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We can call or queue outside the surgery at 8.30am to get an appointment on the day. If the problem isn't urgent it can take 3 weeks to get an appointment with a 'named' doctor. The practice nurses are very nice and efficient at making sure I get all vaccinations on offer, i.e. flu, shingles, pneumonia. The receptionists are also polite, efficient and helpful.
The doctors are mainly nice but having had a painful problem for many months I had to beg to have an xray, and have never been given a proper diagnosis. (Now improving with acupuncture) I also have an intermittent problem which always needs antibiotics but sometimes its like getting blood out of a stone. I know the problems concerning antibiotic use but years of experience have shown that if I can catch it early I do not become so ill. Some doctors will also do minor ops in the surgery.

Having read the comments of others I realise I am very lucky.

I had to change my long term GP due to moving house. I joined a small surgery, not far from me, with only three GP's but unfortunately for me my GP is not very patient friendly. Although he has shared care for my arthritic condition with the hospital, he was not prepared to see me again and told me not to bother having any more bloods taken even though my appointment with the hospital is not until January 2016 and this was October. He kept checking his mobile whilst I was sat with him and there was an awkward silence whilst he read my notes from the computer screen. He then asked me if I drank alcohol to which I replied "very rarely" but he then said that the last blood tests I had had showed liver abnormalities related to alcohol consumption to which I told him that it was because of the medication that I was on. I was very surprised that he did not know this and left feeling very disgruntled and upset. I am dreading having to go back!! I have better care at the hospital where they actually listen and are very pleasant and caring. I would rather travel further to receive humane treatment!

I agree. Twitter is used more by younger people, those with long term conditions are usually older and don't use twitter. So they only want to hear from people without long-term conditions!

My GP retired in July & I was worried about having a new GP. She's very young but very caring and seems to be extremely knowledgable. I think I'm lucky as I live in a very small village & the surgery is just two villages away. I can ring up at 10am or 11am and still get to see my GP on the same day. I also get my prescriptions at the surgery as they have their own dispensary.I have several long term conditions and the only drawback is getting to the hospitals for appointments as they are miles away. I have had nothing but good service from both my surgery and hospitals and have nothing but praise for the NHS where I live. I think I must be one of the lucky ones.

I have nothing but praise for my surgery,doctors,practice nurses and treatment room nurses.I have a few long term debilitating conditions and attend regularly for bloods etc,phone on the day for appointment system,I phone at 8-30 and if busy use ring back ,there is a charge for that service but it ensures that as soon as the phone is put down at the surgery end I am connected,never fails.I also benefit from Acupuncture and hydrotherapy services from the Physio at my local hospital.

I cannot praise my GP and her colleagues highly enough. She always has time to listen and never makes me feel that I am wasting her time. That also goes for all the other partners at the practice. She knows both myself and my family well which is a great bonus as my younger daughter has many long term conditions as do I.

Even if I can't get an appointment on the day I can always speak to someone and if an urgent appointment is needed I will be booked in.

There is only one fly in the ointment so to speak and that is a particularly rude receptionist but I can almost live with that but feel that she does need some customer care training!

We also have a patient panel that meets around three times a year to discuss any issues that may arise including improvements to the services offered.

I am very satisfied with the care I receive.

Biggest issue is actually trying to get an appt! Phoned on Wednesday to try and see my GP and the EARLIEST appt I was offered was for the 17th December and that was with ANY GP. Explained I wanted a blood test (I'd been severely anaemic the previous year and was feeling similar symptoms as the last time). No, can't get one of those without having first being seen by a GP!

Eventually said they could get the duty GP to call and "perhaps" authorise a blood test before the 17th. GP called back about 15 minutes later and not only made a blood test appt but also managed to find an appt with the GP I wanted to speak to for Friday afternoon (the 2 appts within 10 minutes of each other too).

Saw GP, who was lovely (as he had been the previous year and the reason I had wanted to go back to him). Said as soon as the results came back from the lab he'd call and if I needed another appt, he'd see what he could do.

Most GPs are hard working but the "gatekeepers" that man the phone (and are not medically trained per se) often believe they can prioritise appts and have delusions of grandeur regarding their job status.

While people may not know if they are really, really ill, the majority do know the difference between a routine (repeat prescription) type appt and something that's a bit more serious and needs a quicker appt and medical secretaries in GP surgeries should receive more training to be able to tell the difference if they ARE going to prioritise people over the phone.

I have a skin condition: Discoid lupus

I am seeing a dermatologist once every 2 months. I do not think this is often enough. I have been on various medication, and the condition is getting a lot worse. My dermatologist is always away on holiday, so I decided to go to my GP to at least get something to soothe the burning and itching of my skin (on hands, face and arms)

I was so grateful to get an appointment to see my GP. The outcome? He said it was not 'his field' and I had to wait until my dermatologist was available. I am still waiting to find out when my appointment will be, even though I am in much discomfort.

Four years ago I had a serious knee injury in London. A week later, after surgery to reconstruct my knee cap, I was discharged from hospital and told that I needed to see an orthopedic surgeon the following week at my local hospital in Cheshire.

The saga began. I couldn't make an appointment direct, I had to be referred by my GP. (As an aside, the consultant in London could not refer me to another consultant in another part of the country!!). My GP wouldn't refer me without seeing me. I had my leg in a splint and getting I to the car was an epic. Got to the surgery. No wheelchair there and too far for me to get from the car to the doctor's room on my crutches. Husband went into see the GP on my behalf and he wouldn't come out to the car to see me. Said he didn't need to! Referred me to the hospital, but no appointments available for a month! In the end, I made an appointment at a private hospital and paid to see a consultant.

Needless to say, I was incandescent with rage at the treatment and discourtesy from my GP. I wrote to complain to him, my MP and the local trust. I got a grovelling letter from the GP. End of.

My husband has a bladder condition which is monitored annually by the hospital and drugs prescribed. He has to take daily medication. The GP will only give the prescription monthly, and requires seeing my husband, even though his treatment has nothing to do with him. Waste of everyone's time and money.

We needed a letter from the GP recently to obtain a visa to travel. A signature saying we had no mental health problems, no pneumonia etc -£160 each.

As others have mentioned, getting an appointment is the problem. We have to start phoning at 8.0 a.m. That's fine if you are not feeling ill. One time I gave up trying to get through and went back to bed. I was just too poorly to keep trying. Fortunately I lived to tell the tale!
The doctors and nurses are lovely if you can get to see them.
I am invited to the asthma clinic and for a flu jab every year but think there may be some targets involved in this.

Our Surgery (Staithe Surgery in Stalham) is fantastic - it is possible to get to see someone the same day. Our particular doctor is also fantastic, caring and understanding. My husband has a Hiatus Hernia and is checked regularly every 3 years by the Hospital. We have both had cancer scares this year, and were seen within 2 weeks by the relevant specialist. We have no complaints whatsoever about the NHS in East Anglia.

My GP is lovely. She listens to me and responds to my worries andquestions. I have great faith in her because of this. I know she is a human being, not infallible , with the care of a busy practice and a teenage family but she has time for my concerns and is lracticaland sensible. She is great!

Forgot to mntion good rcceptionists and excellent ppointment sytem. Reading other entries, feel very lucky

Having an invisible illness is fibromyalgia I find it very difficult going to drs surgery as it is requested you only discuss one symptom. As my illness can present with many symptoms I often come away non the wiser and rather frustrated,my gp tells me I can discuss anything with her but the notice on her door says different!!!!

My chronic conditions all seem to "only" involve pain, eg. as my back & joints disintegrate. This means there is no point going to GP, as they can/will offer me nothing at all except painkillers with horrific side-effects!
I have, however, spotted that if you sign up to their online service they keep a few v. early or v. late appointments just for online appointments. Mainly with the Dr. no-one, including me, wants to see, but still - usually get one following day. Presume this means someone else doesn't get an appointment at all??

I have a couple of long term health issues including asthma. I've found it really hard to get an appointment, they give you one for 3 weeks later or ask you to phone up at 8.30am when I'm trying to get kids to school so I've had to go to the walk in center to get treated instead!
I couldn't get an appointment for a long term sick 15 year old with an ear infection either - they gave me a telephone appointment with a Dr who then told us to come in for an appointment so the telephone appointment was a total waste of time!
I think the GP service is going down the drain and the walk in center seems the best way of getting seen and being treated if you get taken ill and no appointments available for 3 weeks!

I would think ours here in Shepperton is well funded and boy, does it show! Excellent in all ways......

I rarely visit my GP but on one occasion rang to see if I really needed an appointment, my GP rang me back later in the day to talk through the problem, saved me a visit and hopefully saved him time.

I am going to have to eat my words after my post last Saturday when I said how difficult it is to get an appointment. I have bronchitis at the moment and phoned at 8.00 this morning to try to get an appointment. I got through to the queue on the second call. I think I probably sounded very poorly as I could hardly speak and was given an appointment with a locum at 9.30 She was lovely and I am now settled with antibiotics and a new Ventolin.

i have a long term condition... emphysema and asthma... also have a muscle wasting condition...... am i interesting enough.?.... the doctors are great but don't seem too hot on giving out asthma clinic appointments...... good at flu jabs though ..

I am one of the lucky ones who has a really good GP Practice and an amazing GP. I have been with the practice since 1991 and, despite now being slightly out of area, my GP has kept me on.

I have long-term health issues and see my GP most months. Because I work part time and she only has afternoon appointments one day a week, I normally make the appointment online at least two weeks in advance. However, I know that if I need to see her in an emergency, I can usually get a late morning appointment on the day. If she is not available, I am usually offered an appointment with another doctor, although usually I would opt to see my doctor on another day. Also, if I ring in and ask for a phone call, she will, without fail, call me back.

In terms of my GP herself, she is the best GP I have known. She always take time to explain things and listen to your problems or thoughts for treatment. I always feel that we make the decisions together - if she feels it necessary she will refer me on.

When I go to see my GP, unless it is one of the first appointments, I am prepared to be waiting beyond my appointment time but I never complain - I know she will give me the time I need, so I expect her to give others the same treatment.

"If CQC want good data, they should issue an anonymous questionnaire. "

They do issue 'anonymous' questionnaires, but they aren't anonymous. After I filled one in with a comment about refusing to answer questions, the doctor stuffed a voice recorder in my face and said "Have I answered your questions?". It was the same doctor who denied that I had been taken to A&E with heart arrhythmia 3 years later.

When the CQC sent me another questionnaire I sent them an email and told them why I hadn't returned it. I also quoted this passage from the Handbook to the NHS Constitution:

"The NHS commits to ensure that you are treated with courtesy and you receive appropriate support throughout the handling of a complaint; and that the fact that you have complained will not adversely affect your future treatment."

When I asked what policies they have in place to ensure this, they couldn't answer the question. Neither could the DoH, Patients Assoc., Health Trust, or Healthwatch. They still insist that the surveys are anonymous, although they self-evidently aren't.

my gp has been totally useless and unhelpful regarding multiply disabled, adult son. Never makes home visits. In surgery, she is moody and..shirty, seems annoyed if one queries medication or ask about alternatives or whether she has received hospital letters which Imknow for a fact were sent at least a month earlier to her. She seems not to want to be bothered with oatients and is always rushed. Receptionists can be equally moody and often extremely incompetent...eg in forgetting to liaise with chemist over repeat prescriptions or sending chemist wrong info. i'd change if it were possible to get another. Waiting times can be 5 days. I very rarely visit the surgery.

My husband was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease two years ago. Since then his GP surgery has been worse than useless - they have basically given up on him, cannot even fit him in for an appointment within anything less than three days, and even though they are supposed to be coordinating his care, we have had to do everything ourselves.

He is supposed to have a lung nurse - didn't happen. He's supposed to have a palliative care plan - didn't happen. He cannot even get a basic breathing test at the surgery, because the equipment is faulty and the staff have no idea how to use it.

We have now found out that the surgery is apparently "under investigation" for providing sub-standard care.

Why does that not surprise me?

I couldn't praise our GP surgery enough.
The OH had a stroke in Sept 14 and has received excellent care at the GP, they always fit him in that day if he rings up in the morning, he has had multiple home visits (again on the same day) and when he had a particular issue the head of the practice even came out after she finished work to help him out and arranged a district nurse to visit.

They are understanding about his anxiety and how as a carer I have a lot to deal with.

They are professional but friendly, and I feel like I could talk to them about anything.

Couldn't fault them at all.