Share review of Beversbrook Medical Centre

Beversbrook Medical Centre 2022-11-14 Person 0 5 0

This practise now hides behind 'Doctor Link' using it as a means to frustrate and redirect any care needs to alternative agencies. I recently returned from holiday with an increasingly painful infection in my right index finger. Doctor Link does not provide any means to explain this and just generically lets you know you will get contacted and offered an appointment within 7 days. It says 'if it is more urgent than this contact reception. Reception say 'we don't do urgent so if you can't wait phone 111'. 111 say 'you need to speak to your GP - I can arrange a telephone appointment within 6 hours'. 7 hours go by an nothing so they force you in to Minor Injuries or A&E. My outcome was surgical intervention and I have lost part of the pad of my finger and all sensation in the tip. I'm on my 4th round of different anti-biotics. How can this be a 'I'll call you in a week' triage result? This is the second time this year. Presenting with intermittent sharp chest pain and irregular heartbeat resulted in a 'we'll call you within a week'. They didn't and it needed me to call and bang the table to get anyone to take any interest. The outcome is that I now have medication for Atrial Fibrillation - I am generally low risk but they didn't know that and this is still in the 'when I am ready' response category. I even had to chase twice to get my prescription from them. The laughable thing is that I asked for a referral to get a private cardiology consult asap but was told 'no need' we'll get you a heart monitor in a week'. 3 weeks later I get the call that says 'machine is broken and we don't know when it will be fixed, could you go private please'. The triage process is fundamentally broken and utterly inhibited by the computer system and a reception function that is solely there to push you on to agencies that already cannot cope.

You could start by talking to and listening to your patients and making an informed decision about priorities. Get rid of Doctor Link as it clearly is not fit for purpose. A service that is free at the point of delivery has no value if you can never access it.