Charing Surgery

Some of the doctors are great but the booking system is awful so there is generally no choice in which doctor you get. The 'call back's system is very unclear and also means you are tied to your phone for the whole day. Waiting times are also often unacceptable as previously I've waited over an hour for a standard booked appointment.

I was referred to this surgery from my own practice at Wye due to availability of dates for doing the operation. I am tempted to request a transfer permanently.

The practice operates a very inefficient booking system whereby all appointments are made by ringing in the morning or afternoon to get on a list for a triage callback for a doctor that same morning or afternoon. It is not possible to get on an afternoon list by calling in the morning and not possible to get on any list by physically going to the counter. This, however only achieves a callback, which will inevitably be late and if it results in a telephone appointment 2 or 3 weeks away that call appointment might happen an hour after the booked time. How can it be more efficient for doctors to triage every call, even for less urgent appointments, instead of just spending the time seeing people? It looks more like a system aimed at avoiding face to face contact where possible. If they cannot cope with the numbers perhaps the practice is too big. It is no wonder people go to A&E!

Charing surgery is head and shoulders above the rest that I have experienced. I couldn't recommend it highly enough for its care for children. I am always able to get an appointment for my son when I need one and they make every effort to make it work for you. My personal experience for myself has also been great with credit to all of the staff and caring team of Doctors. They are an absolute credit. It is difficult to find the *care* in healthcare these days (where GP's are concerned) as the health service is under a lot of pressure but it is great to see that some surgeries are still capable of delivering a first class service. Thank you Charing Surgery.