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You have to ring our Surgery at precisely 8am on the day and any time before you get a recorded message so you are charged as soon as it connects. Then as the clock hits 8am you get the engaged tone and have to redial constantly for the next hour hoping you get an answer. When you finally get through you will get an appointment. Its very difficult to get the same GP as its a Practice with about 6 doctors and with a long term condition its very annoying to be asked "Hello what can I do for you" and then half the appointment time is wasted whilst they try to catch up on the notes. My regular GP is wonderful and I have no complaints when I ACTUALLY get to see her its the process of getting into her room that is the problem.

I have type 2 diabetes and I get excellent health care from my GP surgery. Cannot fault it although appointment times are a bit stretched out lately.

My surgery and the service I get is awful.

1. Never see the same doctor twice as in order to see a specific doctor I need to make an appointment 3 weeks in advance. Therefore doctors do
Not know any of my long term conditions and do not even understand them as they are rare.

2. Am not allowed to mention more than one ailment per appointment .

3. Made to feel like a criminal by receptionists when I do try to get an appointment.

4. Not prescribed certain medicines and tests when they are needed .

5. Doctors uncaring and show little concern., and it seems it is left to individuals to learn about their own conditions and which consultants and hospitals are best.

6. I was told by gp I could take two tablets together only to find out through my own investigations that it would be dangerous to do so.

7. Expected to drag oneself to the surgery as you would literally have to be dying to get a home visit.

My large practice is generally excellent, but my named GP is so condescending to older people that I try and avoid seeing him.

Chicha.... You have described my surgery perfectly......and what goes on there.....

I have a long term illness and can't faul the care and service at my lical surgery.
My meds are reviewed on a regular basis. If a med is not working for me, my GP tells me what my options are and what to do if the new med doesn't suit.
If I have any concerns or am unable to physically get to the surgey, I can get a GP call back. Always the same day, usually within the hour.
I can order my repeat prescriptions online and see how many times I can repeat each item before needing a review.
The receptionists are very helpful and always polite.
The surgery is a very busy one, but, I am always treated with respect and given full attention.

I fully appreciate the NHS services and value them highly.

Yes, I know, I am very lucky.

I am classed as older and newly retired, with a long term condition, so pigeon hole me where you like.

My GP is amazing. There is nothing he wouldn't do for me and my family, and everyone else that I know who uses him too. He is wonderful. Fabulous bed-side manner, always cheery, always happy to listen, even if it makes him late for the next patient. I never feel rushed like some people say they do.
I have known my GP for many years, he's a great friend, always takes me seriously and makes sure I understand all of my medication and why its needed. I am a diabetic and also have rheumatoid arthritis and to add to that, IBS, and with me being 62 an holding down 3 jobs, I have to be able to carry on, so he makes sure I am always happy with my medication, that I'm comfortable, and always tries to make a home visit to me where possible as I don't drive and he knows it can be a hassle getting in.
I have told him how much I appreciate his work, he's truly the best Doctor I could hope for, and I hope others are as lucky as me when it comes to their GP! X

I don't feel that comments here could be worth quantifying. Not that the comments themselves are invalid but one could take the wrong meaning from comments instead of having GN-ers answer the same formulated questions.

If the CQC are serious about finding out views of people such as us, a properly constructed questionnaire needs to be formatted.

My own practice, for example is fantastic. Except it has too many 'other' people, not enough staff or hours in the day. How does one classify that?!

I find my surgery can be very hit and miss. I don't have to go often (I'm very lucky, I know), but the time before last I rang for an appointment and was told abruptly that I couldn't have one for a fortnight, with any of the six practice doctors. I was annoyed because the receptionist made no attempt to find out what was wrong with me or whether I needed an urgent appointment. I am a bolshie confident person, it was a minor issue, and I would have insisted on an earlier appointment if I'd needed it, but a less confident person could have been brushed aside and suffered because of it. Then last time I rang, resigned to having to wait, I was offered a choice of appointments over the next two days The doctors are caring and do listen, but seeing them google my symptoms just as I have done myself at home doesn't fill me with confidence - perhaps they should make sure we can't see their screens! Also, I have a minor condition that I was told would definitely clear within 3 years - 10 years ago I've mentioned it at every appointment since and been told on each occasion to give it a bit more time...

My husband became v ill at the start of this year with a life-limiting disease. Wrongly diagnosed at hospital. We weren't happy with the attitude of our GP and ended up with a young, female doctor new to the practice on our next visit. She has been wonderful! Pro-active. Transferred consultants, set up community matron visits, checks how we are. We feel very well looked after and supported.
Regarding appointments in general, we can book online and it's very rare for me not to get an appointment on the same day (that's for me, not for my husband who has home visits). We get through quickly on the phone, they will check about prescriptions, take messages, call us back.
The surgery has now started taking in student GPs and nurses on placement and I think is a brilliant example of how things can work. But having said all that, the original GP who was no help at all is still there.....

I've just moved to East Anglia from Kent and have yet to find a new practice in my area that I want to register with. That's not anything to do with the services on offer, just that I'm busy and quite frankly, in good health at the moment. My neighbours have praised the local GPs highly so I have no qualms about whom I join. I have worked in healthcare services for the elderly for the last 10 years as an assessor so I feel confident that I know who to contact if I had any concerns, but many patients and service users might not have the same experience or confidence that I do.

Have to say I never have a problem getting an appointment, our GP practise is amazing. I went in last week to ask if I need a referral to ENT for a hearing test or if I can self refer, receptionist said I would need an appointment, and offered me one for 20 mins time.
Phoned yesterday for an appointment for a chest infection and got one half an hour later. Does not need to be an emergency they always have appointments, which means no back log or making an appointment for two or three weeks away, so that the people in two or three weeks wanting one then have to wait again.
The receptionists are polite and helpful.
I am not keen on one of the female GP's, I find her rude and unapproachable, she says I am fat because I am lazy, using a pedometer I walk 15-20 miles a day in my job hoovering and washing floors and pushing trolleys and making beds etc so I am not lazy. But my husband likes her and will only see her by choice.
I like the older male GP I feel I comfortable with him, but my husband thinks he is condescending, so hard to say some are good and some not so good.
I am an asthmatic so use the clinics that they offer and also have menieres
disease so have two hidden issues. My husband is a diabetic and again accesses various services that they offer.
The only issue I have is the Practise Nurse always seems to have a long waiting list and you will often get a phone call to say her clinic has been cancelled and you will be rescheduled which often takes weeks.
The only think I would find handy for our practise would be to implement online repeat prescription ordering.

My surgery has a new policy now of only being allowed to talk about one condition per appointment. So annoying as I have several different conditions and find it almost impossible to leave the house. I feel this policy needs to be amended ASAP.

If CQC want good data, they should issue an anonymous questionnaire.
After moving into a new area have been lucky and found a good GP.

I've posted before on GN about our GPs because I think the practice shows how it is possible to organise to avoid having to wait three weeks for an appointment. It's an inner city practice. The receptionists are friendly and very good at helping people whose English isn't good or who are anxious or angry. The nurses are skilled and patient. The doctors don't make you feel as though they are in a hurry, they talk things through, they don't have some rule about how many things you can ask about, you can ring up to speak to someone and they ring back, they make home visits and I feel my family and I have had excellent care for many years. 'My family' has included two very elderly women both of whom eventually developed dementia and a young man with a chronic health condition. There is a drop in every morning except Sunday so if you need to see a doctor now, you will see one. There is also an appointment system. Compared to the care friends and family members get in other places, I can't speak too highly of this practice.

I have a long term health condition but thankfully I can generally manage it myself without having to see the doctor. Not so long ago I could get an appontment reasonably easily (although it was often a 3 day wait). However, nowadays it's such a performance to get an appointment. Like many surgeries now I have to contact the surgery, which means I have to get there and stand outside from 8am as by the time they opens up the phone lines all hope of seeing a doctor will be lost. Once I leave my details (including telling the receptionist why I want to see a doctor) I have to then wait for a phone call from the doc and if they feel it is justified then I will be invited in for an appointment.
Once I do get to see the doctor then I can't praise the service enough. I have always been listened to and have been given the opportunity to input into how I would like my health condition to be treated.
I live quite close to my surgery but for anyone who lives a distance away or who are elderly, disabled or seriously unwell then it must be very difficult indeed to keep traipsing up to the surgery.
Why, oh why can't we have the old appointment system back??
I have been noticing that a lot of GP's are referring patients to hospital very early on and wonder if this is a ploy to 'get rid' of patients for a while and to make them the responsibility of the hospital.

I was diagnosed with a long term condition in 2004, I have limited mobility and my GP is very considerate in doing as much as he possibly can for me via phone, I'm thankful to have found him by chance when my previous impatient and intimidating GP was unavailable, so I jumped ship and have been with my new and improved alternative GP for several years now. The biggest problem I've had with my surgery is when requesting repeat prescriptions by phone, the process used to be a joke as the dedicated 9-12 line would either be engaged or just ring and ring, the answerphone would only kick in after 12.30pm, so I wasted a ridiculous amount of time going round in circles trying to get through, I gave up in the end and left messages instead but then there would be delays/errors with the prescription itself !! I'm now recently registered with 'The Waiting Room' so I'm able to book appointments and request my repeat prescriptions online, it's such a positive change and a HUGE relief for me, the long term aggravation I regularly experienced trying to get my medications has dissipated, it should never have been such a stressful inconvenience, it's difficult to express just how much difference it's made to my state of mind.

My GP is superb, a caring and astute "one man band". Treats us like medical students, draws diagrams so we know what's going on where!
As he nears retirement, he is adding several other Drs who take one surgery a week each, so we can now choose to see a woman Dr if we wish.
Efficient and immediate appointments service, experienced and reliable receptionists,wonderful former midwife is senior practice nurse.Am I biased when I wonder whether they are women,older women at that, and that's why we're so well looked after?
Am very grateful to them all

I wish I could say how wonderful the experience of visiting our GP / doctor's surgery is, but unfortunately I cannot.

I have to echo the sentiments of some of the other users on this thread ...

1. It is near impossible to attain an appointment when needed. I make sure not to bother the doctor with minor problems - I even spend a lot of money on over-the counter prescriptions to this end, many of which could easily be available from the GP on the NHS. But often I'm asked to wait at least 1 WHOLE WEEK before the appointment - I'll be recovered by then, or dead! ... what's good's the appointment in 1 week's time?
2. The doctor complains if we request an emergency and/or weekend call-out visit, since their surgery would be charged for it. But what do we do if someone if really badly ill, and we can't see the doctor immediately?
3. It must be said that there is an walk-in slot at the surgery without appointment. But it is recommended that you phone beforehand, and you still have to wait 45-60 minutes before being seen!! And sitting for an hour in a cramped waiting room, with all the windows bolted shut, and other patients coughing and spluttering around you (not their fault) --> we arrive at the surgery with 1 ailment, but leave with 10.
4. The receptionists really do need a lot of training. 30 years later, and they still pull-out and hand me the wrong medical file to take into the doctor's room. Often they demonstrate curt responses and poor interpersonal skills - how does that help someone suffering from, say, depression or mass anxiety?
5. And finally I get to see the doctor an hour after the set appointment time --> I am seen and out of the doctor's room in 4 minutes! Almost every time I attend. So, why am I having to wait that long to see him/her in the first place? Are people having casual social visits in between?

I realise that doctor's are under huge pressure, and there are many factors at play here. They do need a better support system, and people as patients do need to ask themselves whether it is absolutely essential taking up a GP's time. But, nevertheless, real improvements need to be made, especially for chronic illness sufferers and particularly vulnerable people.

We recently moved to be nearer the family as my husband is not well, he has short term memory problems. Our previous gp surgery was useless. There was never any continuity as it seemed to be staffed by part timers and locums and it was always difficult to get an appointment. Since we moved our new GPs surgery has been wonderful,we get to see the same doctors who have referred my husband to a consultant. After an assessment he has been diagnosed with dementia and given medication to help with the symptoms. We have has great help and support from the local dementia team and the careers association,all through the surgery. It just shows how "patchy" the nhs has become! Location,location,location!

I am very satisfied with the service provided by our surgery. I see several different GPs for different problems. One specialises in joints and muscles - he has given me steroid injections several times. Another does minor ops and has removed or 'frozen off' skin lesions. Women doctors deal with obs and gynae patients. However, all doctors are available to deal with general issues too. The nurses and nurse practitioners are available to treat straightforward ailments. If you ring up for an appointment you are put through the triage system and, if necessary, you can see either a nurse or doctor. My treatment for a long-lasting condition has been excellent. The GP concerned trusts me to fix up my own blood tests with the health care assistant and to manage my own care with his approval.

I don't use twitter
The CQC will be excluding a lot of people who would like to comment
Is this a deliberate ploy?

Our GP practice is excellent; you can get an appointment on the day of calling if there is an urgent need, although not necessarily with your own GP.
My own GP is very good, always behind, but that's because she doesn't rush anyone.
Our surgery also offers very early morning appointments on a couple of mornings a week to accommodate people who need to get into work. They also take into consideration school hours and will always offer an appointment after school.
We live in a relatively small town but our medical care when we lived in a big city left a lot to be desired.

I have three long term invisible conditions all of these are managed by the nursing sisters in out health centre I never see a GP and am happy with the care I receive