In praise of my GP surgery.

My surgery has been lovely through the pandemic, but they were doing email communication and phone appointments long before last year. They are quite a small surgery and have doubled their list since they opened around 20 years ago but they still give excellent care.

My doctors are also good like that Foxie48 although they would have sent the prescription through electronically to my pharmacy that is open until 10pm!

I have had a bad knee for a few weeks now so I emailed the surgery to see the GP. Within an hour the GP replied and had arranged an urgent XRay at our local hospital, I had the XRay in the afternoon and have an appointment to see him next Friday to discuss. You do have to wait for the hospital to return the results to the GP. I thought that was a very good response.

grannyscott

My local surgery has been brilliant. I call at 8 am & a doctor calls usually by 9 pm. Twice after the phone call they have said come down and see me now. No complaints at all.

I hope you mean 9am ! otherwise I would be getting ready for bed by then.
I too have an excellent surgery which was already practicing triage calls with a doctor before Covid hit.
You cannot call before 8:30 am though but you'll get a call back that morning ( afternoon if you call late morning/early afternoon.
When calling you can wait in line or press a button that holds your place and they will call you back when you are no 2 in the line. At least you can get on with other stuff!
I am completely happy with my surgery too.

My surgery is brilliant as well. They have the AskmyGP system and I have always heard back within an hour of emailing and if need to be seen is same day.

My surgery and especially the practice nurses were excellent for my husband from June 2020 when he needed dressings three times a week, and when he needed care and medical supplies from November to January after a 5 week stay in our local hospital, right up to when he was admitted into hospital again at the end of January.

Unfortunately he caught Hospital Acquired Covid-19 and died on 1st February. Since then I have been sort of disappointed by my GP Surgery. I haven't had an acknowledgement of his death or even a condolence letter. Personally I think the NHS are starting to close ranks again and don't want to risk anyone asking for an enquiry as to how some of the hospitals lost the plot December 2020 to March 2021 in regards to isolation and testing.

You are extremely lucky. At our surgery we haven't had a full-time doctor for almost two years. We have 5 receptionists, a practice manager who is about as useful as a chocolate teapot and a part time nurse who comes in two days a week. Sometimes if we are lucky we get a locum fir a day but they end up being so busy they don't want to come back
The patients never get told anything they have to find out themselves. Don't know what the staff do all day.

Good to hear that some people are getting a good service. Nurse practitioner recently prescribed antibiotics for my husband, unseen, admitting that she didn't know what the condition was. It's ok though, the prescription never arrived at the chemist, as I found out having waited 20 minutes 2 days later.

I have only seen a GP in person during the pandemic on the day I had my flu jab last year. I have had several telephone appointments which were tbf easily and quickly arranged but never an offer to see me in person, including the time last September when my hip OA deteriorated badly. Instead I was offered a telephone physio appt with a 2 week wait. I decided then to pay privately and was able to have, at a local private hospital, a face to face GP appt, referral to a consultant (face to face appointments), actual physio sessions and total hip replacement with all follow up appointments and treatments face to face.
So how do I rate my local GP surgery? Well meaning and pleasant enough but not able to offer any real help or support, other than supplying via my online requests, pain relief medication that previously required a surgery visit for just 28 days supply but is now prescribed to me freely , no consultation required!

watermeadow

Health care here is largely DIY, their guiding principle is “Make them wait long enough and half will be dead before we actually have to see them”
Please send us your postcode so we can all move to where a GP’s surgery still functions.

Ramsbury in Wiltshire - our surgery is exceptional and one of the few in the UK that is "outstanding" ..... sadly the local hospital they have to send us to is absolutely dire!!!

Here’s my two pen’orth in praise of GP surgeries. We’ve just moved and the Practice that we left used the Ask My GP service which I loved as it was so easy to communicate with them without holding on the phone for ever and having to explain things twice over. The new surgery has its own on-line system and, I must say, it’s all good so far. We can communicate with reception, doctors and nurses, order repeat ‘scripts and make and cancel appointments. I love it

Maggs

Hallo all, im new to posting but I’ve loved following Gransnet for some time. Its interesting to see how the NHS is coping, as I have read that 48 GP surgeries have been sold to American company Centene. I lived in the US for a few years and was lucky to have company insurance, but neighbours often had difficulty affording medical care. I’m really worried our NHS is failing.

So pleased (and a little envious) for you Foxie. My sister has a long-term skin condition which she was asked to send a photo of. She was prescribed some ointment which made it worse. When she insisted a Dr should see her (almost impossible at my surgery) he said she should not have been using that ointment!

I sadly am very upset over my go surgery having tried to be seen since last October and gave up. Tried again in March and also got nowhere. After complaining I finally got seen by a go with a hip complaint given painkillers and ordered x ray . In meantime the pill s he gave me were unsuitable and have inflamed my gall bladder .I don't think the g p.Had even read my notes and was sending prescription through without any idea of my gall stone problem I ended up being admitted to hospital as I was given anti bios by i v at assessment ward. I reacted badly to struggling breathe and shaking head to toe. .I was in hospital five days and had the 111 Dr tell me those painkillers would have done me no good. Stay off them. And while in hospital thehospital pharmacist came to find me and warned me those painkillers are very strong and not good don't take them again. . Bad enough but I come home feeling I'll and the discharge papers I see are requesting I have blood tests after a week to see that the infection has gone .three weeks later there's been no contact from gp.I sent message asking had they received my discharge letter and receptionist said yes they had. No word about blood tests .which is all well overdue now anyway. . I have MrI scan booked by consultant for two weeks time this was an emergency booking. No contact from gp and no chance to talk over the problem and my concerns . My x ray on hip results have also not been relayed to me guess no news is good news but has it solved my problem ? No so I need start all over again trying speak to a gp. I have had enough tbh .what with Drs prescribing medicine that's been totally unsuitable and put me in hospital first time in my life. I will stay away in future.

My GP surgery is one of the awful ones I'm sorry to say. Some of the receptionists are so rude that it fills me with dread phoning them, no one should be made to feel like a nuisance if they aren't feeling 100%.
Its great to hear that there are some brilliant surgeries looking after you so well.

Our surgery has had terrible problems with the phone system which has been frustrating but once you get through, the staff have been wonderful with me regarding my mother. I really couldn't have been more impressed.
One thing I have found though, and I don't think this is just our surgery, is that they treat younger people with less respect/tolerance than they do older people. A couple of times my son has had to call them and they seem to do everything they can to make life awkward for him. I have had to step in and take control. Immediately the whole tone changes and, hey presto, we get a result. One receptionist actually admitted that they tend to take a firm line with younger patients. So in a world where older people sometimes feel they are brushed off for medical treatment because of their age, I can truly say that my experience is the other way round!

I would like to praise my surgery too. I have been having balance problems and felt last Wednesday that I must see my GP. I called at 8am, spoke to the receptionist, (I have to admit that there were 14 people before me) was told that the doctor would call between 9 and 10am that day for a telephone consultation. She called me as promised and after I'd explained the problem she gave me a face to face app for Thursday. I attended the surgery, as arranged, and she decided I needed to see a consultant - she referred me to our local hospital and I got the appointment today! That's good going I think

My Surgery and Doctor also brilliant. No complaints at all.

No not at all our GP surgery is crap with a capital C. There are six listed doctors five are part time agency doctors who have all worked from home for the past 15 months and continue to do so with strictly telephone conversations and the sixth one who is the oldest only does admin or only sees private patients. All we are told is “phone 111 or go to A&E”
We have no yearly recalls for cholesterol checks / blood pressure or MOTs. Yet incredibly the quality care commission list the surgery as “ good”. Matt useless Hancock told me in a letter he would “ get it looked into” he never did of course. The Nurses are as helpful as they can be but they know they are being taken advantage of by the practice manager who would make guards at a concentration look kind comparison.
We have tried to change surgery but because of the pandemic none are accepting new patients on their books.

Very good service from ours! Fast tracked to breast clinic last year when found suspect lump( all fine) GP rang back when I had a skin issue and gave correct medication. Saw GP face to face over gynaecology issue, other half got X-ray of hip sorted quickly but no results from hospital as yet! This is all alongside vaccinations as well. Hate to use them unless really important tbh!

I have to admit both my surgery and my husbands, we go to different ones, have always been absolutely fantastic. What people don't realise is that Covid Vaccination Centres have Drs in and alot of the GPS have been covering along with surgery Nurses. People moan about not being able to get appointments for none urgent ailments, but have they spoke to Pharmacists as they are also qualified medical personnel and can be really helpful thus saving you waiting for an appointment with GP. I've used our local Pharmacist for minor ailments and yes they have been great. Alot of people attend A and E for none threatening life ailments thus A and E gets blocked with angry long waiting patients, I worked as a qualified nurse for 40 years. I know waiting for 111 to answer is a pain, but it puts less pressure on emergency services. Yes and I've been there and it was an emergency but refused to use A and E at time. It is hard for all concerned and frustrating, but if people used things appropriately it would make everyone's life easier. Try Pharmacist first next time, did you know for feet problems alot of areas now have drop in centres that diabetics use. There are centres that offer dressing changes. There is so much more out there than people realise. Good luck all.

My surgery is absolutely hopeless. I watch GPS Behind Closed Doors on the television and would love to have the doctors on there.

My DH surgery is quite good it is possible to book a call back online and they usually call back within 2 hours. My surgery however leaves much to be desired. They are still not doing face to face consults and a telephone consult takes around two weeks.
When I called recently to speak to my GP about an impending surgery I was told that isn't what GP's are for!

Hear hear Beanie.