Satisfied with your GP practice?

The staff and the doctors at our surgery are very pleasant BUT it's not easy to get an appointment. Luckily [?] I had a call from our hospital saying I needed blood tests - and later I had another hospital call to go for eye tests, so something is working in some shape or form even though I don't actually see a surgery doctor.

Hmm no.

When my children were growing up we were looked after and had such a good practice. Things have changed.

I live in Northern Ireland and our GP surgery is very poor, phoning in the morning is unlikely to be successful,it's not unusual for patients to phone a hundred times and try for days on end to get through with no success. We can book a phone call but that is a 3 week wait. We don't have the 111 service or a Minor Injuries Unit so it's no surprise that we have the longest A&E waits in the UK. I will say the staff are usually very good if you're lucky enough to win the appointment lottery but access is minimal.

Sadly mine is hopeless. No way of resolving this. I just bash on with poor quality care. I live rurally so no choice.

I'm more than happy with my GP practice, having been with them for all but 5 of my 81 years.
Just over two weeks ago I phoned at 8am,number7 in the queue and asked for a same day appointment. I had a chest infection and felt awful.10 am was offered and I went by taxi,expecting examination, antibiotics ,taxi to pharmacy and taxi home.GP said no infection but was shocked when oximeter showed 85 %.
Within minutes I was on oxygen,ambulance called and in hospital .
I stayed for 12 days with water on lungs,failing kidneys,damaged heart NDR,pneumonia and needed 6 litres of oxygen 24 hours a day.My family were warned to expect the worst.
Happily I proved them all wrong and came home the day before Christmas eve. The surgery has been in touch to ask how I am and wish me all the best.
The kidney and heart problems have been caused by 70 years of Diabetes type 1.

Yes absolutely. Always helpful friendly staff, seen on day requested. Advised when vaccinations available, by text.
Has always had a good reputation.

Our practice has changed. 15 years ago it was almost impossible to get an appointment - because the only way to book was to phone and join the impossible phone queue- the one where when you eventually get through all appointments had gone.
Now we are not allowed to phone - only fill-in an online triage form. The form then triggers action- either a text, or a phone consultation, or the relevant nurse/test appointment. Occasionally the duty Gp will want to see you. This works better for us, although I wonder how people without a computer/ smart phone manage.

My practice is brilliant. You can get a same day call back from a GP, and if they need to see you they will see you in the afternoon. There are a limited number of straight face to face appointments but I’m always seen the same day if necessary so that’s not a problem. Receptionists are very friendly and helpful. GP’s and nurses are superb. I’ve had some awful experiences in the past at other surgeries so this is a real blessing. What I can’t understand is the discrepancy between surgeries. Surely they get similar funding per capita? The other surgeries in my town aren’t very good at all. I just wonder how mine is so well run and the others verge on shambolic.

Very satisfied, though thankfully, I have needed nothing more than my Repeat Prescription.

No complaints with ours, over 35 years with them. From pregnancies, all through bringing up children, various ailments of mine and DH they have been brilliant.

The receptionists pride themselves on being helpful and friendly, you can easily get an appointment, pop in and fill in a paper form for a repeat prescription (apparently that is the thing they get the most praise about), parents have a clean cosy private nook if they need somewhere in town to feed a baby, the nurses are great whenever I have routine checks etc etc.

I realise we are very fortunate.

Very happy with our GP practice, which has been ours for more than fifty years.

Mollygo

ftm420

Interestingly, only 29% of those contacted actually responded, but only 300 or so were contacted in the first place. My practice has >20,000 patients!

Thanks for the figures, ftm420.
I didn’t see any with the clip I read.

The results mirror those of the huge annual survey reported in July.
www.ipsos.com/en-uk/2024-gp-patient-survey-results-released#:~:text=What%20do%20the%20findings%20tell,the%20last%20time%20they%20tried.

No complaint's with our Dr's , it is quite a large medical centre and considering how many villages it covers they do a good job , they could do with another Dr but we are a seaside village with not much going on to encourage new Dr's to move here. We have no choice to use another surgery as we are too far away from them so just as well we are happy with the one we are with! We also have a very good hospital .

ftm420

Interestingly, only 29% of those contacted actually responded, but only 300 or so were contacted in the first place. My practice has >20,000 patients!

Thanks for the figures, ftm420.
I didn’t see any with the clip I read.

We’re satisfied with ours. If you ring early enough you can nearly always get an appt. the same day. We are fortunate in not needing appts. very often though.

I don’t mind not seeing a particular GP. I always say I'm happy to see any of them.

No mine is dreadful.
Where do all the people live who have nothing but praise for them?
Don't worry, I will have to stay put, as I cannot afford to move to a better area.

Interestingly, only 29% of those contacted actually responded, but only 300 or so were contacted in the first place. My practice has >20,000 patients!

gp-patient.co.uk/practices-search

Found my practice here. They are hopeless according to the survey, so not just me!

Where are all these happy people? Our surgery is utterly hopeless. Same day appts gone by 0831; regular appts gone by 1031. Try online & you get told to try again tomorrow. After seeing practice physiotherapist twice in 6 months & being told I had a muscle strain, I went private & ended up with a hip replacement due to advanced osteoarthritis.

Never seen same GP twice, they are always 'ill' and yet when you do get an appt, you turn up and are the only one in the waiting room. Half a dozen receptionists & they are still late to see you.

Crazy.

Our practice has changed since Covid. I’ve taken to requesting help online and have an answer within 24 hours. They will call if needed and arrange blood tests, chest X-rays at local walk in centre and then make an appointment to see you if needed. By using this system I received a physio appointment within 4 weeks and was lucky enough to have a cancellation in one week. The physio appointment was at the walk in centre.

It’s certainly easier to have contact with a medical professional now than it was before Covid. I’m not sure how easy this is for those who are not internet savvy.

I have no complaints about our health service currently and can only be happy that there is no charge at the point of delivery.

Ours is excellent, rural Devon. If you just turn up before 10:30 a GP will see you. No booking.

I had no problems with old GP practice. I recently moved home and am at a new practice. I’ve had contact with them a couple of times recently and they’ve been very responsive. My only gripe is that they’ll only let me have a month’s meds at a time whereas the old practice prescribed three months at a time.

Having been with the same town-centre practice for 45 years, experiences have been mixed. I don't really think it's much worse than before. It is different: most of the doctors are women who work part-time (why wouldn't you?) which means that you don't get to see the same one during a course of treatment.
And while I'm here, I want to have a rant about receptionists telling you to "have a nice day". The very fact that you're there at all is likely to mean that you're not having a particularly good day.
I think receptionists should be trained not to say it. It's just a formulaic American expression which means nothing.

My practice used to be great but no longer. It is now a receptionist who triages, and that is a tad difficult when I know more than she does.

I ended up ringing 111, and that system was fabulous. A doctor rang me back and agreed it was a medical emergency.

When I give up my car shortly I will have to move GPs. I discovered they have to take on board somebody of my age, 81.

The surgery I have in mind is opposite the pharmacy where I pick up my repeat prescriptions. At present I can walk there but for how much longer?

Ours is dire.
You can phone in for emergencies only.
All other enquiries have to be online.
Online forms are suspended from 15:12:24 till 06:01:25.