Ashfield Surgery

Still difficult to get any type of appointment

Reception staff rude, not helpful, don't listen, speak over you making experience of trying to get service or an appointment from GP within primary care difficult If i feel that I need to see a doctor about anything then usually I wont go here, I just ignore problem/symptoms as trying to get appointment is too difficult I am shocked at behaviour/rudeness of staff on reception within this primary care service, it puts a big barrier up to patients seeking support, I am a registered practitioner working within NHS University Hospitals Birmingham and If I find it difficult and experience such problems as a fellow medical professional then I worry about those more vulnerable, elderly and how they manage to get an appointment, I realise it has been difficult during pandemic for all health workers being a frontline worker myself but my poor experiences were before pandemic as well as during. I did try to contact surgery to make appointment during lockdown with symptoms of extreme fatigue and abdominal and kidney pain and on another occasion knee pain affecting mobility but due to problems trying to get appointment and long wait on phone was not able to arrange appointments for these concerns. Due to my working hours within NHS I am not able to call surgery at 0830hrs as they request to make appointment as I am on duty, due to my knee pain becoming worse I called surgery later in the day when I was able to but was told sorry call back at 0830 tomorrow, i tried to explain this difficult and was told “nothing they can do its the system” it was suggested that can maybe try calling 2pm for appointment but most likely wont get one then! I haven’t seen Dr about my extreme fatigue which continues and my ongoing knee pain and to be honest I have given up trying to seek medical advice from GP it is just too frustrating and difficult, if my knee gets worse I will go A&E and for my extreme fatigue i just try and get through it, GP appointments are just simply too difficult to get
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Recently I have had to use the GP phone appointment triage system. The hold times for reception to actually get through have been ridiculous - on one occasion I was trying for almost 30 minutes then when I finally got through there was a very long covid message, before I got to 2nd in the queue the system cut me off! The phone system could definitely be improved, and more receptionists should be made available first thing in the morning when appointments are released as I feel sorry fir them being bombarded. It also means they have to rush through booking & some can then loose the personal touch and appear ÔshortÕ which I am sure is unintentional. However, once I had got through I was told the GP would call me back, which they did & I felt I was really listened to. On one occasion I felt bad (& told the GP as such) as I only wanted a repeat prescription but had I take up an appointment to request this. I felt that there should be some other way to request this such as via email or web form where I didn't have to use an appointment that somebody else might have needed. On another appointment I received a phone triage. This was for an issue where the doctor needed to see me for a physical examination. Unfortunately, my phone triage was on a Friday afternoon. They therefore could not get me booked for the physical exam until Tuesday as there was a bank holiday. The appointment was with another GP so I had to explain everything again. I couldn't fault the care & attention shown by both GP's & understand that measures are required due to Covid, but this meant that I had to have a second appointment which somebody else could have had & a delay of 4 days. Triage is great for some if it is something that is simple that can be carried out over the phone. However I wonder if there is a way of potentially noting the nature of the issue somehow when the appointment is requested and those who may need a physical consultation be triaged first so that they could come in later on the same day if this was then needed?
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Disjointed to get appointments as not available in advance and on the day takes up to 100 dials to get through. Telephone appointments don't always allow a full picture of what's wrong to be dealt with. Standing outside with no seating waiting when medics are running late was extremely painful when heavily pregnant. Allow some form of seating, even if outside, for those who can't stand for long periods of time. Staff are trying there best in difficult circumstances but needs some more care for those struggling.
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I know so many people, me included who have phoned over and over again as instructed after 8.30am to try to get an appointment. My neighbour rang 170 times trying to get help about a baby. Also reports of rude, short and curt responses from receptionists because of course there are no appointments left when/if you do get through. They should make at least a few advance appointments. Being told to try again tomorrow after trying all morning is unacceptable. Also patients are told to not arrive early and announce they are waiting outside. Sometimes the weather is appalling and I have had a very bad back- in agony waiting standing outside because the Doctor was running late. They could socially distance patients waiting inside in the waiting room. To think this telephone appointment before/instead of face to face might go on indefinitely as told to me by a doctor is so depressing. Some complaints can be easily dealt with by phone only, but if the patient wants to see the Doctor it should be possible without telephone consultation first which is only doubling Doctors time. It took over 3 weeks for a doctor to issue me with a private referral - I even enclosed a SAE. We can see dentists, opticians etc - GP surgeries should be open as well with Covid precautions. We have all had enough of the way the Surgery is operating. Need more receptionists - better trained as well
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As a 64 yr old person with hearing loss I am unable to use a phone to make contact or for a consultation. I have experienced disastrous video calls. I wrote two letters to the Practice Manager outlining my problems and concerns for myself and other with the same problem as well as elderly patients who did not have or could not use the Internet. I did eventually get a reply advising me that they were looking to improve the online access! I did manage to make contact after via a “new” symptom form I did then have a more successful email consultation which did end with a face to face consultation. This again proved difficult as I couldn’t understand what the Dr was asking. Luckily he was IT competent so in the end he had to type his questions. The problem hasn’t been resolved but to be honest I can’t face the stress and the time it takes to try and get medical help. Im not the only one feeling anxious in case there is something more serious that’s going undiagnosed and treated! Before Covid I was very happy with the practice but I cannot understand why they are not following in the footsteps of other surgeries who are open for patients again
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Impossible to get through to them, usually over 100 phone calls to get through. Antiquated patient experience, so much stuff needs to be physically posted to them, almost impossible when you’re working. Receptionists are rude, follow up appointments are usually just sent out to you without checking whether you’re available which then requires you to call up to change it to be told “we only book them for you” so you then have to wait for another letter to find out they’ve booked it on a day you cannot attend. Such a waste of time and resource Actual doctors are ok once you manage to get there!
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I recently got in touch with Ashfield Surgery about a blood test. It took me 45 minutes to get hold of someone to make an appointment to speak to a doctor. It then took me half an hour to get hold of someone to make an appointment for the blood test. I got an appointment reminder text messages that stated all appointments were by phone. When I rang, I was told to ignore the reference to a phone call as that was an automated message. It then took me 45 minutes to try and make an appointment only to be told they were full up and I needed to ring again the following day. It took me another 45 minutes to actually make that appointment to speak to the doctor about my blood test results. I was never given the time the doctor would call, even though the time estimate was avaiable in my patient log in.
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Not been able to see a doctor since the first lockdown if you are unable to get an answer on the phone before 8.30 you are wasting your time for a triage appt. as you are then in a queue and as they onlyhave very few appts. You are told to ring again.
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Can dial 50 times (a neighbour dialled 170 times) and still not get through. Many people on Nextdoor website complaining about attitude of receptionists. Appear understaffed and undertrained. Also patients are told not to arrive early for appointments, and to wait outside till doctor or nurse calls them in. But a lady wrote this week that she had to stand outside in agonising back pain because Doctor was running late for 15 minutes in appalling weather as well. . Why can’t they wait in waiting room.? Some of the chairs could be removed to ensure spacing and the chairs could be sprayed after each patient. At least it is humane.