - with varying results and took the printouts to her.

She told me the nurse would contact me.

mmmm - 6 months later - nothing.

Will try another practice I think.

It's not as if I'm high maintenance.

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Responses

Response from Thornbrook Surgery 5 years ago
Thornbrook Surgery

Submitted on 14/08/2018 at 13:50
Published on nhs.uk at 14:07

Hello

I am sorry that you feel this way and I would urge you to contact the surgery direct to raise any areas of concern, then we can help you resolve them and support your care.

As with all the comments made on this site, we do ask that you discuss with us first so we can help.

In regard to your points raised:

No patient is syphoned off to another clinician, they are simply placed with the person best qualified to deal with them.

You confirmed that the nurse practitioner was ‘brilliant’ with you.

Patients details remain on the system and are not moved/deleted if they do not attend the surgery for a while.

I’m not aware of the circumstances that you mention with your records ‘disappearing’ and I would be grateful if you could contact me so we could look into this.

The on-line system, ‘patient access’, is the system used by the NHS for all practices and I’m sorry that you have been told the wrong information.

You can verify over the phone.

It is a complex system and I will go through this again with all staff today.

With regard to appointments, the national average wait for a GP appointment is 2 weeks.

We will be trialling a new system to start mid-November called ‘askmygp’ (used in a hundred other practices) to deal with GP and Nurse Practitioner appointments on the day.

The NHS is experiencing unprecedented demand with limited resources and we do need your understanding and support.

I would appreciate if you could contact me direct, so we can resolve the issues.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Kind regards

Alistair

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