"Appointments like gold dust"

Whilst the staff themselves are fine, it is virtually impossible to get an appointment at this surgery. You cannot book appointments in advance or online, despite what their website says. The only way to get an appointment is to phone at 8am and stay on the engaged tone or on hold for an hour or more, frequently only to be told there are no appointments and to try again the next day. This is extremely difficult for anyone who works or has children to get to school.

Ongoing health conditions are not followed up. For example, I was given a six week course of treatment for my anaemia and, when it came to an end, nothing. You have to start over trying to get an appointment each morning and not getting one. I had to virtually beg for a B12 test despite a family history of pernicious anaemia.

In the three and a half years I’ve been registered at the surgery, I’ve never once had a doctor ask me about my depression; they simply keep churning out repeat prescriptions for anti-depressants every month.

There have been a number of other issues which I suppose could happen anywhere, but I believe these - the difficulty in getting an appointment and the lack of follow-up on long-term conditions - are systemic problems.